Escape raft seen off the south Jalisco coast

At least that's what we surmise. Almost 3 weeks ago prisoners from the Penal Coloney on Islas Marias were picked up by the Mexican Navy on a raft off the coast from Puerto Vallarta (a bit of the story below). This foto was taken by a fisherman off the southern coast of Jalisco near Bahia de Navidad.   The raft had the name "Liberti" written on the front.

Raft called "Liberti"

Six inmates from the last island penal colony in the Americas were recaptured at sea after using buoyant containers and planks of wood in an attempt to float and swim to freedom.

The Mexican navy said the inmates used empty plastic gas or water tanks to help them stay afloat as they swam about 60 miles south of the Islas Marias, a Mexican penal colony in which prisoners live in small houses and are normally not locked up. Inmates are allowed to tend small gardens and grow food.

The six men were around 58 miles off the Pacific coast resort of Puerto Vallarta when they were seen by people on a passing boat early on Thursday.

Complete article

Back in the connected world

I've been trying to get back into the connected world since I moved to my house outside of Melaque where there is no telephone or Internet. Two weeks ago I got my first cel phone, the Nokia 1616 below. That's the cheapest phone and for $350 pesos you get the phone and $100 pesos of airtime.

First cel phone in this day and age ... yes I know, I should have had one before. Had to have a neighbor teach me how to use it. Pretty easy really and things went well for the first week.

In the mean time I was evaluating my Internet options including a radio type transmission from a nearby community. That would have involved building a tower and buying sending and receiving dishes. Quite a bit of money for only a shared signal that may not be around next year.

Everyone said Iusacell was cheaper but the signal was weak in our area so I finally went into Telcel last week to see what was available. What a surprise to find they had an unlimited Internet service with a USB modem and an IPhone for $700 pesos a month. That package does require an 18 month contract and a credit check ... but I was approved and it's not much more than a 2meg service from Telmex.   And no I didn't have to pay extra for the Iphone or USB .... it's included in the contract price.

I'm now using the USB modem with my desktop and was quite excited to start using the Iphone to browse the web and check email. Sadly Telcel messed up the activation and neither one of the phones work even tho I had $100 peso credit on the Nokia. The messages say my SIM cards are not registered. I can guess at the problem but this will require another trip to Telcel in Manzanillo.

Oh well, at least I have Internet on this computer and will report what the mis-configuration problem was later this week.

Seems the SIM cards were reversed so problem solved. Another correction is that the USB connection thru this computer has a 10 gig limit. Only the Iphone has unlimited Internet time and gigabites.

I added the Speed Test image which is from a server in Guadalajara. The servers in the US gave me .85 megs and 1.2 megs. The service is rated at 2.5 megs.

Getting back in the saddle

Still using Internet Cafes while trying to figure out if I want a short or long term contract with Telcel.   Hear you need to go to Manzanillo for a contract with more options.  Still haven´t found if Iusacel is going to work in Melaque.   All these little booths that sell Telcel and Iusacel "minutes" seem to be full of misinformation.

Hope to get back to more frequent posting soon

I survived Jova

Not literally ... but early the morning after neighbors were waving to each other from their second floors just like you see in the flood disaster videos.

The wind woke me about 4am, I checked my car and there was only about 6 inches of water around it. I went to the unfinished upstairs to watch the storm for about an hour and a half and when I came downstairs I noticed water in the patio. I thought the pool had over flowed but then noticed the water was brown. Took another look at my car on the street and water was up on the hood ... too late to move it. Headed back to the bedroom and noticed water coming in from the garage. Since I had not prepared my pile of sandbags I had to sit and watch the house fill with a foot and a half of water and mud. I spent the rest of the night upstairs waiting for daylight. Closest thing to a flash flood I can imagine without a wall of water. Only took two hours for water to overflow the canal by 5-6 feet.

About 9am a few families started to walk out when the water had reached waist height and the bridge was passable. I waited till noon and headed for Vern and Elke's where I am to this day. My car got towed to a auto cleaning place yesterday and will head to a mechanic Monday. The neighbors are cleaning the house I was "sitting" and most of the houses in the area have cleaning crews in them.

So I'm actually quite lucky but many home owners NOT. My house in Pinal Villa was not affected except the access road is pretty bad. Lots of road closures in Jalisco and Colima. The Marabasco river overflowed and flooded Cihuatlan ... and actually cut a channel to the Barra lagoon which became a river mouth.

 

 

Cleanup efforts are massive here and emergency food is being brought in by the military. Spirits are surprisingly high and the sun is out

Families walk out as water receded

What the area looked like about 9am

Hurricane Jova experience in Melaque

Living on the cheap in Mexico

This is where my neighbors live. You might say: 'well they have an RV' but it's very small for two people. Especially during the rainy season when the whole yard is mud. Truck is broken with no money to fix and had to use a tractor to move the RV in. Next door is a little out building where they cook to keep the heat out of the trailer.

Things are looking up now since we haven't had rain for almost two weeks and it's drying out ... but it's still hot as hell and humid.

No these neighbors are not Mexican ... but a 50 something American woman and her 20 year old kid.

Tough way to go but they seem to keep spirits up pretty well