Greetings,

Here we are again, still in Isla Mujeres. We are into our sixth week and still waiting for a good weather window. I must admit we missed a good weather window, but Kitty had to get some dental work done.

Kitty knew she was having a problem with a crown, and we were planning to get the work done once we got to the USA. The area was really bothering her, and the subject of dentists came up at the Marina Paraiso happy hour table. One person recommended a dentist here on the island. He said she was very good, her prices were right, and she has only been out of dental school about two years, so has good fresh knowledge.

This dentist, Dr. Cecelia Ferrer, had government funding for dental school, so she owes the government time or money in return. She is putting in her time at the navel hospital here on Isla Mujeres. There is a big Mexican Navel presence here on the island. She works at the navel hospital from 0700 to 1330, then she works in her practice that she is just starting up.

Kitty and I went to her Tuesday, March 22nd, to get her thoughts on the dental work at which we are looking getting done in the states. She looked at me first, and said the crowns in question do not need replacing, but I needed a cleaning, and I had two small cavities. We decided to get the work done on me. The cleaning was $68.00 and the cavities were $84.74 each to fill. This is a whole lot better than the $975.00 copay at which I was looking for the care recommended by the stateside dentist. I had no Novocaine, and the work was all painless. Did I also mention she is a major babe, besides being a dentist? !!

Kitty was next on the list. She needed a cleaning, one new crown, and a second crown repaired. Dr Ferrer scheduled Kitty for a more thorough examination for Wednesday, March 23rd, because Dr Ferrer had more appointments on Tuesday.

Dr Ferrer looked at Kitty thoroughly on Wednesday, March 23rd , and the results were good. Dr Ferrer took the measurements for the crown that needed to be replaced, and made a temporary crown. The new crown was scheduled to be inserted on Monday, the 28th. She also repaired the second crown, and filled a small cavity.

We went in to see Dr Ferrer on Monday, the 28th, but the new crown had not arrived. We were scheduled to go in on Tuesday, the 29th, planning to call first to verify the arrival of the new crown. The appointment was for 1700. We called on Tuesday, the 29th, and the new crown had arrived. We went to see Dr Ferrer, and she fitted the new crown in about 20 minutes. The next issue was Kitty's bite plate, which had to be adjusted to fit the new crown. This took about an hour and a half, but when Dr Ferrer had finished, Kitty said the bite plate felt better than it ever has.

We decided to get this work done mostly because of cost, but also the convenience. Kitty's cost for all of the work was around $520.00, compared to an estimated co-pay of $1,400 fo the work recommended by the stateside dentist. This dentist is a ten minute walk from the marina. To go to our dentist in Atlanta would have been problematic, at best, as well as much more expensive, all around.

All of this dental work caused us to miss the anticipated weather window. So, here we are in beautiful Isla Mujeres We are hoping for a good weather window, and it looks like we will have one starting tomorrow. Not only do we not want the weather to be hard on the crew, we do not want it be hard on DREAM AWAY, and possibly damage her. It now looks as if a weather window is opening up on Monday the 11th of April. The winds are predicted to be light and out of the east southeast, which should be great for flying the spinnaker. We plan to check out of Mexico first thing Monday morning, and probably be under way around noon.

If all goes as planned we hope to be in Key West late Wednesday evening, the 13th of April. Our Tina plans to have our iPhones reactivated by then, so we should be back in the mainstream of things in short order.

I am spending my time here in Isla working on small projects and updating the web page. I am working on the About Dream Away page, especially the Safety page, and I am amazed how far behind I am on getting all of the information current and pictures into the mix. I now feel that the Safety page is all current. I have a bunch links to pictures, and hopefully all of the vendor web pages are current.

I am now addressing the Electronics and Navigation page, and getting it updated and ready to go. It will be complete by the next update that will be coming to you from somewhere in Florida.

Remember if you want to keep track of our progress click on the Where Is Dream Away link.

regards,

jimk

Member Seven Seas Cruising Association

WEB page http://www.dreamaway.net