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February 2007 - Catamaran Sailing Cruising in the Sea of CortezThursday February 1, 2007 The next stretch of coastline going south does not have any secure anchorages for 50 miles until you reach Chamela. The Mexican Gold Coast which starts there and ends 60 miles further to the south in Manzanillo. This area is going to be our winter home base for the next month before we head back to La Paz in March. Carllie: It is known as the Gold Coast as the air and water are so warm, the jungle growth makes it very scenic, there are lots of great snorkeling places, jungle excursions, horseback riding, and other things to do, plus there are villages and towns where you can easily provision. Garett: To cover the 50 miles we woke up at dawn and were off sailing in the continued favorable strong northwest winds. We were doing 6 to 7 knots and I had put our full set of fishing lines out in hope of maybe catching a fish: a big flasher as a teaser with no hook on it about 50 feet behind the boat, one hand line with a new green zucchini lure, the other hand line with our tuna rig, and finally the fishing rod with the red hoochie way behind us about 125 feet back. We figured with three sets of lures we had to catch something. Sure enough, we snagged a small mackerel within a few minutes and quickly released him. A short while later we caught what I thought was another mackerel but turned out to be a Jack Tuna. According to Evan’s scale it came in as 6 pounds so he was a keeper.
After cleaning the fish and putting him in the icebox we put out the lines again. We continued to make great time in the strong winds. At about 2 pm, Carllie heard a zinging noise which at first I thought sounded like a baby crying behind the boat, which is was highly unlikely, but then quickly realized it was the line screaming out of our fishing rod. I ran up to the rod hoping to put on the brake a bit but I couldn’t slow it down as a monster of a fish was taking out all 500 feet of our line. ZIIIIINNNNNNG! Whatever it was (likely a Marlin) eventually reached the end of the line and then bent the rod back about 90 degrees and we continues to drag it at 7 knots as we couldn’t easily slow the boat down with the screecher up. (Carllie: At this point, Garett looks at me and says, "What should I do?", but there wasn't much we could do--this guy was a monster.) About 10 seconds later the line snapped and the rod bounced back to normal. Everything was gone: all 500 feet of line, leader, and lure. All that is left is a bare rod. What would we have done with it anyway? The whole episode took no more than 45 seconds and was highly exciting. I guess we will just eat our "tuna" tonight.
We arrived in Chamela at 5 pm and found a large bay with very good protection from the north winds. There were about 10 boats already anchored but plenty room for us. We settled in for the night and had our fish and fried rice for dinner. It was good to have our first fish in over a month (C: and was palatable mixed with fried rice, onions and other veggies). Friday February 2, 2007 It was nice clear day so we made our way through the surf and did a little walk into the small town of Punta Perula that is behind the beach. We found a Mini-Super tienda and bought a few veggies and some fruit. We made our way back to the beach about a mile down from our original landing point. We would have gone farther down the beach but we were saddled with several bags of food so we left that walk for another day.
Saturday February 3, 2007 With no shopping to do, we again motored to the beach and went for a long walk down to what appeared to be an abandoned or incomplete hotel about two miles in the distance.
After about 40 minutes we arrived at this derelict structure, and realized that it had been finished and included swimming pool and once-lush courtyard in the back, but for some reason (damage from hurricane and no money to repair it?) it had been abandoned. Everything of value had been stripped out of it including the wires in the walls. All that was left was the concrete shell that was slowly decaying and crumbling away. It is kind of of sad as it is on such a nice part of the beach, and creates an air of desolation that's certainly not necessary here. However, it takes money to demolish things, and undoubtedly the structure will not be demolished until a new investor decides to build something else in this spot.
We turned around and headed back to the dinghy, and came across some people who were playing in the big surf that was coming in today. I had never gone body-surfing before as I have never been in Hawaii (yet!) and was little leary. I went in first and tried to play chicken with a couple of waves and managed to be only crunched by one.
Carllie stayed on the beach with the camera and took pictures (C: all the while making up captions in my head). A Mexican family nearby offered to watch our camera and stuff so we both went and in and had great fun trying to out guess the waves and get over them before they broke on you and broke something. Carllie: Actually, I gave the camera to Garett and walked into the water for my turn. I had experienced this before during my one and only trip to Hawaii many moons ago, but I still made the mistake of turning around momentarily, and also got rolled by a big one. Serves me right! Pepe, a young man in his early 20's waved me in to where the waves were big enough to either dive through them or bob up and over them. Pepe's "mama" waded out after me, and I encouraged her. She was so young I asked Pepe, "Esta su esposa?" (Is she your wife?). "No," he said, "Esta me mama." They didn't speak English, but we managed to converse with the Spanish I had learned. Mama was a very friendly lady who told me when I asked in Spanish, "Como te llama?", that her name is Josefina (pronounced Ho se fee na) and she had fun in the waves with us. After a few minutes Josefina suggested that Garett could leave our camera with her grown daughter, Sara, on shore. So he did that and came in. We had a great time with this Mexican family bouncing and cavorting in the waves. It is a warm memory. The common Mexican people are so friendly and natural.
Sunday February 4, 2007 – The Lightening Storm
Garett: I was up early at 8 am (sunrise) for the dawn of what looked like a beautiful clear sunny day: bright blue sky and just a few puffy clouds floating around. All of sudden the clouds seemed to intensify and we had a little bit of shower, which quickly became a downpour. It was a very localized phenomenon. I took a picture of a double rainbow right near the boat.
We thought the storm was all over when all of a sudden another ominous cloud formed and then I thought I heard thunder, but didn’t think it was possible. A few seconds later, I saw some lightning about a quarter mile on shore followed by some even louder thunder. Then it got worse! I quickly put some of the electronics into the oven to protect them, and attached our battery cables to the shrouds hanging the ends in the water , hoping to ground the mast. A few seconds later we had some lightning strikes quite close by (none hit us fortunately) but the thunder that hit us was the loudest I have ever experienced . I was outside while Carllie was down in the hull, and felt like I had been hit by a compression wave from an explosion. My body actually physically hurt after each of the half dozen strikes that quickly followed. It was quite an experience. (I spoke to a few other cruisers in the anchorage later and they all agreed it was the loudest they have ever experienced as well)
It all lasted about 15 minutes and was sunny the whole time as the cloud was overhead and the sun was low on the horizon as it had just risen! I took 700 pictures on fast frame with our digital camera but I was unable to catch a fork of lightening. I sure had to press the delete button alot afterwards... We quickly recovered over our fruit breakfast and hauled up the anchor and were off to Tenacatita Bay, about 30 miles away. By thew way, we have since this photo discovered that the spider bites I had received back in January were in fact from a Brown Recluse Spider. Here is my recovering forearm after two weeks. It was not pretty.
Carllie: Bites from a Brown Recluse Spider can be very nasty indeed. Garett's four bites over two weeks puffed way up so they stuck out about an inch, became hard and very hot, and got very tender and painful to the point where I had to be very careful not to bump into his arm on the left side, and his hip on the right side--"no touchee!" Poor guy. It was not fun for him. However, he diligently worked with hot and cold treatments, and aloe vera that we had picked to cool it, and they have all healed. A friend of ours at home, Kurtis Van Keith, was not so lucky. Last year while in Texas he was bitten by a Brown Recluse Spider on the leg. Several weeks went by and he just ignored the discomfort. The site actually became necrotized and was growing, and we understand could have been fatal, but Kurtis finally found a natural treatment on the Internet and it healed. Not to worry, Mack and Phyllis: Garett found the nasty spider outside on the boat and killed it dead. I have no idea why it didn't bite me. Just lucky I guess. Garett: About 10 miles south of Chamela we came across Punta Bola de Ensalada (loosely translated means "Salad Bowl Point"). According to the guide books this is an old Mayan ruin from about 1,000 to 2,000 BC. Supposedly the Mayans were vegetarians and constructed this huge 100 foot diameter bowl and routinely filled the bowl with lettuce (Romaine when in season) as an offering to the Gods...
After bypassing an indifferent anchorage at Bahia Careyes we arrived at Tenacatita by late afternoon. Carllie: Bahia Tenacatita is the best place we have stopped on the mainland side of western Mexico. There are two large bays, both well protected, but the inner bay is preferred and when we arrived on February 4 there were only about 10 boats anchored in this big bay. At point of writing, February 10, there are about 35. The bay is very pretty, surrounded by a lovely light sand beach, with one palapa (Mexican beachside restaurant with woven palm roof) and a private campground with a very handy outdoor shower on one end and the Blue Bay Hotel about a mile down on the other curve of the beach. When we dropped our hook it was late in the day, so we just nestled in and enjoyed the sailor’s delight: a safe anchorage after a long day’s sail, a delicious candlelight meal in a softly rocking boat, checking out the stars and other anchor lights when night fell, and listening to the rhythmic shushing of the surf rolling into shore as we read ourselves to sleep.
February 5, 2007 The best thing happened this morning! Chris (most people you know only by first name) from the sailboat Legacy, the Mayor of Tenacatita (an honorary title given to the friendliest yachtsman most willing to greet and organize the “Fleet of Tenacatita”) appeared at our stern in his dinghy and, grinning broadly, introduced himself, and gave us a four-page info sheet on the facilities in the immediate area and at the town of Barra de Navidad (15 miles away). The info sheet tells us about everything from the jungle ride and horse-back riding to Internet, grocery, water, laundry and repair facilities, to the daily activities organized for the “fleet” and covers the immediate area in the inner bay to Playa Tenacatita and the “Aquarium”at the outer bay and Barra de Navidad, the small city about 13 miles south of Bahia Tenacatita (where there are bigger tiendas (stores) to provision, fuel and water). This kind of information is extremely helpful, as you can imagine, to boaters just arriving at a new anchorage, but the best thing was Chris’s warm welcome and invitation to join today’s daily swim to shore at 1:30 pm, bacci ball or Mexican dominoes on shore, refreshments at the palapa, and swim back to the organizing boat. I was so happy to be included again in a warm group of happy and welcoming cruisers, like at La Paz, that I knew would fill in the holes left by our many beloved friends back in Canada, that I made Garett laugh with my gleefully enthusiastic chatter when Chris left. A social life! Group swimming! New friends! Activities! Exercise! Yahoo!
February 7, 2007, 3 a.m. This is our fourth night in the inner bay at Tenacatita. Water and air temperatures are over 80 degrees F., and almost no swells reach into the preferred anchoring ground of this very desirable spot on Mexico’s Gold Coast. Yesterday, we spent the day doing the “Jungle Ride” up the river in our dinghy to the village of Playa Tenacatita, where we walked a short distance to the beach to snorkel in quite cloudy waters, then showered and had a fabulous early dinner at the Fiesta Mexico palapa restaurant on the beach. The ride up the river was done at a leisurely pace with our little PortaBote and two-stroke engine, not because we had to go quite that slow, but because this was after all our first jungle excursion, and we wanted to enjoy it.
We were surrounded by densely growing mangroves, that send bunches of eerie looking long shoots from the heights down into the water which become their thick spreading roots. Mangroves are bush-like trees that grow to about 30 feet high in some cases and multiply not through seed pods but through the tubular spreading of these masses of roots, which are in fact so tenacious that in hurricanes sailors will take their boats up into mangroves and tie to the bases of the trees, knowing that even the awesome wild strength of a tropical hurricane will not rip out these trees.
Our patient pace through the dark water of the snaking river also allowed us to enjoy frequent glimpses of the brilliant white Snowy Egrets, delicately tall and slender birds that sport a small ruff on the back of the neck and bright yellow feet.
We haven't idenitified this bird to the left
of
The Snowy Egrets bird nests in these areas (although we have been sighting them since southern California), and perch in the protective dense branches of the mangroves, ready to gracefully fly away if we got a little too close, a neon white patch against the dark mangroves and water, swaying into the curves of the river as it sought a safe refuge.
We also spied brilliant red crabs about 4 inches in diameter perched on the lower above-water shoots of the mangroves, also ready to scuttle to safety should we show too much interest. Garett became quite absorbed watching for these little guys and soon realized that they were everywhere among the mangroves lining the river. I started keeping a closer watch myself, hoping to spy those infamous eyes of a crocodile cruising just under the surface of the murky waters. Left, ahead, and right, my eyes continually scanned while my heart kept up a steady beat to my secretly dreading thoughts borne of too many movies with scary crocodile encounters. Amazingly, my vigilant, hyped-up brain caught the image it had been dreading. We saw a small break in the mangroves of about 25 feet where they must have been cleared to give the local panga drivers (pangas are the sturdy, long, open boats that Mexican fisherman and in this case jungle tour guides use) access to the shore. I peered into the shore then continued my scan as to slowly chugged by, and suddenly about 50 feet past the opening, I excitedly stifled my shout to a whispered, “A crocodile! There’s a baby crocodile on the shore back there!” Garett quickly turned our dark green dinghy around and headed back, cutting the motor just before we rounded into the little opening so we approached silently. Sure enough, my fevered brain had not betrayed me with an imagination-produced image: spread out picture perfect on the edge of the shore, basking in the sun, was a baby croc, about 3 feet long. I “snapped” (before he snapped us) a picture, that is if you can call these digital cameras “snapping” a feat that seems impossible to them, and looked down for a second to make sure it had taken.
When I looked up, he had slipped silently into the water, his small eyes just visible at the surface until he disappeared. I was by now ready to leave, and urgently whispered, “Okay, Garett, let’s get out of here,” having visions of mama crocodile slithering down the bank or up out of the water to protect her young. Garett refused to cooperate, much to my consternation, calmly claiming there was nothing to worry about. I cannot jump into the water to escape myself, he’s the one at the engine, and my heart rate rapidly increased as he continued to refuse my pleas. In a moment, I was bawling, pleading with him to turn around. And even though in retrospect I understand his reasoning, wanting me to overcome this irrational fear of every (large and--especially--carnivorous) wild thing, at the time I could have belted him. Garett: After our encounter with the three foot crocodile we pulled the dinghy at the terminating lagoon just off the berm that separates the lagoon from the beach at the outer bay of Tenacatita.
Carllie was still recovering from the crocodile incident so we walked a half a mile over to the beach and snorkeled in the area which we thought was the “Aquarium” but in fact turned to be not the right area and the water was quite murky.
We then picked up some more food at the Mini Super and then had a relaxing lunch at one of the dozen palapa restaurants that line this busy bay.
After lunch it was time for the return trip back down the river to the bay we were anchored in which is three miles away.
February 8, 2007 Carllie: An early rising today got us through our morning routine in time to meet David Lloyd on the beach at 9:30 for a two-hour run. David and his wife Judy are from Kelowna. David built their 40-foot Simpson catamaran Deja Too, and this is their third year cruising in western Mexico. Now 61 years of age, he has completed an ironman triathalon and now he does these long runs routinely. Well! A "two-hour" run on a hot Mexican morning ain’t a two-hour run around Stanley Park in Vancouver, and in fact it turned out to be more like three hours for us. Temperatures went from about 80 F. when we started to probably over 90 before we wound back to the beach. Garett’s knees gave out about 3/4 of the way along. And I suppose a woman over 50 has it a bit tougher for reasons known only to God (who definitely is not a woman) or the Devil. At the start, David and his wife Judy led us along the beautiful beach here at Tenacatita, behind the Blue Bay Hotel to their access road, then turning off onto unpaved, but better-for-the-feet, roads through the plantations and beside the winding twisting and many-armed lagoon. It was, however a very interesting route beside lush fields growing mangoes, beans, and other things we couldn’t identify, in a satisfyingly orderly and businesslike manner. We are now in the tropics now where it rains mucho in the summer months of hurricane season and enough to keep things pretty moist for the rest of the year. We encountered many plantation workers driving their trucks along the road, repairing fences and working in the fields, so happily used our Spanish: “Buenos dias! Como estas?” (Good morning! How are you?) Still on the outgoing leg which would take us to an inland village, we crossed a land bridge over the lagoon which is very wide at this point. It was hot, still and beautifully green. In the middle of the lagoon a large flock of White Pelicans floated majestically, serenely aware that they would have no trouble from the inferior two-legged creatures hobbling and bouncing along shore. This is the first time we have seen White Pelicans on our journey, though we began seeing Brown Pelicans in Tillamook, Oregon and have enjoyed their kamikaze diving in every anchorage since then. White Pelicans are white from head to foot, and quite beautiful. David also told us to watch out for “road snakes” (a typical male understatement for who knows what kind of venomous or constricting long slithery creepy thing) and tarantulas (no mistaking the meaning of that word!). Happily, after about 40 minutes, I was too focused on keeping up with David by keeping my pedal on my interior gas pedal to worry about critters, though I was per force looking down to prevent stumbling along the rocky roads. Eventually we reached the half-way point and our first Gatorade stop at the small inland village. After that, the route wound back to the beach at Playa Tenacatita, up into the hills and over the bluff dividing the outer bay and the favored inner bay where there are (now as of February 10th) about 35 boats anchored, and finally (Huff! Puff! Groan! Squeak! Creak! Moan!) to the banks of the arm of the lagoon that we had motored for our “jungle ride”. We made our way slowly along the uneven shore about 100 meters, reaching the lagoon’s entrance from the inner bay, where we had to take off our runners and wade across. (No crocs here!) The water was a blessed relief to our aching feet and leg muscles, and Garett and I enjoyed showering at the outdoor showers set up for campers here. You turn on the tap, then five minutes later, pull a cord that releases a stream of cool water. No water is cold here, and it was wonderfully refreshing to wash off all the sweat, dirt and sand, and soothe our tired bodies. The run took us three hours instead of two, and David was very kind and patient throughout, never once grumbling or racing ahead to leave us two “kids” to find our own way.
We highly recommend pushing your body well past the point it wants to go exercising in a natural environment. I don't mean beyond knees or joints that are giving out, but beyond what feels like your limit in energy. Like sailing 3,000 miles down an unfamiliar coastline, aerobic or anaerobic exercising beyond the point we are used to toughens the mind, builds one's resolve, and boosts self-esteem and confidence, not to mention giving the heart and lungs a great workout, and clearing out the bronchial organs. Running with Garett since we began our journey, it has been all too easy to declare a mid-point and turn around just when the heart is pounding and the breath a little harder to find. In the midday heat on this long run I had to stop and walk for short bits regularly to catch my breath and carry on though I didn't "feel" like it. It was an endurance test and I am very glad I did it as I have now broken through a barrier and am hopeful I can get back into doing longer daily runs and keep up the habit as much as possible while we are in areas with roads. Though I started running back in 1986, and it was my main means of keeping fit and relaxing until I discovered squash four years ago, I was forced to stop early last year because I had injured a ligament in my knee while playing squash. Sprinting to catch the bus to work was excruciatingly painful I soon discovered and any kind of running became absolutely impossible. So I was “cabin-bound” for those four months, and much to my chagrin had to give up my budding squash career as well as running, and could only exercise cycling and doing weights and Callanetics, solitary exercises that do not work up the same sweat and give the heart the workout that running and squash do. Our wonderful chiropractor Dr. Aaron Hoy of Westside Chiropractor in Vancouver, who to that point could fix anything I had injured either through repetitive motions required by office work or during exercise, recognized the severity of this problem and suggested I go to another chiropractor, whose name escapes me, for prolotherapy. This new therapy involves injecting a saline solution into muscles and ligaments, which then helps to builds scar tissue and toughens and repairs the injured site. Hoo-boy! The first treatment was so painful I was literally screaming when he injected the ligament and moaning as I hobbled back and forth down this chiro’s hallway to show him how the injury affected my leg. I couldn't help but wonder how his waiting patients were dealing with my sounds of delight. But after about six treatments, my knee was much better and within about four months I was able to slowly and cautiously get back into running and squash, where I get my best and “funnest” workouts. There was no need for anyone to say “Don’t overdo it!” as like Pavlov’s dogs, due to the excruciating pain I had experienced with my injury, even after the successful treatment and healing period, unfortunately I had a built in stop-point. The problem was getting past that point and learning to trust my muscles and body again. Squash has been easy as I love it, it is mentally and physically challenging and anything but boring, but running requires discipline, is--compared to squash--boring and is less than desirable on city streets. Running here in Mexico is always interesting because we are running "where no Hennigan has run before." Running along a hard-packed sandy beach with the surf rolling in, thence through jungles and lush plantations is anything but boring and easy on the joints. So I am very happy with this step and hope to organize runs for the fleet while here in Tenacatita: new friends binding and strengthening their friendship being constructive and growing together. Who knows? Maybe I will even organize writing classes. Note: Proofing this on February 12 (my birthday!), I can add a quid pro quo: Since that long "breakthrough" run with David, indeed we have gone for another run, which I had optimistically hoped would be 30 minutes out and 30 back. It was not to be. I forgot to hydrate myself thoroughly before we motored to shore, and only had one big glass of warm water when I woke up (after an 8-hour sleep). By the time we slowly got going, it was about 10:30 am when we started our run, and very hot already. Only about 15 minutes into the run, I was struggling. I only made it 22 minutes elapsed time, meaning I had to stop and walk regularly. In fact, I almost fainted coming back walking. All because I had not drunk enough water before leaving. When we did our big run with David I drank about 4 big glasses of water before we met him on the beach to start our run at 9:30 a.m. I will give you all an update on running progress when we next update our site.
Friday February 9, 2007 Carllie: We snorkeled in The Aquarium today, after getting the directions to the right location. We had actually been only 100 yards from the right place when we were here three days ago. Awaking early (one can’t really sleep in here as it gets pretty hot by about 8 a.m.) on another clear, blue sunny day, we upped anchor and motored back out to the “outer bay” of Bahia Tenacatita, which we had first visited a couple of days ago when we did the jungle ride up the lagoon to Playa Tenacatita. A cluster of rocky islets and submerged reefs at the entrance to the bay is called The Aquarium because snorkeling and diving gives you views of beautiful colorful tropical fish swimming around the reefs, and because the usually clear water combined with the white bottom sand makes visibility crystal clear.
Carllie: My memories of snorkeling at The Aquarium: dark blue, yellow striped, blue and white poka-dotted, neon blue, back with neon blue spots, long graceful fins and tails, manta rays and sting rays. Very long swim from the boat to islets, among the reefs and back. Many good practice dives, deeper than ever before. Have to learn to come straight up from 20 feet down as I run out of breath and it is only my calming thoughts of “It’s okay, you will make it, relax,” that get me safely to the surface without gulping salt water. Maybe I will have to count, as the diving book advises, so I keep track of how much time I have been down. As we had until this point snorkeled in water no more than 10 feet deep, I am used to going down until I get to the bottom, relaxing on the bottom, then angling my body to float back up with gentle kicks of the fins. In 20 feet of water, until I have trained myself to relax sufficiently and use the most energy conserving movements to maximize my air supply, I realized today that I cannot follow my habit of seeking the bottom before I turn around! Hoo boy! What if the bottom were 50 feet down? Or even 30? Then I might be in trouble. So, as with anything new, we will proceed step-by-step and gradually increase our lung capacity and free-diving skills. Won’t we, Carllie? By the time we swam back to Light Wave, the wind had picked up a little. We did a quick dinghy run ashore to Playa Tenacatita where we again visited our new amiga Alejandra at the “Mini-Super” tienda (store) and bought a bit more fresh produce: tomatoes, small cukes, avocadoes, fresh and yummy carrots, a big head lettuce fresh from the fields, a lovely big ripe papaya, big mild Mexican style “Mandarin” oranges, and a couple of pears spent our remaining 100 pesos (about $10 US). This will see us through to Tuesday, when we plan to sail fifteen miles across the bay to Barra de Navidad to get more pesos and visit the bigger stores to stock up.
A big powerboat had anchored about just 50 feet in front of us. He too was evidently suffering from that mysterious malady that seems to strike boaters, forcing them to anchor on top of someone else in a huge unobstructed bay, and was right on top of our anchor. As we motored back to Light Wave, while talking to Garett I pointed at our boat and followed the anchor line with my finger to under his boat, looking, I hoped concerned and puzzled (not frustrated and put out). Surprisingly, within seconds his motor rumbled to life and he moved off before we finished tying up our dinghy. I had started the motor and as usual ran the boat forward while Garett hauled up the anchor, then turned her around to slowly start back out of the bay towards home base at the inner bay while Garett secured the anchor. Sailor that he his, however, he immediately asked me to turn off the engine, and we hoisted the screecher and sailed downwind. After about 5 minutes, my brilliant and always ready for a challenge hubby decides to hop into the dinghy while we are sailing, then starts the dinghy engine. I let the rope go and he motored around Light Wave taking pictures of her under sail. It is very hard to get photos of your own vessel under sail, and it is harder still to include the whole boat from masthead to waterline and bow to stern in the photos, but here are his best shots of that daring venture:
The very best thing about this day was the Friday night “raft-up” organized by Chris, the current "Mayor of the Fleet at Tenacatita". At 5 pm every Friday night, Chris and his wife Heather take their inflatable dinghy close to the western bluff shore, and drop a good anchor. Everyone who wants to participate dinghies over, bringing an appetizer to share and drinks and plates for themselves, as well as books to trade and boat cards to pass around. Speaking of boat cards, here is a photo of ours.
We all tie up around the Mayor’s boat, tying one boat the next in a growling spiral. This time there were about 35 dinghies with about 80 people, tied in a great big flexible raft. Everyone passed around in a clockwise direction whatever they had brought, ranging from savories to carrot cake and decadent chocolate cake, amid great camaraderie, exclamations over the yummy and surprising potluck of food, and quiet face-stuffing. The plates of food came fast and furious, and eventually the empties were returned to the owners. (Surprisingly and happily for us non-meat-eaters, only one dish had meat in it.) Then we ate in peace while getting to know our next-door neighbors if we didn’t already know them. There were three or four boats with children ranging in ages from 5 to about 17, and it was great to see them enjoying themselves, and adding their unspoiled willingness to have fun to the moment.
Tummies sated, Mayor Chris called the meeting to order. This being only a few days before Valentine’s Day, the theme was love, and here is what we did: Starting with the Mayor’s centre boat, each couple or person introduced themselves, and gave the name of their boat and where they were from. If a couple, one or both would speak, and say where they met, how long they have been together, what their most romantic experience had been, and what they appreciated the most about their partner. This happy and intriguing exercise took about an hour, and in the process everyone thought about their loved one, first mate or skipper, and what they appreciated the most about him or her. The time together for the couples ranged from 2 months to 45 years. Not surprisingly, everyone was very interested in the stories of the most romantic experiences, some of which were: sailing on a clear moonlit night off the coast of South America, walking the streets of Paris in February, having an anchorage in the Queen Charlottes to themselves for a whole week, and (for us) sailing around Vancouver Island in near solitude and a midnight walk on a boardwalk through the forest to the wonderful hot springs at Hot Springs Cove on Vancouver Island.
But the most inspiring and uplifting words were those describing the cause of one person’s love for the other. I will try to remember them here, without cumbersome quotation marks, and not word for word. Very soon, everyone was engrossed and smiling. (At least the women were!)
What I appreciate most about him/her is that: He can fix anything [on the boat]. (This was the most often said remark among the women.) He always makes me feel good: he can always make me smile, or lift me, he can always make a joke and see something funny in a situation. She is always enthusiastic about everything. He is always so calm and confident. He is a terrific sailor; I wouldn’t sail with anyone else. She loves and is so enthusiastic about all living creatures. She is a terrific gourmet cook. He gets me to try new things, got me to come sailing. Even though she has been sick, she’s still here and enthusiastically continues this wonderful trip. And Garett said (also written by Garett), “The quality I appreciate most about Carllie is her willingness to share in my adventures, from building the boat to sailing to Mexico.” While I said about Garett: "He built the boat and can fix anything. But what I like best about Garett’s personality is that he is so happy and so outgoing. He is like a black lab puppy enthusiastically wagging his tail and wriggling his whole body, running around from boat to boat introducing himself and meeting new people, telling them about our boat and our whole trip in 10 minutes flat." Everyone laughed about that and said they loved black labs. The experience was very touching, and served to break the ice among many people who had not yet met, plus it gave us a deeper understanding of each other, united us all, and gave each person the chance to think about their spouse and identify what it is that they like best about him or her. This generated an aura of appreciation and love, and created a wonderful plane of mind of understanding, empathy and appreciation among the group. The same method can, by the way, be used to rekindle friendships, as per a story I once read in the famous book, Chicken Soup for the Soul. And it is an exercise that is needed because in our usual frantic pace in our “normal” lives in the cities, it is easy to forget the importance of friends and how much we cherish them and need them. What you do is this: think of each person in your friendship circle, whether that involves 5 people or 200. And on a piece of clear paper, write what you like best about each one of those friends. In fact, as was done in that Chicken Soup story, you can do this as a happy exercise like our raft-up exercise today, when you are next with a group of friends. On a small piece of paper for each person, write what you like best about that person. So if there are 10 friends in a room, the host hands out 10 chits of paper to each person and a pen if they don’t have one. Once everyone is finished writing, everyone gives to each other what they have written. The result is two-fold: firstly, the writers have regenerated their true friendship for each friend, replacing any possible misunderstandings or tension with those clear thoughts of appreciation and love; secondly, each person receives 10 written evaluations of something valuable and true within themselves, which will make her feel loved and happy about herself, boosting her confidence, and most importantly provide a written record of that inner goodness that she can refer back to in times when she is discouraged, sad or doubting herself, or maybe even doubting the other person's friendship. Don’t you think that’s a better pastime than those goofy games we do at baby or wedding showers? Saturday February 10, 2007 Garett: My aching knees are finally coming around today. Not quite good enough for a run but OK for a walk. We decided do go ashore with the group that swims to the beach with escort dinghies at 1:30 pm. At about 1 pm while getting ready as I would take the dinghy and Carllie would swim, we heard the unmistakable sound of dolphins very nearby. We looked around us and there were two Bottle Nose Dolphins (just like Flipper) right in front of the boat. They gently swam around the boat, and then one decided to use our anchor line as a long back scratch device and swam below the anchor line lifting it to surface level on his back as he made his way out to the anchor. (Carllie: "Thanks, buddy! Unseat the anchor while you're having a back scratch, why don't you?") While I talked to him from the bow, Carllie was in the process of putting here fins on for the swim to shore. So she says, "Hey! We should swim with them!" And so I encouraged her to quickly put on her mask and snorkel so she could swim in front of the boat and maybe have a close encounter. She was at first a little nervous and said, “Why don’t you come with me?” I replied “We don’t have time and you are already almost in the water.” She finally put on her mask and got into the water and very gingerly swam out to the front of the boat. Just as she got to the bow, where she is actually hanging onto the bridle leading to the anchor line and is still very nervous, I said “Do you see him? He's just in front of you?” She shrieked and started thrashing in the water and said, “It touched me! ... Oh no,it's OK, it was just the bow of the boat bumping me!”
Unfortunately we think the thrashing may have scared them away as they seemed to disappear. We will keep our eyes out and maybe see them tomorrow. Carllie has her own version of the events as follows: Carllie: I was actually not nervous until I got in the water. Then it dawns on me that I am in this unfamiliar vast medium--the sea--and these huge creatures that are very fast could be swimming right up to me. Then I got nervous. Even though I have seen lots of photos and movies of people swimming with dolphins and I know they are friendly and even helpful creatures, I was suddenly panicked. It was all I could do to stay in the water. However, in my defence so you won't think I am a complete ninny, I was smiling and chuckling at myself the whole time I was in the water. And I laughed at myself when I realized that it was the smooth side of the hull that I bumped into, not the smooth side of dolphin bumping into me. Okay, okay, I will work on my fears. As they say, "Do the thing you fear, and you will overcome your fears." Yah yah yah.
Sunday February 11, 2007
Garett: We woke up to a heavy haze in the air almost like there was a forest fire nearby. Our friend David Lloyd told us when he stopped by for a chat later on this morning that it was a marine layer. It was very muggy and it took us a while to get to shore for our planned run. David had found another victim to take on the "two hour" run around the area. We decided to opt for just a 40 minute run on our own. Carllie and I went about half way but the noon time heat and humidity was getting to us so we ended up walking back the second half. A nice swim helped to cool us down. (Carllie: my version explaining my exhaustion and near collapse due to dehydration was included earlier in this update.) We are trying to use up all our food so we are really stretching things out. Tonight Carllie got creative and prepared some sushi using the leftover stuff in the fridge as well as some sundried tomatoes. It was very exotic, and yummy.
Today is Carllie's birthday so in lieu of a material gift it would be her choice on what she wanted to do on her special birthday. With options of snorkeling, a run walk on the beach, or jungle ride to Playa Tenacatita, she chose the jungle ride. While getting ready to leave in the morning our two local dolphins came by for some more anchor line back rubs. We found out that the one one that has a distinctive missing piece from from his dorsal fin has been named by long-term cruisers, "Chip". I jumped at this rare opportunity to get into to the water to see if I could see him up close. The water wasn't very clear because of all the fresh water from the river mixing with the sea water creating a blurry image. I could only see about 10 to 15 feet. I went out in front of the boat and with Carllie's encouragement made all types of singing and squeaking noises. After twenty minutes, one of the two dolphins swam right by me twice about 10 feet away and took a long look at the creature in yellow making the weird noises. It was really something.
The dolphins eventually left but I kept swimming around the boat a few minutes later a big 3 foot long mahi mahi (in Mexico called dorado) came swimming by. He didn't just swim by but kept circling me about 6 feet away for about a minute. I think the yellow shorts confuse them. The first time a big fish or dolphin swims up to you it is an unsettling experience which I hope we will get more used to so we can enjoy it more. We eventually got off on the dinghy up the river. The tide was falling rapidly so it made the entry into the river a little exciting with the very strong current flowing out. I had to drag the dinghy over the shoals for the last 50 yards but we were finally into the calmer water. We saw the usual Snowy Egrets but we did come across a skinny but 3 foot long iguana (including long tail) sunning itself on a branch right over the water. Carllie didn't see it at first because of its excellent bright green camouflage, same color as the leaves. We tried to take a picture but the battery on the camera had died. At Playa Tenacatita we split one our best meals out we have had on the trip: shrimp in garlic sauce with rice and tostadoes. Wow was it good! We are going back there for my birthday in two weeks too!
We then for a short walk on the wild beaches facing in to the open Pacific where there was 20 knots of winds and big waves.
Tuesday February 13, 2007 We left Tenacatita Bay, our home for the last nine days, for the short 12 mile run to Barra de Navidad to reprovision. Upon leaving the bay you have to head out about two miles from the coast to go around the rocks at Piedra Blanca and the very dangerous rock that is awash about a half mile further out. We were given the GPS waypoint for this rock so we knew where to look for the very distinctive breaking surf. As we approached the rock we could see our friend Evan on his 48 foot catamaran, Java, going in the opposite direction back to Tenacatita from Barra. We called him up on the radio and he said had unfortunately been hugging the coastline a little too close and had bounced one of his rudders on the rock twice and bent it severely. Fortunately, he could still steer. He said he was lucky to only have that damage. It reinforced the point that you have to be ever vigilant when out on the ocean, as Evan is a very experienced sailor, having sailed it all the way here from Australia in the Southern Ocean. The wind started picking up as we covered the last few miles to the entry into the lagoon at Barra de Navidad. On the north end of the beach is the town of Melaque, while the town of Barra is at the opposite end on the sand berm that is at the south end of the beach. The entrance to the anchorage area and lagoon is just south of the sand berm that the town of Barra sits on. These are quaint small tourist towns of only a few thousand people--nothing like the big cities of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan with populations of several hundred thousand each and their big box stores like Walmart and Home Depot.
As you enter the lagoon on the left is the ultra posh, exclusive Grand Bay Hotel, where you too can stay for only (starting) $600 USD per night with its attached marina where moorage for our boat would cost $80 per night compared to $15 in Puerto Vallarta. Needless to say we went through the narrow unmarked channel to the big general anchorage area for all the cruisers. We found a nice little spot a little bit removed away from the forty boats anchored there. We were behind an island that protected us from the daily afternoon winds that come up. After anchoring we called the water taxi service that, for 25 pesos each (equivalent $2.50 US), takes you round trip to town. By the time we got to town the wind had really picked up and was blowing 30 plus knots with big waves at the entrance channel so we were lucky we made it in earlier in the day. The town of Barra is a fun little unsophisticated town with lots of little tiendas (shops). We criss-crossed all the major streets in the downtown area. We found some limited vegetables and also scoped out a place that would do our laundry the next day, as well as the Capitania de Puerto so we could check in (better late than never) for our stay at Tenacatita and Barra for the month of February.
It was a great day with the only downer was that it appeared that Carllie had one of these spider bites on her big toe of her right foot. It seems to have the same symptoms as my bites from back in January and we think she may have got it on Monday when we went up the river. Not good.
Wednesday February 14, 2007 Our friends David and Judy Lloyd from Kelowna came by for a visit this morning to take a look at our boat. We have a lot in common with them as they are fellow Canadians and have gone through their trials and tribulations of building their own catamaran as well. We agreed to get together for dinner to celebrate Valentine’s Day together. We eventually got to town and dropped off our laundry and did some food shopping and got some flip-flops for Carllie so she could walk with her sore toe. (C: No way I could put it in an enclosed shoe.) We eventually made it back to the dinghy tie-up place is at the Sands Hotel which lets cruisers tie up their dinghies and use their pool if you buy some drinks and food at the small palapa bar at the pool. Sounds good to us! After our shopping spree we relaxed by the pool over an order of nachos and had a little swim.
Tonight, we got together for dinner with David and Judy on their big Simpson 42 catamaran, Deja Too. David spent 8 years building (as compared to our 2 1/2 years). It is avery seaworthy, liveable, and comfortable vessel with great bridge deck clearance. After a delicious dinner of salad and Cajun prawns they showed us how to play Mexican Train Dominos which is a popular game wherever cruisers congregate. Maybe I am getting a little bit of the symptoms of “Cruiseheimers” from not enough mental activity while cruising but this game was sure tough trying to match up the dominos. (C: This was very surprising as Garett is the big Master Strategist whenever we play the "whist" card game with our pals Casey and Amandah, while I spend the whole game totally befuddled. I did much better at this game. However, it is less mathematical than spacial recognition, and perhaps that's why.) By the end my head was swimming with double 12s, open train, double blanks, different colored dots, closed train, una click click, public trains, etc. My brain hurt so bad afterwards; it made Visual Basic programming look easy.
Thursday February 15, 2007 We went into town again today and took the bus over to Melaque where there are some bigger food stores and more veggies. We decided to walk the town a little bit before shopping so we went down to the beach for a light lunch.
After accumulating a dozen bags of groceries we got a taxi for a mere 50 pesos ($5 US) to take us back to our dinghy at the Sand Hotel.
Carllie’s toe is getting worse as it seems to be going through the same stages my bites went through. The only difference is that it makes walking very difficult. Friday February 16, 2007 We woke up to a rare case of some south winds to help take us north the 12 miles back to Bahia Tenacatita. The only problem is that Carllie toe is so bad she can’t stand on here feet for very long, so she cannot crew in the same way, nor even cook. After a very nice sail we anchored in a slightly different spot much more tucked in and closer to shore and out of the swell. Even with Carllie’s poor toe we did go over the weekly Mayor’s Night Out raft-up. This time there were only about 20 boats, but it was still a lot of fun. After sharing all the food dishes and trading books and DVDs, tonight’s theme was on two questions: #1) Boat Karma – stories on when you have helped someone on another boat or they have helped you; and #2) Where do you want to be in five years? There were many interesting stories. Our contribution to #1 was a story on a sailor who up in Montague Harbor near Vancouver had some type of stomach disorder and we helped him to get an ambulance. Our response to #2 was that we hope we will be able to keep relaxed and happy when we are back in the hustle and bustle of the city after having the contrast of our two year cruise in all these beautiful places in Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. . Saturday February 17, 2007 We had been invited to join our friends Ken and Wendy Squirrell and a whole bunch of other cruisers on their big catamaran Cop Out to go on a short two mile trip over to La Manzanilla, the small town in the north part of the bay. Carllie’s foot was pretty painful and so she decided to stay on Light Wave to rest and keep her foot elevated. They were a grand total of 18 people on Cop Out for the trip over. Cop Out is so big compared to our little Light Wave; however, Ken seems to be always working on the boat trying to maintain his two diesel drive motors, diesel generator, fridge, freezer, watermaker, etc. We are not that envious when we think off all the extra work and cost involved in having a much bigger and more complex boat, not to mention all the money one has to spend on repairs. After three trips a shore with his dinghy we loosely split into two groups to explore the town and agreed to meet back at the Martini Restaurant for lunch.
We walked the streets picking up bits and pieces of produce from the small "mini-super" tiendas that lined the dirt main road. Papayas were only 8 pesos a kilo, that’s only 40 cents per pound! We also dropped by a local art gallery that had many pieces of original art from the local artisans and artists.
We eventually made it over to the crocodile (cocodrilos) farm. These aren’t the little three-footers we saw on the jungle river trip but the really big guys about 10 feet long just a few feet away on the other side of a very skimpy and incomplete chain link fence. Somehow I don’t think there are many small dogs in this town. These are mean looking creatures!
We finally reached the restaurant with all our limbs intact and had a great meal over a leisurely 2 hours. We all agreed it was one of the best meals and most reasonable priced ones we had all had since in Mexico.
After lunch we were faced with a new problem in that we had to somehow get out to Cop Out through the three-foot surf that had built up since the morning because of the afternoon onshore winds. Needless to say all the three dinghy loads of people got pretty wet trying to negotiate the waves. It was great day with lots of fun and it was too bad Carllie missed the trip.
Sunday February 18, 2007 David from Deja Too talked me into going on another of these “adventure” runs (#2) inland through the plantations and around the lagoon. He had also recruited a few other crazy fellow Canadians, Moira and Scott from Powell River (who are sailing with their two children), plus another Canadian, Richard, and Evan, our only American. We joked with Evan that “You are running for your country.” He quickly retorted, ”No, I’m running from my country.” It is amazing the difference in meaning by adding just the one letter “r”. We have been bumping into Moira and Scott with their kiddies Kate and Chris on their monohull sailboat, Arctic Willow, all the way down the coast since Morro Bay, California, back in October. They are very nice people. This week it only took us 2 hours, an hour faster than last time which I attributed to the fact I was using my old beat-up squash running shoes which have seem to have more heel cushioning so my knees didn’t ache and lock up after just 30 minutes. I was able to actually run the whole way, the longest distance I have probably run in about 20 years. The run was fortunately split into three segments by two Gatorade rest stops at the two small towns along the route. This week’s run included a new obstacle in that at about the halfway mark we had to dodge a 12-pack of mean looking cattle that were on the middle of the trail, including one even meaner looking bull all with big sharp horns. We somehow snuck by them with only a few feet to spare. The run ended with the usual fording of the mouth of the jungle river with the water shoulder deep to get back to the dinghy where we started from. The things I get talked into. Monday February 19, 2007 I can hardly walk again today after yesterday’s “adventure run.” We decided to prevent any future spider, insect or whatever bites that may have possibly originated on the boat by doing a little fumigation of our sleeping hull. I took everything out and cleaned all the walls and floor and then sprayed every square inch of the hull with an insecticide and sealed it up 24 hours. The rest of the day I spent doing a list of accumulated boat maintenance projects and repairs that I had been putting off for some time. I did find time at the end of the day to go on a swim over to our friends David and Judy. Carllie did this multi-frame photo sequence at my attempt at a dive.
Carllie’s toe condition is still very bad. It seems to be going through the same stages as my bites. We have had a very helpful fellow cruiser doctor, Betsy from her sailboat Kayak, who come and look at it. Carllie:Betsy was very kind, and checked me out every day she was in the harbor. As a lump had also formed under my arm, she figured the bite caused a systemic infection, or staph infection, and gave me a prescription of antibiotics to arrest the infection. In these tropical climates, any skin puncture can cause dangerous infection. Our friend Wendy Squirrell, while visiting Australia, got a tiny splinter in her thumb, which within a few days resulted in that infamous dark line running up her arm to her heart, a sign of gangrene. By the time they got her to the hospital, she was unconscious. So, although we are adverse to using drugs of any sort, we have to be very careful here with infections. We plan on doing a serious liver cleanse and juice fast when we get home to get rid of the poisons in the drugs, which can do more damage than the problem itself many times. Tuesday February 20, 2007 Garett: Today was another day of boat maintenance and tending to Carllie’s toe which seemed to be just a little bit better today as it is at least not throbbing anymore though it still looks very gruesome and she can’t walk very far. (Our most gruesome picture, unfortunately, got corrupted in our computer so we can't show you how gross it really was. Just as well?) Wednesday February 21, 2007 After some morning boat work, we decided to go some circulation going in Carllie’s foot by going for a walk on the beach. She is feeling better today and actually slept through the night without taking any painkillers which is definitely a step in the right direction. (C: the walk did help the circulation, and short runs and walks on the days following also helped the blood circulate to clean out the infected area.) There are now over 40 boats in the big bay here which is a far cry form the little group of 10 when we first arrived here almost three weeks ago in the first week of February. Our friends David and Judy on their catamaran came back from their brief trip to Barra and so again I swam over to see them as the sun set to end another beautiful day here. There is a rumor that one of the boats to arrive today has a volleyball net so we may have a fun game tomorrow. Thursday February 22, 2007 Another sunny day here and we can’t seem to remember the last day with any clouds. I guess it was that thunder and lightning storm back in Bahia Chamela on February 2. Somehow I had this vision of cruising in Mexico with a volleyball net on every beach. The reality is that many of the people are older than us and not the super exercise types with a few notable exceptions. (Ahem! could you possibly mean David Lloyd, who is not happy unless he is exercising? In fact, he finds the cruising life too sedentary, so even though he spent 8 years building the boat, and they have only been cruising since 2005, they have Deja Too up for sale.). Well today Marlene and Bob from their boat Selah, hailing from San Francisco, brought a volleyball net, poles, and assorted stuff and we set it up in the soft sand on the beach. We started with only six people with three per side but over the next few hours the participants grew and we had seven and eight per side. After 3 hours in the hot sun we were exhausted but it was sure fun to have some good exercise.
Meanwhile back at Carllie’s foot there was more improvement so she seems to be getting back to normal even though here foot and tough looks very very ugly. (UGGGH lee!) Friday February 23, 2007 It was Friday again and it is again the Mayor’s Night Out raft-up off Good Dog Beach. This week we had a really good turnout of 30 dinghies. Carllie and I strategically and very conveniently tied up to a few people who brought some deserts. The food that was passed around was great. Afterwards the discussion topics were a type of foreign culture experience and a new recipe or food discovery while in Mexico. They were a lot of great stories, entertainment, and laughs as everyone there got up and added something.
Saturday February 24, 2007
Today is my 50th birthday! So it was “Whatever I want to do activity” day. After a giant papaya breakfast I was wished happy birthday on the 9 am morning net by all the 40 boats in the anchorage. We then headed up the jungle river to Bahia Tenacatita for snorkeling and lunch. This was our third trip up the river and it is still just as fun as the first time. It is a unique geographical feature of the world. We then hiked over the sand berm for a half-mile to "The Aquarium” for snorkeling and free diving. Each day we become a little more comfortable with the underwater world. Free diving is a very different than scuba diving as you are not encumbered with 70 pounds of tanks and stuff. It feels very natural.
After our diving we then went back to our favorite palapa for a camarone (shrimp) lunch. We then made our back down the river back to the main beach to join the volleyball game already in progress. Carllie: At Playa Tenacatita, many indigenous indians walk from table to table at the various beachside palapa restaurants, selling their crafts and goods. The first time we visited, I bought two lovely handpainted clay bowls. You can always negotiate a better price with these vendors. In fact, they expect you to, so they always start high. It's good fun, and good to practise my Spanish practise. Garett: We were then invited over for a birthday dinner by Ken and Wendy to Cop Out where we were joined by their friends from Calgary, Jack and Judy, who had just purchase a boat in San Diego and are sailing to the Caribbean. Carllie made the main course of delicious sushi. My favorite was the cream cheese and sun dried tomato rolls. We finished off with a banana birthday cake that was made by Judy. She and Jack returned to their boat while we watched a movie with Ken and Wendy, our favorite pastime on Cop Out, with their big comfortable saloon and screen much bigger than ours. It was a great evening with good friends. The only thing was missing was another 100 friends from Vancouver! (Carllie: We hope to have a belated 50.5th birthday party for Garett when we're home in the summertime on August 24th.)
Exhausted, we got back at Light Wave at midnight after my very memorable birthday. Sunday February 25, 2007 My first day into my fifties was greeted with another one of the (in)famous adventure runs lead by our triathlon friend (or is that "fiend"), David (and Judy) from Deja Too. We had a few new victims, oops I mean participants, Nancy Shaw and her sons Michael, 12, and Mason, 9. It was another hot day but we went a little slower than last week. Today was also the planned start of my 60-hour water fast. I drank a lot of water at the rest stops and felt pretty good all in all.
Monday February 26, 2007 More water today but I did manage to make it ashore for the seemingly now daily game of volleyball.
Tuesday February 27, 2007 9 am was the official end of my 60 hours on water and I can tell you that the huge half papaya I had was fantastic. All in all it was a positive experience and I found my energy level was quite even over the whole time considering the 10-mile run on day 1 and the couple hours of volleyball yesterday. The next time I will try for 3 days. (C: Hoo boy! guess I should try another 24-hour water fast. Otherwise, I will be cooking for myself.) We celebrated the end of my water fast with having David and Judy over for French toast. I then went to work on the big job of cleaning the hulls of the marine growth so we would be as fast as possible for the long trip north in a couple of days. It was a little easier this time as there wasn’t all the sea lice on the boat as the last time I did back in January.
We went over the David and Judy’s boat Deja Too for dinner with Bob and Marlene, the people with the volleyball net, for a group dinner. Somewhere in the course of the chit chat it came around to videos and TV series, and that we had been watching the episodes of 24, Season 5, and had missed not only the critical last two episodes, 23 and 24, but several in the middle, because we could not download them off the internet. Bob said he thought he actually might have these two episodes and others that we had missed and would make us a copy we could find out what happens to the indestructible character Jack Bauer!
We finished off the evening with another fun game of Mexican Train Dominoes. It was hard again at first but I think I am starting to get the hang of it. My headache afterwards wasn’t too bad. I think I just need some more brain exercise. Wednesday February 28, 2007 One thing we haven't talked about is that at 9 am every morning there is the Morning Net for the Fleet at Tenacatita on Channel 22. Carllie: Here's the story: every night at Tenacatita, at about 9 p.m., just as all the cruisers are settling in for quiet reading or sleep, the entertainment starts up at nearby beachside Blue Bay Hotel. Their activities director is this very enthusiastic young woman whose name we later discovered is Stella. Well! Stella is very enthusiastic indeed, and with her microphone we can hear her cheerleading the guests all over the anchorage. They evidently had a game of Mexican lottery, very similar to our Bingo games, every night, and we could hear her calling out the numbers. They would also have music and dancing. Luckily, it always only lasted about an hour, as abruptly everything would go dead quiet. My scenario-minded frustrated comedian, Garett, who hasn't been able to perform an on-stage skit with his buddies Evan and Casey since we left Vancouver last year, gets on the radio early in our stay at Bahia Tenacatita, during the fleet announcements that start at 9 a.m., and with a very straight face (thus conveyed through the air waves, only mitigated by my hoots of laughter in the background), this is more or less what he said: Garett: This is what I announced over radio on a morning on
February 8: There was silence after the announcement. All the morning net controller could say was, "that sounds interesting..." Carllie: The problem is, as Garett delivered it so "straight" even though I was hooting in the background, only a few people initially realized it was a JOKE. They all groaned, we gather, and expected a noisy night in the anchorage. Eventually, though, over our subsequent three week stay at Tenacatita, the story got straightened out and they all thought it was a great joke to play Bingo on our boats and flick our anchor lights off and on if we had a number. We are even meeting people now who have heard about the joke via the cruisers grapevine. They have also heard about our spider bites. The morning net always ends with some humour, limerick or quote. In tribute to this bingo announcement of a couple a weeks ago, Judy, on Deja Too, came up with a fun limerick as a sendoff to us with with our imminent departure of tomorrow: "There once was a cat colored "yella" It was priceless. She even got mike clicks over the radio. Garett: With our planned departure for La Paz tomorrow we went up the river again for some groceries and then walked two miles to the small town of Rabelcito, where we could get an internet connection to check our email as there was no real wireless connection in the main bay where all the boats are anchored. Unfortunately, the Internet was not high-speed, to say the least, so we only got about six emails answered, and could send out very few new emails. We again managed to make it back for the last game of volleyball. Bob surprised us by making a 3 disk set of all twenty four episodes of 24 which should keep us entertained for the next several nights.
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