"Why aren't you posting anything on your blog?! It's been over a month!"
"I know Mom, I've just been busy."
"Busy? ...You're on the beach."
Me, sulking "Well... it's hard to get good internet access... and nobody except you reads it anyways"
"Oh Danny, that's not true. Lots of people read your blog!"
So I checked my stats and she's right (Yes Mom, I said it. You were right). There are over three thousand hits right now. So if I subtract the amount of hits I would conservatively guess that my Mother is responsible for that leaves at least a couple dozen other readers!
So for my exclusive group of followers here is a rundown of the last month.
After months of prep Susan finally got tired of sitting in the marina and frustrated enough with our lack of progress that she agreed to start our way south. I had learned from our trip to Yelapa, so I chose the weather window with care knowing that if I freaked her out again I would have a lonely sail to Huatulco. Our trip around the notorious waters of Cabo Corrientes went great, flat calm and not even enough wind to blow out a match. So we motored, no sails, which was fine with me as long as Susan and the kids were having fun and I could keep the anxiety level down.
We pulled into the normally quiescent little one street town of Punta Ipala to find it overrun with revelers for the week of Semana Santa.
Oh wait, I need to back up.
On the day we left La Cruz Morgon was stung by a bee. He got about a half dollar size welt on his forearm which I considered normal and didn't really give it anymore thought. By the time we pulled into Ipala his entire forearm and hand were numb and had swelled to about twice their normal size. His left side looked the true life form of Popeye. I tried really hard not to show my concern but we were a twelve hour sail from a Doctor so I pretty much always had one eye on Morgon and one eye on the 911 evac button on our spot gps. It took about five days for the swelling to diminish and he returned to normal except for a drastically increased wariness around bees. The odd thing is that they really seem to be attracted to him... along with stinging jelly fish and aggressive little fish that bite. Good thing he's tough. Once in Manzanillo we tracked down a pharmacy to try and get him an epi pen but they aren't available in Mexico so we had to settle for a bottle of epinephrine and a needle. All for about seven dollars over the counter. How's that compare for drug cost up north! M
On our way to Manzanillo we stopped at Bahia Chamela and Bahia de Navidad but our favorite and still is thus far was Bahia de Tenacatita. Tenacatita is a great anchorage with a lagoon to explore, fantastic snorkeling and the quaint little village of La Manzanilla on the southwest side of the bay. It was also the spot where we all had our first up close dolphin experience. I had come up on deck just as dusk was setting in and heard the "FHOOSH" of a dolphin exhaling right off of our starboard side. I called Susan and the kids up and for almost an hour we watched them feed on little fish all around the boat. Danny and Alora would hang over the bowsprit and the dolphins would come up just a couple of feet below them!
Morgon and I had run the three miles into La Manzanilla from the anchorage to pick up supplies but Susan, Danny and Alora hadn't gotten to see the town. Two days before we were going to head out I checked the weather and saw we were in for a rough afternoon but the next day would be even worse so we decided to pack into the dinghy and head in to explore.
With two people in a 9 foot 10-hp dinghy you can get up and go! But when you pack in three more people, two dogs and two backpacks full of all of the stuff you haul around when you have a family she sits low in the water and trudges along at a snails pace. On top of all the added weight I had gotten some dirty fuel so about every two minutes the outboard would sputter and choke threatening to die out completely on me before coming back to life. Nevertheless the water that morning was fairly calm and I am reasonably certain we arrived three miles away in La Manzanilla the same day that we had left.
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| No you can't keep him! |
And it was an incredible day! We explored the lagoon on the east end of town spotting monstrous dinosaur-like crocodiles, some almost five feet wide and twenty feet long! We walked the beach sampling the vendors fresh pineapple and mango, giant coconut honeyed treats, grilled shrimp and live raw shellfish. Eaten just after they’re shucked they are still moving when you hit them with some lime!
We took in the clowns and roving mariachi bands; the best of which was a boy of about six or seven belting out classic mariachi tunes. The crowd around him would get so heavy you almost had to stand on a chair to see the little guy!
The whole time we are out it is nagging at me that the wind is picking up and I know the seas are getting bigger. But I keep pushing those thoughts away so that I can enjoy this great experience with my family. And it was a great experience! But the day was coming to an end and we were all exhausted so we hauled ourselves back down the beach to our little dinghy and pushed off into the bay.
We hadn’t gotten two minutes from shore when I started to wonder whether I should have given more consideration to the warning bells that had been going off in my head. Ten minutes into the crossing the waves started crashing over the top of the dinghy, at first only occasionally, every twelfth or fourteenth wave; but that soon became every second or third and we were soaked! I didn’t know if we were gaining ground or destined to fight it out in the middle of the bay, not gaining or losing, just hovering until I ran out of fuel. It wouldn’t have been so bad but every time that @&#$* outboard would sputter and choke the bow would dip down allowing the next wave to catch us full force causing the dinghy to slow even more which in turn would bring water over the stern! And the outboard was getting worse. It would cough and sputter every thirty or forty seconds now and every time I was sure that this was it, it would die for good and we would be pathetically trying to push our way through the wind and waves with paddles.
Susan and Alora were great sports! Unafraid, giggling and laughing, trying to shield themselves from the next wall of water. I laughed along with them to hide my concern, trying to quietly urge Danny to BAIL FASTER!! He was already bailing so fast he was a blur! The dogs looked miserable, sitting in four inches of water they held equal looks of doom, giving me condemning glances that told me they knew it was my fault.
A little over halfway into the bay we crossed past the stern of a big Mexican navy ship. Through the water streaming off my glasses I could see the crew all standing on deck watching us all crawl by, wind on our bow, still getting swamped with waves and bailing furiously. I felt like a fool but looked up and waved non shalantly, as if to say “ Oh yeah, this is no big deal, we Canucks do this all the time”. When I looked back a minute later I was crazy with relief to see that the enormous ship had pulled anchor and was following us across the bay.
This ridiculous ordeal went on for what must have been hours until five minutes from Tenacious we crossed into the sheltered side and the seas and winds died down. Soon we were standing on deck, wringing out our clothes, our groceries, and our dogs.
I never did let on to Susan how worried I was. I suppose she’ll read this post and know. I hope that she remembers that God (and the Mexican Navy) looks out for fools, and still be glad she married one.
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