Vallarta is behind us. Smooth sailing as expected. Our guests Steve and Linda will be with us for two weeks. We anchored in Chemala around 5 pm and we immediately got busy cleaning the cockpit. Waking up SpringDay at Puerto Vallarta after one month of slumber and about ten days of rain caused the exhaust stack to spew a lot of soot most of it on the cockpit floor. Big mess, Skipper will switch to Solitron a different fuel additive to reduce drastically the amount of soot. After that there was just enough day light left to enjoy a Bloody Mary in a clean cockpit.
The Skipper and Steve duo goes back to the Vietnam years...they met in1969. Same unit - they flew together and as pilots on search and destroy helicopter missions. Those were the guys that flew low over the trees and when fired at would call the big boys to finish the job. Stories galore and very vivid memories with no chance of fading away. One aircraft riddled with bullet holes miraculously making it back to base earns pilot/Skipper the nickname of Magnet Ass while the other poses for a picture with his helmet showing a bullet hole that entered the front of his helmet, grazing his hair and exiting through the top. Steve walked in and threw his helmet on Magnet Ass's desk with a look that said "Top that!". They were twenty years old. Grace upon them, no doubt praying mothers at home.
Forty five years later Pilots have become Skippers and the stories continue...over water this time.
Jan 19 on the way to Tenacatita SpringDay poked her nose in Careyes to admire the luxurious homes of Careyes; brightly painted and mounted on top of cliffs with very long and sinuous stairs down to the water as if the house dwellers desperately wanted an umbilical cord to the ocean. I love looking at the palm trees snugged in the crease of the cliffs. How can something so green, soft and elegant come out of a sheer rock cliff? Beautiful. I can envision owning a home there, sitting and looking at the ocean. I share with Skipper and he said: "What would I do?”,and an order is immediately given to SpringDay to quickly turn around before the vision settles too deep in my heart... and we continue on, Seahawks game on his mind. I smiled.
Seahawks game on - Nostalgia strikes, all of us sitting in the salon of our prior boat. I wondered why we sold Lilipad [nothing wrong with this boat!]... Only to undertake giant puzzle size projects with a boat so neglected for years. But then I am reminded that Skipper's hard work is paying off and I hope SpringDay knows how lucky she is to have found this skipper. Seahawks win.
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We spent over five yrs in this salon of Lilipad
so nice that the new owners have become friends |
Tenacatita Bay - Three Nordies in a tub full of sail boats.
I will remember this anchorage as the place where Skippers, first mates and crew, all over 50 and 60yrs of age allowed themselves to have fun. Repairs, tweaks and updates have evacuated Skipper's mind, it's time to have fun. Three days filled with smiles, new experiences, teasing, competing and mostly relaxing.
Insignia had to be glowing from the inside when attacked by the powerful spot light of SpringDay and Ana Mae. It must be the marine version of TPing the neighbor.
Giggling skippers gone teenagers!
Tender to SpringDay gets four passengers through the mangroves, hoping to see crocodiles and a place to eat at the end of the water way but we hit a dead end. Fence closed. Book need updating.
Race is on for the way back, behind us Tender to Insignia passes us and wins. An egret on a sunken panga catches my eye, Skipper obliges for a picture and forfeits the race reluctantly.
An egret a sandpiper and a whimbrel. Did you know that over 52% of bird species in Mexico live here in Jalisco? Birds are fascinating to me, they all seem so perfectly made.
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| whimbrel |
Paddle board newbies - my turn is coming, I know. I wish I knew how to load the videos on this blog, the falls were hilarious.
Showers on the swim step, Pilot Steve making us laugh with his thick mane not usually found on 65 yr olds heads!
Dinner in the cockpit. Sunset is being served.
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| Three miles across from where we are anchored we arrived on the shore of a little town named Manzanilla. The tide is coming up and it must be secured high on the sand until finished with shopping and dinner. |
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I stopped
to think how interesting it would
be to peer into the life behind
these windows and door. |
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| Layers of creation |
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| Conversations, food and plenty of splendor for the eyes |
A helping hand to arriving fishermen
with their catch for the day
Back in the dinghy to return to the Nordies awaiting three miles across, Skipper stops the engine in the middle of the bay in total darkness and asks everyone to tell a story before moving on. The dinghy is rated for seven people, there are ten of us. Speed is maintained. Tender earned our respect. Skipper is pleased.
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| The next day, a game of bocce ball on the beach at sunset seems like something new to do |
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| And the next day Skipper decides to learn how to snorkel - my turn is coming soon |
Kay could not pass up the opportunity to tease her husband by grabbing two crumbs of brownies, one much larger than the other and comparing the very small one to the kidney stone that sent Bill to the hospital, and comparing it to the very large one that Don passed on SpringDay in between fixing pumps!
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| Pilot Steve takes my clean feet rule to a new level |
Last evening in Tenacatita and the master bedroom air is too warm to lay down just yet, we end up in the cockpit lying down head to head, locking hands and gazing at the sky, asking questions to which no human being has the answers to, almost wishing for a spontaneous gift of a supernatural piercing gaze beyond the deep blue and scintillating stars hoping to see God, hoping for an explanation. Ralph Waldo Emerson said:
"All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen". And so we shall.
The next morning I wake up to the sound of the master bedroom door opening, with eyes half open I see his silhouette leaving a note. " Lili, my wonderful wife, ..." For this high adrenaline, high intensity and type A man, I am glad that his favorite moment was the one when we were gazing at the firmament together. Maybe this modified life will be good after all.
Thinking of you
Marina life is ahead for the next five days, for Skipper it's like staying home for homework. His mind reconvenes with repairs, tweaks and updates, now it's the generator. The decision is made, the 8kw generator will be replaced by a 12kw to emulate dock power. Skipper wants more power. A call is already made to North Carolina for surgery, SpringDay will receive a new muscle. And we are talking June for this surgery, I cannot plan more than a few hours at a time but his brain never stops...
Yancy, our caddy tells me about these majestic trees that grow together under one canopy, I believe he called them Salala trees. Then I tell Yancy that we grow pear, cherry and apple trees, he said: "Oh I watch Discovery and pears are good for stomach and cherries very good for the brain..." He smiles very big... " I always start my day with carrot apple and beet juice", and I love my job, 25 years on the golf course"he continues. I loved watching his personality, I loved his playfulness toward Skipper, his funny spanish cheers after Skipper successfully follows through with his instructions. He was the highlight of my day.
