Taking the seanic route
Up about 7 am, this is the last day for our guest David and Susan Poole. They are flying home to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Reneé did some shopping for Susan, in Bucerias and I filled the water tank (107 gallons). We had the mechanic from Peter Vargas take a look at our bonding, he found no problems, we got an estimate for doing the varnish on the wood.
Overall a pretty quiet day.
No pictures today
The ladies got up early with a plan to walk through the market. They will be back by 9 and we will all go to church together.
Off to church, it felt like swimming upstream against the current. Lots of people going to the market. We got to the top of the town and walked right onto the bus.
The service was full, we heard from a Mexican missionary to Japan, he gave a powerful message (in English), Josh translated into Spanish.
After church we walked to lunch, then to the shops in the Arollo then out to the Malecon. Finally took the bus back to La Cruz and the boat.
Dinner was pulled pork, then after showers for Reneé and I, we watched Star Trek IV the voyage home.
We were up around 7:30 or so, we contacted Edgar to come out at his convenience and untie our stern tie. Then proceeded to have breakfast, do our reading and put things away on the boat.
Edgar came out about 10:30 and took almost a minute to untie the stern tie. We would have to have put down the kayak and coordinate removing the tie from the back then go to the other end and untie, so about a half hour. We were ready about 11:30 and removed the front tie and left Yelapa (probably our last time here).
We motored about 1/2 way across to La Cruz with maybe 1 or 2 knots of wind. I figured out why the speed through the water wasn’t working, it turned out to be a setting on the chart ploter. Now the true wind speed works and the speed through the water etc. we dumped the holding tank and put out the staysail (so that we could roll it back up tighter) and found that the wind was coming up, so then we put out the main and the jib. We sailed in approximately the correct direction for an hour or so, then turned and sailed straight downwind and sailed wing on wing for about a half hour. This put us almost exactly at the entrance to the marina. We put the sails away as the wind came up to about 20-25 knots.
We saw quite a few whales, several that came to the surface right in front of the boat, even a couple that flipped their tails at us.
Then into the marina and into our slip. The security guy met as at the dock and helped with lines and then paperwork.
We got the power on and the air conditioners running (outside air temp was 100 degrees. We stayed inside and finished our game of May I? (A rummy card game).
At about 6 we walked to the Italian restaurant for dinner and music, then back to the boat and walked to the showers.
Up at 7ish. We hung out on the boat after breakfast and bible reading. Then about 11am, David and I took the dinghy and went around the point to the east to a good/great snorkeling location. We watched the tour companies for awhile, I don’t want to interfere, this is how they make the money that pays the bills and puts food on the table. When there were no more paying customers we went in and David went in the water. This was really his first time. He saw lots of fish, I figured out how to drop my anchor (I forgot to tie off the loose end) and I threw some crackers in which attracted a bunch of fish. About that time, some more tour companies showed up, they suggested that I chain up or anchor and I explained that I had dropped my anchor. They could have laughed at me, but they dove down and found our anchor and brought it back to me. By this time we were ready to head back to the boat.
We had lunch on board then took the dinghy into the beach and walked to the nearby waterfall, and a walk through the town. Then dinghy back to the boat rest then BBQ steak for dinner. 7,000 steps for the day. This is a steep trail, but not as long. Tonight we will play a game.
We were a little late getting off the boat. So, we had to contact the water taxi and tell them 930, instead of 9. I think the guy was here before he got the message. We started walking as soon as we were ashore and walked to the jungle garden first (about 1/2 way to the waterfall). Then finished our walk, we ate our lunch looking over the waterfall, then David and I went down and swam and took pictures and finally climbed back up to the ladies. We got organized and looked at the time (it was after 2 pm, and we had to be back in time for the water taxi, with the last run being at 4:30).
We made it and had time for chips and guacamole at the restaurant on the beach. Then back to the boat, we bbq’d sausages, veggies, and potatoes.
After dinner showers were the order of the evening. Then we all sat around doing nothing, (Susan was writing her trip notes, Reneé and David are reading books, I am writing the blog). Today, we saw dogs and cats, cows and chickens and a bunch of birds. We had drinks at the Jungle garden, not overly expensive, we had heard they were “ridiculous” but we did not consider 60 pesos (about $3) for a mineral water at a sit down restaurant that expensive. Especially when you consider that to get that beverage, it was delivered to the city by water taxi and then carted up on a quad or by a donkey. In fact I think it was a bargain!
We swam in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall, and had lunch at an overlook. Dinner was excellent and, we were all pretty tired, we walked 15,900 steps today! That compares to the last two days of 56 and 50 (we did not leave the boat).
The plan for tomorrow, is to go ashore a bit later, and walk to the closer waterfall, then two or three of us will take the dinghy around the point to do some snorkeling. Susan is not that interested, and Reneé is dealing with a sore mouth from the dental work.
David has expressed an interest, so I will take him.
