Make Me Laugh Again

We got up had breakfast and got underway. At least that was the plan. We got up, and tried to get underway, but the dock line that we were tied to the mooring ball with, had gotten tangled and did not want to let go. Normally, I deal with the anchor, and Reneé steers the boat, when we tie to a mooring ball, typically we swap places and she deals with the mooring ball. Well she could not get the knot undone, so I went up to the bow and she took the wheel. We moved the boat up a bit to take some of the tension off the knot and then I could drag the float up out of the water and work on the knot. A few minutes later we were underway, about 9 am.

We motored across as there was virtually no wind. Which was true until we got to the channel of the marina and suddenly the winds were up to 18 knots. Ok, we got this…..

We head in and have to turn to port down a channel to get to the dock that we have a slip on. A first glimpse, there is no one in it. As soon as we commit to the turn though, a very large power boat (80 foot?) turns into the same channel from the other end. So, we back out of his way, (remember the winds at 18 knots?) we manage to avoid hitting anyone here. After he gets around the corner we head back in to our slip on Dock 3 A14.
Well, we thought the A side was the far side and we overshot the fairway to our slip and had to turn around, by this time the winds were up to about 20 knots. We started down the correct fairway and only bumped one other boat as we backed into our slip. That was rough, but the only damage to either boat was a broken fishing pole holder on our boat. (West Marine $70/pair).
We got shore power on and Reneé headed off to the laundry and I went and checked us in. Then went to talk to the people on the boat that we hit. A very pleasant conversation, maybe not required but certainly made me feel better checking in with them. They double checked for damage and let me know the next day that all was ok.

That was enough for one day, and we really didn’t do anything else.

We certainly hit this spot at the right time.  There are no big waves and last night was relatively calm.

The Peppers are here as well.  They picked us up in their dinghy at 8:30 this morning.  We found the trail to the waterfall (the one furthest away from the beach).  We only made two wrong turns.  We stopped at the Jungle Garden (half way) for a beverage.  The waitress, Biri, speaks good English.  Then we continued our journey.  We’ve decided the initial info we received on this hike was wrong.  We were told it is a mile and a half to the falls.  Our pedometer says otherwise.  I think we’d gone 3 miles one way.  We enjoyed a rest and snacks at the falls then headed back.  Along our journey we saw lots of horses, donkeys, cows, dogs, chickens, one iguana, and some burros.  Neil ran out of steam on the way back.  He barely made it to the Jungle Garden with lots of breaks.  We enjoyed a beef and broccoli dinner at this lovely garden.  We arranged for a horse ride for Neil the rest of the way. He is still working getting his stamina back after his bout with the parasite.  Steve, Denny, and I arrived at the beach 20 min after Neil did.  As tempting as another cerveza sounded, we got back in the dinghy and returned to the boats. We were all beat!  Good day though overall.

We got up at 11:30 pm Tuesday night, and we were underway by 1155 pm.  We had an uneventful trip up the coast in the dark. With virtually no wind and almost no waves. Going around Cabo Corrientes. Has not been fun before. We shredded a sail the last time north. This is a point like Point Conception in California where the wind changes significantly. Typically the northerly winds hit and cause confusion and there is of course the wind from the land here as well. In any case we did not experience any of that this time. We have seen about a week of virtually no wind for this area of the world, and that results in minimal wave action as well. So, this was a motor boat ride as opposed to a sailboat trip against the wind.

We arrived at Yelapa at about 1 pm, got tied up and put things away and took naps. Tomorrow we will tackle the hike to the waterfall with Steve and Denny. My plan is if it starts to be too much for me, I will sit and wait for them to come back. We BBQ’d steak and got showers then a movie and bed.

Up and about around 7 am. Breakfast and bible reading then slowly getting organized. Checked the weather and tides then communicated with Steve and Denny and got our dinghy down and took them into lunch. The waves were pretty impressive, but we timed our trip to take advantage of the tide so we could use the river and not worry about the rocks or mud.

We took a walk on the beach before lunch then had a very long leisurely lunch, which was very good. This place also has internet, so we got some business done. Then back to their boat and us to our boat. We put our dinghy away, then took naps. Denny and Steve were over for BBQ’d shrimp and chat then off the boat by about 6:30. We are planning on leaving about midnight to go to Yelapa. So, tomorrow will be a long day.

We got up around 8 or so, the plan for the day was to get the dinghy going and get ashore for lunch. Well we got the dinghy down, and pumped up (it has been about 2 and half months since we used it) then we got the outboard on it and got it to run. Pretty easy to get it started just a couple pulls on the cord. But, the connection to the tank leaks. Another thing to get on the parts to get list.

We talked to Steve and Denny and they were ashore for lunch, we were going to join them, but it was just getting too hard. Steve came by after they were back out and supplied us with the parts and we made a temporary fix that will also us to run the dinghy until we can get the right parts.

Somewhere in here, Reneé paddle boarded for a bit.

Steve and I talked for awhile about boat stuff and he gave me a couple of ideas of things to get or at least look into. I gave him a set of grabbers, he did not have a set on board.

Reneé repaired one of the snaps on the screens, and that has pretty much been our day.

We started the engine to start charging the battery at 5:15 pm 79% charged.