Jordan's Visit - Part Two

It’s hard to believe but we are closing in on the last couple days of Jordan’s visit. We’re very sad to see him go and would keep him indefinitely but Michael & Gabrielle are flying home on Monday and we were able to get Jordan on the same flight. This means that he will have adults he knows to help him jump through the customs hoops in San Diego. He could probably negotiate it by himself but we will just feel better if he has help.

After Michael & Gabrielle arrived in La Cruz we hung around there for a few days so they could see a bit of the area and Jordan could work ahead on schoolwork before heading south. We had gotten a bit complacent about watching the weather so when we started thinking about leaving the dock we were surprised to learn that a gale was on its way down from the Sea. We either had to leave Saturday morning (the 29^th) or wait for who-knows-how-long until the weather passed. We opted to leave.

Saturday morning we were up early to finish the last minute chores and give the dog one last romp on the beach. After a stop at the fuel dock, we were on our way. It was a beautiful day with very little wind. Everyone was on alert for whales, dolphins, etc but there weren’t many about. As we got closer to Cabo Corrientes the swell got a bigger and closer together and some of the crew began to feel a little uncomfortable. Jordan and Gabrielle were both queasy so we gave them some Sturgeron and I made dinner in hopes that something in their stomachs would help. It worked for Jordan began to feel better but not for poor Gabrielle. I’m afraid she was pretty miserable for the rest of the trip.

Even though the passage was a bit lumpy, everything was pushing us from astern so it was a fast trip…just 22 hours. As we came into Tenacatita it looked like there were few boats in residence but the closer we got the more masts appeared. There were over 40 boats anchored and even though it is a large bay, we ended up close enough to the beach to hear the surf pounding all night. The weather from the north created some pretty big swells and with our history of unsuccessful surf landings we chose not to challenge the huge waves.

One day Michael & Gabrielle decided to take the dinghy in, anchor outside the breaking waves and swim to the beach. After they were ashore and had walked down the beach, Chris realized the dinghy was not anchored anymore. The swells were just too big for the amount of rode. The anchor unhooked itself and the dinghy was on its way to shore. He had Lewis (from the Merry Lee) take him over to pick it up and bring it back to the boat. When Michael & Gabrielle returned and the dink was gone they had a few moments of panic before realizing it was attached to the boat.

Jordan was able to do some fishing from the boat (though he didn’t catch anything big enough to eat) and drive the dink around the anchorage visiting the cruising friends he’d met during our stay in La Cruz.

The weather was predicted to change again so we decided to head on into Barra de Navidad where we’d have a nice, calm resting place. The original “plan” was to go to Las Hadas and Santiago but with the expected weather change they were both likely to be pretty rolly and we didn’t want to test the stomachs of our guests again.

Since we have been in Barra we have enjoyed showing everyone around this town as well as Melaque and La Manzanilla. We’ve spent time in the pool at the Sands, dined at most of our favorite restaurants, caught up with more of our other cruiser friends and, of course, everyone has enjoyed the daily visits from the French Baker.

Tomorrow we put the three of them on a bus to Puerto Vallarta where they will spend one night before flying back to rainy Portland. Chris & I will miss them all but, especially Jordan. Still…we are already planning his visit next year!