Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow
Style ~ April - early May, 2003
While writing this, I
(Robin) am sitting on The Cat’s Meow, at anchor in the
Puerto Escondido morning
Puerto Escondido is about a
mile in diameter, and mostly 40-45’ in depth. A lot of boats can rest in here
very comfortably with room to spare. We off-load our Honda 125 motorcycle
during the time we are here, and we use it to run into Loreto and back. There
is a small community of boaters and “land-lubbers” who make up the year-round
contingency of the Hidden Port Yacht Club, and who have become good friends of
ours. We love to take TCM out to the nearby islands to do some fishing, diving,
kayaking, snorkeling, and relaxing. This place is beautiful. It is good to be
home!
We motored from the Pto. Vallarta
area to
The Cat’s Meow at the SENI yard
After resting and licking
our wounds for a few days in the
And what a great wedding it
was! Many friends of the bride and groom came to sit under palm trees right off
the beach to watch Connie and Elvin get hitched!
The Gang at The Wedding
We had a good time, with
lots of laughter, casual attire, wedding cake and champagne – it was a very
nice time.
Connie and Elvin, hitched
A week after the wedding, it
was the four-day fun & frolic party of the year for cruisers: the Eighth
Annual Loreto Fest. What a blast! There were somewhere around 250 people,
mostly cruising folks, some who have been all over and back, and some who are
just starting their cruising adventures. We played over-the-line baseball,
horse shoes, board games, had seminars on boat stuff, did crafts, had a
swap-meet, made Spam Art and Spam recipes, danced until way late into the night
and listened to some great, and some funny, music every night. We had potlucks,
chicken dinner, spaghetti dinner, pancake breakfast….lots of beer and hot dogs
were sold and consumed, too.
View while dining
at the Fest
The best part about the
Loreto Fest is that it has two real purposes, besides getting lots of people
together for lots of fun. One morning is
set aside for the bay clean up, and everyone grabs a garbage bag and does his
part. Nearly 90% of the proceeds from the Fest are used to help Mexican people
in the Loreto area. Children are sponsored so they may attend school, support
is given to a local foundation to build a rural high school, the drug and
alcohol abuse center has received assistance, etc. A lot of very good deeds
come out of the fun and frolic of the Fest, which makes it even more fun to
attend. OH, did I mention that Martin and Robin of The Cat’s Meow are the
current Champions of the Loreto Fest Horse Shoe Games?! And, Robin is the
“Second Pig” after coming close to winning the Pass the Pigs Tourney! What
excitement!
Saying
adios to good friends
Only a few days after the Fest, very good cruising
friends Kay and Joe on the trawler Joyfull left to
take their boat to
So, we have lost two
buddy-boater friends that we have been cruising with for most of the past two
years. They all will be missed, a lot. But, we hope their adventures continue
to be fun and wonderful!
Just after the Loreto Fest,
Martin’s brother, Ken and a friend Ed Balbas drove
down from
Ed & the day’s
catch
The guys fished- caught some
great Sierra, and dove – came back with clams one scallops and lobsters another
time. Not too bad, eh?
We showed Ken and Ed how
busy our life can be with all of the dining we did on TCM and on Sundance and
Why Not. A good time was had by all.
On a more somber note,
during the Loreto Fest we found out that a friend of ours and a fellow cruiser,
Dawn Wilson, has been imprisoned in the penitentiary outside of
Please check back here for
the next installment of Cruising ~ The Cat’s
Meow Style!