Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style ~ June 2007
…and a good time was
had by all
We are enjoying this too,
immensely. This is our chosen
lifestyle, and both of us continue to love living on a cruising boat – through
the hard times and for the great times. The two cruising kitties like it too.
Toes recently had his first haircut of the summer season, they both have had
fresh fish treats from the Sea, and they like the cool night breezes.
Squeak
while underway Toes
(pre haircut!) relaxing … well, what else does he do??
June started out purrrrty
slowly, with Martin still fighting the last of the engine and engine room
re-fits. This has been another one of those opportunities to change, fix, and
re-rout lots of things besides the repair of the engine. The watermaker panel
was moved, new hoses were put on virtually everything, new alternator hook-ups,
new accumulator tank for the water system, lots of new things in the charging
system….. it goes on and on. Kept Martin firmly attached to the engine room.
Robin’s cousin (actually
more like a sister to Robin), Sharla, visited us on TCM for 10 days, and we
think she had a blast! It was wonderful for Robin to finally have Sharla see
and experience some of the Sea of Cortez and our boating life. Since Sharla was
schooled in geology, it was particularly interesting for her to be amongst the
islands and the Baja coast, all of which is essentially volcanic. She was able
to give both of us some info. and explanations of things we have been looking
at for years! The Cat’s Meow left La Paz, at long last, on June 16th,
and headed for one of the very local anchorages for the night. The following
day was Sharla’s birthday – a big one, but we won’t tell which one here J - and we motored to Isla San Jose in nice calm
wonderful water and conditions. Dolphins played on the bow, Sharla sat up on
the flying bridge, and all was beautiful. That evening we celebrated with a
“birthday brownie” and good eats. The next morning, Martin drove Sharla &
Robin up the estuary to the lagoon, where we got on our knees and dug up a
bucket full of butter clams - - yum!!
Cousin Sharla
and a ? treefish ?? digging
clams in the lagoon of Isla San Jose Sharla’s birthday brownie
Unfortunately, the next
day’s travel to the Agua Verde anchorage, which should have been about a
six-hour trip, was quite rough and took almost eight hours. The winds were
behind TCM on the quarter, and TCM doesn’t like that. We were acting like a
sailboat, tacking most of the way! Sharla did fine, and even thought it was
probably “normal” stuff. When we cleared the reef and came into the anchorage
in front of the village, there was a sigh of relief and awe. What a beautiful
place. We stayed at Agua Verde for three nights and had a great time. Robin and
Sharla kayaked, swam, walked the beaches, gathered some treasures, and Sharla
had her first up-close look at the volcanic land masses. Martin did some
hunting and gathering, underwater style, and we ate those clams, fresh
scallops, and yes….lobster! One day we all walked into the village, which has
only sand streets, and found the tiny tienda (store). Quite picturesque,
including the goats and pigs wandering all over the village.
Village (pueblo) of Agua Verde Martin & Robin walking to the Agua Verde tienda (store) First day’s catch - - yumm!
Our next stop was the
Juncalito anchorage, which is just outside of Puerto Escondido. Since the big
boys at the governmental Singlar agency are charging quite hefty fees for
mooring or anchoring in the harbor (Escondido), the cruisers are now staying at
the Juncalito anchorage as long as the winds cooperate. When The Cat’s Meow
came around the point into the anchorage, there were 15 – 17 boats there, quite
a sight!! AND, some of our bestest, longest-time boater friends were there,
too, and it turned into a real homecoming!! Summerwind Bill & Stephanie
came out to greet us in their dinghy as well as Carolyn & Dave of Que Tal,
and it was soooo great to be welcomed that way!! Summerwind has been cooling
her keel in Mazatlan for three years, and the boat was on the way to San Carlos
on the mainland side of Mexico, so it was especially great to see that boat and
crew. Connie and Elvin, stalwart Juncalito and Escondido residents, opened
their palapa home for a great party for everyone in the area, and it was a
wonderful time to see so many friends.
TCM arriving in the Juncalito
anchorage These “girls” have not been together for 4
years:
Robin, Susan (2CanPlay), Connie,
Steph (Summerwind), Carolyn (Que Tal?)
A reunion
type of gathering at Elvin & Connie’s palapa Martin & Robin
enjoying the festivities
One day was spent in Loreto,
which has been able so far to maintain its small village atmosphere and
quaintness, although development of all kinds is threatening those qualities of
the area. We love Loreto. It was fun to take Sharla to the Saturday farmer’s
market and to show her some of “our town”.
Saturday swapmeet/market, where we
buy fresh vegetables
Then, because all good
things do change and end, we had to put Sharla on a plane back to Ohio on the
24th…..and Robin surely misses her, but is so happy they had that
great time together on the Sea of Cortez.
After Sharla left us, we had
been enjoying the Balandra anchorage on Isla Carmen for a few days with a few
other boats. Our good friend Dario blew through Loreto and back to SoCal one
day, so we took TCM the 9.5 miles across the channel and anchored so we could
meet Dario for lunch and a quick catch-up. He looks good, and plans to bring
his boat, Ballena, back to Mexico this fall or winter. Good!!
Dario and Martin during Dario’s
quick trip through Loreto
That just about does it for
the month of June, 2007! A good time was had by all, we do believe, and we plan
to continue doing what makes us feel good out here on the water. We hope you
had a happy 4th of July…… come back and see us again, Cruising ~ The Cat’s Meow Style.
on a cot
on a deck
a beachtowel for a blanket
the moon shining on my face
content
while sea breezes
wash across my body
and turn my home
in lazy circles
on the water
in the bay
robin aitken hardy