December 2nd
Second day in Honeymoon Cove. There is only the other sailboat and ourselves here, although a panga brought a group to the beach for the day: did not affect us as we left in the morning to go adventuring and were gone most of the day.
First, (after a breakfast of dorado kedgeree… yummy!) we headed over to Puerto Escondido in the dinghy to scope it out and to see if we could get some cell phone coverage. Worked like a charm – trip over in the dinghy was good, scenery is amazing, going into the bay was interesting (they are dredging the entrance channel and working hard to create a whole new marina). We fueled up (very nice staff, were very polite about my efforts at speaking Mexican Spanish) then we sat for half an hour while I tried to make it possible for me to blog via e-mail through Lawrence’s laptop and the satellite phone. I sent a panic email to Ken Williams, thinking “This will never work!!!!”, but it was answered almost immediately as he was sitting waiting for me in Cabo. Well, maybe not waiting for me, but he was there to answer the call and after a few false starts and a balky email that refused to go out, it was all fixed. Thank heavens. Proof positive that the Talkspot blog site is everything and then some!
After heaving a sigh of relief, having a little walk around to see what’s changed (the fancy restaurant is gone but now there is a cafe with a real-life wood burning pizza oven!!!!) we hopped in the dinghy (oh, and they had my favourite wine at the market store, which has changed too) and off we went back to our little island anchorage. Amazing that this place is just a short dinghy ride away from Puerto Escondido and yet…just two boats here. We went around the top of the island and picked out a perfect spot for snorkeling – jumped out of the dinghy…and that was it. What a wonderful place! We both got lost in the underwater, each seeing something different but I had the Go-Pro so only I can prove what I saw! It was different, and it was beautiful. Afterwards, we both pour through our various books to see if we can remember and identify what we saw….having a background in Marine Biology helps, we both want to know what it was we were looking at). Afterwards, we crawled back into the dinghy and did some gunkholing, following the reefs and admiring the (hundreds of) pelicans. We both also saw a blue footed booby, hanging out alone with a group of Pelicans. Why???just one???? who knows!!!?
Eventually we found our way home – still just the other sailboat and ourselves in the bay. I wasn’t ready to give up the day yet…it was calm, it was flat, it was windless…so we brought down the paddle board and…..yes…..yes……I did it! I sat, I kneeled, I paddled, and I stood up and paddled, and I DID NOT FALL!!! I credit my yoga – Eric off of Sprezzatura did tell me that if I could do the Tree pose I could probably paddle board…and sure enough!! Thank you Perfect Hearts and Belinda and Yolaine and all my other yoga gurus. It’s been a while but obviously…something stuck!
With that task done… it was time to settle down and clean up and plan dinner. Chicken Mole is on the stove. Lawrence keeps walking through and sniffing and commenting on how good it smells….the sun has gone behind the hills, there are clouds in the sky but it is calm and warm. There were places in Alaska that I felt this calmness…Red Bluffs comes to mind. I had the good fortune to travel for two weeks there with my friends Denis and Mary Umstot on Teka III, and it reinforced my desire to spend a lot of time up North…just not yet. This is like Red Bluffs and a few of the other places we anchored and just soaked up the solitude and the ambience. Just – not so green. And a lot warmer. And some really cool fish. and no icebergs.
So that’s our day in a nutshell. I get up before the sun rises…make my tea…Lawrence’s coffee…breakfast…we get out and do stuff…lunch gets forgotten…dinner gets started before the sun goes down so we can eat while it’s relatively light…and by the time dinner is over and dishes are done, it is dark. And I’m ready for bed! Sleep…wake….repeat. Just read a quick headline on my phone saying something about a snowy winter. Hmmm…OK OK. I love the snow and the cold and winter. Looking forward to it. For a while. And then…. we’re coming back!
Second day in Honeymoon Cove. There is only the other sailboat and ourselves here, although a panga brought a group to the beach for the day: did not affect us as we left in the morning to go adventuring and were gone most of the day.
First, (after a breakfast of dorado kedgeree… yummy!) we headed over to Puerto Escondido in the dinghy to scope it out and to see if we could get some cell phone coverage. Worked like a charm – trip over in the dinghy was good, scenery is amazing, going into the bay was interesting (they are dredging the entrance channel and working hard to create a whole new marina). We fueled up (very nice staff, were very polite about my efforts at speaking Mexican Spanish) then we sat for half an hour while I tried to make it possible for me to blog via e-mail through Lawrence’s laptop and the satellite phone. I sent a panic email to Ken Williams, thinking “This will never work!!!!”, but it was answered almost immediately as he was sitting waiting for me in Cabo. Well, maybe not waiting for me, but he was there to answer the call and after a few false starts and a balky email that refused to go out, it was all fixed. Thank heavens. Proof positive that the Talkspot blog site is everything and then some!
After heaving a sigh of relief, having a little walk around to see what’s changed (the fancy restaurant is gone but now there is a cafe with a real-life wood burning pizza oven!!!!) we hopped in the dinghy (oh, and they had my favourite wine at the market store, which has changed too) and off we went back to our little island anchorage. Amazing that this place is just a short dinghy ride away from Puerto Escondido and yet…just two boats here. We went around the top of the island and picked out a perfect spot for snorkeling – jumped out of the dinghy…and that was it. What a wonderful place! We both got lost in the underwater, each seeing something different but I had the Go-Pro so only I can prove what I saw! It was different, and it was beautiful. Afterwards, we both pour through our various books to see if we can remember and identify what we saw….having a background in Marine Biology helps, we both want to know what it was we were looking at). Afterwards, we crawled back into the dinghy and did some gunkholing, following the reefs and admiring the (hundreds of) pelicans. We both also saw a blue footed booby, hanging out alone with a group of Pelicans. Why???just one???? who knows!!!?
Eventually we found our way home – still just the other sailboat and ourselves in the bay. I wasn’t ready to give up the day yet…it was calm, it was flat, it was windless…so we brought down the paddle board and…..yes…..yes……I did it! I sat, I kneeled, I paddled, and I stood up and paddled, and I DID NOT FALL!!! I credit my yoga – Eric off of Sprezzatura did tell me that if I could do the Tree pose I could probably paddle board…and sure enough!! Thank you Perfect Hearts and Belinda and Yolaine and all my other yoga gurus. It’s been a while but obviously…something stuck!
With that task done… it was time to settle down and clean up and plan dinner. Chicken Mole is on the stove. Lawrence keeps walking through and sniffing and commenting on how good it smells….the sun has gone behind the hills, there are clouds in the sky but it is calm and warm. There were places in Alaska that I felt this calmness…Red Bluffs comes to mind. I had the good fortune to travel for two weeks there with my friends Denis and Mary Umstot on Teka III, and it reinforced my desire to spend a lot of time up North…just not yet. This is like Red Bluffs and a few of the other places we anchored and just soaked up the solitude and the ambience. Just – not so green. And a lot warmer. And some really cool fish. and no icebergs.
So that’s our day in a nutshell. I get up before the sun rises…make my tea…Lawrence’s coffee…breakfast…we get out and do stuff…lunch gets forgotten…dinner gets started before the sun goes down so we can eat while it’s relatively light…and by the time dinner is over and dishes are done, it is dark. And I’m ready for bed! Sleep…wake….repeat. Just read a quick headline on my phone saying something about a snowy winter. Hmmm…OK OK. I love the snow and the cold and winter. Looking forward to it. For a while. And then…. we’re coming back!