The Good, The Ugly and The Bad

The Good, The Ugly and The Bad Monday morning we were off to Chamela. It was sunny and the forecast suggested that we had a window of 3 days in which to get to La Cruz. Monday was such a good day as we SAILED! Yes we did, and at about 6 knots!! What a difference when we sail. For one thing it is so quiet. I did not realize how much the engine noise gets on my nerves. Secondly the boat is so smooth. Even if the swell is big the boat moves along so easily. We arrived in Chamela in record time. It took us 6.5 hr. Now of course the day could not be perfect. The surf was roaring in Chamela. Off we go to shore and Bob once more got us in and out without any spills. We walked to the village to get some supplies, had a lovely seafood meal and back to the boat. From the time I woke up in Tenacatita I had been feeling off, and by the time we were walking in Chamela I was feeling dizzy and feverish. I just thought it was the weather. Back on the boat we had some wine. Here I made a huge error. I thought Bob was planning to stay 2 nights in Chamela but I was wrong. After drinking (no I was not anywhere close to over drinking), I realize that we have to leave Chamela on Tuesday to get through our weather window. Up at 6 on Tuesday and off to the beach with Patches. I am not feeling well and really annoyed at myself for drinking anything. When we sail I do not like to tempt fate by adding alcohol effects to all other effects. So this was the beginning of 'The Ugly'. When we are close to shore, I sit on the pontoon and grab Patches. (I carry him like a suitcase as his life jacket has a handle.) I unthinkingly put my legs in the water to get ready to jump. That slows us down and causes the dinghy to veer. I do not notice that as I am intent upon jumping as I see a big wave hurtling toward us. I jump but the water is not knee deep but armpit deep. Down I go as does Patches, but we bob up like corks and I start sprinting for shore. Yes we made it but I really didnt want to swim at 7 am. Bob also gets the dinghy to shore without mishap. We make another exit off the beach without any further mishaps. Then we are off by 8:30 am. Can you believe this? In the same spot where we ran into that gale last year, we once more hit big seas and the winds go up to 28 knots and a few gusts of 32. Water everywhere so Patches and I go below. He is crazed ...I think the noise frightens him and he gets queazy. Well I was very queasy and came close to vomiting. Meanwhile Bob is trying his best to get us out of this mess. I was so glad when he made the turn to Ipala. We got there at 9:30 pm (13 hours) and in normal conditions would have been there 3 hr earlier. Getting into Ipala in the dark was interesting but we did it. What relief to be there out of the tossing sea and winds. After a very light meal, we were in bed and I was asleep in minutes. Bob did not sleep well even though he was exhausted. Oh yes I forgot that our auto pilot quit working so Bob hand steered for about 5 hr. Wednesday morning we are up at 6 and have the dog to shore at 7 am. He had gone 24 hr without a pee but seemed fine. He drank no water on Tues until we arrived in Ipala. Now our 'Bad' day. I was ready for worse weather than Tues as the forecast for Tuesday did not show winds of more than about 10 knots..and we had checked 3 different marine forecasts. I had all our storm gear out and everything battened down. Bob stayed close to shore and although the seas were big, they were not that ugly. Around Cabo we had winds of about 28, but all in all it was not a bad time...certainly not as bad as Tuesday. Once into Banderas Bay, we had favourable winds and once more we sailed. This time we kept the engine running as we wanted to be in the marina for the night. And we were as we arrived at about 5 pm. Another surprise timewise as we left Ipala at 8:30. We were hoping to get to La Cruz by 7 so arriving 2 hr early was a gift. Oh yes and a fan belt blew just after we got into Banderas Bay. We were sitting quite at ease talking and suddenly the 'siren' rings. This is an indicator that the engine is overheating. As the water exhaust was working we checked elsewhere and sure enough the belt was broken. Bob fixed that in minutes and we were off again. On this leg of our journey I have been doing some steering. Steering a boat is like herding a pig. You turn and sometime later the boat turns but then in my case I have over steered so then back I go. The faster the boat is going the easier it is to steer, but I steer when it is going slowly as Bob is doing something...like overhauling the engine enroute....of course I am joking!! When we arrived in the marina, Bob started to turn into the wrong slip, as it was a starboard tie up, and we had been told that we had a starboard tie up. Then he realized that it was not our slip number, so when he turned into our slip it was not our usual graceful entrance. There was no one from the marina to grab ropes, but 2 lovely young women came to our rescue and kept us from hitting the dock. I was frantically trying to get a rope free to throw and finally did. Bob is doing the same at the stern, but all turned out well thanks to those to women. Then it was off to shower and eat. While I was showering Bob took Patches for a walk. There is an Akita dog on our dock. He jumped off his boat and attacked Patches. Bob grabbed the dog by the collar and threw him in the water. Then Bob had to rescue the dog as the dog was threatening to drown before his eyes. Poor Patches. Bob said this dog was gnawing away on Patches. Bob didnt find any wounds but later when I checked him he had a bite on his neck and there was blood. The woman was very apologetic but why the dog is not tied up is the question. The last time we were here he jumped off the boat to go after Patches but we cut him off. So how have your last 3 days gone for you?