My sister-in-law Cindy has wanted to visit Strikhedonia for a few years and her 60th birthday seemed like the perfect reason. I mean really, who doesn’t want to spend their birthday on the beach, sipping margaritas, and eating lobster? No one.
We worked our way into the trip with an afternoon by the pool at Paradise Village. I’m still trying to figure out how Jim (my brother-in-law) managed to located three chairs in the afternoon.
After the appropriate pool time, we slipped out of the marina to head for Yelapa. It was a mellow trip over but our mid-day departure caused us to miss the whales. Would this be the first trip without seeing whales?
We spend a few days in Yelapa, giving me a chance to show them all of the highlights and enjoy a wonderful breakfast at Bahia Cafe.
After getting the boot from Yelapa by Edgar (see this post for details) we headed off at 3:00pm. My hopes for a bit of motorsailing were quickly dashed as the 16 knots of wind was too close to unfurl a sail. The waves were nearly straight at us making for a bumpy, occasionally loud, ride. Okay, this will be a few hours of annoyance. Oh but the weather gods had other plans with the wind and waves increasing. 30 knots of wind and 6-8 foot seas pounded down our SOG to less than 4 knots, so I gave in and started up the second engine. This was only the second time I have used both engines together, and even with the added push we could barely manage an upper 4 to low 5 knot average. No sugar coating it, it was an uncomfortable ride. I dodged a bullet as my crew took it all in stride and treated the conditions like seasoned sailors.
Finally anchored in Punta de Mita, the wind was still blowing but the lack of fetch made it comfortable on Strikhedonia. In the evening David (Striker) paddled over to invite us for sundowners with Free Luff, Muskoka, and Harlequin – unfortunately we were too beat to join the fun.
In the morning we were treated to whales cruising through the anchorage. The whales gave a paddle boarder a bit of a scare. Thankfully nothing more came of it than a racing heartbeat when the whales surfaced five feet away from him.
After the whales moved on, Cindy and Jean kicked us in the butt so they could go for a run. Jim volunteered to take the single kayak and was treated to a light morning rinse off as the surf showed who was the boss. While the ladies ran, I showed Jim around town and we snagged a reservation for Si Senor’s for Cindy’s birthday dinner.
With friends anchored nearby, Jean and I spent the afternoon visiting with Jody and Randy (Free Luff) and saying goodbye to Lori and Scott (Muskoka) who were departing in the morning for French Polynesia. Unfortunately Striker and Harlequin left in the morning before we could have a visit.
Back on board everyone got ready for dinner, sort of. The beach landing in the morning made us nervous so everyone packed their dinner clothes in the dry bag. Of course this time it was a non-event but better safe than sorry.
Another good night’s sleep and a little breakfast then we began the short trip back to Paradise Village where Gina put us, appropriately, away from the fancy yachts in slip D23. A festive evening was enjoyed with another birthday dinner at El Baracuda and a walk along the malecon.
The Saturday before Easter our friends, the Dominguez family, took us to breakfast. During the conversation it came up that Cindy was in the Olympics, with internet access it wasn’t long before we were passing around pictures and articles about her, reminiscing about her experience. At the other end of the table karate was the topic of conversation between Agustin and Jim. Both are very serious about their training, comparing their practices since they train in different styles.
After Cindy, Jim, and Jean headed home I had one last day to clean the boat before leaving myself. I busted my butt and managed to get my work done with time left to hit the pool with Volare and Free Luff, followed up by a fantastic dinner at Fajitas Republic. What a great send off!
Oh what fun! Love reading your blog.