December ‘96
*Additional notes may appear in italics after my mom’s initial journal entries.
A ladybug means you should check the comments at the bottom of the page to see what Mom has chimed in on after reading these!
December 1, Sunday
We only slept until 7 am.
John went in to get the van – found the coupler we need right here in San Carlos, $95 U.S. and we get hauled out tomorrow at 7 am.
I washed down the boat which was coated in salt.
John fixed the water maker.
Samie met 2 girls, 11 and 13 years on the boat Companion. They are from Vancouver, Canada and will head down to La Paz.
Tom from Island Trader stopped by, he made it back late Friday. Jim, Kitty, Tom and the 3 of us all went to Tequila’s for dinner and to visit.
We put all our meats from our freezer in Trisha’s freezer for while we are on the hard.
Sore and achey muscles, tired bones and minds today.
Goodnight.
Chilly 58° tonight at 9:30.
Deccember 2-4, Monday-Wednesday
We left the marina before the sun was even up – 6:15 am. Made it around and hauled out at 7:15. They put us up in the yard right next to the Marina San Carlos, next to Island Trader.
Bill is letting us stay in his mom’s house, just down the road from them while we are hauled out. Beautiful big house. Samie enjoyed the satellite T.V. The weather channel is showing a huge storm in Washington and Oregon. Looks like Vancouver also got hit. Rain, snow and 20-foot seas to hit the coastline.
John changed the cutlass bearing and cleaned out the elbow on the exhaust manifold, which is why the cutlass was not getting any water. All went smooth.
*I loved staying in that house, it was very pretty and I remember there was a spiral staircase that led to the roof and I was obsessed with it! I would go up there pretending I was some sort of princess in a beautiful castle. I remember being confused how there could be so many channels on satellite TV, yet relatively so little to watch!
December 5, Thursday
We went back in the water at 8 am. Had to adjust the packing gland, it is supposed to leak just a bit, but was letting in too much. We are back in Marina Real at 9:30 or so. It was swelly and rough coming around. Prime Time came out and met us half way.
John helped Jim put his heat exchange back in. It was a good thing they came back in with us Sunday because they had a big leak to fix on their raw water pump to their engine.
Got all the food back in the freezer.
The bilge went off on its own today – so we started looking for a leak! Now what!? When they hauled us out, they got the lift pad on the transducer for the depth sounder. It must have loosened it and broke the seal; it does still work. John tightened it up as much as he dared and put on some 5200, which helped. But guess what – we haul out AGAIN at 8 am tomorrow! Hopefully he can just fix it while we are on the trailer and be back in the water in an hour.
Oh, Goon called this morning and there was also 5 calls showing on the phone, so John called Danielle; Jacque and Schyler were in a little wreck, no one hurt, thank goodness. Danielle is having surgery on her leg on Dec 13.
December 6, Friday
We hauled out at 8 am. John dropped out the depth sounder and reattached it solid with 5200. We let it dry and we were back in the water at 12:30 pm.
While we were hauling out, two guys asked permission to take pictures for a Mexico travel magazine to show this facility that the marinas have. So our dear Wandrin’ Star will be featured in the travel guide! Pretty cool!
We stopped and got 200 pesos, 90 liters of fuel. The return to Marina Real was the smoothest, calmest I’ve seen the water since getting here in October. No wind and smooth as far as the eye could see. This would have been the day to leave. Oh well.
John helped Jim put in his raw water pump, but it leaks even worse. So it’s back to the drawing board.
We met Bill’s mom, Velma and her 4 friends that drove down with her from Mesa. We all went to the Palapa and on to Tequila’s for dinner. Nice evening. We even met Bobby Unser, the race car driver. He was there with some other friends of Bill’s.
It's cold!
*You can bet your butt I searched a few times for our feature in this travel magazine/brochure, but without more detail, I was unable to find it - HOWEVER, I did come across some other cool stuff, including this photo of our boat when she was previously Temanu! The site is for Scanmar, a windvane manufacturing company and they had come across this photo of Temanu’s windvane as an example of some kind. That was surely something I didn’t expect to come across! I also found some aerial photos of Marina Real (pronounced Ree-Al, by the way - I believe it translates to Royal Marina) and San Carlos Bay, which I posted below. Marina Real and San Carlos Bay/Marina are on either side of Goat Tit Mountain. I labeled where the Star was always docked and circled the pillar behind which I’d had my very first kiss the year before, lol. Sometimes I have dreams about Marina Real, always on this same dock.
I also found some other cruiser’s (SV Calou) YouTube page with footage from some of their sailing adventures, including this one in some of our favorite Baja haunts. The boat name sounds familiar, but I don’t think we ever met them, and I’m not sure what years they were there. I’m wondering if any of our cruising friends reading this knew them?
I also found the diaries I was writing at this time, they’re cute. When I transcribed them, I kept all the spelling and grammatical errors, as I find them more amusing that way. 🙃 I have clearly always been animated, even in my writing and there were ever-present smiley and frownie faces, hearts and the like, just in case my diary wasn’t sure how I felt about something. This quirk has certainly not gone away, as is evident in my notes here - some things don’t change!
*Mom and I “bickering” in the video cracks me up. 😅
December 7, Saturday
Happy B-day Sandie.
We broke loose the 2 front stanchions and re-gooped them. Hopefully it will stop the leaking when – IF – we take water over again. Samie’s clothes were sopped again.
Samie went out with Companion to play volleyball in San Carlos.
Bill and Trish came by to say goodbye. They are leaving in the morning at 6 am. Neither of them want to go back at all. After the Christmas parties etc. at Charlie Clarks they may be back down here. It was so nice having them around!
Jim got his water pump on the engine back on, it only drips a little. John says it’s ok.
Today was a beautiful day. Warm and for the most part calm. However, it’s now 9 pm and starting to blow out of the north. Backstreets left today.
December 8, Sunday
Sunny this morning – cloudy and cool all afternoon. Wind blew 15-20 out of the west for a couple hours is all. Sunset reflected in shades of pink on the clouds all the way around us. Beautiful!
Jeff and John aligned the shaft today. Went pretty smooth, it was about ¼ inch off.
Bob and Cynthia came back in to Miss Teak II today from Colorado. Surprised to see us still here.
I put up the Christmas lights inside today and Samie put up the other decorations. Now we are getting into the spirit of the season.
December 9, Monday
Another beautiful day. It was a gorgeous 86° by 10 am! We should be out there tonight, but we’re waiting for Summer Wind. Mañana.
Luna took their boat out after 1.5 years in the slip. They now have a new motor and all is well.
Samie went with Emily on Companion to play volleyball again in San Carlos.
Kitty went into Leys today and picked up a new blow dryer for me – to replace the one John burned up when he was drying out the 5200 on the transponder! His bad luck with blow dryers!
Summer Wind is sitting so low in the mud today. Their rudder is even out of the water as she sits forward on the hump below.
*It’s funny the random details that are baked into my brain - reading about my foam football, I can still feel the seam along the center and see where it was peeling from wear and tear. It was most likely a Nerf like this one, but I remember mine being blue and white. Kitty was such a trooper, helping keep me entertained.
December 10, Tuesday
Emily from Companion came over at 9:30 am and the girls had a good time until noon when John took her back to San Carlos Marina. He treated Samie to one last ice cream for a while. We left the van at Gibson’s – so did Jim – for the next few months.
1 pm and we both leave Marina Real behind. Beautiful, flat seas, calm 5-10 knots out of the SSE. The skies are cloudy as we motor sail to Isla Carmen.
The cutlass bearing has a little clanging noise to it, but John thinks it just needs to settle in. No moon on this passage, but millions of stars peak through the dark clouds. The “sparklies” or phosphorescence are glowing in the wake as we gently glide over the glassy sea.
*Ahh, stamping! Back when scrapbooks were all the rage, stamps were quite popular. As kids, we didn’t always have a scrapbook we were putting together, but that didn’t stop us from stamping the crap out of a piece of paper or a letter to a friend, decorating notebooks and folders, etc. Some people had quite a collection of stamps, anything from “Thank You” stamps, animal stamps, decorative detail stamps, flowers, fireworks, automobiles, books, people, hearts, whatever you could think of. Stamps were like the bedazzlers of the paper realm. I never had a huge collection, but maybe just a handful.
December 11, Wednesday
The breeze switched around to the SSW but is still only 5 to 10. We are just off of San Juanico at sunrise. The seas have now picked up a bit, coming from the NNE, along with a 12k breeze. A tad rolly, but not bad, and almost there. Summer Wind has been 2 miles behind all night and all is well with them also.
9:30 am – We made it at last! Anchored in Ballandra, Isla Carmen. The weather this a.m. said the Northers will be filling in again this afternoon – boy am I thankful we made it out when we did.
We had to re-anchor, there was a real shallow spot to the back of us.
Samie went kayaking with Paula from Backstreets.
Miss Teak II left today at noon – at 5 pm they have 18k.
BBQ steak and baked potato tonight wonderful. It’s blow’en 10k out of the north here at anchor. It’s about 10 degrees warmer here than in San Carlos.
*My spelling of Steve is cracking me up here - as is my comment about my “no-good mud-ball.” I vaguely remember chasing the dolphins, that would have been really neat to be in the middle of!
December 12, Thursday
The morning started out beautiful, by 11 am it started blow’en and by 5 pm it had been hitting 25 and 30 knots steady. It did finally lay down to 10-15k. We had a good size swell roll’en in from outside. We all went to the beach for a while this a.m. About 2:30 the dolphins were in the anchorage so we all jumped in the dink to chase them around. They headed right back out of the bay – we got pretty close a couple of times. But it was choppy and swelly and blow’en about 20k at the time.
Jim and Kitty came over for happy hour. We talked to Randy on Abientot in San Carlos she talked to Tom, Island Trader, he was 30 miles out at 5:30 and the wind was blow’en like snot.
December 13, Friday
Happy Birthday Colleen.
It finally calmed down and was flat and peaceful this a.m., so we left at 8:00, nice smooth ride into the ‘waiting room’. Big swells, but we were going with them. Made it in at 11 am – 3 hours. Anchored next to Miss Teak II. John went in for ice. Samie went to Palio and helped Roxanne made Christmas cookies. We all went to a pot-luck on the beach. Samie met Jenna (11) from Joan-D IV. Palio has Christmas lights all over the outside of the boat and they’re play’en music – it’s starting to feel more like the holiday.
*Too funny, I don’t remember this at all, about the yellow jacket/wasp and Roxanne throwing her shirt off. 😂 I don’t blame her! I definitely remember our beloved Kitty from Summer Wind being wildly afraid of bees, maybe she was allergic. The photo of the Star above is us leaving Ballandra that morning.
This entry made me think of a book that our friend Jinx wrote - I don’t think we’ve met her yet in this part of our adventures, but she is the author of the Hetta Coffey Mystery Series, about a sassy, globe-trotting Texan who typically finds herself in Mexican waters and has a penchant for getting into trouble. A good majority of Hetta’s shenanigans take place in the Sea of Cortez and it’s so fun to read her stories, knowing exactly where she is writing about and being able to picture it from memory. Last year, in 2023 she released Just Like That, which features a small “cameo” with yours truly, The Stars! Hetta is in Escondido when she mentions us, the Chabasco net and in the book I go hang out with this other girl I meet there - so this particular journal entry made me think of the book! I encourage you to check out Jinxie’s award-winning series, which is available on Kindle, Audible or good, old-fashioned paperback!
December 14, Saturday
Peaceful night, it was as calm as any marina this a.m.
Summer Wind left Ballandra at 5 am and we headed out of the waiting room at 7 am. Calm motor on in to Agua Verde anchoring at 11:30 am. Miss Teak II went on to San Evaristo, they picked up 15 k from the North.
We all went to the beach, Samie and I kayaked in. Jim and John went fishing – no luck!
December 15, Sunday
John fixed the fresh water foot-pump, it had sprung a leak on the way into Agua Verde.
John and Jim went fishing – bingo! John caught 7 or 8 trigger fish, Jim - zero. We all had a fish fry up on the beach.
The wind blew 10-15k inside here and from the white caps outside it looked like 20-25k.
It’s 6:30 pm now and still blow’en.
*This video brings me great joy! 🥰 Jim’s enthusiasm for dinner and remembering when he slid right off his seat while he was rowing makes me laugh! And of course our beautiful Wandrin’ Star! 😍 I’m not sure why, but I particularly love the memories of coming home to the Star in the dinghy, always to the starboard side; cruising up to her from these angles and lining up just right so we could climb up the ladder. I can hear the water slapping at the back of the hull and can still feel the rungs of the ladder under my feet, sometimes they were finicky and you had to make sure you had a good hold, lest they slide around mid-step.
December 16, Monday
I was up until 2:30 am – the wind was blow’en 15-20k out of the north and still is now at 9:30 am. John took the watch at 3:00 am. Around 11 am it finally settled down to 10-15k in here, but reports of 30 on the outside. The generator quit while the water maker was running. It was the flicker resistor again. John moved it over a notch and ran again. I took a nap while everyone else went to the beach.
The phone came up so we called Danielle, she has out-patient surgery on her leg tomorrow. While talking to her, she told us that Cassie drowned yesterday (the 15th) in their swimming pool. She was about 13 years old – at least we had her for the summer this last year. Samie and I had our own little memorial and threw our bacon (she loved bacon) into the bay at Agua Verde.
*My dad had four cocker spaniels that he’d had since they were pups - Bud, Max, Cassie & Kansey. Bud & Max had already passed when we moved on the boat, but Cass (the tan one) and Kans (aka Fatso) were still around and went with my sisters when we left. They were sweet girls; this was definitely a sad day. 💔
December 17, Tuesday
Last night was calm and peaceful. However, a little boat anchored next to us on a rope rode, therefore he swung all around. At 10:30 pm after the 5th time he swung within inches of our bow, I tapped on his railing with a stick and woke them up. Boy where they surprised! They re-anchored at a safer distance.
We left Agua Verde at 7:30 am. The sea was lumpy to begin with, but smoothed out once we started running with it.
John caught 2 fish – Jim caught his first dorado.
We saw 1 medium size manta ray jump and a pod of dolphins jumping and play’en. Samie got them on video. The north wind picked up about 1.5 hours from San Evaristo at 10-15 knots. When rounding the point into the bay the wind is always 15-20k – today it peaked at 30. Glad the sail was down at that point. There were two other boats already in here, so Summer Wind anchored in the wide open south bay.
Talked to Leo on ham – he called Chelle and all went well with Danielle’s leg surgery, she was in recovery and should be home at 7 pm. Also talked to Steve.
The wind blew 15-30k and gusts higher all night. Sitting in this canyon, the swirly winds pushing us all around. At 4 am, the snubber slides up on the chain with a big clank and scared the crap out of me. It’s a good thing our first year out wasn’t like this, because I would NOT have come back!
*Rope rhode has a lot more give than chain, so we were always wary of nearby boats who used rhode when anchoring. Can you imagine waking up to a tapping on deck, only to find yourselves inches away from another boat in the harbor?! I’m grateful Mom was awake and aware so we didn’t end up playing bumper boats!
A snubber consists of a length of rope that was cleated to the boat and then attached to the anchor chain. You then let the anchor chain out till the rope is taught and allows the first 6’ or so of chain to slack. This prevents the chain from rubbing and chafing along the bowsprit or wherever your chain is released from. The snubber sliding up the chain would be quite startling, as it would be carrying all the weight of the load against that wind. I bet it scared the bejeezus out of me, too, since I was in the fore cabin, where I heard a lot of the anchor chain groaning from tension and whatnot, especially when the anchorages were turbulent.
December 18, Wednesday
Happy B-day Amber
The nasty ‘ole wind blew all day and getting worse. It blew a steady 20-25 with constant gust in the 30s. John even saw 38k a couple times. He dinghied over to Summer Wind and was afraid of the dinghy flipping on the way back. While it was tied off to the side, it flew up out of the water – even with the motor on it. The kayaks were also tied along side and flying up over the life lines.
The boat, Argonaut, next to us is in an even gustier spot. One time it swung sideways and healed way over. Scary! We have out a 10 to 1 scope on the anchor. 5 to 1 is normal.
Samie and I played games – skipped school – trying to keep our minds off of the wind.
We’re gonna scoot into La Paz first chance, spend Christmas there and get on across to the mainland ASAP. Hope we see Nanamuk before then, but we’re not gonna wait for them. The mainland is not having all this wind! We have been trying to find a Canadian phone patch – no luck.
Oh, I forgot – this a.m. Samie shut our bedroom door so I could sleep and I was stuck in there, John had to take the whole knob off, climb through our hatch and work from that side to pry out the innards. The process took about 20 minutes. Would not be good in an emergency situation. Needless to say, we left out the innards!
*Those dinghies are not light - so it was pretty wild to see the whole thing, motor and all, come flying out of the water! Those Northerlies in Baja are no joke! I can vaguely recall our two inflatable kayaks flinging up almost level with the stanchions of the boat, which is pretty crazy! 😅
So, where we normally let out 100 ft of anchor to 20 ft, we would have let out 200 in this case. Essentially you want to give your chain as much room for movement as possible when the anchorage is rough. As waters rise and fall, the boat’s distance from the bottom can fluctuate wildly and you don’t want the chain to pull too tight and uproot the anchor. You also have to make sure you don’t let out too much to interfere with other boaters. Typically the boats all swing in the same direction, based on the tide, but heavy, conflicting winds can change all that!
I forgot about the door incident! We almost never used it, which probably adds to why it wasn’t working. I was just trying to help Mom be able to sleep in! 😅
December 19, Thursday
The wind continued to blow 20k all last night – but I did manage to get some sleep in the cockpit.
Well, it’s still blow’en 20k with gusts at 25k – this is getting real old! We managed to get school done. Kitty came over for a while. John went fishing. Around 2 pm it started calming down some. By 5 pm it was down to 5k.
Tom on Island Trader came over for happy hour. Tom brought clams from San Juanico – he had stories of his wild ride down. He also had some great tales of when he first bought the boat and sailed to Catalina Island off of California.
It's 7:30 pm and the wind is starting to pick up again – shit! It ended up pretty calm all night. Slept like a baby!
*You really have to be ready for anything on a boat - even at anchor. Mom was often up the latest and most alert and aware of how things were progressing through the night. I am grateful for her diligence, but her poor nerves were often shot after some of these nights - I don’t know how she did it!
Happy Hour was always great for hearing everyone’s crazy tales from the high seas or life before sailing.
December 20, Friday
We left San Evaristo in 5k and calm bay. Once outside, we picked up a good size swell from the last 3 days of Northerlies. We had lumpy seas, some 6–7-foot swells that we’d roll on over and surf down at 8.3k. It was only 64° and the wind was so cold – I was wearing a t-shirt, sweatshirt, sweater and windbreaker – COLD!
15-20k of NNW wind until we passed the La Paz end of Partita the wind shift to the ENE at 15-20k and we were doing 9.9k for a while. We saw several rays jumping and John caught and released 2 dorados. We FINALLY made it into La Paz at 2:30 pm. Great sail! It was still blow’en 15 when we anchored. Took a nice, hot, refreshing shower and then the 6 of us, Summer Wind, Island Trader, all went into The Dock for a celebration dinner! Later picked up some ice and fresh bread.
At 8:30 pm a parade of 6 boats all decked out in the Christmas lights went through the anchorage – beautiful!!
Called Danielle to see how she was doing with her leg – ok I guess, she was out.
Talked to Chelle, all is well. Goon called.
December 21, Saturday
Samie and I did school while John gave the top sides a good scrubbing to get off all that dirt from the howling wind.
Samie did a “kids net” this a.m. and found 4 other kids here. She met with 2 of them on the dock for a couple hours. I visited with Bob and Cynthia Miss Teak II, and met their daughter, Lisa.
Only 5k of wind all day and it warmed up to a nice 74°. Talked to Mom and Daddy – everyone else was there and having their Christmas dinner. Talked to Shine. Tomorrow everyone is going to Janice and Gary’s for the Jones’ dinner.
We walked through town tonight with Tom, they have several streets blocked off for a big Bazaar. Lots of little shops selling most everything.
Samie and I bought 2 little Christmas decorations – a Santa’s boot and a life-ring to hang on the tree.
We called Nanamuk at Grace’s mom’s – they will be there tomorrow. They won’t fly out here till January 2nd and John says we’re not staying to wait. Damn!
*I think La Paz was the only place that had a kids net after the regular morning net - at least as far as I remember. I think this might have been when I met my friend Tarn, from Samara I. I love how ready and willing we always were to meet other kids - sometimes it was like finding water in the desert!
This is one of my all-time favorite photos from our trips because it’s attached to my memories of walking back along the malecon after having dinner in town. We would always stop for ice cream at the place with the polka-dot tree! If you look closely behind The Star (third boat from the left, most in the forefront) you can see a trail behind us - that is from the tide current which was always strong in this channel. I always loved seeing the Wandrin’ Star out there, happily waiting for our return. 🥰
December 22, Sunday
Samie is studying for a test mañana. The day warmed up beautifully!! We walked into town, but being the Sunday before Christmas – everyone was out shopping so we made our way back to The Dock, where we met Bob and Cynthia, Miss Teak II, and Lisa and John, Jazz. We all went to a sidewalk café, Mexico style for a HUGE shrimp-stuffed baked papa – wonderful, but I am so totally stuffed myself!
Seven boats were in the light parade tonight, it’s so pretty and Christmasy.
December 23, November
John did the check-in process. Samie and I had to get new VISA’s – our own – because when we came in at Nogales, they would only give us the 1 for all 3. Samie passed another test! Neal came over and helped John get the alignment on the motor just right. They had to slide the engine over just a tad.
Samie played in at The Dock.
Danielle called – all is well.
I have finally decided we might as well sail out to the Socorro Islands and then to Manzanillo. John really wants to go and it’s the only way we can stay here long enough to see Nanamuk. Oh well, it will be a new adventure.
Miss Teak II and some other boats were planning to head out to the Socorro Islands, about 240 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas. It was the farthest we ever went from the mainland.
Devember 24, Tuesday
Samie rode Tom’s little bicycle again today while he jogged. We went into town and finished up our Christmas shopping. Hung out at Miss Teak II and on the dock. Samie has the tree on the table with all the presents, looks pretty. She opened one gift from Sam and Rane, Hocus Pocus, so we watched it.
I December 25, Wednesday
Happy Ho-Ho!
We were up and having our Christmas at 7 am. Not to mention the regulars – all her “adoptive grandparents” gave her a little something – Kitty, Cynthia, Paula and Emma. Jim and Kitty came over for coffee. Then we all went into town – AGAIN – to walk around and waste time, I guess. Samie spent some time at Samara I with Tarn. We went to the Los Arcos Hotel for dinner along with Jim, Kitty and Tom.
Called all the kids. Maryann called, Bill and Trisha called. Samie tried Sam and Rane, but they weren’t home.
*I was so loved and spoiled by all my adoptive grandparents! 🥰 I’m not certain, but I think my actual grandparents got me the National Geographic whale book. It was an absolute favorite which I used as a reference all the time while spotting whales and dolphins. And yes, of course I still have it!
Tarn and I are still in touch, thanks to Facebook! He lives up in Clearwater, B.C. He, Janelle (Nanamuk) and I were in touch when Janelle came to visit last year and we are thinking it would be so much fun for us girls to go visit him someday. That would be a really cool reunion after all these years!
*Side note for those in-the-know: you can spot Herkimer above me, next to the snake plant! 🙃
December 26, Thursday
We pulled anchor at 10:30 or there-abouts and went into Marina de La Paz; an end slip, nice and easy, in and out. We’ll be here for a week. Summer Wind and Island Trader also came in.
Samie watched Flipper here with Tarn, then they went up to the little park. Tom came over for dinner, then he took the bus to San Diego for a couple of weeks.
*Below we have the daytime view from the malecon, a friendly visit with a local and his cockatoo, a jellyfish in the marina and more incredible sunset views.
December 27, Friday
Back to school after a 3-day Christmas break.
John changed the oil in the engine, filled the diesel tanks: 60 gallons. We are using 8 gallons of diesel per hour this year.
Tarn came over and they watched Homeward Bound II and played at the park.
I faxed a letter to Colleen. Picked up the laundry – 3 loads, 67 pesos.
John rebuilt a bilge pump for Jim today.
Jim and Kitty came over for a while, they plan to leave tomorrow.
*I remember being pretty fascinated and perhaps a little perplexed about faxes and how we could send/receive these things relatively instantly from so far away! Imagine if I could have seen what we would be capable of doing on our phones in the future! 🤯
December 28, Saturday
Jim and Kitty did leave this morning and are anchored around the point at Ballandra, leaving for Los Muertos in the morning.
Tonight we went up to The Dock Café to hear Peppy and Sue from Melissa sing and play. Samie was a guest and helped sing Jimmy Buffett’s Volcano – she did a good job! The girl is far from shy.
*Below, our sweet, beloved Jim and Kitty! ❤
I remember singing with Sue and Peppy, mostly thanks to the photos. I do remember my shaky little voice and getting some of the lyrics mixed up but that everyone was really nice and cheered me on even when I did get a little shy when I messed up some words, lol.
December 29, Sunday
Just a laid back day; school and a couple of movies. Samie called Sam and Rane.
The wind blew 10-15k today, which made for a rock’en marina tonight, with creaking and dock lines.
*Rockin’ and rollin’ in a marina is quite different from in the bay - like Mom mentioned with the creaking of dock lines and then the dock itself is moving up and down with the waves - it can get a bit chaotic with everything moving and bouncing around separately while tied together. But the marina was always a treat because you could wander around or up to shore whenever you wanted and most of the time we had power and/or water, too, so we didn’t have to run the generator twice a day or wait till the generator was on for power. We also didn’t have to be quite so sparing with when it came to water usage.
December 30, Monday
We skipped school and went into CCC to stock up - $200 U.S., but this will have to hold us until we get to Manzanillo, about 3 weeks away.
I’m sending out letters with Miss Teak’s company. Janice, Janell, Bonnie, True Blue, Mac and Kay Eddy, Ken Boltz, Grandma Margaret, and Bob and Lillian.
Samie has also been busy writing to everyone in her class – 21 plus 3 other letters.
*We had to seize our opportunities to write and send letters along with people who were headed to the States!
December 31, Tuesday
John helped Bob, Miss Teak II, clean out the flush lines to both their heads.
Lazy day - at 7 pm, we went over to Miss Teak II for a New Year’s Eve dinner. Lisa and John, Jazz, Lee and Glo, Papagayo, and Chris and Barbara, Machen. We all managed to stay up and see in the year 1997. Very enjoyable evening.
*We wouldn’t have been watching it, but here’s what the New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ball drop looked like in 1997, which was apparently ushered in by Dick Clark, Weird Al Yankovic and Kiss!
