Well we are finally getting a chance to do a regular posting and get some photos up on our site here! Jeff has left us and we are planning our trip back North. The new goal is to get to Cabo by the 11th of April when our friend Christian will be flying in.
I think we left off before our big surf trip with Mary, so I'll start there. The three of us (Janet, Jeff, and myself) got up pretty darn early for us and met Mary on the beach with the two surfboards. We went to Playa Linda where there were some pretty big waves (especially considering I had only been out once before, in tiny stuff, and Jeff has never been out). Anyway, Mary gave us a quick lesson on what the heck to do and some tips for having fun (like ducking under the waves rather than getting rolled by them) and we went out there. Jeff was a little hesitant at first, but we all got out there just fine. Mary stayed with us amateurs for awhile giving us more advice and encouraging us to take one wave or another. I ended up getting tossed around quite a bit and almost gave up on the whole adventure after nearly losing my suit (my bare ass would have burned in seconds in this sun :) But I stuck with it and when I was exhausted and wanted to go in, I finally caught my first wave and rode it (I got on one knee for a little while, but mostly on my stomach) all the way into shore. It was a rush for actually being on my first wave and made me want to come back another day for more!
Jeff had headed in awhile before that, but when I got to shore I saw he was still in the surf struggling to get back to shore. He chose a poor spot where the current was headed out and that made it super difficult to paddle the board ashore. I yelled at him to get the heck off his board and just swim on in (they are attached by surgical tubing like stuff to your ankle) and once he did that he was fine.
Later that night we ended up going back to Ricks bar to invite Mary out sailing with us to repay her for the surfing trip. We ended up hanging out up there with those folks until they closed. Rick's wife, Heike, manages the upstairs where Mary works (the steakhouse part), and this guy Randall (who Janet thinks looks like Bruce Willis) is up there some nights as well. Plus John, the guy Mary is living with - he's friends with her parents, was up there for a bit as well. John gave us a great tip on where to get coffee beans in town and overall we had a lot of fun drinking, chatting, and Jeff learned how to play backgammon.
Turned out that Mary couldn't go with us on Saturday, but was excited about Sunday so we made a date for then and headed back to Tupo.
So those of you who have been following along with us here know we have been having some troubles with our outboard engine for the dinghy. Well the other day I finally got fed up and tired of being unable to fix it's current problem, so we went to shore. Once there I asked Nathaniel (he's the guy who watches over the dinghies for tips) if he knew any mechanics. He called out and a guy came right over with his toolbox. I spent all of 5 seconds showing him the problem (the flywheel and whole mechanism sticks) and he started working. After about 20 minutes of taking most of it apart and fiddling around, he told me that one of the cylinders is not getting compression (therefore no fuel, therefore no oil, therefore it sticks after it runs for a second or so) and that there is no Evinrude parts in Zihuatenajo. He thinks I should be able to get it fixed for a couple hundred bucks in Manzanillo. After getting this all across (it took awhile as his English was about as good as my Spanish, fortunately Jeff was there and he knew enough to get us by), I tried to pay him a few pesos for his time. He refused saying that he couldn't accept any money since he didn't fix it. I was (am) shocked that he refused money that I had in my hand. Just goes to show how honest folks (at least most of those we've dealt with) are around here. . .
Our Sunday day sail with Mary and Jeff was fantastic. It was a beautiful day, plenty of wind (but not too much), and we sailed along from 1-3.5 knots for several hours. We forced (not hard) a cinnarazine (anti-nausea) pill into Jeff so he was okay that part of the trip. Mary seemed to be doing great, really enthusiastic, smiling, laughing, and then when we turned she ended up "feeding the fish" a couple of times. Still she seemed to be enjoying herself and Janet and I marveled at her ability to be sea sick and not seem miserable in any sense of the word!
On Monday we said good bye to Jeff. He seemed happy to be on the road again. Check out his progress at his site. We had a great visit with him and are already looking forward to our next visitors. Tuesday was another surf day with Mary. This time I actually got on my feet on a wave - I'm really digging this whole surfing thing. Though I am pretty sore today (Wednesday). . . .
We're planning on getting out of Z-town soon, though I think this is our favorite (developed) spot we've been to - I could easily be convinced to stay longer! But we need to get our outboard fixed in Manzanillo and since we have to be in Cabo by the 11th of April, we should really start getting a move on so as not to feel rushed on the trip up. . .
Next update will likely be via SSB. . .
Janet and I finally sat down and got some more photos ready, so here they are from about the 15th of January 'till now, including some from both David and Isabelle and Jeff - over 500 photos in all!
Photos page (four new sets to be found there)