Good Company

We anchored in Bahia San Marte for a day or so and heard friends (on Eyoni) we met last summer on the radio during the morning "net" (daily VHF communication among boaters).  Connecting with these friends on Eyoni was a thrill for all of us.  Nancy, Ethan, and their 5-year-old daughter, Zada, have been cruising for two years and know how to do it well.  We always enjoy our time with them.  Here are just some of the reasons why...

Zada and Chandler play princesses and hide & seek at the same time.  When they were hiding in Eyoni's dinghy and found out by Henry Wyatt he disconnected the dinghy line and afloat went the princesses!

A morning hike up an arroyo with Ethan, Nancy, and Zada resulted in playing hide and seek among the scruffy plants and rocks.  Doug and Ethan were the best hiders. You can see Doug giving us his bird call and Chandler imitating him...which was the only way Chandler was able to find him. 

  We saw what we think was a white-hornets nest along the way...

Ethan is a member of the Neptune Club and delights us with freshly caught fish each time we join them for a pot-luck dinner. Doug heads out with Ethan on his spear fishing dives and is always amazed at how long Ethan can hold his breath underwater to spear the best fish the Sea has to offer.  One night Eyoni invited us and another couple from a neighboring boat for yet another fun and delicious pot-luck dinner.  A large dog fish was the fish of choice that night...yes dog fish and it was delicious.  As the afternoon unfolded two sail-rigged kayakers from Oregon were seen cruising by the cove we were anchored in and they too joined our happy band of dinner mates.  The sea kayakers had been sailing from Bahia de Los Angelos in the northern Seas for about a month and had another two weeks to go before they arrived in La Paz - 450 miles total.  We enjoyed a wonderful evening sharing experiences and tales of amazing adventures.
  
The fish was a feast for all, others brought cabbage salad, boat-baked bread, and brownies.  The stories were huge:

1.  60 mph winds and lightening storm at sea while sailing solo across the Sea
2.  Dozens of feet down preying on white bass and instead spear gunning a great white shark in the mouth in it's surprise attack. Gun not retrieved.
 3.  Big kill deep down; way too much blood apparent on spear retreval at surface; a large great white grazes the divers shoulder and cruises gently past for 30 feet. Diver and crew on dive boat are all eyes.  At an impossible turn and return speed, shark launches toward diver.  He has time only to lift the spear gun barrel.  It hits the gapping sharks nose. Diver is jettisoned 10 feet back and halfway out of water. Diver rescued with bruised shoulder and a trump card tale.
4. Night diving where seals snuggle up for a couple unexpected rubs and night diving is closed for the evening.
5.  Story of a decisive day to overcome past fear of open-water swimming...  Nancy resolved to plunge in right after finishing a couple more pages of a book, when a wake next to the boat catches her eye.  She walks around the railing and follows a "beautiful" 9'great white.  First thought, "Get Ethan", who was spear fishing out in the water. She gets into the dinghy and pulls the lever to tilt down the motor and it lands on top of the shark.  It darts, the dinghy zigs, Nancy holds on.  But the prop is caught in seaweed.  With eyes closed (didn't want to see the shark as it came upon her) she reaches under and untangles prop. Ethan is retrieved, day of ocean swimming reconciliation yet to be scheduled.

Cruiser gatherings seldom bore.