For the past two weeks Geoff has been driving to, and visiting friends in, Canada. In the meantime Linda and Jessie remain on Curare anchored in the Barra de Navidad lagoon. This is a somewhat stinky, dirty body of water with lots of mosquitoes, but it
never has any surf which means taking Jessie ashore is easy (and she does enjoy her fishing time). During the mornings the lagoon is very calm and the water resembles light brown glass but in the afternoon the wind picks up, the water becomes extremely wavy, and both Linda and Jessie get wet on their trip ashore.
This is a favourite spot to anchor because of the French Baker who comes to your boat each morning with a whole lot of pastries and delicious bread, and because there is a water taxi service that comes and collects you from the boat so you don't have to get wet when the wind is blowing. Most days there are about 15 or 20 boats anchored around Curare but during the past two weeks there have been up to 30 boats because there have been big winds and waves in the Pacific, and no one likes that!
One afternoon a 54 foot sailboat was not anchored very well and it started dragging backwards. This is a serious situation because if a large boat slams into your boat it is just like a car crash and for sure the smaller boat is going to be damaged. To prevent potential collisions a bunch of cruisers raced their dinghies over to the
sailboat and acting like tiny tug boats they nosed the dragging boat towards a path where it would not hit anyone. I was relieved because Curare was on the edge of the original path and if the wind had shifted she would have been clobbered. But there is never a dull moment in the lagoon because a few days after that a different sailboat went aground on one of the sandbars. Did I mention that getting into the lagoon is tricky? To arrive at the
anchoring spot boats must follow a narrow dredged channel with sandbars on either side, but the water is so opaque you can't see the sandbars so it is not uncommon to hit one. Once again several dinghies went to the rescue and managed to pull the
boat back into the deeper water before the tide dropped any further.
To keep herself somewhat out of trouble Linda has spent her time finishing a few miscellaneous boat projects, bird watching, swimming in one of the hotel pools, shopping, going for long walks, watching locals fish around the boat, and visiting friends. One good thing about being by yourself is the fact that other cruisers feel sorry for you and invite you over so I rarely have to cook.