Sharing our boat is fun! Everyone is wide-eyed, full energy, full heart, full throttle (full sail) -- and then they leave and I start to dither, putter and clean until there is some clear and compelling "next thing". Well, the next wave of love rolled into PV and we got Paige back to the boat. Her first time on a large sailboat, she emailed some friends at home and it made me smile::
It’s 11 :30 pm. And I have been in this little cubbyhole in the bow of the boat which is quite cozy…. rocking back-and-forth, it’s nonstop. Good thing I don’t get seasick. I’m looking out the hatch and I see the Big Dipper rocking back-and-forth with me. as soon as I think I’m about ready to fall asleep some big rolling waves come through. I don’t know how they do it. But it’s been fun (laughing a lot) and we are not in PV but in area call La Cruz, little town north of it. Being out here on the water we can look back on the whole bay of Banderas and see all the glowing lights of PV. Mo later!! What a lifestyle.
We saw a tiny sea snake swim by the boat only the length of my pinky finger. We later saw a sea horse swim by seemingly roaming with a school of fish...Mobula rays easing along the surface of smooth waters... Sea turtles and whales nearby. Tide pools revealed other marine wonders... the magic kept appearing, night and day. Surprises by joy.
Friends from SV Gratitude joined us for a sporting day of sailing in the bay:: just the right amount of 'sporting' for Paige. What made Mike and me laugh was to hear Andrew tell us how nice it is to NOT be the captain for a day. He happily provided some pointers for Paige at the helm, stretched his legs, tipped his cap over his eyes and went merrily along until we tacked. Christina was all about sail trim, smooth helming and super efficient tacking. Rejuvenating day for each and all.
Paige is always game to explore new places by back roads. We took the collectivo around the bay 20 kms. We walked the hills of old town down to the malecon sea side. She introduced us to her haunts in Puerto Vallarta from past travel and it was fun to experience old memories knitting with the new. Ribeye tacos and flan on the street with new sailing friends and surprise encounters with friendly parrots topped off our week.
All in all, she may have been most happy sitting up in the cockpit with a breeze and her sketchpad drawing. She described that to sketch what she sees / how she sees it is to underscore her experience. Then when she looks back on her sketch book, the colors, smells, even motions come alive all together again. That's a marvelous thing!
