Playa Coyote

4-21-14

Punta Chivato-Playa Coyote

9:30-3:00

Winds-variable from NE

Calm seas

Sunny and clear skies

Engine hours-121.4-125.3

6 hours on port

I started my day with a paddle around the point with Dianne and Heidi.  We were out a little over an hour.  We hugged goodbye when we were done.  I'm going to miss Dianne and Jim.  If we are lucky, we still may join up with Terry and Heidi.

On our way to Bahia Concepcion we had more sea life; a sea turtle, rays jumping, a sea lion and more pilot whales.  No luck fishing.

When we got to the bay we were able to sail all the way to our anchorage, Playa Coyote, behind Isla Coyote.  We heard that whale sharks were in the area, so we are hoping to see them!

We were hot when we arrived, so we went swimming off of our new swim ladder and then paddled over to El Burro Cove, the anchorage just NE of here.  We saw Gaary's house, PKH on the Sonrisa Net, (aka...the weatherman).  His setup is pretty sweet!

Hot showers were next on the agenda, thank you engine hours.  

Today is a sad day in the cruising world.  Pedro, who is the bright light and center of all things good in Marina Puerto Escondito, is closing up his restaurant Porto Bello and tienda because the marina wanted twice the rent that he was paying in order for him to stay.  Thank you, Pedro, for making our time in Puerto Escondito so beautiful. We wish you well!  

If I were a Mexican citizen I would have protested this.  It is a perfect example of greed and not seeing the whole picture.  If the marina had kept his rent the same, they would still be getting income, keeping jobs, and providing cruisers incentive to stay at Marina Puerto Escondito.  Instead, they will get no rent money and will probably lose business because the cruisers won't have much of a reason to stay there. Pedro welcomed us, helped us with Spanish, had beautiful food and drink, the best view in the marina, provided a community gathering place, and gave us a great hotspot for wifi.

We are enjoying the new scenery and look forward to toasting our sundowners to Pedro.  Mango margaritas!

Grateful for today,

First Mate Kate

4-22-14

What a glorious day!  It was absolutely calm this am; the anchorage was smooth as glass.  We decided it would be a perfect time to paddle and look for whale sharks.  Well...we found them!  It was an awesome day!  What graceful creatures.  The whale shark seemed to enjoy us paddling around him, and he even let us take some pretty extensive footage. At one point, Mike and I were paddling with the whale shark in between us.  That would be when I dropped the camera into the water with all the good footage!

I treaded water next to my SUP jusf in case we could dive for it.  Mike went back for something to mark the spot.  

We came back to the boat for lunch and went back with Mike's GoPro to get more footage.  The wind had picked up a little bit, but the water was still clear and we were able to get close views from the boards and under water.

At one point Mike wanted to grab something from the boat and wanted me to follow the whale shark so we could get more footage.  So, my task was to hang out with the whale shark. How cool!  I saw rays in formation like the thunderbirds gliding through the water, schools of fish flashing by, and this wondrous creature, the whale shark, swaying back and forth through the bay sucking in lunch. 

I felt like our approach to these juvenile whale sharks was respectful.  We gave them space and let them react.  I also felt that we were protecting them from the motorized craft circling around us.

We went snorkeling later this afternoon and saw some interesting fish and rays. We also swam over the area the camera was dropped but it was too deep to do anything about.

We ended the day with a little nap on the paddle boards leashed onto the boat.  6 hours of sun! Yay vitamin D, boo wrinkles.

We saluted the perfect day with our sundowners and finished the night with a little pork chop, quinoa and broccoli dinner.

Checked one off my bucket list; hang with whale sharks.

First Mate Kate