The first week of Tom's visit has gone by so quickly. The first few days Tom was here, we stayed at the dock, hanging out with friends and getting some projects done. We waved goodbye to Kim and Ken on Summerwings, but we hope to see them again maybe later this season, or next year. It was sad to see the first of our friends leave, to start their cruising fun.

We decided that it was time to head to Mazatlan. We had made plans to buddy boat with Bill and Sue on Sunbaby for the crossing. They were not ready to leave just yet, so we decided to hang out in the islands for a little while as we waited for them. We went to Ballandra Bay on Sunday. We spent a rolly night at anchorage and woke at 2 a.m. to find out that the wind had completely changed direction and was gusting to 20 knots. That's not really a problem except our anchor bridle had slipped and we were 30 feet closer to a big rock cliff than we ever wanted to be! And we were in 6 feet of water, which is not necessarily a bad thing in a catamaran. Thankfully the anchor never budged and we rode out the night easily. The next day we snorkeled and beach combed for hours (poor Patrick stayed on the boat since he can't swim until his finger is healed.)

Later on Monday, we moved anchor to a more sheltered harbor and spent another night on the hook. Unfortunately, we are still working out kinks in our systems, and we had problems with our propane. That, added to the fact that a large wind storm system was moving in to the area on Tuesday, helped us decide to head back to Marina Palmira instead of heading over to Mazatlan. It was a good thing we did since shortly after making it back to Palmira, we learned that Patrick's mother was in the hospital. We decided that Patrick should go home to tie up some loose ends and see his mom. His flight left Thursday afternoon. He will be gone about five days.

On his last night in town, we all went out to dinner at The Bismarck. It's a funky little restaurant which pays tribute to the German battleship which was sunk in the early 1900's (why it pays tribute, I don't know) Patrick and I had first eaten at the Bismarck fifteen years ago when we were here for our honeymoon. It was a hoot to be there again. Nothing had changed, not even the menus. One whole wall is covered with an underwater scene of the boat sinking to its death.

So poor Tom is stuck with me, Jack and Rudy tied to the dock at Marina Palmira while we watch the mass exodus of boaters. Now that the storm is over, the weathermen are calling for at least one week of beautiful sunny weather and light winds - perfect weather for crossing. Tomorrow morning Sunbaby heads off with a couple other boats. It will be sad to see them go. I am so glad that Tom will be here to keep me and Jack company while Patrick is in the States.

Laura