Feliz Navidad!

Going out to the Arch…to find Nemo

Christmas has come and gone and so have our kids and grandkids. We all had a wonderful time, especially the little ones!  Had lots of beach time, pool time, a trip to the Arch on a glass bottom Panga looking for Nemo, a walk around the Marina, breakfast one morning on the beach at the Office and a festive dinner at Mi Casa! 

The kids all stayed at our family timeshare at Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach. They shared a presidential suite so there was plenty of room for the six of them. There was even room for us but we needed to stay on the boat. You never know when the anchor could drag and we also couldn’t leave poor Harley alone overnight. We did take advantage of using their showers a couple of times, which was a real treat! Before the kids arrived, Rick and I realized it had been a couple weeks since we had a real shower.

Tyler and Kim arrived first (coming all the way from Kansas).
 Ty had fun on the golf cart ride from the Lobby to the room.

Each day Rick and I took the dinghy to shore and pulled it up the steep bank onto the beach as far as we could. Then we would walk down to the sister resort, Pueblo Bonito Rose and meet the kids there, where they arrived by shuttle. We’d spent long days together at the beach and pool, then the kids would shuttle back to PB Sunset Beach in the evening. It was all of the grandkids first experience swimming in the Ocean and they LOVED it!

 

Tyler and Kim

Rosie, Justin and Eve

Tyler on the Panga ride

Justin and Rick 

Rosie having her hair braided

Eve and Rosie

Lauren

Tyler checking out the Iguana

Mom showing Tyler the Iguana or "lizard"

Dinner at Mi Casa

Danielle

Rick and Gary (Danielle's friends Dad)

Kim and Tyler..at the Office

Lauren and Eve

Rosie

The last day before the kids left, Christmas Eve, we were spending a warm day on the beach on the lounge chairs in front of the resort, watching the people on the beach, in the water and all of the activities going on. Suddenly Rick sat up and looked down the beach to see if our dinghy was still where we left it. On this particular day, Rick anchored the dinghy a little ways off the beach because the surf was so big. Anyway, he did not see the dinghy anywhere! He ran along the beach and glanced out into the bay and saw that a Panga was towing it around to all of the other anchored sailboats to see whom it might belong to.  We could not get his attention from where we were, so we asked some of the guys in charge of the Panga’s to get a hold of him on the VHF. They told us that they could not because they were on a private radio. This was way beyond frustrating! So we ended up asking a man who was handling water sports on the beach to please hop on a jet ski and direct the Panga with our dinghy in tow, back to the beach.  He did just that and got our dinghy back. We gave the man $20.00 for his help, which he said he would share with the Panga driver.  Such a relief! No harm done!

That was our only mishap during our stay in Cabo, which was quickly resolved…. EXCEPT for a few days prior to the kids flying into Cabo.  On this day, Rick, Harley and I walked down to the end of the beach where it was a little more relaxing and less congested to go swimming. After a nice swim we got out of the water and headed back towards our dinghy. As we were walking we noticed a black stray Pit-Bull mix trotting along in front of us, which soon, turned around, faced us, crouched way down in the sand and stared intensely at Harley. I was a little worried and told Rick it looks like the dog wants to attack! Rick said he just wants to play. Well…unfortunately I was right and as soon as we got up to the dog, it pounced on Harley, took one big chomp at her neck and shook and growled while Harley was making loud, sharp squealing noises. I was so scared for Harley! Rick ran at the dogs yelling and swatting at the stray dog with the back of Harley’s leash. Finally the dog released it’s grip and ran off.  Harley whined loudly for a while after the attack even while I was petting her trying to console her. I didn’t see any wounds initially because her hair is so thick and curly, but as soon as Harley walked up ahead of us sort of staggering I ran over to take another look. There was blood running down from three different spots on the back of her neck. I gasped in horror! I didn’t know what to do. I definitely wanted to get her some help! Rick was more calm than I was and seemed to think we could just pour some Hydrogen Peroxide on the bite, but to me it looked a little more serious and might need stitching up. As we got closer to where people were and close to the activity coordinator guys near some tents, one of them noticed Harley and walked over to us asking us what had happened. We filled him in on the details and he told us he knew of the dog and that she has actually attacked a few other dogs recently. He said the dog is a friendly stray that roams the beach, but just does not like other dogs. (I don’t care how friendly the dog is…he hurt my dog)! But anyway, he doused some iodine looking liquid on the wounds and told us it looked like Harley needed stitches. He directed us to the nearest Veterinarian on foot. Luckily it was only a few blocks away. We made it to the Animal Clinic and got right into to see the Vet. She first shaved Harley’s fur around the wounds, gave her a pain shot and then scrubbed out the wounds vigorously with an antiseptic wash. I couldn’t watch.  I had Rick hold Harley during that part. I figured next was going to be the stitching up but the Vet said that she did not want to give her stitches because that would trap in any bacteria that came from the other dog’s teeth. So she preferred to leave the wounds open and gaping. I understood the importance of this, but it was hard to look at her wounds! We were given antibiotics, pain pills, anti-inflammatory pills and some antiseptic wash to take with us, which we were to use 3 times a day.  We were also instructed to keep Harley off of the beach, out of in the Ocean and to keep calm for 7-10 days. All 3 of these are tall orders!

 

Rick holding Harley while the Veterinarian is shaving her

Ouch! Two of Harley's bite wounds.

The next day we started Harley’s new regime. First we washed her wounds then put all the pills into bits of hot dogs for her to eat. The wound washing went fine, but the pills were found later along with remnants of hotdogs on the decks. Poor Harley was sick from all the meds. We tried again the next day after she ate some of her dog food, but she was still throwing up everything. It was not fun for us to clean off of the decks. Not only was she sick but she was also sequestered to the boat. So each time Rick and I got in the dinghy to go ashore, she would get excited and wait near the gate to get into the dinghy with us. But we had to tell her to stay and that we’d be back. She looked so sad as we motored away. We both felt so badly for her. Her whole life revolves around the beach and swimming! Poor girl.

Over the last week, her wounds have slowly been healing. Two of them are pretty much healed through but one of the bigger ones is still a gaping wound and seems to keep reopening by the end of the day. She likes to rub her back along the safety netting on the boat to relieve her itching. As long as this one wound is still exposed, she is stuck on the boat.  We try to explain it to her, but she’s not understanding.

On Christmas Eve, I stayed the night at the resort with everyone because I wanted to say goodbye to Lauren, Justin and the girls the next morning at 6am and to ride along in the airport shuttle with Kim and Tyler to see them off.

Tyler wildly rocking in the chairs outside in front of the Lobby! :)

Saying goodbye on Christmas Day to Tyler and Kim

Tyler resting up on the shuttle ride to the airport for the long plane ride home.

So Christmas Day after saying goodbye to everyone and dropping Kim and Ty off at the airport, I got a taxi and had the driver stop off at a Wal-Mart while I got some groceries. Then the taxi driver took me to the Marina where Rick whisked me off and nearly 50lbs of groceries in the dinghy back to the boat.  Just as we were approaching the boat, two people zipped up to us on a jet ski. It was Danielle and her mom! They had been in Cabo that morning with their friends and were enjoying some time on the water. So we hopped back into the dinghy after dropping off the groceries and met them back on the beach. Danielle, her mom, Rick and I walked over to the Marina while Danielle’s friends left for their hotel in San Jose Del Cabo. The four of us had a nice afternoon together.

Rick and I made it before dark back to the boat and just had a quiet evening on the boat. We thought about going out for a special Christmas Dinner, but I think we were both tired from the long week.  Rick was especially tired due to the fact that Harley was running around the decks and whining with excitement from 9-1am chasing a seal that was playing in the water near the boat.

 

Quiet morning on the boat

We were originally supposed to leave Cabo today to make our crossing but we’re waiting on a better weather window. It’s pretty lumpy out there with big seas and high winds that are going in the opposite direction than the waves. So it would make for a very uncomfortable sail, and we’d like to have 3 days in a row of good sailing weather since that’s how long it will take us!

 You'll be hearing from us in the New Year!