Life in the ‘Sailing’ Lane (Going with the flow or is that too corny!)

The caterpillar does all the work,

But the butterfly gets all the publicity.

George Carlin 

Read something interesting in a book the other day: No two people experience the exact same rainbow since we all see it from a slightly different angle no matter how close we are to one another when looking at it. Sailing allows you the time to see the rainbows, smell the rain, and have the time to experience your environment more closely and thoroughly.

Life is lived at what feels like a slower pace when sailing except of course when the weather decides to throw you a fast curve and you have to be on all ten toes and on the alert – which in the scheme of things is not that often but feels a lot longer than reality when you are entrenched in it.

Today I had time to watch the catch, and recovery of a couple of pelicans. I had noticed that for a while, probably most of the morning, a couple of pelicans were bobbing around the marina seemingly attached at the hip. I found it strange but didn’t pay too much attention. After a while however I started wondering why they were not more active. Pelicans are such characters and always seem to be on the move or at least curious about something or other. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, as I was ready to complete a small project on the boat I caught sudden activity where the two birds had been. Two people in dive suits were trying to catch the birds. They (the birds, not the divers) were tied together with some fishing line.

Of course, being wild, they didn’t want to be near humans (unless it’s on their terms of begging for food of course), but one of them was finally subdued (the worse one of the two in the tangled web of lines). They cut the one loose and worked on the other one for about 30 minutes. This happened near a pen where dolphins are kept captive for people to swim with, pet, etc., so there was a vet nearby and she and her assistant came to help save the reluctant pelican. It seemed the pelican had eaten a fish that still had a hook and line attached to it. The more he tried to get rid of the intruder of course, the more tangled it got. Wings, legs, another bird all became part of the mess. It was neat to see the true joy the helpers expressed when the bird shaking itself back to its senses for about 3 minutes after being released finally flew away. There were some whistling, happy yells, and fists bumps.

Arwen Arts

Although I have my reserve about such places as zoos and penned animals, I have to say these dolphins are treated really well. If one of these human to dolphin encounters changes the life of only 1 or 2 persons here and there and they become more conscious of living in a healthier fashion as it comes to the environment and nature, it may be worthwhile. People do seem in awe when they come out of their swim with the dolphins. Some pray to God, others are just stone quiet. You know they have been touched in some way. A baby dolphin was born a couple nights ago and it is magical to see the little one always coming up for air same time as mom as they swim around the pen they are kept in. We can see them from Déjàlà. The mother is always between her little one and people.

Love those legs - - - and the beautiful person attached to them...

Having more time to help one another: Mike went up someone else’s sailboat mast today. Not a fun chore for most people who are afraid of heights and there is also the question of the safety of the tools used to get you up the mast of a boat you do not know. Mike fortunately is not afraid of heights although he respects what they mean and is extremely cautious before heading up. In exchange the person that was helped offered to pick up some groceries (with car rental) and propane – saving us many hours of bus or walk to get them prior to our departure from San Jose del Cabo. That is probably for me the best gift the sailing community has to offer = taking the time to help others…

Shopping for chocolate and coffee: As much as Mexicans love sweets, they don’t seem keen yet on desserts with dark chocolate. They are very hard to find and if/when you do, they are quite expensive and can often be stale. Mexicans use cocoa powder in their famous ‘mole’ sauces but not much in sweets. Same goes for coffee. We haven’t been able to find decent strong coffee anywhere we’ve been yet. Although Mexicans drink it a lot, it is rather weak. Just interesting differences we picked up on.

Great read: “A renegade history of the US” by Thaddeus Russell. You will rethink who the real heroes of our American history are after you read this one. A little repetitive, but excellent book.

Deal of the week. Delicious juicy grapefruits for 6.5 cents each.