John's Blog Updated. Originally posted here: travel.reservationkey.com

We are settled back in our slip at Paradise Village. Although we were only gone a little more than 24 hours, for some reason it seems like we were out much longer. Maybe it is because of all the stress and uncertainty of what we were dealing with yesterday. About two hours before sunset we were just off old town PV when we decided we needed to be in La Cruz anchorage for the night, which is about 11 miles all the way across the bay.

We cranked up the motor and got the anchor down just as the sun was setting. In our rush to put out as much anchor chain as possible we accidentally put out all of our chain so that only the rope was left on the windlass. Luckily, in our haste to get out of the marina earlier, I had thrown the kayak up on the bow of the boat instead of leaving it on the dock. So we launched the kayak and I was able to reach down and attach a carabiner and rope to the end of the chain which was just under the surface of the water. We then used a winch to get some of the chain back up to the windlass. Finally we were able to relax and have some dinner and get to bed.

This morning the surge had calmed down enough that we were able to enter the La Cruz marina where we docked for just enough time so that Peter of Seatek Rigging could inspect our boat. The only damage to the marina was a few slips near the harbor were destroyed by the surge. The rig inspection showed that everything on Calou is in great shape. The only piece Peter highly recommends replacing is the bronze fixture at the bow of the boat to which the forestay is attached. So we will replace that with a stainless steel piece next week. Peter promises to being work on that and our other projects by mid week. We are hoping.

We left the La Cruz marina around 2pm and motored back to Paradise Village. On our way back we were able to get some nice photos of the boats racing in the Banderas Bay Regatta. The race resumed today, after cancelling racing yesterday due to the tsunami.

Tomorrow we hope to install the new mast camera (which Bruce got working yesterday while we were motoring around the bay), and finish unpacking the car, which is still full of our provisions from our Costco run of two days ago.