By Ryan and Wesley Harris
04/29/2009, United States/Mexican Border

On the night of the 29th, we crossed the border and entered American waters. We were all on deck to see our boat cross the border line on the radar screen. We have almost completed "our" circumnavigation and we have only 100 more miles to go! Now, San Diego to Avalon to Ventura!

Comments [1] | | More

by Ryan and Wesley Harris
04/25/2009, Cabo Colonet, Mexico

Dad was half way through his shift, when he heard a soft thud and he looked over his shoulder; it was a small bird, a sandpiper. It apparently must have been worn out, and landed on our deck for a break. Dad wanted to catch it, but he didn't want the bird to jump over the side. The bird in the end wedged into the fender rack and that was the time to catch him (assuming that it was a he).

Dad woke us up and showed us the bird; he gently grabbed it and put him in a plastic container. We put a towel under him. We warmed up some water and put it in a plastic bag, and wrapped it in a cloth. We put it in and the bird we named Socrates (pronounced Soo-Crates) huddled around it.

We took over the shift and every few minutes looked at the bird. We put bread, nuts, and some fish in, but he wouldn't eat it. When mom woke up we showed her Socrates, but we also noticed that his wing was bent back. Mom told Dad after his nap about Socrates wing, and he took a look. They grabbed the medical supplies. Dad found some gauze and we wrapped it around Socrates and made a sort of sling. While he was out we pet him, and he seemed to like it. He would put his beak on you while we pet him, and he seemed to like us. It was very cute.

The wind picked up, so we went to an anchorage. We had a nice dinner of curry that my dad made. Right before we went to bed, we heated up his water, rewrapped it in the cloth, and moved him to our room. We all fell asleep.

I woke up and went to heat up Socrates' water. I brought his cage to the salon to heat up his water, but when I took the water bag out, I noticed some blood on his gauze. I touched him, but he was cold and didn't move. He had passed... I told everyone, and we came up with the conclusion that he had hit the windmill and had internal bleeding. We held a U.S. Navy burial for him, "Good-bye Socrates, go to the sea, from whence you came".

Comments [0] | | More

By Ryan and Wesley Harris
04/08/2009, Bahia Tenacatita, Mexico

People on several boats we had met recommended a river tour on the Tenacatita. We plotted it and decided it must be one of our stops. When we arrived (many days later), we launched the dingy and moved toward the river entrance, where many Mexicans were on vacation. It was "Semana Santa" (Easter week). They were lots of tents in a camping ground near the river entrance, and they seemed to be having a great time.

As soon as we pulled our dingy across the sandbar, our tour had begun. There were many fish, lots of birds such as egrets and some other unpronounceable bird names. There were tunnels in the mangroves that were very beautiful in the calm water. We lost track of time, but we guess it took us about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the end. We beached our dinghy, at the end of the river mouth and set off on the trail to the beach.

It was a very busy beach, with shops, fruit stands, restaurants, and people camping out in tents. The water was filled with people playing in the surf. We all took a walk down the beach, and I (Wesley) found a big dried up puffer fish that I put it on a log for everyone to see. We arrived to the end of the beach, clipped off by huge cliffs, and turned around.

When we returned to the main part of the beach, Ryan and I went to play in the water while mom and dad looked for a table at a restaurant. They flagged us down when they found one. We rushed out of the water (it was cold!) and went to the table. We all sat down and took a look at the menu. We ordered a nice mushroom omelet, with a pineapple smoothie. Mom chose a delicious fish fillet with a margarita. Dad picked a fish roll which is some shrimp wrapped in Dorado, deep-fried, and with an almond sauce on it, and a margarita.

We were happy and full, and proceeded to the dingy. We went back through the river, but this time we went a lot faster. We had fast moving pangas behind us, so we had to keep our speed up. It was time for dinner by the time we came back, and ate with one of our recent favorite shows, an episode of "24". Was it our favorite tour? Hard to say, but for sure it was an awesome day.

Comments [1] | | More