VISIT FROM THE JAMISONS
BY TOMMY

We met the Jamison's at Rancho Viejo, a great restaurant that's very close to the marina where we dock our dinghy. They're names are Adam, Julie, and their son Shane. Shane was on my baseball team the last three years, and they flew down to La Paz to visit us just before Christmas. I ordered pancakes, so did Cavan, even though there seems to be a syrup shortage in Mexico these days. Shortly after we ordered we got to talking. Their plan was to spend the first few days in their hotel and then go out sailing with us.

At their hotel there was a trampoline. So naturally, we spent the entire first day on it. Whenever I bounce on a trampoline a muscle in my back starts to hurt after a while. We did lots of double bouncing, and lots of other things like attempting flips and bouncing from our backs to our feet. The next day I was so sore, I couldn't believe it. The next day, it was even worse.

We left the following day on the boat. We decided to stop at Balandra Cove. We tried to sail, but the wind did not prevail, as well as our fishing lines. On this trip we stopped at two anchorages. Balandra is a beautiful and popular beach with a famous upside down balancing rock. The first time we tried to anchor, the anchor drug, and we had to reset it. It was the first time our anchor hadn't set first time since Turtle Bay. Another boat, Enchante (Al and Lindy), was in the bay. There were friends of the Jamison's too, and like them, they lived on Lummi Island. The next day, in a different anchorage, with Adam and Shane aboard Enchante, their anchor drug for the first time since the San Juan Islands. We all began to talk of the Curse of Adam or the Jinx of Shane.

In the first anchorage we launched kayaks and the dinghy, but we didn't use our outboard motor, we just rowed and pushed it further in by the very shallow water near the beach. After that's when I really got sore.

At the second anchorage at the island of Espiritu Santo we went snorkeling. We saw some fish, not a lot, but it was fun practicing diving down deep with a snorkel. We saw a few black Angelfish and some other skinny black ones, and I don't know what those are called. On the rocks off the little island beside Espiritu where we were swimming, there were lots of little crabs. They were so colorful and ornate looking that you could hardly believe they weren't painted.

It was lots of fun when the Jamison's visited, and it was great to see a friend from home after four months and 2000 miles of separation.