Stow a ways aboard Magic Carpet!
08 June 2016 | El Cid Marina, Mazatlan
Amiral Donna Lou
Stow a ways aboard Magic Carpet!
Black Capped Gnatcatcher’s! Much to the Captains and Little Z dismay, these uninvited guest hide in the main sail lazy jack. Little Z who is Hungry for tweedy bird, has only herself to blame for missing this super Kitty delicacy. Because of her abuse of top side privileges while in harbor, she grounded. The Captain was upset by the usual tenant mess left behind. The Admiral was delighted with these cute little birds choosing Magic Carpet for their new home & sad as they flew away looking for a better place. Yes we finely sailed out of Banderas Bay just as tropical depressions are starting to form south. The Captain has carefully studied all available weather information for a safe comfortable weather window to sail Magic Carpet north to her home berth in San Carlos, Sonora Mexico. This has been a strange difficult cruising season to state it mildly! The highs & lows have been well described in past Magic Carpet Adventures. This most recent “adventure” was maybe the scariest of all “so far”. We were celebrating the completion of the Admiral physical therapy & complete recovery of range of motion of her arm. Waiting for a good weather window north, we attended the Village 9 day Feast Day fiesta. Fantastic food, street dancing, parades, crowing of local royalty, bands everywhere, fireworks, the blessing of dancing horses and the late night cock fights. Thousands had converged on the little fishing village of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. We had a ball enjoying the celebration to the max – until it hit us! We were both so sick we could barely take care of ourselves; Little Z was now in charge of Magic Carpet! We know we needed help but the thought of getting it was too much. Finely the Captain got better & the Admiral worse. He called Gustavo our local taxi driver and once again he rushed us to the hospital. The Doctor took one look at the Admiral & amended her for what turned out to be a 10 day hospital stay 9 on oxygen. Fighting a strain of pneumonia that was not covered by our preventive vaccines or even the” extra” vaccine we got November 2015 that covered 16 more strains of pneumonia. Finding the right antibiotics to clear the Admirals lungs from this so called super bug was difficult. Finely a harsh uncomfortable antibiotic was used to free the Admiral of the need of oxygen. The Captain was also treated for 10 days as an out patent living with the Admiral in the hospital. Little Z was so upset she started chewing on herself with worry. She would not stop kissing (licking) her crew mates when they returned to Magic Carpet. It took the Captain two weeks to find a good weather window north; it was perfect for our recovering crew. We are now waiting for our next good shot of southerly winds & smooth seas (4 days needed) to complete this sailing season. For now we are taking advantage of the R&R opportunities here at Marina El Cid Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico.
That’s 19 days in Mexican Hospitals, for the 2016 “Dreams into Reality” cruising season.
Standard question: is this an adventure or ordeal?
Answer: still an adventure!