Rather than sail Lost Elvis up to Sayulita and leave her there anchored during
the festivities, Randy and I decided to rent a room at Costa Azul in San Pancho. Costa Azul is one of the area's first "adventure resorts" and was two doors down the beach from Villa de Roja, where the wedding was held. We got a taxi from Paradise Village for 300 pesos. San Pancho is small so there is no need to have a car there unless you are going to drive up to San Blas or up to the crocodile tour. If you do rent a car, use "Gecko" out of Bucerias. He's Canadian and offers a decent rate.
San Pancho's bridge is out due to the heavy rains in September but they have built a temporary by-pass for cars and pedestrians. If you need anything, go to the Indio it has everything.
San Pancho Surf Shop is also a great resource. If Fabiano is working there, he can arrange surf trips, fishing charters, hikes to the waterfalls, horse back riding... etc. He's a native San Pancho-ite and a long time family friend. You can surf right in San Pancho at the end of the main street. In the winter, it's a fast break. During the week there is hardly anyone surfing. The locals surf before and after work
After the wedding SV Lost Elvis boarded 13 of the wedding guests at La Cruz and set sail for a day trip to the Mariettas. We saw dolphins and whales. The guests snorkeled, swam and kayaked. Randy attempted an "Amphibious Assault" dinghy beach landing, ended up sideways in the waves and then upside down in the coral. Other than a few scratches Randy was fine. Fortunately, he let all the passengers out to swim ashore. Any dinghy landing that starts with the words "Watch This!", "I learned this in the State Department" or now, "Amphibious Assault", means someone is going to get wet.
Big thanks to MV HannaMarie, a Mikelson Yacht Fisher (aka Calamari), Brad and Adam for helping us entertain our guests. Back in port in La Cruz, we found an excellent boat washer, stainless guy called Jose. He is very reasonable and thorough.
After a few tears and much discussion, I have decided to take Roan, my Devon Rex, to Mexico to live with us on the boat. My ex's schedule would leave Roan alone most of the time and Roan is very bonded to me.
He's sleeping in my dirty clothes hamper beside me if that's any indication.
Mexico is the same as most countries for importing a cat. You need a veterinarian's certificate of good health and confirmation of distemper and rabies shots within 10 days of travel. As well as smuggling in a good supply of his normal food, my vet also suggested bringing in bottled water in case he doesn't like the local stuff. What she doesn't know is that the water in Paradise Village Marina is filtered and treated before it gets to the docks and that our boat also has three filters before it pours out of the tap. I drink it all the time without incident. I'm sure Roanie Baloney will be fine.
Roan and I leave on December 9 on a Westjet direct flight from Vancouver to Puerto Vallarta. This is the only direct flight from Vancouver and is about 5 hours in total. During the busy season, Westjet allows only two pets in the cabin. They have specific requirements about the size and type of cat carrier however, the cat carrier does not count as carry-on. They charge $50 for the cat.
I am worried about him escaping, drowning and freaking out when the engine starts. We'll have to close the boat up while we are out so he does not escape. Thank God we have air conditioning so we can cool things down when we return to the boat. I'm sure it will all be fine but I am so worried. At the same time, I can't send him out for adoption or leave him with my ex; those options would be worse for the cat.
No comments:
Post a Comment