You folks can’t know how special it is to hear from you at this time of extra-ordinary (even for us) stress and chaos. Some of you have been so bold as to suggest it’s following us… we can only scream a resounding “NO!” to that suggestion… and do what we can to turn this year around.
Before I go any further, I want to thank Al. He noticed the font was getting very small… and for those of us with aging eyes.. well, stand back, I just found the Font button and hopefully this is better.
Now then, you have all been so wonderful… writing to express your horror and concern and support… we are so thankful for the dear friends and family we have… without which this would be something very different. I know you’re waiting to hear how the Princess is… the Vet hasn’t called us yet today, but she sent us another video last night showing PS out and about on a leash, hopping along like a three-legged wonder with her bright red bandaged leg just kind of ‘coming along for the ride’. We’re pretty sure we even saw a little tail wag… not a big one, but a little one, that was so uplifting it made us laugh (and then our eyes leaked again.. oh well).
Kathy called the office yesterday morning and spoke with the Receptionist (who doesn’t speak a word of English, but she did her best). She told us there is no sign of infection (as far as she knew). The staff are cleaning the wound and re-dressing it each day, and they are going to keep her for four more days. That’s pretty much what the original plan was and, barring any unforeseen change, it means that we should be able to pick her up on Tuesday (the 21st) and high-tail it north. Our journey home will be faster and more direct than the journey down. We’ll probably go up I 10 to where it meets the I 5 and then continue N/NW from there. We figure, with a bit of a tail wind, we might make it home in 7-8 days… But first we’ll spend two days in Yuma, apologizing to Lucy, waking her up and preparing her for the trek home.
Most of you have asked how we’re doing and specifically how Kathy’s injuries are healing. She’s a trooper too and her knees are the worst part…. they were quite literally skinned off and weeping, but are finally starting to look a wee bit better. We bandage them every night so she doesn’t stick to the sheets and then we rest them and air them during the day (as much as possible, except when her other duties call). Speaking of other duties… we have not just been sitting around moping. No sirree, we have been hugely busy going about the business of concluding the paperwork for having a boat in Mexico (not an easy task these days), watching over George, Edgar, and Francisco who (under the supervision of Eduardo) have been working on the boat bottom. The bottom had blisters, and needed to be sand-blasted and then re-surfaced (in layman's terms). It’s a large job, not cheap, but in the end we will have a boat with a newly surfaced bottom, that should last us as long as we feel like sailing… and hopefully longer. There are other jobs that need doing too, repairs we discovered inside that, had our plans stayed firm we would be working on now in preparation for launching the boat. But, that is not to be; and so we head north with Miss Sophie, determined to give her the balance of life she so richly deserves (for putting up with us of course).
Over these past few days we have been unloading Chuck into a rented storage locker. There’s also the first load we carried down. And… there’s the gear we have stored in Mazatlan. We decided (just today) that we were far enough along with what we could do (given our departure day of Tuesday) that we should get on down to Mazatlan and pick up our gear that is stored there. We leave tomorrow morning, in Chuck, to drive to Mazatlan (about a 10 hour drive). We’ll be staying at our old haunt the Mar Y Sol Bungalows, and Liana has kindly agreed to come in on Saturday to open the store for us to collect our stuff. It will be a nice break and it will also feel good to have all our gear.. finally.. under one roof – awaiting loading onto the boat.
As for Shannon’s Spirit, she will be moved to the storage lot once the bottom work is completed. Sophie’s recovery is going to take quite a while so, we’re hoping that sometime, maybe, I can slip away and come back to complete some of those projects awaiting us. Time will tell. First we have to get home, help Sophie through another operation (on her leg) and then find ourselves a new home.
Over these past two weeks, we also lost a dear friend… a woman who meant a great deal to us. We are missing her and mourning her loss and wanting very much to get home to support her husband… also a dear friend.
So, who knows what the next few months will bring… but we figure as long as we keep closing the door behind us, and moving forward, we will succeed and life will calm down and peace and love will prevail… what do you think??
HA HA just kidding…. it’s now tomorrow, er today.. make that Friday, Oct. 17th. Late last night we contacted the Nogales Vet to see how Miss S was doing… Turns out there is now signs of some infection and she needs to take a culture and identify the varmints causing the infection. Then she will be able to tailor Sophie’s treatment to fix the exact problem. It also means she’ll need to stay in Nogales (Sophie that is) for at least another two weeks. So,,, the sad news is, she’s not out of the woods yet and we can’t leave on Tuesday as we’d planned. The good news is… we have this house rented till month’s end and will stay and work on the boat, moving towards prepping SSpirit for the next sailing season in the Sea of Cortez.
We’ve just arrived in Mazatlan, having driven 11 hours to get here.. We’re here to pick up our gear and visit with some friends. Will head back up to San Carlos on Sunday or Monday. So for now…. plse keep your fingers crossed for the Princess… she really is a tough little thing and we feel confident she will sail with us again. There’s just too many beaches left to explore…
Adios for now amigas y amigos. Take good care… and make every day count. Arms around you… CJ and K
