Our Final Blog…

Our last morning on the Gato Loco…we left Bahia Marquer for a short motor over to Puerto Escondido to refuel, let Bill do laundry, and refill our water supply. As you can see, we left Puerto Escondido in our wake as we headed towards our final port of call, Loreto. Our Leg 5 Ladies will depart as the Leg 6 crew of Brian and Heather Heffernan (a last minute change) come aboard…

We had about a 2 1/2 hour sail to Loreto from Puerto Escondido. Along the way we picked up some wind and raised the main sail and the spinnaker. As the photo to the right shows, Marilyn became a pro at assisting Bill with the sails. Throughout the trip Marilyn was constantly learning new things on the boat. She was the most excellent of students…

We settled in for our last little sail on the bow, relaxing and enjoying the sea and each other’s company. As we got closer to Loreto, the winds increased quite a bit and the waves got bigger. Since Loreto’s bay is not very protected, Bill was concerned that we would have a tough time anchoring. Anchoring was a bit tricky when we arrived, but with Captain Bill’s keen skill, we were just fine. As we were readying the dinghy with our gear, we spied Brian and Heather at the shore jumping and waving to us. I had no idea that Brian could jump that high! He looked like a bird in flight. With all the wind, dinghying to shore with the four of us and all of our stuff was a bit dicey. The poor little dinghy barely stayed above the water! I wish we had a picture of that …

Since we were switching crews, Brian and Heather went to the boat, and the Leg 5 Ladies moved into the La Damiana Inn. Over a week without a regular shower, and we were beyond excited to shower, shave, shampoo and shine! I think this was the best shower I have ever taken. However, as our sea legs kicked in, we were rocking and rolling now that we were back on land…try shaving your legs when you are feeling like you are seriously rocking on a boat. Talk about dangerous. You could kill yourself!

After we showered and began to feel human again, we went out to explore Loreto. We ate a great lunch at La Cascada. It had been recommended to us by our cab driver, who was married to the owner. It was a great little outdoor restaurant, where we had yummy fish veracruzano, lobster, and mole. Of course we also had a bit more shopping to do. Marilyn was constantly on the lookout for little gifts for Zoe (the new grand baby-to-be)! We met up with Bill, Brian and Heather a bit later for some dinner at La Palapa. Past crews have found this little place, with tasty (and lethal) margaritas. We were all pooped and called it an early night. Bill, Brian and Heather headed back to the boat (they would be leaving port in the morning), while Marilyn, Sally and I turned in early at the Inn.

Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast at Tres Mandiles (same place as last week). They make amazing fresh juices that would put any US juice bar to shame. We had an easy morning at the Inn. La Damiana Inn is a fabulous little hotel. It is run by two wonderful people, Deborah and Gerardo. I would highly recommend this place to anyone coming to Loreto. It is quite charming and lovely, and also very reasonably priced. It was built in the early 1900s and has been lovingly refurbished by the the proprietors. The rooms are all different, but all wonderful with their own personalities…

After saying goodbye to our new friends at La Damiana, and the charming city of Loreto, we hopped a plane and flew back to Guaymas. Now that our journey was ending, we were all looking forward to getting home and into our own beds (and to our hound puppies!). We had about a 7 1/2 hour drive back to Penasco, and arrived home around 11:30 p.m. We were all exhausted, but happy. The three ladies of Leg 5 completed our journey with some wonderful, shared experiences that we won’t soon forget. We had an amazing captain in Bill. He took us to the most incredible places, and for that we are ever so grateful. Marilyn, Sally and I want to thank the owners of Gato Loco for giving us the wonderful gift of this trip. We all feel so truly lucky…so, signing off for the last time for Leg 5…adios amigos, hasta pasta, later alligator, hasta luego, later freighter, bye-bye…The Leg 5 Ladies, Marilyn, Sally & Lisa…

Here are some of our random photos…enjoy…

“Gato Loco 2009 Leg 5 Crew-Marilyn, Bill, Sally & Lisa”

Until the next Update… The GatoLoco Crew

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Leg 1 April 11-19, Crew: Bill, Bruce & Cynthia Tegge, Clyde Betts sail from Puerto Penasco to San Carlos
Leg 2 April 19-26, Crew: Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Bill, Victor & Leslie Rangel. San Carlos to Loreto. Santa Rosilia, Mulege and visit new friends (overnight anchorage) in Bahia San Marcos
Leg 3 April 26-3, Crew:Bill, Lowell, Frankie, Neely, Kerry Fahey (AU). Seawind Rally to Loreto Fest. Sail from Loreto heading south to meet Seawinds coming from Cabo, maybe meet 2 days south. Kurt will be sailing north from Cabo with California Seawind owners.
Leg 4 May 3-10, Crew:Bill, Frankie ,Lowell, Neely, Bob & Chris Sanders, Kerry Fahey (AU). Sail the Loreto area …. Steve and Cindy will also be in the Loreto area this week.
Leg 5 May 10-17, Crew:Bill, Lisa Wendt, Sally Dalton, Marilyn Haney. Frankie, Neely and I head back to San Carlos flying or by Ferry.
Leg 6 – May 17-24, Crew: Bill and Brian & Heather Heffernan sailing in the Loreto area.
Leg 7 – May 24-31, Crew: Bill, Mike Clark, Liane Guathier, Mike & Gill Panasewicz sail back to San Carlos
Leg 8 – May 31-?, Crew: Bill & his family sail San Carlos back to Puerto Penasco