Water days on Seneca Lake - and one treasure hunt at a pond

VALOIS, New York, USA - This has been the summer of water for Admiral Fox and I, with lake temperatures in the 70s (perfect for swimming) and also fair winds for sailing and boating.

Unfortunately, the engine on the Spirit of Louise pontoon boat has come down with a serious mechanical flu, taking it out of service for the balance of the season. So, in a week or so, the boat will go into storage with a cure to be applied next spring. The cure might include buying a new - and more powerful - engine to replace the vintage 35 HP Mercury on there now. Maybe that replacement will be a 60 HP Merc.

Zoooooooommmmm.

For the balance of the summer, however, we have the Red Rocket sailboat, two kayaks, and the new blue rowboat.

We'll still be on the water for sure.


Jennifer hoists the Red Rocket main sail


Jennifer at the helm

My boat partner, Jennifer Fitch Marshall, just ended up a way-too-short visit (one week) but had a great sailing week. We went out together one day, and she remembered her lessons well from last summer when we purchased the Red Rocket together and she did her first solo sailing.

Sometime this winter, we hope to get both families aboard a charter boat in the Bahamas for a week - or more - of sailing in those warm waters.



But two days ago we had another waterside adventure - the search for the wedding ring cousin Brett Beardslee lost in the pond at the nearby Pee-Wee Farm. About an hour after saying his wedding vows July 10 to his wife Jesse, the two dove in the pond to go for a swim and the ring slipped off his finger.

Ouch. Or maybe more accurately, oops.

Brother Dan Schwartz, Admiral Fox, Capt. Dan Olsen and Lorraine and I mounted a rescue operation at the pond, where we were met by amigo Brad Phillips who had his diving gear on when we arrived.

Brother Dan made some modifications to his metal detector to check for the ring and Brad did some serious mucking about below the surface where the ring is likely to be resting in a foot of soft mud.

Alas, no joy - at least on that first try.


Brother Dan splicing the metal detector cable

Here's a short video of the treasure hunt for the wedding ring.

An afternoon at the pool in Barra de Navidad

BARRA DE NAVIDAD, Jalisco, Mexico - It was quite fitting that we took Sunday afternoon off and returned to the scene of earlier good times, the Grand Bay Hotel in Barra de Navidad. Three years ago, our 48-foot sloop Sabbatical was safely moored at the hotel and we were sipping drinks at poolside wondering where our next sailing destination would be.

Little did we know that we would, in the parlance of sailors, swallow the anchor, and suddenly be building a casita.

I am happy to report that the hotel is as beautiful as it was, the pool was as clean and fresh, and the food and cocktails are, well, divine.


Grand Bay Hotel swim-up bar

We went to the hotel to visit with amigos of our amigo, Mario. Tom and Louise have a boat in the marina and just bought a house in Barra de Navidad. (We offered our condolences on how much work they now have ahead.) An amigo of theirs - Beverly - was there too, visiting from Puerto Vallarta where she has a casa.

The afternoon consisted of swimming, a Pacifico, more swimming, another Pacifico with a hamburger and fries for lunch, and a third Pacifico after lunch.

And a nap. An honest-to-God, wide-open-mouth nap.

But the trip there would not have been complete without sampling what was our favorite drink at the hotel in the past: a melange of liquors and ice called a 'ballena.' The drink was just as tasty as ever, though they no longer serve it in the giant globe glasses.


The Captain sips a frosty ballena at the Grand Bay

Today, urban renewal renewed in Arroyo Seco with the roof tiles going on over the bathrooms and showers and the final concrete and brickwork started.

And one last project also began: building a floor for a temporary cocina: a place for the new refrigerator, stove and tables. That work is being done by our amigos and neighbors as I write. In fact, I believe I should get back out there and take some beer orders. It's hot today.


View from the Grand Bay Hotel pool deck

More construction, a new tree and time at the beach - ahhhhh

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - Three work crews are pouring concrete, sawing, hammering and laying tile this week at The Pink Flamingo (the new name for this enclave). The tile needs to be put down on the foundation sidewalls (to discourage scorpions from climbing onto the floor). The bathrooms & showers are being plastered, one step before the electrician puts in lights and switches. And outside the front fence, a large concrete pole is being constructed where an electric meter for our second electrical service will sit.

But the dust! Jaysus H...


Progress on the showers and bathrooms

Besides watching the workmen, well, work, we moved ahead on two other fronts: getting some privacy for the trailer and also making the Communications Center a better place to, well, communicate.

The aft window of the trailer (where the bedroom is) could be seen easily from the rear gate and so we purchased a six-foot fan palm from the local vivero to use as a natural screen. Although I would normally have hired some guys to dig the hole and plant the tree, I decided it was time to break out the shovel and do it myself. The minute I did, of course, one of the workmen (on the tile job) came over and helped.

And after a half-hour of digging, the tree went in the hole and I went in the trailer and took an hour-long nap.

I really have to get more exercise.


A new tree and some privacy

The Communications Center (with the connections for the Mexico phone, Vonage Phone and Internet Modem) had been set up under a simple shade structure, which generally worked fine, except at night, when you were likely to have to battle a variety of flying and crawling insects while trying to use the Vonage phone.

But the La Manzanilla Message Board came to the rescue with a screened-room tent, offered for sale by Ani Mac. The tent project took about four hours and included Admiral Fox getting totally freaked out by the variety of insect life that had taken up residence in a wood pile we had to move. I did see the largest spider I have ever seen.

Message Board Link

New Communications Center at The Pink Flamingo

But all the digging (and the building) was getting pretty old when nephew Nate Schwartz and his mom Beth came to rescue us just as the new Communications Center project was about to drive the Admiral and I to a dust & bug-induced insanity.

Nate grabbed a surfboard and headed to the beach, where we followed not too long after for a couple of hours of boogie-boarding, swimming and, of course, cerveza swilling. Can't be too careful about dehydration in this climate.


Nate gives surfer buddies a lift

Swimming with crocodiles might not be that smart an idea

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - As the Admiral and I prepare for our sojourn south when the semester ends, I have been getting in contact with folks who might want me to write stories for them this year, including my friend Alistair Bell of the international wire service, Reuters.


Reuters London newsroom

When I told him I was would be back and ready to report by Jan. 1, he didn't say anything British, like, 'how smashing.' But he say it will be great to have me back on "crocodile watch."

And, I suppose, I might write some things, too.

The standing joke between us last year was that I was to call him immediately if a croc snagged a tourist - more newsworthy for him, of course, if it was a wealthy Brit. But any tourist would do.

After a dog was taken by a large croc last spring from the beach - in a pretty dramatic witnessed episode - it became much less funny.

It would seem to be even more so now, as I have been reading about the boldness of the La Manzanilla crocodiles this fall - and how far the lagoon has extended to the beach area where children gather.

In the meantime, in Australia, there's a new tourist attraction: tourists climb in a clear acrylic cage and get lowered into the water with saltwater crocodiles. The ultimate thrill, some of the swimmers have said.

I can't quite imagine getting into a tank like that and letting one of those 2,000 pound behemoths get a shot at me - no matter how tough the tank is supposed to be.

Link to: What a Croc!

In the tank with a crocodile in Northern Australia

Several years ago in Zihuatenejo, I was walking with three Australian fellows from Queensland who had sailed in. We were taking swings of beer from jumbo beer bottles when the trio suddenly bolted and ran back the way we came, running like the devil himself was after them.

What made them run was a 10-foot crocodile, sitting motionless in a small lagoon near the shore, maybe 100 feet from where we were about to pass.

I walked back to where they stopped (hard to run with a beer bottle in your hand) and tried to tell them that I thought was no real danger.

They said 'forget it mate.'

In Australia, they explained, saltwater crocs can - and do occasionally - run a man down and drag him back into the water, just like the unlikely named canine 'Lucky' last year in La Manzanilla.

Ever since, I try to keep a nice buffer between me and even the relatively mellow La Manzanilla creatures.

A day near the ocean in Tenacatita and La Manzanilla

LA MANZANILLA, Jalisco, Mexico - The day after your company leaves is always kind of sad. Who do you go play with? Where do you go? What do you do? What excuse do you have to drink beer with lunch and tequila at sundown?

And so somewhat adrift this morning, the Admiral and I decided that we would go out to our Tenacatita lot and I would cast my lot, quite literally, to try to catch some fish.


Hoping for a dorado - or anything

After the great Arroyo Seco fishing expedition of a few days ago with Scott Noble, Chon and Francisco, I had some hopes that I might at least get a few bites out around the rocks right in front of our property. I had learned (by watching my three amigos) how to get a good cast out far enough to entice a fish.

But the ocean at Tenacatita can be intense. And this morning it behaved like a teenager short on sleep: totally unpredictable.

One minute, total calm, the next, a 6-foot breaking wave would send me scrambling up the sand so I wouldn't get swept out by the undertow.

The whole enterprise only lasted about 40 minutes of casting and scrambling before my line parted, taking my next-to-the-last good ocean lure and ensuring a trip to the Zaragosa Marine store in Puerto Vallarta in a couple of weeks.


Almost the final cast

After fishing, we zipped back to La Manzanilla for brunch at Valentina's Restaurant on the beach where we shared a table with local bon vivants Jane Gorby, Debbie Wulze, and Willy (owner of Palapa Joe's). The beach was full of people enjoying one of the nicer Sundays we've had all season, though the water didn't look very appetizing, even from a distance.

Some 'red tide' was washing in at noon and by 5 p.m. when the Admiral and I took our constitutional along the beach, we saw one patch that was truly ugly and had the distinct aroma of decay. And whether it was the red tide or not, the beach for about a mile was littered with dead jellyfish for the first time since we arrived in December.


Red Tide in La Manzanilla

Jellyfish on the beach

The jellyfish and red tide didn't deter anyone from enjoying the afternoon, though. As the red tide moved from one 50-foot stretch of beach to another, the swimmers just moved accordingly.

With a little luck, the red tide will be cleared up by tomorrow morning when I think I might take a few casts off the La Manzanilla beach with my last heavy fishing lure, (a legacy left behind by Scott Noble). The Admiral and I are pondering whether to head out to Arroyo Seco for a full day of planning and drawing diagrams in the dirt to show where we want to place things around the property: A barbecue for fish, for example.

No rush on that, I suppose.