Hopefully this is the last.  We went to Guadalajara thinking they would just say, “Si,  Eso es una hematoma.  Que lastima.”  But no.  The surgeon didn’t like the looks of things one bit.  So we scheduled surgery for 2 hours later.  They removed the hard “mass” which the doctor described as a cocoon encapsulating blood and fluid.  He was eager to show it to me, but I passed to avoid passing out.

Only 2 days after removing the mass Sherrell felt better than before the surgery.  She didn’t realize how badly it had been bothering her.  The tests came back negative for bacteria and cancer and the doctors best guess is it could be related to a side-effect of radiation (and an old MCTD problem in remission) or the hematoma.  Anyway Sherrell’s doing a lot better and we’ll get our lives back yet.  She’ll have all summer to heal now!

We had a great time surfing with our friends at a beach about 76km north of Mazatlan.  But now we have to go back for some more doctoring.  The hematoma is still bad and the ultrasound showed it was pretty large.  So more fun for Sherrell.

In the meantime, we took a homeless cat (they keep getting dumped at the marina) to the shelter to get fixed.  We have to pick her back up today, but we think we’ve found someone to adopt her.  Now we just need to figure out what to do with the 6 kittens, and 2 other adult cats before they multiply.

Hopefully, things will go well and we’ll be back quickly!

We canÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t seem to shake them. Sherrell returned from Guadalajara after a good scare. The doctor thought her soreness and swelling was a really bad sign, so they did some samples and found no cancer. Then before they cut her open for more tissue, she remembered falling very hard about 2 months ago. They took a closer look and thought maybe the problem was a hematoma. So they numbed her and took about 100ccÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s of trapped blood, to everyoneÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s relief it was just a hematoma. But now sheÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s sore and we have to go back again in 10 days for another exam.

Also they took another look at SherrellÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s gall stone which shows up in the liver ultrasound and recommended getting it treated before it gets inflamed. So, itÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s hard to tell what might go down in the next few weeks ahead. Hopefully weÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ll get it all straightened out and Sherrell can stop seeing these characters.

We did get some work down on the boat. I scrubbed out our fuel tank and the bilge. Installed a new fuel hose. Cleaned the boat, again and again. ItÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s getting hotter and more humid.

MexicoÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s already had the first stupid storm of the hurricane season but thatÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s yet another set of problems I donÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢t want to think about.

So we are going to try some surfing in a new spot with our friends before they head back to the US for a few weeks. ThereÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢s supposed to be a really nice summer wave at this place, Selistinos. WeÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢re going to have a good time there!

Catching some waves at Playa Bruja (Witch Beach) in Mazatlan!

The 130nm leg was a bit of a bummer.  We only were able to sail for about 30 miles, and we beat into it the whole way.  At least we got to sail.  Normally it is a difficult direction along this coast to sail, so Sherrell keeps reminding me that 30 miles of sailing was more than she expected.  Anyway the wind was dead calm most of the night, but the seas were rolly and bumpy.

It took us about 25 hours to get here, which was really quite fast.  We had to wait for the dredge to stop working so we could enter the channel and since it’s only open for 20 minutes, there was a pile up of boats coming out.  To top it off, there were some occasional HUGE waves that were breaking across the entire entrance.   If that wasn’t a challenge enough, we had a 4 boat pile up once we got inside the breakwater.  I had to slam the boat into reverse and turn hard to avoid the chaos from the various boats that weren’t paying any attention.  It was a good thing it happened to us instead of our friends that went in front of us -- because of our small size we were able to maneuver through the mess of boats (not without a bit of a heart attack) without hitting anything.

Anyway we’re here now and tucked in with lots of fresh water and power.  Now to catch-up on some lost sleep!

We`re about 100 nm north of PV in a bay that has some great waves in the
Spring and Summer for surfing. We`ve already spent two days surfing and
now we hitched a ride into San Blas to pick up some veggies and fruit and
use the internet.

We`ll be departing for Mazatlan in about 10 days to meet up with my mom
who is flying in for a visit!

Heading north from Tenacatita, we stopped at Chamela and decided to try to push on around Cabo Corrientes (a nasty cape about 65 miles away) the next day.  However about 2 hours out we were getting soaked from crashing waves, and Ocean Lady and us made the group decision to go back to Chamela and snorkel for a few days until the weather was better.

I’m glad we did because the visibility was over 25 feet and we saw an amazing amount of sea life:  moray eels, tuna, lobsters, angel fish, puffer fish, coral, brightly colored parrot fish and a ton of stuff we didn’t recognize.  So after four days of snorkeling a weather window started to open up and we went for it.

Three boats, Kings Way, Ocean Lady and us, all made a bid for the cape at 2pm.  We managed to sail for about 3 hours until the wind clocked around to the NW, right on our nose, so we powered through it.  At 3:30 am we cleared Cabo Corrientes in mild winds and bumpy seas.  And at 10:00 we were anchored back in La Cruz (just north of PV).  We’ll be here for a few days before hunting for more surf further north on our way to Mazatlan.

Well, it`s time to start the 1,000 mile journey back up in to the northern
Sea of Cortez to avoid hurricanes.

Our time here in Barra de Navidad is too short, so we`ll have to stop back
by here next season before Central America.

For now though, our sights are set on Tenacatita, a full 12 miles from
here. I don`t know if we`ll be able to handle the long passage, but we`ll
try.

We were exploring the murky waters of some of Barra's Lagoons and we saw a set of eyes and some sharp teeth lurking nearby.