Thursday, July 11

North 24° 24.288’
West 110° 19.549’
Distance: 6.96 miles

We paddled 6.96 miles today. Mike made eggs with avocado and tomato in tortillas for breakfast with most of the rest of our breakfast food. The flies are pretty bad here, but at least there are none of the pesky no-see-ums. Both Mike and I are suffering from the bites from two days ago. Thanks again to Gail for the cortisone cream she gave me. It is almost gone and we should try to get more in La Paz. Last night we watched the tide come higher and higher. It finally peaked about 5 vertical inches and 30 horizontal inches from our beds and boats. The night was perfect – not hot and with a slight breeze. When we left, Mike wanted to fish, so he went way outside. Johnny and I stayed nearer the islands. After a couple hours we found a nice point to land on and Mike followed about twenty minutes later. We traded snorkeling time for about an hour and a half. This was a great location for it – coral and rock and sand with a natural bowl full of fish. I played with the spear gun and caught a couple to use as bait. The strap on the back of my left fin broke. It is about fifteen years old and I am lucky that it lasted as long as it has. We continued toward the south end of the islands looking for a camp without flies or no-see-ems. Around the bottom we found a nice place with a clean sand beach, few bugs, and a great view of the canal. We set up the shade and had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Later, Mike made pasta. After a bit of looking, Mike found the tequila bottle. He challenged me to drink a nine-second poor. Nine seconds almost completely filled my mouth, but I did it. It was like being hit in the head with a hammer. Then Mike’s turn. He made it to seven seconds, then it started pouring out the corners of his mouth. We made him take a two second penalty. We ate Nutella and watched stars and talked about crossing back tomorrow. We want to get to Playa Tecolote tomorrow so we can get him on a plane back to San Diego early the next day. His visit was too short. I have gotten used to having a lot of time out here to do stuff. I guess I will soon have to get used to schedules again.