Ham radio, waterfalls and surf.

What do the ham radio, waterfalls and surf have to do with one another? Nothing actually.  I just thought I would catch you up on the latest and those things are what stick in my mind.

As for the ham radio, Marne had her triumphant debut as the net controller for the morning Sonrisa net on the ham radio.  As such she was responsible to check in cruisers from Baja to the south of Mexico along the Pacific coast that rely on the net to pass on important information, obtain weather and check in with their current locations and conditions.  She did a stellar job!  I remember the first time I did it, I was so nervous.  All of these pro ham nerds out there listening to my every mistake and probably critiquing me in the silence of their own boat.  It is a bit daunting at first.  However, Marne came through with flying colors and afterward said that she actually had fun.

Here in Tenacatita friends of ours Marc and Dee on the catamaran "SpeakEasy" told us of a really cool hike up the canyon southeast of La Manzanilla that leads you up a dry riverbed and then eventually leads you to a beautiful box canyon where a crystal clear, cool water stream flows over the massive rocks and down the canyon through the dense jungle.  The trail is not marked and there were several "choices" that we came to along the way but after a few failed attempts following dead ends in one direction or another, we arrived at "Nirvana" spot.  A small waterfall of maybe 15' poured into a gorgeous aqua green pool of water that was about the size of a large swimming pool and about 12' deep.  It was amazing and SO worth the hike!  Thanks S/V SpeakEasy for the great tip!  It will definitely be visited again when we pass through here next season.  Usually our pictures come out great but honestly, this time they really don't do the place justice.

As for surfing, we have had a pretty big swell rolling through the anchorage here in Tenacatita for the last two days.  Yesterday we got out the boards and headed in to grab a few waves.  The shape was not spectacular but was still super fun.  We have been waiting for decent surf for over a month now and it was fun to get the boards wet run some water past the fins.  This morning the swells were even bigger so I paddled out for about an hour.  I caught a couple of super short waves but they were mostly "closed out" and were not nearly as fun as yesterday.

All is well onboard. Ciao for now.

SV Liahona
Bret, Marne and Sydney