from latitude 38 today:
[quote]
Moontide Crew Robbed at Gunpoint

February 20, 2013 – Caleta de Campos, Mexico

In disturbing news, Bill Lilly and his partner Judy Lang reported their Lagoon 470 Moontide was boarded by three armed men at about 2 a.m. yesterday while they were at anchor at Caleta de Campos, where they had stopped on their way from Zihua to Mazanillo. “I was awakened by banging on the sliding door into the salon,” Bill reports, “and like an idiot, I opened it — at which time a gun was put in my face. Three young men ransacked the boat looking for cash. I gave them what I had, and they went through the boat taking my navigation computer, a cell phone, cameras and booze.” A veteran of many Ha-Ha’s, and number one on the list for this fall’s Ha-Ha, Lily reports that he and Judy were unharmed, but got a heavy dose of adrenaline when “looking down the barrels of pistols.”

Caleta de Campos is the same anchorage where Blair Grinols’s 45-ft cat Capricorn Cat was boarded about 10 years ago by an armed man claiming to be police. Thanks to the area’s having a hinky reputation, we’ve always made straight shots between Zihua and Manzanillo. Given what happened to Moontide, we encourage others to do the same.

Glenn Twitchell of the Newport Beach-based Lagoon 380 Beach Access, who is a good friend of Bill and Judy’s, had an interesting take on the context of the incident. “In defense of Mexico, at nearly the same time Bill and Judy were robbed, some idiot in Orange County, where all three of us live, killed three people and wounded three more, most of them innocent strangers.”

For those looking for an even greater context, check out the website touristkilled.com. While certainly not definitive, it’s an ongoing compendium of misfortune that has befallen tourists in foreign countries around the world. Caution: You may never leave home again.[/quote]

i do not recommend staying at home—is the best way to become dead early. to bear regrets about not seeing that which you wanted to see in life.
life is an adventure meant to be LIVED–

–get out and live it to the fullest and see what you can and enjoy life and living–is a gift.

to be spent out in a schooner sailing–will take pix and try to post em, as we going to head to isla grande, outside the bahia zihuatenejo…this will be my 3rd ever sail with patricia belle, and i am looking forward to it.
happy valentine’s day, all.. may you have a wonderful day!!

to those following my adventures–i write what i find and see and encounter–i hope yáll enjoy–i will post pix when i finally find the way to get my photos out of my i guess dead camera chip….tried 3 alternatives, working on a 4th….so, pix are still pending…

something we all forget about when sailing long distances is hydration.
re hydrating is important–so is replenishing electrolytes.
i keep nu salt(potassium salts) on hand in my galley for this purpose–i mix a small shake into a quart of water with sodium chloride(table salt) shake a small amount of each into a quart of water–one small shake each. make sure isnt too strong, as that makes the stomach hurl. plain water will make ye hurl when your chloride levels drop too low.
first symptoms of dehydration are tender finger pads and soreness of tongue.
after these symptoms comes cramping of body–tonic and clonic—then you need clinic for iv hydration.
this is a serious matter which sailors need to constantly address, as our sailing causes stressors on our bodies–sun and winds dry us big time.
we recommended half strength gatorade in emergency rooms, and the recipe i gave will be a decent substitute for the gatorade half strength. if thinking is becoming fuzzy, sodium and sugar fro brain function is important. add some sugar to the mix.
yes, there have been sailors so dehydrated at sea they are in danger of death.
be safe out here and make sure you have ingredients in your cupboards and lockers to remedy this phenomenon.
you would not believe how difficult it is top remove someone who is essentially seizing from lack of calcium and potassium from a boat onto a dock or out of a boat for transport to a clinic or hospital for treatment that should have been taken care of by preventative maintenance on human body.
and dont eat the fish chile–was poison–glad i didnt find it.