I can’t imagine a better way to bring in the New Year. I would have to say that the theme for this trip was friends for life. Our guests were Jean and Ray from California,Irina and Alex from Russia, Betty and Bryan from Arizona. Sara and Kilian from Spain,Chris and Ellen from Canada. Ailyn, Rodrigo and Pedro from Mexico, Jaime from Florida,Yuki and Yuichiro from Japan and Lily, Tiffany, Jennifer and Jessica from New York.
Everyone clicked, and by the endless conversation and laughter throughout the boat you would think that everyone knew each other for years instead of just meeting when they boarded.
The sea life was phenomenal. It was as if the ocean knew it was the beginning of something new. We encountered beautiful mantas. One in particular keep coming back and would come straight to me. We were kindred spirits. We were also consistently visited by dolphins. We had a humpback whale appear at San Benedicto. It stayed most of the day and we snorkeled with it. They usually don’t start to show up until the end of February. What a gift!! Plenty of sharks at Roca Partida.
We tried out the new 21 foot zodiac that Santa sent us all the way from the Canadian-Washington border. Wow! We had 15 divers plus captain and still had room to do some dancing. We love it!
New Years dinner was fantastic. I had brought a case of champagne. Alex and Irina also brought a couple of bottles. Gerardo prepared the most delicious prime rib plus something yummy for our vegetarian guests. It was a delicious dinner with a heartwarming atmosphere.
The weather was calm the entire trip. Nothing better than smooth seas. Water temperatures were a bit colder than last year. Warmest was 77 and coldest was 73. I pulled out all the hooded vests on board and passed them around.
This was a very difficult trip to see come to an end. After lots of hugs and drying teary eyes, the crew stood quietly and watched until the shuttle disappeared. It was hard to shake off the bitter sweet feeling of farewell. We hope to have you back on board again very soon. It’s always great to see our friends once again.
The Crew of Rocio del Mar;
Capt. Lolo, Dora, Everardo, Rey, Gerardo, Jorge and Julio.
