We slowly recovered from our hike up the towering volcano by laying around. The armies of bobos had gotten so numerous that we were about to loose our minds. So checking the tides to assure we left around slack tide we hip tied the dinghy and away we went back to La Gringa. Leaving the crew on Thalia behind we escaped the bombardment of bobos hoping that they didn’t follow us. There was hope that there wasn’t another colony over there waiting for us.
Arriving in La Gringa a few hours later we found our spot and settled in. In a few days the full moon will be out. We message all our friends far and wide hoping that maybe just maybe some are still in the area to do the “la Gringa Float”.
What is this La Gringa float? When the moon is at it’s fullest it gives the clue that the sun, moon, and earth are lined up in a way to cause the largest of tidal flows that month. So picking high tide on a full moon and your favorite floating device you take the nice gentle float along the river bed flowing back into the sea. You must pick your time correctly and hurry to get a few floats in before you no longer can float high enough to clear the bottom.
Max and Karen on SV Lusty is incoming and they have two extra floats we can use. As we ready our beach snacks and drinks Andy and Kathryn on SV Anna Maria radio and are on their way. They don’t have floating devices as fancy as Max and Karen’s but we assure them we will find something that works.
Max and Karen arrive and we set to work scheming ideas of how to make comfortable floats for Andy and Kathryn while they get anchored. We must hurry. It is almost high tide. We grab some lines and a 4 fenders and tie them together. Andy and Kathryn arrive at the beach and we show them our creations. With a huge smiles on their faces and a little doubt in their eyes they quickly try a few different directions and soon Andy is floating away from the group. We all jump in with cheers and laughter and we float ever so slowly out of the lagoon and towards open water. The ride takes all but 4 minutes but it induces immediate relaxation. We chat and float as we watch the birds lined up on the shore watching us with a weary eyes.
“I’m picking up speed!” Close to the end the current picks up with the out going tide. We begin to feel a bit of a pull as we make the last bend. Quicker, quicker until we are released into the sea at the speed of a fast turtle. We giggle and float a little longer until we realize we might be able to go again. “Hurry, hurry” we all take turns running for the beginning. Max is the first in and it isn’t long before he starts shouting out warnings. “Bottoms up! Rocks to Starboard”. Everyone takes the commands and either hand paddle left or take their chances with their abb and glute strength and squeeeeeze straightening their legs and arching our backs we clear a few. Again feeling the current speed up as we near the outlet.
Jumping out of the water and rushing toward the beginning we try a third time. Some of us are dumping tiny pebbles out of our shorts as we weren’t “bottoms up” enough. Our third trip down took much longer as we tried with all we had to keep our selves afloat in the diminishing tide. As we struggled to the end we were in fits of giggles as each person splashed and flopped their way through. It was evident that this would be the last time.
Karen had a special treat for us. It is illegal for a foreigner to collect shell fish in Mexico. But not if they are with a Mexican Citizen. Which Karen is. She proudly grabs her bucket and shovel from her dinghy and said ” Ever gone clamming”? We rush to the very lagoon we just floated and she teaches us how to reach in with our bare hands and lift the fist fulls of gravel gently swirling the salt water around. Letting the gravel wash away with the water we reveal our catch of small clams the size of silver dollars. Throwing our catch into Karen’s bucket she invites us all to her boat home for pasta. Little did we know we were about to be Lusty-d.
Back at our boats we quickly cleaned up and prepared our sides and drinks to take with us over to Max and Karen’s. We arrive just in time for Karen to invite us in to be taught. She explained how to rinse them. These clams are unique in the fact that they have grown in gravel. Which is easier to clean then the usual sand dwelling clams. She had soaked them prior to our arrival. As we chat she lights up the skillet and soon the fragrance of butter, garlic, onion, peppers dance through the air preparing our senses for the meal to come.
We watch, practically drooling, as she dumps the clams in shell and all to sauté with the perfectly prepared butter sauce. She watches carefully and in-between sips of wine we eagerly spoon out each clam as it opens. Pasta boiling, wine glasses being filled, the sizzling of sauteing aromatics set the back ground music as we found our seats at Karen’s perfectly placed table. She dishes out hearty spoon fulls of pasta for each person, tops it with the buttery clam perfection and we dig in. The tender clams melt in your mouth, the delicate flavor was pleasing to our taste buds. The night went on with more food, more drink, music and hilarious stories. Karen shared with us her childhood growing up in Mexico. We left that night with our bellies and souls over flowing.
I am writing this nearly a year later. I’m behind. I know! But a side note would be. Since that time Max and Karen have returned to La Cruz where they sold their beloved SV Lusty and opened a restaurant. Lusty on land where you too can go and be Lusty-d. You should