Another hard night for sleeping. I’d like to blame it on the pounding music coming from the disco down the road or the dancing ballroom of my intestines but the mind wouldn’t rest until the wee hours of dawn. Sometimes it takes a day or two to break in a new location. I had half a mind to just write the day off and do nothing but lounge then Mike, the manager of Red Snapper, came over with the idea of paddling our boards out to the Santa Maria replica ship that is parked out in the bay. Rumor has it they are filming a movie about the arrival of Cortez. The bigger rumor is that Spielberg is somehow connected to it. I tried googling it but didn’t find anything. Why not paddle. It got me motivated and the exercise has got to be beneficial to whatever is ailing me.

We dodged the harsh shorebreak and paddled out and around a large yacht that was moored closer to the Snapper. We paddled around it waving to the crew hanging out in the cockpit. The ocean was glassy and the paddling was easy. The bay is large with a set of islands right in the middle. We turned right after the yacht and rowed our way over to the Santa Maria.

The ship is not that large. A lone crew member was sweltering solemnly in the shade having drawn the short straw and being left behind to sit watch on the boat while everyone else is relaxing in town. We paddled a circle around the galleon then headed further out towards the point then hugged the rugged coast as we returned towards the marina.

The water was clear for about six feet as we passed over coral heads and explored in diminutive coves keeping a watchful eye on the rocky shallows. We turned up the channel to the marina to see how the construction was going. They have a huge crane and obviously have some serious plans for making this more of a tourist destination. Birds were diving and reaping a harvest of fish as we made our way home and landed on the beach out front.

I hung my hammock in the little used communal patio and spent the rest of the day catching up on rest and reading a book in the shade. The breeze had come up and kept me cool and refreshed. I ventured into town once for dog food and to see if they had any remedies for an ailing stomach. I rode to the end of the road where it finishes at the channel that is the marina. Low tide and not much water left. A quiet night catching up on rest.