Sailing and Isla Mujeres

Our family on the Sail Boat named, "Lupita"

5.28.08
Justin’s parents have picked up the hobby of sailing for the last several years, and really wanted to take a sailing trip to an island. The island of choice: Isla Mujeres. The Isla Mujeres, a real Mexican beach town across the narrow channel from Cancun, is one of the most popular, and has said to be one of the most “pleasant” day trips you can take from Cancun. They say it is about 10 miles from Cancun, but by sailboat, it seemed much farther. We boarded “Lupita” the sailboat with about 20 or 30 other passengers, ranging in all languages and nationalities. The crew consisted of a bartender (open bar for everyone, even Trey Man!), the captain, Video man, an “odds and end crew man” and the tour director. Everything he said was first in Spanish, then in English. I was really enjoying the ride, Justin, not so much. I had packed motion sickness patches for him, just in case, and thank heavens he brought one on the boat and put it on within about 10 minutes. Bless his heart, he kept asking me how I was doing, but I have a feeling he was doing much worse then I was. We weren’t wearing life vests, so I was clinging tightly to Trey. About 5 minutes after putting the patch on, I find Justin’s head in my lap, slumped over like he is going to die. Here is Trey on one leg, Justin’s head taking up the rest of my already crowded lap (considering my belly and Trey’s booty!), I really didn’t know what to do at that point! I just stroked Justin’s hair and prayed he wasn’t going to get sick on me. 3 minutes later, he sat up, looked at me a little surprised and said, “I don’t remember lying across your lap.” WHAT? He said he felt like he was going to pass out, and the next thing he knows is he is in my lap. He seemed fine after his little “nap” and he reassured me the patch was working. The Tour Guide started handing out life vests and said we were going to be stopping for snorkeling, get on the vests and be ready. I passed on the snorkeling, figuring I was feeling fine and didn’t need to get in the bumpy waters to make me feel ANY better. So, the family suited up to snorkel, even Marie who is deathly afraid of fish, and they were bailing off the side of the boat to go snorkeling. Marie, didn’t bail off, basically sat on the edge and lowered herself into the water, but I understand, she had her contacts in and with the fear of fish, who would want to disturb them with a huge splash? As the boat docked and Trey and I sat, moving with the waves of the ocean, I began to feel a little sick to my stomach and realized I should probably take this opportunity to use the facilities. I quickly gathered Trey up and carefully trudged my way across the top of the boat, holding onto Trey’s little hand and watching my every step. As I made my way down to the restroom, I got a bit lost and yelled for directions, thankfully the Video Man was down there already and steered me in the right direction. I noticed the restroom was too small for Trey to come in with me so I pleaded with him to sit outside the door for me. He said he would, and then the Video Man said not to worry, he would keep his eye on Trey. This Video Man ended up being my Savior on this trip! As I used the facility, I could hear the Video Man ask Trey questions like, “What is your name? How old are you?” Trey began telling him about his upcoming 3rd birthday and the Pirate Party he was going to have. I didn’t hear speaking after that and so I called out Trey’s name, praying this Video Man didn’t take him up on top and try to steal him. (I am sorry, but we were in a foreign country and strange things happen!) Trey didn’t answer, so I was getting a bit nervous as I was quickly washing my hands. Then I heard the Video Man say, “Trey, your mom is calling you,” and Trey answered me. As I tried to flush the toilet (I was told to pump the handle 6 times and it should flush) after pumping the handle about 25 times, the Video Man said, “Don’t worry. No problem.” I quickly said, “Thank you,” to the Video Man and hurried Trey back on top. I couldn’t stand the rocking of the boat any longer and I needed my plastic bag I had asked for at the beginning of our journey. I got on top and made full use of my plastic bag. Breakfast, Coke product, I had ordered on the boat, and probably the dinner from the night before, all emptied from my stomach. Sweet Trey, he grabbed his little cup of Orange Juice and offered it to me, saying, “Here Mom, this is medicine, drink it!” So caring, always trying to make me feel better. At this point, I wanted off this boat, if it meant jumping ship and swimming the next 3 miles to this island we were heading to. The most frustrating thing about being docked was that I could see the island so clearly, but there was no way for me to get to it but on this nasty boat called the “Lupita” which was making me sicker than a junk-yard dog. Before the people who went snorkeling got back on board, I quickly tried to hide my barf bag so there would be NO evidence that someone, ME, got sick on board while they were away. I think I did a pretty good job of it, although Justin didn’t need to see the evidence in order to know I wasn’t feeling well. Once everyone was seated, the tour guide got on the loud speaker and said, “Just a reminder to all of our friends on board, the toilet paper does NOT go in the toilet! We now have a toilet that is NOT in service, so if anyone needs a restroom, you will have to wait until we reach the island.” I just about DIED. Of course I didn’t remember the toilet paper rule, no paper in the toilets, as I was crammed in that little restroom. I was worried about Trey being kidnapped for heaven’s sake. I could have jumped ship at that point. Larry looks over at me and says, “Were YOU the toilet paper Amigo?” I just nodded in shame. It was pretty obvious who had clogged the toilet, and for the sweet Video Man, he knew exactly who had done it. Do you THINK I could have rid myself of the shame and embarrassment of the Video Man and the Tour Guide, knowing, Yes, the pregnant one with the little boy was the Toilet Clogger? NO! They followed us ALL day long! Don’t worry men ,I will ALWAYS remember your dumb countries rule about toilet paper. The next stop? Touching a shark. I really, REALLY wanted to do this, so I gathered my bearings and was able to sail a bit more until we reached the dock where Trey and I met “Monica” the Shark.


Entering the waters with Monica, the Shark!



Showing Trey that it was safe to touch the shark (as I am praying it doesn't turn around and take a chunk out of my thigh!)



Trey said the shark felt "scratchy," like sandpaper!

Trey was so brave, being the youngest one on the boat and coming with me so willingly into this little cage, in the ocean, to touch a shark. I almost felt like Steve Irwin, holding his small baby boy in front of an alligator or Michael Jackson dangling his baby “Blanket” (I think that was the babies name) over the Hotel’s balcony for the photogs to take a picture. I was putting my child in danger just like these crazy men, but I figured it was a chance of a lifetime and Trey would hopefully enjoy it. He did of course, and so did I! (I think I also enjoyed being off that stupid boat “Lupita” and on some more sturdy ground!) We finally, and just in the nick of time, reached Isla Mujeres and were taken to some shops where Marie bartered for a nice pendant and Trey used the jewelry stores restroom because I clogged the boats toilet. We were then led to an “all you can eat Mexican Buffet” (which just sounded NASTY to me, but was pretty nice!) where we enjoyed some “American” music by two singers and a Casio Keyboard player. Trey LOVED their music and danced his way through our lunch. He tried some rice and beans at this lunch, and then had to call Grandma Bend to tell her what he had just ate. (He PRETENDED to call and tell her. Before our trip, she had made the greatest “sticker chart” for him to fill out when he ate something out of the ordinary. When he got enough stickers to fill up the chart, he got either gum or candy! So perfect mom, Thanks!)


We have the cutest video of him dancing to the music while pretended to call my mom.




The best video I got, but then had to erase it from our memory card due to lack of space was their rendition of “New York, New York.” The singer actually had a cheat sheet he read the lyrics from as he sang away. HILARIOUS! He wasn’t the best of the two singers, we actually really enjoyed the 2nd singer. At lunch, we were offered a bottle of beer and we told them, “No thank you.” The Crew Member offering us the beer said, “No, you don’t have to drink it.” He turned the bottle of beer over, and there was the greatest picture of our whole family, after touching the shark, but we couldn’t justify purchasing the beer bottle.





I took some pictures of it though. I think the picture was stretched a bit to fit the bottle’s length, and I think the stretching was in my favor! After lunch, Justin and his parents went off and shopped while Trey and I enjoyed lounging on the beach. I wasn’t about to walk around in the heat and shop, I chose to sit and relax in the water, and I am so glad I did.



The water was so refreshing, the sand was breathtaking, and Trey had the best time looking for fish.


I wasn’t looking forward to our trip back to Cancun, but Justin reassured me it shouldn’t take as long, and he was right. It seemed to go much smoother. They played great music as we traveled, and Trey was our form of entertainment.



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He literally danced his tail off for all of the guests. He is so brave and outgoing, he amazes me. I know I wasn’t that outgoing at his age! Just before docking in Cancun, the boat stopped and let out a sail. It was for Spinnaker sailing, I guess, but it was also for entertainment. Brave Justin attempted this feat and was amazing. This sail took him up in the air, as he sat on a swing type seat, and when he wanted, he jumped off it into the water.








Justin’s dad asked if I was going to try it, and I said, “Heck no!” I just enjoyed watching and screaming!




We arrived safely at our hotel and had Domino’s for dinner. They actually delivered to our hotel. I was still recuperating from my sea-sickness, so pizza wasn’t probably the best thing to eat, but Trey LOVED it and Justin seemed to enjoy it.