Yes, I know,  we are still here in Puerto Aventuras. It appears that the Eagles weren’t writing about a hotel when they wrote the song ‘Hotel California’ they were writing about this Marina!. We have checked out 3 times now and have still not been able to leave.

The latest attempt saw us slip the lines, sail out of the entrance and then have the depth instrument fail. Roger tried to rectify the problem but concluded that the gauge was in fact kaput!!!! As most of the coast of Mexico is not well charted and we need to pass through numerous reefs, there is no way we can safely navigate without the depth gauge, so 50 minutes after setting sail we returned to port and tied up again. We have not yet found the reason we are not supposed to leave but I am sure in the fullness of time it will be revealed.

Roger immediately got on Skype and called West Marine to buy a new Raymarine tri-gauge and have it Fedex’d down to us (which would take approx 4 days) only to find that they are out of stock and on back order!! So he tried the manufacturer of the old one, who directed him to other dealers, only to find the same problem. So here we are 3 days later, still no solution, though I have put an e-mail out to the CSY (the make of our boat) owners forum in the hope that they may be able to help.

In addition to this, in 5 days there is another cold front due through with 35kt winds, so it is unlikely that we will be leaving then, even if we do get the replacement part.

Ah well, there are worse places to put stuck!!! We have met some wonderful people and made lots of new friends. The other day whilst checking on the ‘Dolphin maternity ward’ we met a Russian family from New York, Mike, Tatyana and their 11 year old daughter, Josephina.

Josephina is a very talented musician/composer. She recently entered a competition in the USA and beat 40,000 other entrants. Her piece, called ‘My favourite Place’ is to be performed at Carnegie Hall by the Philharmonic Orchestra. They gave us a copy and it is a beautiful piece, it is the type of piece that someone like Lesley Garrett would sing to open the Olympics (so Seb, if it hasn’t been arranged yet I can give you her contact details!!) I am sure she will go on to become famous, her Dad certainly hopes so. He has told her she has to buy him a boat so he can go sailing!!

Speaking of the dolphins I have some very sad news. Remember I told you there are 4 dolphins that are expecting, well Daniella had her baby this morning at 07.45. Unfortunately, she is very inexperienced as it was her first baby and it died. Dolphins are born tail first and she tried to pull it out and the second time she pulled she broke the umbilical cord. This is the sign for the baby to start to breathe, but unfortunately the baby’s head was still inside and it died. This is even sadder, because she was the first dolphin to be artificially inseminated in the whole of Latin America. Before you start boycotting the site because you disagree with dolphins in captivity, all of the dolphins here were born in captivity, non have been taken from their natural environment. The trainers here are exceptional and there is no doubt they care very much for the dolphins. The company also have a pro-active healthcare system in place and the dolphins are all very healthy and it appears, happy. They are certainly frisky and I am sure it won’t be long before more are in the maternity wards.

I think we will be here to see at least 2 of the other babies born, so hopefully the news will be happier next time.