While I enjoyed the chance to visit all the kids in California, Mike and Lucy managed on their own just fine.  Neither one of them picked up too many new bad habits.  Our sailing resumed and we headed from Menorca to Mallorca to rendezvous with our former next door neighbors Larry and Mary Ivins.  We met 19 years ago and became great friends with a common dream to sail the world.  Our original plan to do it together didn't pan out, as our timing was a bit off.  But what a blast to hook up for a month in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea!  They, too, sail on a beautiful Hylas.  Much to Mike's envy, theirs is the larger 54 foot model with all that extra head room and storage space.  Mike drools whenever he's on Berkeley East. I know it sounds hard to believe, but Mike and I can be home bodies when we don't have people around who inspire us to go out.  Well, not only are Mary and Larry fantastic on-board party hosts, but they are also adventurous travelers.  We rented a car together to tour the island of Mallorca, stopping for coffee in a medieval mountain village, touring (and tasting!) at an award-winning local winery, observing the handcrafting at the Majorica pearl factory, eating lunch in a cute little fishing village on the north side of the island, having dinner at a restaurant on the south side, and all this was just in one day! Ray Torres and Mike McBride, Mike's long-time good friends, came out from California for a vacation.  They wanted to experience the sailing lifestyle.  They arrived in Mallorca and sailed with us to Ibiza.  We had good weather the entire time, so we couldn't offer them much of a challenge with respect to actual sailing.  The only challenge for them was to find the perfect sangria and the best topless beach.  Winners were selected in both categories, but only the sangria pictures will be posted here! Lucy just loves to dig in the sand.  It was so funny to watch her excitedly digging that hole with her head ALL the way inside!  The second picture shows us bathing her after she dove in the water following Mike.  Mary was already in the water and she swears she didn't encourage Lucy to jump.  She said that Lucy imitated Mike by putting her arms in front of her as she dove in, a moment after Mike dove in.  Mike came up for air and didn't know why everyone was yelling.  He turned around and saw Lucy dog paddling like mad.  I spent the next hour and a half grooming her with a shampoo and blow dry.  That was bad enough, but then just when our group was ready to go to the beach bar, Lucy did it again!  Only this time, it was an accident.  She was jumping in the dinghy and lost her grip when the dinghy jerked forward.  I was sooooo not happy.  Another hour of rinsing and drying, and I was really ready for a drink! On our must-do list was to experience the detoxifying, skin-softening magic of Espalmador's famous blue mud.  I wasn't feeling well that day, so Mike, Larry and Mary took the trek to the sulfur-smelling blue mud and slathered their bodies from head to toe.  Then they took the trail back to the beach, allowing the mud to dry before rinsing off in the clear water of the Mediterranean Sea.  Mike's skin feels like a baby's! Here we are sailing by the island which was filmed as Bali Hai in the old movie South Pacific. Click HERE to read the Letter Home for August   <previous> Photo Album <next> Photo Album