The Rebitzer/Arfins - Mimi, Bobby, Elana, and Maya - joined us when we entered La Cruz, a small town near Puerto Vallarta. A few days later, we sailed up north to Punta Mita. We anchored and went to shore. There were multiple surf schools, and one with fluent English speaking instructors. All the kids wanted to surf and the dads too, so we got surfing lessons for the next day.
Here's a funny fact: The day we had our surfing lessons, our very first surfing lessons, it was the biggest surf day of the year! But it was awesome. I had a blast! I rode a lot of waves in and stood up a few times. Once I rode a wave all the way into shore standing up. It was so cool! Harrison rode them in a lot too. Almost everyone in our group got up!
After our lesson, we went straight back to the boat because we were right next to he breaking point so the waves were giant. We raised the anchor and we left. About an hour later, my dad started shouting, "Oh my God!" Everyone went to go see what he saw. There was a whale. It wasn't the first time we'd seen a whale. We'd seen a school of whales. But this whale was right next to us. I think it was 5 feet away, Dad said it was 15 feet away. But the bottom line is that you're supposed to be 250 feet away from a whale to be safe. The entire back and tail came off the water as the whale dove down under our boat without making a splash. You could see the barnacles, it was that close!
I hope that we gave the Rebitzer/Arfins a trip to remember! I'll never forget that day!
-Danielle
Hi Danielle Finally we got a blog--it's been so long. Your experience sounds SO awesome--I can't imagine ever doing anything like that! And the whale?-well, the thot of that made me VERY nervous--what made him leave?
ReplyDeleteToday I went x-country skiing-it was a really beautiful day & now I just came home from seeing Russell for his 8th birthday.
How is everyone feeling? Heard some were not feeling so well.
Love you & miss you all. can't wait to see you.
Hugs & kisses Bubie
OMG!! That sounds awesome and scarey and exciting all at the same time. Your writing is so amazing, that I actually had to look down to the bottom of the blog to see who wrote it because from the beginning, I was sure it was your mom!
ReplyDeleteLike I said to Harrison...I hope you guys got some great pics of surfing..we blog readers would love to see them!
EVeryone is back to routine now that winter break is over. WE had a very relaxing couple of weeks which was very nice. Saw a few movies, played lots of games, did arts and crafts, hung out, and just had fun being together. I think Sammy and Hannah stayed in their pj's 5 different days (come to think of it...maybe Jeffy and I did too! Don't tell anyone!)
It's 11:00 and I have to go to bed, but I'm so glad I decided to check out your blog site before I did! Love hearing from you.
Have fun...love you!
Boppy
Danielle, I thought it was your mom's post at first - so mature and articulate! And your experience...WOW! How are you ever going to lead a "normal" life after this venture?
ReplyDeleteZaidah and I just returned from 10 days of visiting relatives and friends in Montreal, Lac Long and Ottawa. Even though the weather was below freezing, we were well dressed and enjoyed the visits and scenery (especially in the country - beautiful scenery with lots of snow). We'll tell you all about everyone we saw when we see you in almost a week! We can't wait...love you lots...
Hi danielle and family!!!!
ReplyDeleteI miss you SO much
surfing was fun!
and i agree that the whale was 5 feet away (or less)
I just wrote a whole comment to you and somehow it got erased when I went to post it!
ReplyDeleteAnyway we had said ...
OMG.
We were on the edge of our seats reading your blog.
Marlee wants to know more about your reaction when you saw the whale. I think I would have peed in my pants if I had been on your boat!
You should write a book with all of your amazing experiences!!
It is too bad the whale didnt tell you when he was coming because it would have been a great pic. I am sure it will be a lasting memory that you will always be able to invision in your head.
Keep the blogs coming. We missed them for a while.
xoxoxo