I have two questions for you, but first you have to look at the photo.

As you can see, my left hipthong, my very favorite shoe in the world is gone.  It got washed off the boat on our sail from Chamela to La Cruz.  I shouldn’t have left my shoes in the rail-it was careless; but I believed Passage Weather when they call for winds of 10-15 knots with small seas. What they really should have called for was winds of 20-25 knots with 10 ft seas coming at our nose.  It was a puker.  I may have also thrown-up because I unknowingly took 3 times the dosage of Stugeron–a seasickness medication when taken in small doses–a Parkinson’s medication when taken at the dose I was ingesting. (Thanks Adam for the heads up!)

Anyway, back to the shoe.  The seas were confused and we (my husband Jeff and I) were getting doused by waves that seemed to come out of nowhere and everywhere.  The rails and Oblivion (38ft Hans Christian) were soaked.  We had gotten a little lax in our making the boat shipshape and didn’t close the port holes before our little aloe plant tipped over down below getting dirt everywhere which then got soaked with salt water. It was shortly after as I was hanging over the rail releasing my lunch into the ocean when I saw my beloved shoes floating in the water that was gushing through the side port hole. I managed to grab the one, which brings me to my first question:

Can I get the webbing repaired on this one?  I’ve worn it so much that the webbing is wearing thin.

As for the missing shoe, which is probably laying on a beach somewhere in Central America and which I thought long and hard about going after while it was floating in peril, just out of reach in the rail and of which is the bigger question of the two…I do have to say there was a brief moment when I thought I was going to be able to grab it.  The seas had calmed a bit, the wind had dropped to about 17 knots and out of nowhere, WHAMMO! This wave came splashing over the side taking my left shoe with it.  I was so sad I cried.  Of course, one of the side effects of taking too much Stugeron is depression, so that may have had something to do with the crying—but still, I love(d) these shoes.  They have been the perfect shoe for kickin’ around Mexico and the boat.

So, question #2: do you have an extra left hipthong size 7 sitting around somewhere?  If I could get the same webbing that would be fantastic, because these colors go with everything I wear.  That is why they are the perfect shoe. I only get to have a few shoes on the boat because of space. Plus, I love my feet too much to wear anything else. I’ve walked hundreds of miles in these guys and there is hardly any wear on the tread.  Amazing!  I know that you all do repairs and this may be stretching the envelope a little bit, but I have to ask because I can’t replace them in Mexico.  Have you ever tried to get anything in Mexico?  It is impossible.

I can send the remaining shoe back with a friend who is coming to visit in a few days. I will be back to the States for a visit this summer when I can retrieve the shoes (I hope–I’m counting on you guys here!).  Until then, I will just go shoeless.

Sincerely,

Nancy

Loyal Chaco wearer

PS: If there is anything you guys need from Mexico, let me know! There is an abundance of vanilla and tequila here—sorry, the Mexican’s are not known for their chocolate.