If the sight of classic boats with gleaming varnish warms your heart, be sure to check out the annual Wooden Boat Show this Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tiburon’s Corinthian YC. 

Put on by the Master Mariners Benevolent Association as a fundraiser, the show will include dozens of Northern California’s most spectacular vintage yachts and work boats. They all are lovingly maintained by their owners who spent countless hours of labor and an unmentionable amount of money keeping these beauties in museum-worthy condition. 

Walking among them is truly a feast for the eyes, and during the show owners will welcome you aboard to take a closer look at their boats’ fine craftsmanship and antique amenities. 

It’s an event that’s fun for the whole family and will reinforce the importance of maritime traditions in the minds of young attendees. There’ll be live music, model boat building for kids, and food and beverages on the club’s upper deck. Admission is $10; children under 12 are free accompanied by an adult. For more information see: www.mastermariners.org

For about the last four days or so, Passage Weather has predicted that the weather off the Pacific Coast of mainland Mexico will feature a couple of pretty strong tropical storms, one of which they forecast will sweep by not far from Puerto Vallarta and up toward Cabo San Lucas.

On the other hand, the National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center has gone for days without mentioning even the possibility of any tropical storms. This morning they finally mentioned there was less than a 30% chance of tropical storms forming in the next 48 hours.

This leaves us wondering if the Passage Weather forecasts are so good or the National Hurricane Center’s are so short-sighted. Personally speaking, we’d prefer to be alerted to the possible approach of a tropical storm or hurricane a week in advance, such as Passage Weather attempts to do.

This isn’t exactly about sailing, but we think it’s important enough to mention anyway for a couple of reasons.

Yesterday afternoon Doña de Mallorca was driving a 1994 Chevy Tahoe from the La Cruz Shipyard on Banderas Bay to Punta Mita, when she was forced off the road by an oncoming vehicle that had partially drifted into her lane. The section of road was straight, but very narrow, with deep cement drainage ruts on each side instead of gently sloping shoulders. The spacious replacement road is 80% complete, but not yet open.

After getting both righthand wheels in the deep rut, de Mallorca tried to steer back onto the pavement. Alas, coming out of the rut caused the heavy SUV to roll over twice and end right side up, facing in the opposite direction, atop a six-foot embankment on the other side of the road!

After enduring a violent double rollover that trashed the SUV, de Mallorca was somehow able to jump out the driver’s side window without cutting herself on the broken glass. Although the SUV wasn’t equipped with airbags, de Mallorca was wearing her seat belt. A combination of the seat belt and some great luck are the only things that prevented her from being broken up, paralyzed or killed. We’ve always had a cavalier attitude toward seat belts, but not anymore.

Although in shock, de Mallorca didn’t feel as though she was badly injured. Nonetheless, when the ambulance driver asked her if she wanted to go to the old community hospital in San Pancho or the brand new private San Javier Hospital in Nuevo Vallarta, de Mallorca chose San Javier. A retired RN, she feared she might have had some damage to her spine or something else not obvious, and unlike San Pancho, San Javier has a CT machine.

The San Javier Hospital is like something out of a patient’s ultimate healthcare fantasy. Every hospital we’ve been to in the States has been overcrowded, tired and dirty compared to San Javier, which was so sparkling that we felt like we needed to wear sunglasses at dusk. And all the equipment is just months old. The last time de Mallorca had to go to a hospital was last August in Torrance, and there were 79 people waiting for emergency treatment. Not at San Javier, where there was a staff of about 25 and, as best we could see, not one other patient.

After de Mallorca got a CT scan, the doctor asked if we wanted to review it with him. We did. So he took us into a nearby room, where he brought up all the scanned information on brand new computer equipment. He went over everything slowly and carefully, and pointed out some previous minor damage to her spine. Like the rest of the staff, he seemed very competent, and he had all the time in the world to make sure nurses understood his instructions.

The only downside of San Javier is that it’s not cheap. But if we ever have a potentially serious medical condition, we know where we want to go. And if possible, we’ll be wearing a seat belt on the way.

It’s now the morning after and de Mallorca is feeling none the worse for the wear. Miraculous.