Saturday, February 09, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Throwing a round net.
The fisherman throws a small rock in the water a minute or so before he throws the net. I’m told its because the fish are curious and go check out what caused the splash.
Trip To Barra de Navidad
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Today the weather forecast was unusual. Generally, the heating and cooling of the land determine the local winds. This creates daily “land and sea breezes” which are always moderate and very predictable as far as strength and direction throughout the day. That and the warm air and water temperature is the reason this is such an ideal place to be during the winter.
Today is a travel day for us. The unusual forecaster was winds from the northeast at 15 to 25 knots. Ideal winds for our trip to Barra de Navidad. So we were able to sail down to Barra today. It was a fast trip.
After anchoring in the lagoon we didn’t feel that we could leave the boat because of the strength of the wind. The anchorage is crowed meaning boats are anchored close together. The bottom is mud here, no the usual sand, and dragging anchor is a real possibility until the anchor has time to work its way deep into the mud.
Wednesday the winds returned to the normal land and see breezes. We went into town for a grocery run in the morning then a dinner computer run in the afternoon.
Friday Afternoon Tenacatita Raft Up
We are now in the peak of the cruising season in this part of the world. Thirty plus cruisers boats are anchored in Tenacatita Bay. Daily activities include a ladies swim into the beach, bocce ball on the beach, ladies walk down the beach to the hotel and back, Mexican train in the palapa and then we consume some cold beer while telling lies in the palapa. Once a week or so the palapa restaurant owner offers a special dinner featuring Mexican dishes not usually found at restaurants. Friday afternoons a “raft up” is scheduled by the Mayor. The Mayor is an experienced cruiser who has been here previously and volunteers to be the organizer for the season.
This Friday twenty-three dinghies tied up in a circle starting with the Mayors dinghy, which is the only dinghy anchored. Each of us brought appetizers or other food item, cookies in our case, books and/or videos to trade. Vagari and other boats went in other boats dinghy so most of the cruisers attended.
Once the food and trade items are passed around the group we introduce ourselves, briefly tell our plans and this week we told the most useless equipment we have on board. Lots of funny stories and interesting tales. We did learn about some products that we would never purchase. Several people built their own boats from scratch or a bare hull. Some had made long voyages. The variety of the food offered, considering that they were all made in a ships galley while anchored, was amazing. My favorite was a double chocolate rum cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate sprinkles on top. Rhea’s double batch of fresh chocolate chip cookies finished the circle with a very polite one cookie left in our serving bowl.
I played a game of bocce ball with four other men a few days ago. The scoring and rules are unique to Tenacatita. One interesting rule is that if the ball you toss gets wet it is disqualified. I tossed the pea just up the beach and past a dinghy. It rolled downhill behind the dinghy so we couldn’t see where it stopped. Others will toss the pea toward the water on the hard sand. It’s very hard to stop your ball short of the water. Once a larger wave than normal came in and washed the pea and all the previously dry balls into the surf.
You play until someone gets eleven points but you must win by two. That game at one point had four people with eleven points followed closely by me with two points. Finally, one guy hit the pea and had the closest ball giving him two points and the game. Great fun in a beautiful setting.
The Art of Landing A Dinghy Thru The Surf
On previous cruises we generally anchored in the Sea of Cortez, which has no Pacific swell or tied up to a dock in a harbor. Seldom did we anchor in areas exposed to the ocean swells. This year we have not spent a night tied up to a dock since we left San Carlos. A couple of anchorages (the Barra Lagoon and Las Hadas) are completely protected from the swell or have a protected dinghy dock we can use but the rest are exposed to a wrap around swell to varying degrees.
If we want to go ashore in these anchorages we have to land our dinghy thru the surf. The learning curve is wet. Both of us have taken a spill or two but our dinghy has always stayed upright.
Waves run in sets, usually three large ones then smaller ones. We wait outside the surf line while trying to judge the size of the waves. Once we think we see a relative flat period we turn on all 3.5 horsepower and roar towards the beach. When the water gets too shallow for the motor, we turn it off, and raise it out of the water. I jump out, hold onto the boat and run toward the beach, hopefully, before the next wave gets us. Rhea jumps out between waves near the beach.
We seem to have better luck doing this as we get more experience. Neither of us has taken a spill recently.
Day Trip
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Today we had the pleasure of taking a day trip into the small town of La Manzanilla (as opposed to the large town of Manzanillo) with our friends from Cabaret II.
The hardest part of the trip was getting into shore in Cabaret’s dinghy, “Ol’ Chum”. There is quite a surf on the beach in Tenacatita. As usual we had one person dunked – at least it wasn’t me. That meant a return trip to the boat for dry clothes. I waited on shore with the cab driver. Our first stop was at one end of the town – a lagoon close to the beach full of crocodiles. There is a fence if they choose to stay behind it! No small dogs or children please.
La Manzanilla is an old Mexican town, very rustic and dusty. It’s small but has some very pretty homes and interesting buildings right on the water. I fell in love with a Chihuahua tied to a refrigerator in a tienda (general store).
We ended up going to the most beautiful resort for lunch. Our friends were celebrating their anniversary so they we wanted someplace special and it was. There was about a five mile road into the resort, through pretty much jungle forest. The road was cobblestone and in excellent shape.
El Tamarindo Beach and Golf Resort is breath taking. The grounds are perfectly maintained and very tropical. The beach was perfect and we had a table right in the sand – shaded with a large umbrella, just past the infinity pool. There we drank pina coladas and ate fish tacos – the best meal I’ve had in Mexico. The setting was magnificent!
We could rent the Presidential Villa for two people for $4,500 US a night from January through April. It drops $900 a night for the rainy season. We didn’t make any reservations. Also all rates are subject to 17% Mexican taxes and a 10% service charge.
There will be no pictures posted of the beach or lunch patio, as pictures are not allowed.
Rhea
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Toyota Dealership
You wife can buy a dress next door while you buy a car
California readers: feel free to change the gender references in this caption to be appropriate for your circumstances. I really didn’t mean to offend anyone.
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