Adventures in Paradise: February 2011

I left Barra de Navidad late January for the trip to Tenacatita, having heard lots of wonderful things about this place. It's about 20 miles north of Manzanillo. It's a good size bay appx. 3x3 miles overall. During August of 2010 a developer in Guadalahara made a land-grab in one section of it , bulldozing palapa restaurants, small hotels and displacing all the locals and some expats who lived in particular portion of the bay. The main anchorage , 2 miles east, was not affected. There are still a few hotels around, plus one really good palapa restaurant.

Going ashore requires a beach landing here. Every day at 2 p.m. most of the cruisers gather for some beach games and social time at the beach palapa. As each dingy comes ashore thru the surf, they are given a grade as to how they landed. My personal scores will NOT be recounted here, LOL
One day, a fellow cruiser named Don (Aussie) set up a beach Cricket game and we all play on the beach. Interesting game, but I'm not sure how it would stack up with the origional!

On Friday afternoons there is a dingy raft-up where one person anchors their dingy and the rest tie up to them. It's quite a sight and sometimes there are 60 people, all tied together having a great time, talking about whatever the topic is for the day.

By early Febuary I was starting to feel the tug from home. Plus , someone had crashed into the fuel dock in Barra de Navidad so diesel fuel was only available at the Pemex station nearby. Since I need a LOT more than can be hauled in 5 gallon jugs, it was time to head north while I still had enough to return to Puerto Vallarta.

First I made the 30 mile run north back to Chamela on Super Bowl Sunday. While I wasn't able to watch the game, I DID follow it on-line. Amazing how technology was made this available, even while at sea!!! Next day I left at first light for Ipala, 47 miles further north. Ipala is , or was, a good place to anchor up for the day so that one could round Cabo Corrientes in the early morning, when wind and sea are calmest. So far the wnd had been fairly light, but there was a big swell from the north, which made the ride fairly uncomfortable.

When I arrived off Ipala at 2 p.m., I found the small cove completely filled with Oyster pens. It's a really small place to begin with and having all the pens there was NOT what I had hoped to find. That forced me to continue north toward the cape at the worst possible time of day.

As soon as I left Ipala the wind began to increase. I closed all windows and ports, went into the main cabin where the ride would be dryer and have less motion and crossed my fingers. I figured, since it was only 13 miles to the Cape, and I had little choice, that I'd just plow on. And plow I DID!!!

By the time I was 8 miles off the cape, Godzilla was pretending to be a submarine. Wind was gusting to 25 knots and the seas were very steep. Along here the wind is from the northwest, but the current is from the south. Not the worst seas i've encountered, but it was a rollercoaster ride for the next two hours.

As soon as I came level with the cape the seas and wind dropped and I altered course for La Cruz, arriving there just as the sun set. I radioed as I approached the jetty and the marina staff told me where an empty slip was. I was dead tired, but happy to be tied to a dock for a while!!!!