JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 2022

 January 2022

The Anchorage Was Full Again

After nearly two years of peace and quiet, it seemed like anyone who had ever been to La Cruz (and some new people who just had to go SOMEWHERE) descended on our little pueblo in January. Suddenly, we needed reservations to eat anywhere.

Two weekends in January were taken up by the Vallarta Cup series of sailboat races. Wings won our class and we were happy about that.

Racing on Wings

Sunrise at the Glorieta

My friend, Blair, who had always been a serious dog person, was adopted by an abandoned cat in the marina. She greeted him each morning and began demanding food. When Blair sailed south to Barra de Navidad, he arranged for people to feed her. After trying diligently to find her a home, he eventually packed her up and took her home to San Diego where she immediately made herself at home in their house. All plans to give her to a lonely neighbor went out the window as Remy, as some boat kids named her, bonded with Blair's wife.

Barry, Mary Nell & Rene

Mary Nell and I had resumed playing music at the Britannia and were joined, in January, by our friend, Barry Spaeth.

February 2022

The second week of February, I left La Cruz to sail south on the Jeanneau 52.2, Scout. The skipper, Greg, had two students aboard for a coastal cruising class. I am usually crew on Scout and it was odd to just sit back and let the students do everything.

Sailing on Scout

Anchored in Chamela

                                                                                                                                      

Dawn in Tenacatita

We spent the first night in Chamela and then continued on to Tenacatita. The students spent a lot of time working on the book portion of their class, but we did spend an afternoon sailing in Tenacatita Bay. We managed to find the time to put the dinghy in the water and take the students on the jungle cruise to the aquarium where we ate lunch on the beach. 

The Lagoon at the End of the Jungle Cruise

Dinghy Landing at the Lagoon

Lunch Spot at the Aquarium

After a couple of days in Tenacatita, we continued on to Barra, where the students finished their class and left the boat.

Scout at Anchor

The Grand Bay Hotel and Marina in Barra

                                                                                              

We stayed in Barra for Superbowl, as Greg liked to go to the Superbowl party at the Grand Bay Hotel. I took the opportunity to take the bus into Melaque to visit my friend, Barbra, from Benicia, who was living there. She picked me up in her adorable, yellow golf cart and took me to see her new apartment. Then we went back into town and had dinner at a beachfront restaurant with nice live music before she returned me to the bus station.

Barbra in Her Yellow Golf Cart

Greg and I returned to the restaurant, the following day, for Valentine's Day dinner. Being Monday and Valentine's Day, it was difficult to find a place to eat, so we ended up at the same place. The next day, I caught a ride back to La Cruz with my friends, Tim and Charity, who had driven down for a weekend getaway.

Rene & Mary Nell at Ballena Blanca

Mary Nell and I continued to play music, but drifted away from the Brittania as it got louder and more crowded. Mary Nell started singing with a group at the Ballena Blanca and we played with Barry for a lunchtime crowd at the Octopus' Garden.

A week after I returned from Barra, I took the bus back down there to help Brad return White Wind to La Cruz. We skipped Tenacatita, as I was in a hurry to get back in time for the Wednesday race, but stopped in Chamela where we spent a very pleasant day cruising around in the dinghy and listening to live music from somewhere on the beach. I fell in love with a little Hobie trimaran that someone was sailing around and dreamed of acquiring one for myself. We left that night so as to round Cabo Corrientes at dawn and were back in the slip in La Cruz by mid-afternoon.

Sunset from White Wind