ZIHUATANTEJO FOR GUITARFEST 2016

March 4, 2016

We were anchored a little bit closer to the large power boat next to us than we would have liked.  For some reason, that boat did not swing in the same direction that ours did.  For this reason, Don decided to sleep in the cockpit to keep an eye on the situation.  It started to rain at 3:30 in the morning, but I had to wake Don to get him to come in out of the rain.  It rained for some time and, though Don tried to tuck them under the bimini, our cushions and laundry all got quite wet.

I got up about 8:00 and made coffee.  In the process of trying to spread the cushions out to dry, I knocked over a full mug of coffee and made a huge mess in the cockpit.  I had to dig the bucket out from under all the fenders and lines in the lazarette and wash the whole cockpit down with sea water.  I was not going to get my peaceful cup of coffee in the cockpit.

All my banging around in the cockpit woke Don, so we decided to head to shore to take care of errands.  We took the dinghy into the beach.  Between the municipal dock and the pangas pulled up on the sand, there are a couple of guys who assist with dinghy landings and launchings and watch the dinghies for tips.  We arrived without incident and left the dinghy in their care.  Our first mission was to check in with the port captain who was conveniently located right at the head of the municipal pier in contravention of the usual Mexican practice of hiding the port captain’s office a mile inland in the middle of a residential neighborhood.  Checking in went smoothly. Then we went in search of a laundry, since I was on the verge of needing to buy more underwear.

We found a laundry on a side street a block up from the cultural center and then stopped in a nearby café for breakfast.  I had eggs benedict, which was poached eggs atop ham lunch meat and toast, smothered in hollandaise sauce. It may have only been an approximation of eggs benedict, but it was tasty and filling and cost less than $4.00.  We met a couple from Oregon in the restaurant.  They were in town buying items for their house near Caleta de Campos in Michoacan.  We had considered stopping there on the way down, but had passed it by because we had heard it was dangerous.  We asked them about it and they assured us that it was fine and invited us to visit on our way north.

Sea Fish Anchored Next to Us

After breakfast, we stopped at the Casa de Cultura to look for information on the Guitarfest.  They didn’t have any, but told us that the opening concert would be there the next night at 18:00.  We explored the mostly touristy downtown until we finally found a hair salon where I could get a much overdue haircut for just under $3.00.  Don, who also needed a haircut, was skeptical.  I, however, was quite pleased to be rid of all that hot hair.  Zihuatanejo was much warmer than La Cruz.

Our missions accomplished, we replenished our supply of adult beverages and returned to the beach where our dinghy awaited us.  We got away from the shore uneventfully and returned to Comet.  One of our neighbors had departed, so we hauled up the anchor and moved into the empty space.  Then we settled in for some serious relaxation until dinnertime when I made chicken in green mole over rice.

March 5, 2016

Don Getting a Haircut

We were on a mission to get Don’s clothes to the laundry before ten so we could pick them up at the same time as mine, so we got up early and headed for the beach after coffee.  We landed smoothly, unloaded a big bag of trash, and went to drop the clothes off at the laundry.  Don was feeling brave, so he stopped into a nearby barbershop where he got his first Mexican haircut from a friendly barber named Abel.  Abel and I chatted in Spanish while he worked on Don, who left the shop looking quite stylish.

Hill Above Playa Madera

Playa La Ropa

We decided to take a tour of Zihuatanejo’s beaches.  We walked across town and then crossed the bridge over the river.  From there, we followed the walkway around the rocky shore to Playa Madera, stopping at Bistro Del Mar for a tasty breakfast.  The atmosphere was beautiful and prices were reasonable.  After breakfast, we climbed the long, steep hill on the way to Playa La Ropa, stopping frequently to enjoy the view and the fantastic architecture of the fancy hotels along the shore.  We were hot by the time we got to Playa La Ropa, so we stopped into Paty’s for cold drinks under and umbrella by the beach.  We could see Comet riding at anchor in the distance.  We took a collectivo back to the center of town and then returned to the boat for a couple of hours before that night’s big concert.

Bisto del Mar

Walkway to Playa Madera

Guitarfest’s opening concert was originally scheduled to be held on the beach in Ixtapa because it has drawn as many as 1100 people in the past.  This year, they had had to change the venue to the cultural center because of high surf on the beach.  The cultural center only held 500 people and we didn’t have tickets, so we were a bit concerned we might have to listen from the bar across the street.  It was important to see the opening concert because all the artists played a short set and we could get an idea of who we wanted to see later.

We arrived at 5:00 when the doors opened and there were only about 15 people ahead of us.  Not only did we get tickets, but we got third row center seats in the shade!  We passed the hour before the show started drinking beer and talking to the other patrons.

The concert was a delight of cross cultural musical cooperation.  There were artists from Mexico, the U.S., France, Brazil, India, and Iran by way of Canada.  Musical styles varied from blues to new age, folk to flamenco, although it was interesting how much American music had influenced everyone.  Adam’s Family and Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean.  The Andrea Perrone Duo from Brazil did a fabulous version of Summertime.  One of the most entertaining acts was Lipbone Redding, a guy from North Carolina whose guitar playing was really only accompaniment to his amazing talent of being able to play the trumpet without actually using an instrument.  He played percussion with his foot, sang like Louis Armstrong, and played the harmonica to boot.  He was a riot.  We also really enjoyed the Croweaters, a duo from San Francisco.  I was quite impressed with José Luis Cobo and his original Spanish guitar numbers.  He not only played beautifully, but had a fantastic voice as well.

Jose Luis Cobo

Manan Gupta, from India, played the theme from the Ada

Maneli Jamal & Lipbone Redding

Perhaps the best parts of the concert were the jams that occurred afterward.  The Croweaters jammed with Axemonkey, which really livened up her instrumental music with their vocals.  We didn’t know what to expect when Maneli Jamal stepped onto the stage with Lipbone Redding.  Maneli’s style was so light and fast we weren’t sure how that was going to work with the profusion of sound produced by Lipbone.  The result was extraordinary.  They played St. James Infirmary, Maneli’s guitar chops allowing Lipbone to concentrate more on the harmonica and his uncanny vocal talents.  Then they did a number where Lipbone would sing/play a melody and then Maneli would kill it on the guitar, no matter how wild it got.  We really got to see his sense of humor and it was a lot of fun.

Though it was nearly 23:00 by the time the music wound down, we stopped at a local taqueria for dinner.  The place was frequented by Mexican twenty somethings and they looked at us a bit askance, but served us great tacos.  Two tacos, arrachera and shrimp, and a beer set me back just over $3.00.  Zihuatanejo prices were generally slightly lower than prices in the Puerto Vallarta area.

March 6, 2016

We were tired after our exertions of the day before, so spent a quiet Sunday lounging around the boat and listening to music.  I crawled into the chain locker and replaced the port running light bulb, which had burned out during our trip south and Don filled up the dinghy gas tank.  We swam and I finished the portrait of my friend Jan Miller that I had started in La Cruz.  We thought about going to town for dinner, but the swells were big and landing the dinghy looked tricky.  Instead, we made guacamole and had soft tacos filled with leftover rice and green mole.

Magic Lady, Another Nauticat 43

Jan Miller

Originally, we had been the farthest boat from shore.  As the swells increased, boats began moving away from shore, one by one, until we had lots of neighbors.  Magic Lady, a Nauticat 43 like Fool’s Castle, anchored next to us, giving me a chance to contemplate their tropical modifications.  They had clearly lavished a lot of time and money on the boat and it looked great.  I wondered if they had made alterations to the refrigeration, as well, as ours could never handle the hot weather in Mexico or El Salvador.

March 7, 2014

After our usual leisurely morning and early afternoon, we took the dinghy to shore to retrieve our laundry.  We took it back to the beach and left it in the dinghy for Alfonso and José to guard.  We explored the center of town a bit, looking for the Guitarfest venues and then stopped into the last palapa restaurant on Playa Principal for drinks.  We sat there, enjoying the view, and eventually ordered dinner there.  I had a filet mignon and shrimp for a mere $150 pesos (about $9.)

We had gone into town late because we planned to go to that night’s Guitarfest concert.  The acts playing that night were Shai Sebbag, Mark Glasmire, and Lipbone Redding.  Shai Sebbag is a French guitarist whose original music has lots of Slavic and Middle Eastern overtones.  It was very hypnotic and relaxing.  While it was not a style of music that either of us normally favor, we both enjoyed his set.

Shai Sebbag

Mark Glasmire is a singer songwriter who looked like he ought to be playing Bruce Springsteen, but sounded more like John Denver.  We hadn’t been too impressed with him during the initial concert, but came away from his set with an appreciation of his songwriting ability, if not his performance style.  He has had some records that did well in the charts, but his songs have been recorded by many other artists.

Lipbone Redding

Everybody’s favorite act was Lipbone Redding.  With his hilarious stories and foot stomping tunes, he soon had the whole crowd going.  It is impossible to be bored when Lipbone is on the stage being a one man avalanche of sound.  I bought one of his CDs.  Check him out at www.Lipbone.com.

March 8, 2016

Rainy Zihuataejo

A storm was predicted for late Tuesday and Wednesday, so we decided to head into the marina to charge batteries and spend the rainy days where we could get off the boat.  We hoisted the dinghy back onto the cradle on the foredeck and left about 10:30 and started motoring out of the bay and around the point towards Ixtapa.  I tried to call the marina on both my American and Mexican phones and got a message that the number was out of service.  By the time Don got through to them on his phone, we were nearly at the mouth of the channel.  Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let us enter, deeming the surf to be too high.  We had to turn around and head back to Zihua Bay.  At least we had charged the batteries a bit.  It started raining before we made it back to the anchorage.  We returned to our previous spot and anchored in the rain.

It rained off and on for the rest of the afternoon and poured during the night.  The windows and the sail track above my bunk leaked and everything got rather damp.  I made spaghetti for dinner.

March 9, 2016

We couldn’t go anywhere because the swell was too large to launch the dingy, so we spent the entire day on the boat watching rain squalls come and go.  We read, surfed the internet, and I even played a little guitar.  We were getting very low on provisions, but Don made us oatmeal with nuts for brunch and I managed to scrape together burritos made from leftovers and an envelope of chilorio for dinner.  Fortunately, we hadn’t planned to go to that night’s concert.

March 10, 2016

It felt very liberating when the rain clears and the swell abated enough to launch the dinghy.  We decided to take the bus to Ixtapa because Don had never been there.  We dropped Don’s clothes at the laundry and then walked up to the main drag and caught a bus to Ixtapa.  We got off the bus at the craft market at the near end of Ixtapa and ate lunch in a restaurant mostly frequented by locals.  I had an excellent chile relleno.

Ixtapa Marina

After lunch, we walked the mile or so past all the fancy hotels to the marina.  Don didn’t feel like he had missed anything by not staying there and I had fairly unpleasant memories of having been stuck there, sweltering, for a month in January of 2014.  We were glad to be anchored in Zihuat Bay, even though it got a little claustrophobic when we were stuck on the boat.

From the marina, we walked across the road to check out the gorgeous beach.  The swell was still large and they were flying the black flag which warned swimmers to stay out of the water.  A new hotel was being constructed right next to the walkway to the beach and they were planting mature palm trees using a backhoe to lift them.  The backhoe blocked our path, but it was interesting to watch the process.  When they began lifting a tree, the backhoe rocked onto one track and it looked like the palm was going to win the contest.  It settled back onto both tracks, however, as the tree lifted and swung closer to the body of the backhoe.

Beach at Ixtapa

We tired of Ixtapa pretty rapidly.  Don commented that, if all you ever saw of Mexico was Ixtapa, you’d have no idea that it was any different from Miami or Waikiki.  We grabbed another bus back to Zihuatanejo and stopped at the Bodega Aurrera to replenish our supplies.  We bought more than we wanted to schlep, some took a taxi back to the wharf for a very reasonable 30 pesos (about $1.75.)

Neither of us was hungry, so we passed on dinner and just hung out on the boat until it was time to go back into town for that night’s concert.  That night’s lineup began with The Croweaters, a duo from San Francisco who played a set of mostly rarely heard Beatles tunes interpreted in interesting fashions.  They did, however, play the ever popular in Mexico Eleanor Rigby, which lent itself well to a complex guitar arrangement.

The Croweaters

Next on the bill, was the crowd favorite, Lipbone Redding, who always played a rousing show.  People were dancing in the aisles.  No one at the festival drew a bigger crowd.

Manan Gupta

Last, came Manan Gupta, a rather morose young Indian man who had followed a girl to Mexico and gotten dumped there.  He was very interesting to watch, as he had long, spidery fingers and often played from the opposite side of the neck favored by just about every other guitarist.  He also had a very percussive style, although totally different from Flamenco.  Lipbone was a tough act to follow, however, and I felt a bit sorry for him.

Manan Gupta's Unique Fingering

Returning to the boat by dinghy late at night is always an adventure.  Alfonso was waiting to launch our dinghy and we got away without having to wade beyond our knees.  The air was quite cool after the rain and the water was warmer than the air.  Motoring through an anchorage full of swaying masthead lights is a bit like sailing through a field of stars and can be a mystical experience if you are dry and comfortable, which is not always the case with travel by dinghy.  We were lucky that night, however, and we had a pleasant ride home.

March 11, 2016

I got up earlyish and dived straight into the water for a much needed swim and subsequent shower.  We had not wanted to swim during and just after the rain because the local streams washed debris into the bay when it rained.  After three days without a shower, I definitely didn’t want to be seen in public until I had washed my hair.

We ran the motor for a couple of hours to charge batteries and I charged my computer from the inverter while the motor was running.  I worked on my blog for an hour or so and then made tortilla Espanola (a sort of crustless quiche with potatoes, onions, and peppers) for breakfast.

Don’s leg had been hurting for a few days and he didn’t recall banging it on anything.  Sailors always have unidentified cuts and bruises because boats bite.  However, Don had had cellulitis in September of 2013 and it suddenly occurred to him that his current symptoms were the same.  We hopped in the trusty dinghy and headed for the medical clinic that Don had seen near the wharf.

Clinic Waiting Room  

Doctor Morelos Martinez didn’t speak English, but his staff was friendly and he was very thorough.  With me interpreting, we managed to tell him that Don had been prescribed Keflex the last time.  After asking a lot of questions and examining Don carefully, he gave him a prescription for the same antibiotic.  The doctor visit cost 300 pesos (under $18), less than my co-pay at home.

             Next, we set off the find a pharmacy.  Our first stop was a pharmacy advertising generic drugs.  We got the Cephalaxina (Spanish for generic Keflex) for 65 pesos or about $3.50.  They did not, however, have the Warfarin that Don also needed to refill.  We returned to the pharmacy where we had bought Vick’s Vaporub the previous week, but they didn’t have it either.  Don had heard something about a shortage of blood thinners in Mexico and we were starting to fear we wouldn’t find any.  We tried a third pharmacy a couple of doors down.  A very helpful clerk looked in her computer and determined that they had some in stock, but she must have searched for fifteen minutes before she found some filed under the brand name of Coumadin.  That cost 367 pesos (about $18.)  It was too bad they didn’t have it at the Farmacia Similar (generic pharmacy.)

A Mexican Pharmacy

My Pina Colada

           

Don at the Arcadia

All that drug shopping had worked up an appetite, so we stopped for gelato on the way back to the beach.  We didn’t have anything better to do, so we had cocktails at the Arcadia, anther of the palapa restaurants near the river.  I ordered a pina colada for a change.  It was large and frosty and, with the weather still cool after the storm, I had to sit in the sun to avoid getting chilled.  We sat there for about an hour and then decided on a whim to try to get into the supposedly sold out Guitarfest dinner show at Kaukan.  We had been skipping the expensive and sold out dinner shows, but that was the last one and we decided we should experience it.  We grabbed a taxi for the ride up the hill to Kaukan, which was on the cliff overlooking Playa Madera.  We got there early and, after only a little pleading, they agreed to sell us tickets.

Kaukan Restaurant

Sunset from Kaukan

            The venue was a restaurant on the roof of a timeshare.  The view was spectacular and, even though there was no shade, the cooler than usual weather made it quite pleasant.  We had drinks and listened to the sound check.  We both took lots of pictures and Don made a video.  We were they only cruisers present.  With show, dinner, and drinks coming to about $40 per person, notoriously cheap cruisers went to the 100 peso concerts at the Casa de Cultural, which were also accessible by dinghy and a short walk.  The other patrons at Kaukan were part time residents and some vacationers.  Everyone else at our table was from Minnesota.

Roberto & Mehida at Kaukan

            The concert that night was Roberto and Mehida, a brother and sister from Michoacan, and Maneli Jamal, a very well traveled young man of Iranian descent, currently living in Canada, although he grew up in Germany and Texas.  His parents had been forced to flee Iran and he was actually born in Belarus because, as his parents sheepishly told him, he was an accident.

            Roberto and Mehida played mostly Mexican songs, which I felt were underrepresented in the festival.  They did play a nice version of Carole King’s You’ve Got a Friend.  Maneli Jamal was probably the best guitarist in the festival and his original music was very beautiful and full of emotion, but I didn’t buy his CD because, while I really enjoyed listening to him play, I feared his music would just fade into the background without words or catchy tunes to draw me in.  What we most enjoyed was when he exhibited his amazing improvisational ability while jamming with other musicians.  Both Axemonkey and Lipbone Redding joined him on the stage for a tune or two.   It was great watching the women seated next to us watch Lipbone for the first time.  They were astonished at the, “horn section,” that came out of his mouth.

Maneli Jamal & Lipbone Redding at Kaukan

Our neighbors at the table were just in Zihuatanejo on vacation.  They were interested in going to the concert the Casa de Cultural, but didn’t know how to get there.  We offered to share a cab, so we all piled into a taxi after dinner for the short ride across central Zihuat to the show.

The Andrea Perrone Duo

The first act playing that night was the Andrea Perrone Duo, a sort of Brazilian Indigo Girls.  We had heard one of them sing previously and been very impressed, but were pleasantly surprised when the very stoic guitarist joined in with a pleasant alto.  They played a variety of American and South American songs and finished with a spine tingling rendition of Summertime.

Jose Luis Cobo

None of us much liked Nick Vigarino’s music.  Although he was amazingly proficient on the guitar, his style was so aggressive and repetitive that, after listening for long enough to determine that he really did have only the one trick, we all left.  Our new friends caught a cab back to their hotel and we walked back to the beach, glad to be leaving before the crush of departing dinghies after the show.

Nick Vigarino

March 12, 2016

Don needed to go the the port captain’s office before 14:00 to check out, but we were still waiting for Ishmael to return with our propane tank and we wanted to order another ten gallons of diesel.  Ishmael operates a service which delivers fuel, water, propane, and beer right to your boat.  They monitor channel 65 for orders.  Knowing that Saturday port captain’s hours could be unpredictable, we decided that I would stay on the boat while Don went to shore a bit before noon.

Don in His Trusty Dinghy

Shortly after Don left, Ishmael’s boat arrived to pick up the water bottle they had left the day before.  They didn’t bring the propane tank, but I did managed to order the diesel.  I hung out on the boat and caught up on my blog entries, which were rather behind due to a dead battery on my laptop.  I hadn’t wanted to run the inverter to charge it because, having been at anchor for so long, our house batteries were running low.

Don came back a few hours later, having retrieved his clothes from the laundry and the propane tank from Ishmael’s base near the foot of the pier, next to the tourist office.  We did what we could to prepare the boat for sea, as we planned to attend the closing concert of Guitarfest and then leave before dawn so as to arrive in Caleta de Campos before dark.

The closing concert started at 19:00, so we left the boat at 17:30 and ate a leisurely dinner at the café near the Casa de Cultural where we had eaten breakfast on our first day in Zihua.  Zihuatanejo means, “Place of the Goddess women,” in Nahuatl.  Even the locals call it Zihua.  Gringos sometimes call it Zihuat or Z-Town.

Each remaining act played a set at the closing concert.  Shai Sebbag and Mark Glasmire had left earlier.  Lipbone Redding played a set with local guitarist Carlos Uribe, whom he had met in a bar.  Axemonkey played with Manan Gupta and Roberto and Mehida.  Maneli Jamal and even Nick Vigarino shared the stage with others.  The final number was a big jam with nearly every musician there doing Roy Rogers’ You’re So Down Home, which, even though it was originally a slide guitar number, was ironically the only song Nick Vigarino played without a slide.  The concert ran until midnight and we still needed to buy beer.  It was 00:30 by the time we said our farewells to Alfonso, the dinghy minder, and returned to the boat.

Final Guitarfest Jam

LA CRUZ TO ZIHUATANEJO 2016

February 23, 2016

Tuesday morning I woke with a pain in my left ankle that kept me from running.  Don and I had agreed  to go shopping at 9:30, so I spent the morning packing and took my first load of belongings to Comet when I went to meet Don.  I wanted to go sailing, but was reluctant to leave Agave Azul and La Cruz in general.  However, I knew we’d be back, so I set off in good spirits. 

Don and I took a collectivo to the Mega.  We did our shopping and then took a taxi back to the marina.  There is a delicate balance between having enough fresh food and not being able to fit all of it into Comet’s small refrigerator.  We wanted to go to a seminar on tuning rigging at 14:00, so we went our separate ways to check out with the port captain and retrieve the last of my gear from Agave Azul and return the keys.

Don and I met back at the seminar and, as soon as that was finished, filled our water tanks and checked out of the marina.  It was 17:45 when we got to the fuel dock and it appeared to be closed on our first pass.  Then I saw someone taking out the trash, so we pulled in and managed to top up our fuel before motoring out into the anchorage and dropping the hook.  We wanted to wait until

Sunset at Anchor in La Cruz

midnight to leave so as to reach Cabo Corrientes in the early morning when the winds and seas would be calmest.  I cooked chicken thighs for dinner and then we napped until it was time to go.

February 24, 2016

We got up when the alarm went off at midnight and had the anchor up by 00:30.  There was a full moon and it was a gorgeous night for sailing.  Don took the first watch and rolled out the jib while I was sleeping.  I came on at 4:00 and we both stayed up until we rounded the cape and gybed.  The wind died shortly after Don went to sleep, so I rolled up the jib, centered the main and started the engine.  It was somewhat cold and damp out.  I wore a fleece and my shorts were wet by the time I woke Don to take over at 9:00.

Roca Negra

We motored south all day, past Roca Negra, and pulled into Chamela Bay about 16:30.  The wind and swells were coming from opposite directions, making it hard to Decide where to anchor,but we finally chose a spot off a small beach on the back side of Isla Colorada. Having accomplished our mission for the day, we had a beer and went for a swim.  The water was just warm enough to be tolerable, but felt refreshing.  Don barbecued some arrachera for dinner and I made a salad and heated beans and tortillas.  Our first night at anchor in Chamela was peaceful.

February 25, 2016

Don slept late, so we decided to stay a day in Chamela before heading on to Tenacatitta.  I made coffee and bacon and eggs and we relaxed.  It was a cool day for Mexico in February, so I stayed inside most of the day, catching up on my blog since I finally had a working computer.  Eventually, I ventured out to wash my hair, but didn’t feel like swimming in the cool weather.  Don let me connect my Kindle to his hotspot and download a supply of books to read.  Dinner was spicy chicken wings, salad and rice.  The swells kicked up late in the day and the boat began to roll.  We didn’t pass a very restful night.  I was up every hour checking the position of the boat relative to the island, visions of Rage on the beach haunting my dreams.

The Anchorage at Chamela

February 26, 2016

We got up fairly early since the boat was bouncing all over the place.  The tide was high and big swells were breaking right over the reef that had sheltered us in calmer seas.  We made coffee, but passed on breakfast in favor of getting out of there. We were underway by nine.  We motored out of the channel between Isla Colorada and Isla Cocina and headed around Punta Etiopia and south towards Los Frailes.  There was very little traffic and no visible sea life.  Everyone in La Cruz had been commenting on the lack of whales and dolphins this year, probably due to El Nino.

Boat at Anchor in Tenacatita

There was no appreciable wind and we made good time motoring over flat seas.  By early afternoon we were passing the rocks of Los Frailes and around the corner into Tenacatita Bay.  We dropped the hook in the anchorage at 14:30.  Both the weather and the water were warmer than they had been in Chamela.  We had a beer and a pleasant swim and spent the afternoon basking in the sun and munching on guacamole and chips.  Don tracked the water maker failure to a loose wire and was happy to get that resolved easily.  Dinner was leftovers augmented by salad and fried plantains. There were 25 boats in the anchorage, many of them familiar from the previous two years.  All was quiet and peaceful.

February 27, 2016

After passing a restful night at Tenacatita, we had a relaxing breakfast of coffee and oatmeal.  I saw my first dolphin of the season swimming through the anchorage.  We pulled the anchor and motored out of the bay at midmorning.  The day was overcast, but warm and nearly windless.  We saw a school od large fish jumping on our way out of the bay.  Despite the warnings of big swells headed our way from Hawaii, the seas were calm.  We rounded Cabeza de Navidad and proceeded across Bahia de Navidad to the channel leading to the lagoon and the marina, arriving about 14:30.

Marina Isla Navidad

It was good to be in a marina again, especially one as nice as the one in Barra de Navidad.  I hosed the dust off the boat while Don checked in.  Then we both went up and took much needed showers.  I reveled in the first decent water pressure I had experienced in quite some time.  The Grand Bay Hotel does things right.  On the way to the showers, we ran into my friend Betty and her skipper, Klaus, whose boat was just up the dock from ours.  They invited us for cocktails later.

Don and I were hungry and needed a few provisions, so we took a water taxi over to Barra de Navidad after our showers.  Barra showed some evidence of damage from Hurricane Patricia, especially along the beach.  My favorite bar, which was in the ruins of a hotel damaged by an earlier hurricane, had been swept away.  The largest beachfront hotel appeared to have been gutted, although it was difficult to tell how much of that was storm damage and how much was just renovation possibly prompted by storm damage.  Further down the beach, Melaque had already had storm gutted buildings long before Patricia.  The Grand Bay Hotel and marina appeared unscathed.

Water Taxi Dock in Barra de Navidad

We ate a very pleasant and reasonable early dinner at Ramon’s and then bought beer, rum, and fresh fruit at the tiendas in town.  We took our time and it was 19:00 by the time we got back to the marina.  The cocktail party on Klaus’s boat, Sea Otter, was in full swing by the time we arrived and we spent a diverting couple of hours there, chatting with Betty and Klaus and Rick and Pam from Hotel California.

February 28, 2016

It is always nice to wake up in the Barra Marina.  I had tripped on our visit to town the day before and sprained my foot, something only I seem to be able to do.  I could barely hobble, but managed to get myself up to the lovely showers.  I have weak ankles.  As a result, they are so flexible that I can’t twist them.  Instead, when I trip, I always seem to step on the top of my foot and bend it in unnatural ways.  It wasn’t swollen or bruised looking, so I figured it would eventually recover.  I didn’t need to walk much while sailing, anyway.

We spent a leisurely morning, enjoying coffee and the pastries delivered to our boat by the French baker.  The marina was full and he was zipping to and fro, displaying his skill as a panguero.  Betty and Klaus left about 10:00, but we lingered a while longer and then went to the fuel dock to fill up before we set off.  The fuel dock had been damaged by the hurricane and one of the fingers was in pieces along the shore.  We filled up and set off at 11:30. the Fuel

Hurricane Damage at the Fuel Dock

The town of Barra de Navidad fared pretty well in Hurricane Patricia, but as we rounded Punta Graham, we were surprised to see a large ship that had gone aground on the rocks there.  At first, it looked quite intact, almost as if it had been parked there on purpose.  However, as we rounded the point, we could see that its back was broken.

Ship Aground on Punta Graham

Rather surprisingly, we had good wind once we got out of Bahia de Navidad and we had a rollicking good sail all the way to Santiago.  We saw a lot of dolphins that stayed with us for a long time, although they were subdued and rarely broke the surface.  I used up my camera battery trying, unsuccessfully, to photograph them.  We could see Klaus and Betty ahead of us and caught up to them just as we both arrived in the anchorage.  Klaus chose a good protected spot to anchor, tucked up against the northwest corner of the bay.  It was far from the beach, but we weren’t planning to go ashore.  We spent a very pleasant evening there listening to music.  The data signal was strong and I even managed to post to my blog via Don’s iPhone hot spot.

Sea Otter at Anchor in Santiago Bay

February 29, 2016

We didn’t have far to go, so we spent a leisurely morning at anchor and then motored around the corner from Santiago to Las Hadas.  The Las Hadas Marina is Med mooring only and Comet has no rear exit, so we anchored outside the marina in a gorgeous protected cove surrounded by fabulous white stucco resorts draped in bougainvillea. 

Betty and Klaus had arrived before us and tied up at the marina.  The marina charges 200 pesos to land a dinghy, but we tied up to Klaus’s boat and managed to avoid paying.  We walked around the shore to the Paradiso Restaurant where we got a nice lunch and some of their signature blackberry margaritas and enjoyed the view.  We could see Comet bobbing peacefully below.

The Paradiso Restaurant

We visited with Klaus and Betty by the pool at Las Hadas and then repaired to Klaus’s boat for a beer, returning to Comet just at dusk.  We passed a quiet evening and, even though the nearby disco cranked up about the time I went to sleep, I fell asleep early and slept until morning.

March 1, 2016

Having gone to sleep early the night before, I woke up at 6:00 and couldn’t get back to sleep.  I read and browsed the internet until 8:00 and then got up and made coffee.  Don stirred shortly thereafter.  I made us an omelet out of some leftover spicy pork and veggies while Don took a swim. We left the boat shortly before noon to head into Manzanillo for groceries.  Betty and Klaus had already left when we got there and, this time, we were detected by the marina staff and had to pay the 200 peso fee. We figured that paying the fee half the time got it down to a reasonable price and so felt no guilt.

Rooms at Las Hadas

We wandered around Las Hadas for a bit, admiring the architecture and taking pictures.  The resort is well maintained and staff outnumbered guests.  I felt like I was in a Gaudi building that had been whitewashed.  The details were impressive, all with a vaguely middle-eastern flair.  There were gargoyles and fountains and bas reliefs everywhere we turned.  Even the restrooms were impressive, with men’s and women’s indicated by pictures of sheiks and harem girls.

Women's Room Door at Las Hadas

Las Hadas

Tower at Las Hadas

Once we climbed up to the road, we caught a bus to the main road and then switched to another bus that took us into central Manzanillo.  The entire peninsula containing Las Hadas was filled with fabulous homes and resorts.  The road was somewhat treacherous, but the views were spectacular.  Don needed a battery for his windlass remote so, against our principles, we exited the bus at the Walmart in Manzanillo, because they carry the best variety of batteries.  We didn’t need a lot of provisions, but stocked up on meat, fish, vegetables and fruit.  It wouldn’t do to run out of limes or avocados while cruising in the land of plenty where a kilo of limes costs about a buck and less than two bucks will get you a kilo of avocados.  The trouble with Walmart is that they don’t sell the delightfully fresh, salty, greasy chips produced by the local grocery chains.  They do, however, have the best produce.  Many grocery stores in Mexico neglect to refrigerate the produce, resulting in somewhat limp veggies.

We needed to cross the main road to catch the bus to Las Hadas and, while we were there, we stopped at the Auto Zone (Every major city in Mexico has one.) to buy oil for the boat.  Then we retreated to a strangely antiseptic, ice cream only Dairy Queen for cold confections and air conditioning before attempting the hot bus ride back to Las Hadas.

Marina & Anchorage at Las Hadas

Back at the boat, I had a swim and washed my hair while Don chatted on the phone. Then we had a cocktail and I made beef shish kebab for the barbecue.

March 2, 2016

We got up before dawn and pulled out of Las Hadas just as the sun was rising.  There wasn’t much wind, so we motored across Manzanillo bay.  The three tall stacks of the power plant on Punta Campos was belching smoke which painted a brown smear across the sky for miles. The temperature was pleasant, but the sky was hazy and we never did get enough useful wind to sail.  There was very little traffic and we saw only one other sailboat and that was heading north.

Sunrise in Manzanillo Bay

We both stayed up most of the day.  I made stuffed chicken breasts for dinner and then took the 20:00 to midnight watch.  It was very dark.  The crescent moon didn’t rise until after midnight.  We motored gradually south, several miles offshore.  Don took the helm from midnight to 4:00, while I tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to sleep.

Power Plant Polluting the Sky for Miles

March 3, 2016

I came back on watch at 4:00.  The moon had risen and it was still warm and dry.  We were approaching the container shipping port of Lazaro Cardenas.  The clouds above the port would suddenly glow orange from time to time, probably from refinery flares.  I kept a sharp eye out for ships, but never saw any moving.  While it was somewhat stressful to know that a massive freighter might want to share my space at any moment, the presence of the port made for great data coverage and I was able to surf the internet from a few miles offshore, which made staying awake much easier.  As the dawn broke, I could see several large freighters anchored in the bay outside the port of Lazaro Cardenas.  Zihuatanejo, our objective, lay at the other end of this large bay.

Hazy Ixtapa

Don came up and took over at 8:00.  I ate some breakfast and lay down to take a nap until nearly noon.  When I came back on deck just before noon we were off Isla Grande.  We motored past the islands lying off Playa Linda and Ixtapa, which looked much less spectacular than usual with the hazy sky.  We dropped our mainsail inside the bay.  There were fewer boats anchored in the bay than we expected with Guitarfest due to start on Saturday.

We dropped anchor near our friend, Dan, on Dazzler and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and recovering from the 30 hour transit.  We had a bean dip snack late in the afternoon, so ended up just having a big salad for dinner, which we ate in the cockpit surrounded by the lights of Zihuatanejo.

Boat at Anchor in Zihuatanejo Bay

HOMELESS IN LA CRUZ

My stay at Casa Mango had been pleasant and I left there reluctantly and hauled my bags down the street to Comet, which was conveniently docked right at the end of Calle Marlin where Casa Mango was located.  Between trips, I ran into Betty, who was getting ready to cruise south for a few weeks and learned that I would be able to sublet her room at Agave Azul for 1000 pesos a week after she left on Monday.  As much as I love Don and Comet, this was welcome as we would have plenty of time to get sick of each other once we left La Cruz for points south.  At this point, the plan was to remain in La Cruz for a few weeks so that Don could get some canvas work done and then cruise south to Zihuantanejo.  Having a room would make it easier to engage in my shoreside pursuits of

One of My Drawings from Casa Mango

running, drawing and playing the guitar.

Comet in La Cruz Marina

Life in La Cruz passes pleasantly, although there isn’t always much to write about.  I met old friends, went to sailing seminars and passed time playing Mexican Train dominoes and darts at the Gecko Rojo.  The one newsworthy event that occurred during my brief sojourn on Comet was a tragedy that befell one of my domino and dart playing friends and her partner. Connie and Barry were cruising on Barry’s boat, Rage.  Barry had built Rage himself and it was his only home when he returned to Canada.  The boat was constructed using a method known as cold molding, which is basically fiberglass laid over very thin plywood.  The boat was out in the anchorage and Barry and Connie had taken a room above the Cava de los Martinez so as to facilitate coming and going as Barry had no motor for his dinghy.  Since he had to row to and from the boat, he had anchored in close to shore, off the reef just south of the marina.  Sunday afternoon, there were large swells rolling through the anchorage.  Rage drug anchor and, before anyone could do anything, went aground on the reef, tearing a gaping hole in her port side. 

It was late afternoon when we heard of this calamity over the radio. I figured that any salvaging that was going to get done would have to happen before dark.  I grabbed my water shoes and made a beeline for the beach where the boat had gone aground.  The tide was low and the water was too shallow to approach Rage by boat.  Dinghies would have been flipped by the breaking waves.  The only way to approach the boat was by wading.  More and more people kept arriving and eventually we must have had 50 people stretching in a line from the boat to the shore, standing in water up to our thighs, passing kayaks full of gear and possessions back and forth from the boat to the beach.  Between the construction method and the location where she went aground, there was no way to refloat the boat.  We got everything loose off the boat that night.  The next day, the boat was pulled up onto the beach where the fuel tanks, mast, winches, and engine were removed over the following week.  Finally, on the night of the full moon, Rage was burned in a funeral pyre.  Boats seem so stout when they are plunging through the ocean, but they crack like eggs when they meet the shore.  (I apologize for the lack of photos, but I knew I'd be getting wet, so left the camera and phone at home.)

Betty left on Monday, but I couldn’t move into Agave Azul until Tuesday afternoon because their water pressure pump was broken.  Monday, I stomped all over town putting up posters to advertise the upcoming free spay and neuter clinic.  I had promised to help my friend Dani, who organizes the clinic each year.  We should have had more helpers, but many people were busy assisting Rage.  We spent most of the afternoon taping flyers to phone poles in the blazing heat.

My Room at Agave Azul

Tuesday, I mustered enough motivation to head into Puerto Vallarta in search of Eduardo’s new computer repair shop after I moved into my room at Agave Azul.  I took the bus into town after lunch and arrived about 14:30.  I had no trouble finding the shop (Compulectronics at 28 Bernal), but the shop was closed from 14:00 to 16:00.  I crossed the main road and sat in a café, reading and drinking a coffee frappe until 16:00 when I returned to the shop.  There was still no sign of Eduardo, but a line was starting to form.  Eduardo appeared about 16:15.  He quickly determined that my keyboard was defective and even an external keyboard didn’t work.  He needed to do some research, so I left the computer and headed home.

The Pool at Agave Azul

I was hot, so I stopped in Nuevo Vallarta to buy beer and a few groceries.  They didn’t give me a bag for the beer, so I put it in my backpack along with a few other items.  The collectivo going home was crowded and I got jostled while settling myself and groceries in a rear seat.  Suddenly, I felt moisture.  Somehow the selfie stick in the bottom of my backpack had punctured a can of beer.  The beer poured out and drowned my poor iPod which I had forgotten was at the bottom of my pack.  My technology juju had definitely reached a low point.

Wednesday marked the beginning of the spay and neuter clinic.  I went for an early run and then reported to assist at the clinic at 9:00.  I was assigned to work in the recovery area.  The animals are

Cats in the Recovery Area

dropped off between 9 and 11 in the morning.  Cats, being smaller, take longer to come around after anesthesia, so they are operated on first.  The animals are anesthetized and then shaved and prepped for surgery.  Dogs are intubated to keep their airways open.  Anesthetized cats are completely limp.  When they come out of surgery, we take their pulses, temperatures and respiration and note the results on a form.  We recheck these every half hour until they wake up.  One of the problems with the smaller kitties is that they get cold.  To prevent this, we snuggle them close together in a line front to back.  Every fifteen minutes or so we flip them over.  They look precious all lined up like that.  We pet them constantly to stimulate them and watch for signs of waking.  We don’t want any escapees.  When they start lifting their heads, we treat them for fleas and ticks and then put them in a carrier.

Dogs are a whole different story. They mostly come out of the anesthesia very quickly.  Often we

Waiting for This Husky to Wake Up

barely had time to remove the breathing tube and IV before they woke up.  If we got time, we checked them for ticks and removed any we found.  The smaller dogs such as Chihuahuas took longer to come around.  We had to flip those over every few minutes and rub them to stimulate them.  Some seemed to enjoy the attention and refused to wake up.  The few that we knew to be aggressive went straight into carriers the moment they stirred.  On the first day of the clinic we altered eleven cats and eight dogs. 

Thursday, my friend April the tour guide led an excursion to the Puerto Vallarta botanical gardens.  The gardens are located on the other side of Puerto Vallarta on the road to Barra de Navidad.  It took us about two hours to get there.  We walked around the gardens for a few minutes and then ate a nice lunch in the very pleasant restaurant before joining the docent led walk at 13:00.  The gardens were lush and beautiful, with many species of orchids and bromeliads.  Despite their ubiquitousness, the bougainvillea were magnificent, as well.  One of the most exotic specimens was a jade vine from the Philippines with flowers in a surreal teal green color.  After the tour, we took a walk through the gardens to the river and back and cooled our feet in the stream. 

Puerto Vallarta Botanical Garden

Jade Vine

Bees Loved this Flower

As a group, we had decided to spend more time at the gardens at the expense of April’s usual tour of Puerto Vallarta.  We did, however, stop and take a quick walk around Old Town, the Rio Cuale, and the main church.  Then we loaded back in the van and drove back through rush hour traffic to La Cruz.

Please excuse the strange placement of photos.  I have only a tablet that works and cannot control positioning with it.

Orchid House

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I spent Friday and Saturday back at the clinic.  They had done fifteen animals in my absence on Thursday.  Friday we did ten cats and fifteen dogs and Saturday was dog day with eleven cats and 19 dogs.  It was a lot of work, but very gratifying.  People brought animals from far and wide, arriving in everything from milk crates to pink lace tablecloths.  The Mexican vets and vet techs who do this every day under challenging circumstances are amazing.

Cat on the Operating Table

While I had had a busy week, Don had spoken with his canvas maker and determined that she could not get to his work until the middle of March.  Rather than wait around in La Cruz, we decided to sail south to Zihuatanejo and then get the canvas work done on our way back to the Sea of Cortez. I spent a relaxing weekend at Agave Azul, which really is a lovely place with a nice pool (actually kept clean) and a large shady common area hung with hammocks that was once a bar.  While not as large or comfortable as my room at Casa Mango, my room was 80% cheaper and the company was excellent.  Sunday, I spent helping Don tighten the stanchions on Comet.

I hadn’t heard from Eduardo since he had asked me to change the password online the week before.  We were planning to leave on Tuesday, so I headed back out to Eduardo’s on Monday morning.  He had reformatted my computer and saved all my files.   The keyboard still didn’t work and he didn’t have an English one available, but I could still use it in tablet mode, as it is a convertible machine.  Unfortunately, the internet at Agave Azul was intermittent and I didn’t have time to update my blog before I left.