A trip to Melaque and Cuastecomates

Friday morning we went to the fuel dock to top off our aft tank and to put water in the port side water tank followed by a quick trip out to the ocean to empty our holding tank before we returned to the anchorage.

Once settled, we joined Dick and Nancy of SV Askari and took at water taxi into town. After a short walk, passing the bus loads of Mexican tourists heading for the beach, we caught a local bus to Melaque, a small town at the other end of the bay. It is about a 2 1/2 mile walk along the beach from Barra to Melaque, but the bus ride it a little longer. After a stop at the Bancomex cash machine we walked along the beach until we found a suitable palapa. The Concha del Mar fit the bill perfectly, right on the beach, shade, not too crowded, a table with a view and inexpensive food and drinks. Beer and nachos was the order of the day. Vendors came by offering clothing, toys, beach toys, mangos on a stick, etc. but we were fine with our nachos. The beach is filled with families, everyone is swimming and playing. In between pelicans are diving into the water. They only seemed to catch fish and luckily not some small child playing in the water.

Next was a short walk to find a taxi and a ride to Cuastecomates, or Secret Cove, a small inlet on the other side of the hill from Melaque. Cuastecomates is a small beach with cliffs on either end. The anchorage is fairly well protected if you can tuck in behind the reef. There were two sailboats there. The beach is also lined with palapas and more vendors. In fact we saw the same vendor selling coconut macaroons that we had seen at Melaque. There is not much else here except for some small homes and a few bungalows for rent. We arranged for our taxi driver to pick us up at 4:30 pm to avoid walking back. Luckily there was another suitable palapa for some refreshment.

Our taxi driver arrived on time and dropped us off at the bus terminal in Melaque. We took the 'chicken bus', aka the local or non express bus back to Barra de Navidad to see some of the local sights. In Barra we stopped at one of the hotels along the beach with a bar up on one of the top floors to wet our whistle and watch the sunset. No green flash but it was two for one happy hour, so still okay. We walked to the Loco Loco Piizza place, against the tide of tourists heading back to their buses for their ride home. We had been so impressed by the food the other night that Dick and Nancy decided they needed to try it out. The food was still great and the leftover pizza was great for lunch today as well. We caught the water taxi back to the boat and went to bed shortly thereafter. A very fun day.

Today we did a few chores and caught up on our reading. Perhaps tomorrow we will check out with the port captain to continue south.

No worries,
Elaine and Rich

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Pain Au Chocolat for breakfast

above is the French Baker who comes to anchorage every morning delivering delicious goodies. Just the right way to start off your day.

Barra de Navidad

We are here at Loco Loco, overlooking the beach, watching the surfers and having great Italian pizza and pasta for our evening out at Barra de Navidad. We are relaxing after a day of chores, taking Rich up the mast to fix the steaming light and to check the anchor light. The original plan was to fuel up tomorrow and head south but based on the gribs and a chance to join Dick and Nancy on a trip to Melaque tomorrow, we are changing our plan and we will leave in a few days.

Until then, we will enjoy where we are.

Barra de Navidad

We listened to the morning net and then called a water taxi for a ride into town. The yellow panga picked us up at Windarra and gave us a quick ride to town for a round trip price of $25 pesos per person. The taxi ride to the port captain was $30 pesos. The port captain's office is in a residential neighborhood about 1.5 miles from the water taxi. Rich's ankle is still not completely healed so we opted for the ride to the port captain and a walk back.

Barra de Navidad has a nice small town feel to it. It is similar to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle in size. Barra is a popular surfing town, with many small hotels catering to this young crowd. Small restaurants line the streets along with shops selling tourist items. We stopped by a rug store and bought a woven rug that is washable for the salon. Other places sell beach attire and carved wood or jewelry.

On the way back we met Nancy and Richard of SV Askari, which is anchored near us in the lagoon. They invited us to join them for lunch at the restaurant run by the French baker. How could we refuse? They have been cruising for 19 years which includes a circumnavigation. We shared stories and information, as cruisers are want to do. After lunch they showed us where the Sands Hotel is. It is a favorite cruiser hangout with a restaurant, bar, a swimming pool, showers and Internet. What more could you ask for?

We took the water taxi back to Windarra and did a few chores. One of my contact lens cracked so I called abut getting a replacement. Apparently there is a law in Washington state that if you contact lens or eye glasses prescription is older than 2 years, you may not get a replacement until you have an eye exam. So, I guess I will try to get a replacement lens here in Mexico.

Tomorrow we will try and fix our anchor and steaming lights which have stopped working recently. Thank goodness it is a night with a full moon so we do not have to worry about some panga running into us in the night.

Bye from Barra.

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Feliz Navidad from Barra Navidad

19 11.500 N, 104 40.399 W

We would like to wish all of you Feliz Navidad or Merry Christmas from Windarra, currently anchored at the lagoon at Barra Navidad.

We left Paradise Village at 11:15 am after paying our marina bill, checking out with the port captain, buying T-shirts at the yacht club and saying goodbye. As we traversed the Bahia de Banderas we saw whales and dolphins. It is mating and calving season for the humpback whales and the Bahia is one of their favorite spots. As we neared Cabo Corientes, the winds picked up and we sailed from a beam reach to a broad reach. While we are very happy with our new engine it is great to shut it off as we sail and enjoy the quiet. As we continued south, dolphins and porpoises would join us. Sometimes they would slap their tails seemingly to get our attention so we would watch them. During the night we took our turns at watch. I listen to music and some Spanish lessons. It was a clear night and the moon was out to light our way. As it was Christmas Eve it seemed that the chatter on the radio was unusual. We heard someone pretending to be a cat, some music in Japanese, shouts of Merry Christmas, some poor soul trying to reach anyone at the La Cruz marina, as well as chatter in Spanish.

This morning we threaded our way into the lagoon, passing a beautiful resort built in a traditional Spanish style with red tile roofs, a marina for luxury yachts and a yoga class on the protected beach. We dropped our hook in the lagoon and shortly thereafter, the French baker arrived in his panga. We bought some fresh croissants for our breakfast and a baguette to enjoy with dinner.

I think we are going to like it here.

No worries, and wishing you happy holidays,
Elaine and Rich

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What have we been doing?

Since returning from the Copper Canyon we have been doing a mix of socializing, relaxing and boat chores.

Our friends, Bob and Sherry of SV Nirvana have arrived in Paradise Village so we have been getting together with them. Other friends include Chuck and Margie of SV Dreamcatcher, friends from Shilshole Bay in Seattle and new friends, Max, Liz, Victoria and Jonathan of SV Fluenta (another Stevens 47) as well as Fran and Richard of SV Red of Anchorage, Alaska. So we have not been lonely.

Sarah, our daughter, arrived last Wednesday. Together we have enjoyed time on the beach, taking Windarra to La Cruz for the Sunday Market and dinner to celebrate her birthday. While we were there we also had Fernando, our engine mechanic, do the 50 hour maintenance check of the engine. On the way back to Paradise Village we checked out the sails and watched for whales which are returning to the bay. It is great having another crew member and we will miss her when she returns to Portland.

We had some canvas work done, lining our Jerry jug covers with a vinyl material to increase the UV protection. The sun is brutal here. I am also in the process of making slip covers for our cushions in the salon. Rich has been working on replacing the screens for the strainers for the refrigeration and freezer cooling pumps. They are clogging which we suspect is from all of the particles in the water here in the estuary. He also replaced the tubing for the aft fuel tank to the Tank Tender. Somehow the old tubing got crimped and was reporting that the tank was empty, which it was not. Of course, running a new tube meant taking the aft bed apart and snaking it through the engine compartment and into the nav station.

We took Sarah to the airport yesterday and now we are preparing Windarra for passage making. With any luck we will reach escape velocity soon and then head south toward Zihuatanejo.

Adios,
Elaine and Rich