Watch out for the mast

We have been watching the speed boats tow tourists hanging from a parachute around the bay. The perspective is a little deceiving when looking up from the cockpit. We would hate to catch a tourist.

Playa la Ropa

The palapas on the beach at Playa la Ropa, Zihuatanejo.

Enter the harbor at Zihuatanejo

This is entering the harbor at Zihuatanejo after a trip to Marine Ixtapa. The central part of town is on the otherside of the hillock on the left. Playa la Ropa is on the right side. Many homes and resorts are built into the hill and cliff sides. Some of the cruising guides mention that this is a cruise ship stop but we have yet to see one. There is a fair size panga fishing fleet. The Pangaea are similar to ones all up and down the Mexican coast but they also have small enclosures in the front. Some are quite substantial, others are only canvas. The pelicans like them and some pangas have a series of fishing line and empty plastic Coke bottles arrayed over top while the boat is not in use to discourage the birds from roosting. In many cases the birds ignore it.

Settling in at Zihuatanejo

We are settling in here at Zihuatanejo. Jesus, our dingy valet, welcomes us when we motor into town in the dingy. Besides the port captain's office we have found most of the essentials. These include the laundry, the local farmer's market, the larger commercial grocery store and one of the cruiser hangouts, Zorro's. We joined other gringos, cruisers and others at Zorro's to watch the two Seahawks playoff games. Of course we wish they had beaten the Atlanta Falcons but it was fun to watch anyway.

 

Zihuatanejo is not a large town and it is very dependent on tourism. We walk around town and waiters almost drag us in to have someone sitting at one of the many empty tables. On the weekends there is more activity. We are anchored off Playa la Ropa, a long white sand beach on the south side of the bay. When there are tourists around, the beach is busy. Pangas shuttle folks to and from the center of town out to the beaches or out fishing. Jet skis race around while fast boats pull tourists in parachutes (please don't hit my mast) or on large inflatable banana looking things that bounce over the wake of other boats, occasionally dumping the riders in the water. In the evenings it is quiet again in the anchorage.

 

Last week we motored over to the marina at Ixtapa for three nights. It gave us a chance to charge up the batteries and do some provisioning. The marina is up a river and the bugs were biting. Many signs warn you not to swim in the water or to throw food or garbage as many wild crocodiles live in the area. There are many building around the marina so there is little breeze. We were glad to get back to the anchorages of Zihuatanejo.

Wednesday we took our laundry in and after a walk along the beach in front of the central part of town we walked on the road, up and over the hill to Playa la Ropa and found a palapa close by to stop, have something cold to drink and some guacamole. Most of the clientele were gringos. After a rest we walked along the beach checking out the other places. As we walked along the water we saw a sea snake working its way back into deeper water. Hmmmm.

We grabbed a taxi back to pick up our laundry. The ride was shorter than expected as the taxi had engine troubles but at least we were over the hill. We stopped at Tata's on the beach, then Zorro's after a little window shopping as our laundry was not done until 6:00 pm. Jesus helped us get our dingy 'back on the road' and we zipped our way across to Windarra.

More sightseeing another day.

 

Happy New Year, 2013, from Zihuatanejo

We would like to wish everyone a happy, health, new year for 2013.

On New Years' Eve, Rich and I checked out of Barra de Navidad with the port captain, bought some ice and water, then prepared Windarra for passage making. Dick and Nancy of SV Askari stopped by for coffee and to pick up their external hard drive. I had copied over some files for them. We enjoyed meeting them in Barra and our time together. Hopefully our paths will cross again.

By 10:20 am we were motoring out of the lagoon. Twenty minutes later we were in a downpour. The rain was coming down in buckets. A free boat wash! We put up our side panels around the cockpit. We have not had to use these for over a year but it is better than getting soaked.

Two hours later we noticed some bright green in the water following us. A fish? A dorado wanting to be caught? No, a float! We had snagged a fishing line. Rich slowed the boat while I tethered to a jack line and grabbed the boat hook to try and hook the line that was trailing. The force of the water made it impossible to push the boat hook down so I pushed it in between the boat and the grab rail the runs along the outer edge of the transom near the water line. I could get it deeper but no luck. With the boat on autopilot, Rich came back to help. He tethered in and we put down the ladder on the stern. Rich sat on the deck with his feet on the ladder, I was holding onto the back of his PFD harness. Using the same technique of pushing the boat hook down inside the grab rail, Rich was able to snag the line and pull it to the surface. I passed him the gaff and he pulled the line up so I could cut it with my sailing knife and away went the line, we were no longer towing float and hooks and bait fish. The other end seemed still attached to the boat but we could not tell where. We suspect it got hooked to one of the zincs on the rudder skeg. Rich got back on deck and went to check the engine. He was able to increase the rpm, with no change in temperature or oil pressure and no warning lights for the engine. So we rationalized that the line was not on the propeller so we were good to go. Disaster averted.

An hour and a half later we saw a red line in the water with coke bottle floats too late to avoid. In the distance we could see a float with a stick and a large black plastic trash bag on it, starting to follow us. Even farther in the distance was a panga full of fishermen. So we repeated our new drill and this time cut two lines. We wish we could have avoided cutting the line but we were not in conditions that would have made going over the side or trying to work with a weight to free the line. We only hoped that we would not snag another line in the night.

At midnight we heard calls of Happy New Year over the radio. We toasted each other with a bottle of water and decided to postpone our celebration until a more relaxing time and atmosphere.

New Year's Day the winds clocked to on our nose and decreased as the day continued. We took off our cockpit surrounds and tried to stay out of the sun. We were passed by several large container ships heading to Cardenas Lazaro, the largest shipping port on Mexico's Pacific coast.

By 5:00 pm we were anchored in the harbor of Zihuatanejo, not too far from the main center of town. It was time for a shower, some dinner and a good night's sleep. The plan was a success until 1 am when the lightening started. Time to close the hatches and port lights as the rain and thunder began. I put the iPad, iPhones and the computer into the oven, just in case. Rich looked out one of the port lights and out in the ocean passed the harbor entrance he saw lightening striking the water, yikes! The storm continued until it dissipated around 3:30 am.

Needless to say we were glad we were at anchor when the storm came through. This morning we got up leisurely. We got the dingy back in operation from being deflated and lashed to the foredeck. The harbor is a bit rolly so putting the outboard motor on the back of the dingy was a little tricky.

We went to shore near the concrete pier where Jesus and Alfredo helped us beach the dingy. They watched it while we were in town. We tipped them $22 pesos (about $1.80us) for the day. After check in with the port captain we strolled through town. We stopped for lunch at Tata's on the beach with 2 for 1 drinks, what a deal! After lunch we did a short walk around town. We looked for a place called Rick's which was supposed to be a cruiser hang out but we found out the Rick's is no more. Apparently Zorro's is the new hangout. We will have to check it out. Jesus and Alfredo had our dingy ready as we walked up the beach, like a pair of dingy valets!

We are looking forward to exploring more of Zihuatanejo.

Sent from SV Windarra iPad