Don't miss our previous blog from last week - we've just published both today because we've been away from the internet for a couple of weeks.
We left Chamela at about 9AM with the wind very light, but eventually slightly right of our nose; so we ended up motoring the whole way to Tenacatita with a very little help from the sails. Nevertheless it was a special sail for me as I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of being entirely self-sufficient on my own craft with two separate means of propulsion and the engine making ice at the same time as it charged up our batteries. We also made about 40 gallons of fresh water from the sea during our 6 hours of motor/sailing. We made use of the single-sideband radio to collect our internet messages from the atmosphere. The autopilot (which was inoperative at this time last year) was doing all our steering for us. All we had to do was keep a lookout for other boats every few minutes as we relaxed with books in the cockpit. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, even if we only covered 30+ miles in the 6 hours.
Our first night at Tenacatita showing our boat on the right - courtesy of Cornelia GouldWe arrived at Tenacatita (Lat: 19°18.20’ N / Long: 104°50.00’ W) to find a number of old friends already anchored, but the number of boats in the anchorage was about half of what it was last year. We also learned that this year’s Baja Ha Ha turned out to have the lowest actual turnout in several years. We had done the Ha Ha last year with about 160 boats coming from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, and this year’s only had 136 boats. Apparently the economy is affecting the number of cruisers. In fact several cruisers we have talked to have decided to go back to work to replenish the cruising kitty that was impacted by the meltdown of the economy during the past year.
When we arrived, we immediately joined the group for Mexican Train under the shade of the local palapa on shore. These usually begin at 2PM, but the start time was put off to accommodate us and some other cruisers who had just arrived from the other direction than we had come. The Mexican Train game seems to be a reason for drinking beer, catching up with the other cruisers’ recent histories and ongoing plans, and trading gossip about those who aren’t there.
One of the discussion items was the dragging that some boats did last year while anchored in the lagoon at Barra de Navidad (our next anchorage), when the wind sprang up in the afternoon. We learned that one of the boats that was consistently anchored incorrectly, causing it to drag on the bottom, had been put up for sale and the owner wouldn’t be returning. This was a relief to everyone there, since those boats that had dragged their anchors had run into some of the other boats in the process.
Sunday we had invitations from two sets of our cruising friends – appetizers and drinks from John and Kathy of “Batu,” and dinner from Ed and Cornelia of “A Cappella.” We squeezed in both events and caught up with a lot of recent history. We were joined at dinner by Roger and Diane of “Di’s Dream, whom we had met in Paradise Village. Roger and Di are both going back to work this summer selling Catalina yachts with their previous company. They had actually planned on working awhile longer, but wanted to enjoy their boat while they were still young enough that the fun was worth the work involved.
Before the invitations I swam around the anchored fleet with my kayak tied to my waist to insure that pangas saw me. It was good exercise for 45 minutes, which is what it takes me to do a mile in the water. By swimming around the outside of the fleet I am always close to a boat, if I have some sort of trouble – such as attacking whales, crocodiles, or sharks – no, the whales aren’t known to attack and I’ve seen no sharks or crocodiles in the vicinity of the Tenacatita anchorage. I also have the kayak to use if I get tired, and I usually carry a water bottle on the kayak. I have to finally admit that I’m getting to the age where I have to take precautions to insure my continued survival – precautions I wouldn’t have dreamed of 10 years ago. Oh well, it beats the alternative!
On Monday we had another round of Mexican Train, where I had the most incredible luck of my life, winning six of eight rounds and accumulating 26 points total against several hundred for everyone else (the fewer points, the better). Needless to say I was not the most popular person at my table, and I doubt that certain individuals will ever play with me again – although I was careful not to rub it in. Two nights later Sheilagh and I played with John and Kathy of “Batu,” and I was stuck with over 600 points, a couple of hundred over anyone else. So I am now properly humbled and not interested in playing the game for a few more days.
John and Kathy of "Batu" starting the jungle rideTuesday we took the “jungle ride” from the anchorage up a river to the town of Tenacatita. This is a winding stream that is wide at the start but quickly changes to a channel about 10’ wide with mangroves crowding the way and arching overhead. We saw very little wildlife at 9AM in the morning, but did glimpse a small
two-foot crocodile sunning itself on the way back. We had some seven or eight other couples with us, each couple in their own dinghy. We separated ourselves from the group on the way back in order to take our time and see what wildlife we could. That’s when we sighted the crocodile, which everyone else missed. Here are a couple of shots.
Croc and CrabThursday we pulled up our anchor and motored about 13 miles around a point to Barra de Navidad, where we refueled and pulled into the lagoon for a few days. Barra is the closest thing to a real town around here, although it’s a conglomeration of little towns side by side, including Colimilla on one end and Melaque on the other. We dinghied over to Colimilla with a large bundle of laundry and picked up some supplies at Maria’s store. Maria has a small operation where she journeys to the Costco store at Guadalajara, buys at the retail prices there, and then marks things up a bit to sell to us cruisers. The unique aspect of Maria’s wares is that they include the things that cruisers want, not the normal stuff sold in the tiendas.
Maria has the Joy cleaner that can be used to wash oneself or one’s things in salt water (with a fresh water rinse, of course). She has a freezer full of good steaks, pork chops, bacon, and other meats not normally available. She sells soft drinks and beer by the case, whereas a lot of the tiendas tear down the cases and display the cans as individual items – a real hassle getting 24 individual items back to the boat. She has the harder cheeses that we gringos prefer and crackers that are difficult to find, such as Triscuits. She offers wheat bread in addition to the Bimbo white bread with all the food value removed. It’s a pleasure to have a retailer actually listen to the clientele and respond with what is requested.
On Thursday night we joined Ed and Cornelia of “A Cappella” and John and Kathy of “Batu” for barbecue ribs at the Sea Master Restaurant, where we caught our first glimpse of the “green flash” last spring. No “green flash” this time, since the clouds were thick to the west. The ribs at this restaurant are very tasty and not-to-be-missed whenever we pass through. We showed up just at happy hour and got two drinks for the price of one. After a careful explanation to the waiter in our best Spanish/English garble that we wanted one order of two drinks to split between each of the two of us, the waiter brought two drinks apiece. We resolutely made do with the situation.
The French Baker making his rounds in the lagoonOn Friday morning we heard a familiar refrain over the radio that the French Baker was in the lagoon and had wares to sell. The French Baker is unique to the Barra anchorage, because he not only has a store in town; he also has a boat and brings croissants and breads around in the morning to individual boats for about twice the price as in the store. Despite the price difference, it’s difficult to resist the temptation to have a fresh croissant breakfast delivered to your boat as you’re sitting in the cockpit enjoying a morning cup of coffee. I had the ham and cheese croissant, and Sheilagh had a cinnamon raisin croissant. We also bought a second set for Saturday morning and a loaf of French bread for our filet mignon steaks on Friday evening. This cruising is a tough life, but we make the best of it.
More later . . .
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