We just can’t seem to leave this beach paradise at Santiago Bay. Our previous pictures of the beach showed very few people on the beach, but that was before the weekend. Since Monday was a holiday here in Mexico – Constitution Day (federal) and Candlemas Day (religious) – the crowds came out on Saturday and Sunday in droves with a smattering on Monday as folks headed for home. There was still plenty of room on the beach, but beach umbrellas sprouted everywhere and families took their ease. Children dabbled in the surf and built the necessary sand castles that children are genetically required to build when confronted with sand and water.
The difficulty for us cruisers was threading our way through the swimmers with our dinghies in order to land on the beach in the surf. Nothing like keeping the propeller away from the heads of curious swimmers – particularly the young boys asking for rides – as we gauge the swells carefully to ride in just behind the breaking waves. This is a bit of a challenge in any case, because we only have a 6 HP engine with very little oomph when we need it at the moment of catching the swell just right. Then add scantily-clad bathers all around the boat and up on the beach, and it is a real challenge to stay focused on the job at hand. We were successful and headed out to the Santiago open-air market that occurs every Saturday.
The Open Air Market in Santiago on Saturdays
There we found one of the larger temporary markets we have seen in Mexico – erected overnight and modeled on a modern mall to some extent. It was completely covered with canvas to keep out the hot sun. There were taco stands and plastic tables and chairs in one section that was equivalent to the eating area in a mall. There were booths filled with clothing, mostly jeans and T-shirts, right next to jewelry booths, DVD and CD stands (with mostly copied items, I think, based on the low prices), leather goods, clay and wood bowls and platters, musical instruments, cheap toys, and nearly everything that tourists and locals might want to buy. Fresh fruits and vegetables were sold at several booths grouped together where the delivery trucks had good access.
We assume these vendors paid for the right to set up their booths, but as we shopped we were approached by individual vendors, wandering the aisles, and offering blankets, baskets, jewelry and other items that are normally carried and sold on the beaches here. The fixed-booth operators didn’t seem to mind having the wandering vendors go through, at least we didn’t see anyone being thrown out for selling without a booth. I ended up buying a couple of T-shirts, which Sheilagh insisted not be white because she can’t get the sunscreen stain out of the collars. So I bought one yellow T-shirt that would match the sunscreen stains and an orange one that might hide the stain. I got the vendor to reduce his price from $7 to $6.50 on the first shirt, and then found the same shirts around the corner for $4.50, where I got my second shirt. So much for my ability to bargain!
The Marlin statue by Sebastián in old town Manzanilla on the waterfront - note the two figures below the end of the tail to get perspective on the sizeAfter the open-air market we hopped a bus for the long ride around the bay to Manzanillo, one of the biggest shipping ports in Mexico. Beyond the town is the power plant that spews smoke into the sky 24/7, but that area is separated from the town by hills that keep the smoke away. We planned to meet some friends at the Club Social next to the town square for drinks and snacks. We were told to meet the group at the statue of the marlin in the town square. You can imagine that there are dozens of sculptures in the various parks around town; so we were a bit worried that we might not see it. The picture shows that the marlin statue, by Sebastián, is not something anyone could miss. We arrived just a bit before the group and joined them in the square before repairing to the bar.
The Club Social is a “bocado” style bar, where you pay for drinks and they bring things to eat at no charge. “Bocado” means a “bite” or “mouthful” from “boca,” the word for mouth. There are several bars like this locally where the food is intended to keep you drinking. After each beer or drink, the used bottle or glass is lined up on a shelf behind the table with all the other used vessels. The final bill consists of the waiter counting the bottles and glasses and submitting one bill for everyone. Then it is up to the various participants to throw in what they feel they drank and then see if that covers the bill and the tip. We joined John and Cathy of “Batu,” Terry and Michelle of “Coastal Passage,” and John and Gilly of “Destiny.” We noticed that the food was replenished as soon as we ordered a second round of drinks. Apparently they keep a balance on the food they provide against the drinks that are ordered.
Sunday was a low key affair with lunch and internet at the Oasis Beach Club, looking out over the crowds on the beach. Then I met with friends to watch the Superbowl at a local restaurant, named Juanito’s, for access to a large screen TV with a direct signal from the U.S. to allow us to see the U.S. commercials. Sheilagh has no interest in football, unless it’s in person at a high school game where she can watch the watchers; so she stayed on the boat and got some time alone. We were about evenly divided in the group between the two teams. Most of us had not been following pro football to any great degree, since it’s difficult to even get TV in most anchorages, and none of us sailboats has satellite TV onboard. It turned out to be a very good game, although the locals who came in for dinner didn’t understand what was so interesting about a game where the ball wasn’t always in motion.
We had met Lou and Lydia of “Shiloh” on the previous Friday night for dinner at a Palapa on the beach and they offered to take us in their van for shopping on Monday. It is such a pleasure to actually drive to a shopping center (instead of taking a bus) and then to have a way of carrying everything back without hailing a cab! We loaded up on some heavy items like beer and coke, and some bulky items like paper towels and toilet paper. We had lunch at a local taco stand where the whole family was involved in taking our orders, providing Coca Colas, and generally seeing that we were well taken care of. A friend of the family told us that he was from Pasco, Washington, and I mentioned that I had grown up in Walla Walla, just 60 miles down the road. Our communication was limited by our lack of fluency in each other’s language, but we said our good-byes with something in common.
That night we had “Batu” and “Coastal Passage” over for Mexican Train, using our rules as the host, and I came off the winner. A couple of days later we did the same on “Coastal Passage,” using their rules and they won. There doesn’t seem to be any firm rules with regard to playing the game. As a result the host often wins when others are playing who are not followers of the same rules.
Tuesday it was time to clean the green fringe from around the boat at water level. I used a scraper, a brush, and a Teflon pad and was still unable to get some of the green fuzz off in some places. The bottom definitely needs a scraping and cleaning before we head out again, something I will probably do next week. I loaded my IPod with a new book and went kayaking around the mouth of the bay to another anchorage, as I listened to the story of Ireland. It involved 2 hours of paddling, but the time passed swiftly as I listened to the myths and stories of Ireland, always keeping away from partially submerged rocks that could cut open the inflatable kayak.
Thursday a finback whale with an infant came very near the anchorage and appeared to be nursing within a few yards of one of the sailboats, “Hooligan,” anchored here. It was just the luck of Tom and Barbara, the owners of “Hooligan,” to be in town at that time, but the rest of us saw a lot of the activity from just a couple of hundred yards away. There was at least 20’ of the back of the mother whale showing, which means the mother was probably 50-60’ in length. Earlier I had decided to kayak across the bay – about 2.5 miles across – since the wind was out of the East and it would be an easy paddle back. I got there in about an hour and found that the wind changed suddenly to the opposite direction and the sea got a bit rough and came from my forward port side. By the time I got back I was exhausted from the paddling and wet from the waves throwing up spray as I maneuvered through them. I don’t think I’ll be trying that again soon.
We had a “tragedy” on Thursday evening as we were setting out from shore in the dinghy through the waves, and we are still feeling the repercussions of it. We usually wait for a period of low swells, wade the dinghy out to just past where the small waves are breaking on the beach, hold the bow into the waves as the water is lapping our knees (sometimes our thighs), and I start the engine before we hop in. I had just gotten the engine going and had instructed Sheilagh to hop in as I gunned it. I had misjudged the advancing wave, which was just starting to break (about two feet high), but I was confident that we could power over it. Sheilagh saw the advancing wave, screamed, and plunged into the bow of the boat – which drove the bow under the wave, rather than allowing the boat to ride over it.
As I tried to lift the bow up under Sheilagh’s weight and keep the boat in line with the wave, it swept over the bow, filling the boat with water, and supposedly throwing Sheilagh out of the boat on the other side. I say “supposedly” because I think she threw herself out of the boat to avoid getting wet from the water coming into the boat – who would guess that she would get wetter in the surf. Sheilagh came out of the water dripping all over, sputtering, fuming, and blaming me for dumping her in the drink. We both hopped in the boat, I gunned the engine, Sheilagh manned the bailing scoop, and we avoided the next wave.
The problem was that everything we had with us, groceries, pack, and purse were drenched in salt water. Thankfully we always carry our computers in a water-tight bag, but Sheilagh had her Palm Pilot in her purse, and it got so drenched it could not be resurrected. You have to realize that Sheilagh downloads books onto that device and reads them in bed without having to turn on the light. If she doesn’t have that device to go to sleep with, she is like a fish out of water, like a pig out of mud, like a mother bear away from her cubs – in short she is not a happy camper. This weekend we are planning a trip into town to see what we can do to replace it, since everything is backed up on her computer, but until then I am lying low and not discussing who was at fault in the launching process. Incidentally she has taken two showers so far and still can’t get the fine sand out of her hair – which only adds to her “sweet nature.”
Friday we took it easy and ended the day with dinner aboard “Shiloh” with Lou and Lydia. They served arachera – marinated beef that is very tender and juicy – along with baked potatoes and salad. We brought along a key lime pie that Sheilagh had prepared and we proceeded to eat the entire pie in one sitting. That said a lot for Sheilagh’s cooking.
More later . . .
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