February 26th – Barra Lagoon – Jim’s Blog #27

Early on Saturday morning we checked the engine oil and raw water intake strainer to prepare to motor back to Barra de Navidad, and found that both were fine. We anticipated a 2-hour motor back around the point we had rounded in the same time frame on our way up. In this part of the Mexican Riviera the wind and swells are usually from the northwest and would favor our passage, but the water in the bay was absolutely calm; so we assumed we would have no need for the sails.

Imagine our surprise when we had motored out for half an hour and found a 14-knot wind coming from the southeast (our primary direction), and swells coming from two directions – the larger ones from the northwest and smaller ones coming from the southeast, where they got together occasionally and showered the deck with salty spray from colliding with the bow. I immediately saw an opportunity to save fuel and actually do some sailing; so we quickly raised the sails, shut off the engine, and beat upwind to get around the point. Although our speed was actually greater than it would have been with the engine at times, we were faced with having to zigzag upwind and fight the swells. I was thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to sail, after weeks of mostly motoring, but Sheilagh was rushing below to pick up the items we hadn’t lashed down that had dropped off the shelves and tables and were sliding about on the floor. We had forgotten what it was like to live on a 15-20° slant, and we resolved to batten down everything in the future. I was just disappointed that we weren’t heading northwest to take advantage of the wind and seas, knowing that we would probably be bucking a northwest wind when we finally decided to go north.

We finally made it into the lagoon after three and a half hours (versus the 2.5 hours we had anticipated), and easily found a good anchoring position. We met our friends, Ed and Cornelia of our sister-ship A Cappella, for an afternoon of sunbathing and swimming in the hotel resort that is only 10% full most of the time (which I mentioned in an earlier blog). We are all dedicated meat-eaters; so we got together that evening for ribs at a recommended restaurant overlooking the bay. There we started with happy-hour Margaritas (two apiece if you want happy-hour prices – no splitting one order in two) as we watched the sun descend into the sea. Once again we failed to see the “green flash,” which is a phenomenon that is supposed to happen at the moment the sun sets on a perfectly flat sea when there are no clouds between the viewer and the sun.

Let me digress here a moment. Sheilagh and I have been looking for the “green flash” since our first cocktail hour in Hawaii, when I was stationed there in the Navy in 1971. That’s 37 years of looking for a phenomenon that I am beginning to believe doesn’t really exist. In fact, I think it was Sheilagh who suggested to the group this night that anyone who has really seen a “green flash” was probably drinking a record number of Grasshoppers before seeing it. Although the “green flash” may be a way for bars to sell more drinks to us gullible imbibers during sunset every day, we still feel it our duty to probe the phenomenon at every opportunity. I might mention that a couple of young people at a table next to ours both had their cameras poised to capture the “green flash,” which indicates that this legend lives on. They were disappointed as well.

That night we also watched the movie, Babel, in the hotel’s theater (free of charge), where the crowd was composed of our foursome and one other cruising couple. I understand the movie received some awards from the Golden Globes and the Academy when it came out, but to me it was another example of Hollywood attempting to impose its view of the world on those of us who wouldn’t pay to see what they have to say. Sheilagh’s comment was that the chairs were uncomfortable but the movie was free.

Related to movies, I noticed on the internet that the Academy Awards were presented this weekend. Neither Sheilagh nor I had seen 80% of the awarded films and the truth is we didn’t really care. We haven’t seen a new release since late summer, along with most of the other cruisers. But then again it’s not as if we have to keep up with the “water cooler” discussions which were an essential part of the workaday world for us. When we do get back to the “real world,” we wouldn’t let the Academy Awards dictate what we will want to see anyway. I can remember way back when Gone with the Wind won a lot of awards and was actually a great movie (okay, maybe 50 years is a long way to go back), but I haven’t been that impressed in recent years. It’s as if the members of the Academy are set on making sure the awards are given to movies that are 1) not commercial successes and 2) have a politically correct message – whatever that happens to be at the time. Just another reason why we are escaping to this cruising lifestyle!

Yesterday we learned on the Amigo Net (the wide area net that covers all of Western Mexico) that the water temperature at Zihuatanejo was 69°, which is quite a bit colder than usual. Apparently this is a La Niña year with the Pacific Ocean registering a bit colder than normal. It makes one wonder about the “global warming” phenomenon and the appropriateness/timing of awarding the Oscar (notice the tie-in to the previous paragraph) to Al Gore last year for his less-than-scientific attempt at spreading fear and consternation. It appears that many of the cruisers are deciding that it’s not worth it to go any further south in Mexico this year, because it doesn’t appear to get much warmer going in that direction. The other reported fact that was keeping the boating community out of the water was a 10’ crocodile that was seen swimming around the anchored boats in Zihuatanejo. Glad I didn’t clean the bottom of the boat there! Someone mentioned that crocodiles can’t hurt you when you are both underwater, because they only open their jaws when they are on the surface. I will not be testing that theory with my body!

Sheilagh made another one of her famous key lime pies today, which I was looking forward to consuming single-handedly – with some assistance from her. Imagine my surprise when she mentioned that she owed a piece of pie to a couple of friends; so we couldn’t touch it until we could set up a desert-tasting with them. As she was discussing this with the individuals in question, she was overheard by another set of cruisers, who reminded her that she had promised them a taste some time ago. This entire discussion ended up with a planned potluck on Wednesday evening that included at least five couples, if not more, and the need for Sheilagh to make another key lime pie to go with the first. Needless to say, I have not had a chance to taste the pie yet, although I have had to suffer the delicious smells for over a day now.

This reminds me that Sheilagh has a tendency to promise things in order to force goals on herself to do things she really wants to do. This creates a sense of urgency in her that helps her accomplish a lot of very ambitious goals. She seems to forget about the anxiety she causes herself as part of this process, and the exhaustion that sets in when the goal in question is more difficult than she had expected or takes longer than anticipated. I keep reminding her of our pre-political-correctness marriage vows in which she promised to “love, honor, and OBEY” me, but she feels no drive to meet that goal, I notice. I guess a commitment to make pies has more clout with her than living up to the obedience portion of her marriage vows. Sheilagh’s comment on this paragraph is “the pie is easier to swallow!” Not a bad comeback.

I bought a small anchor from another cruiser in Tenacatita to use with the dinghy when we tie up to the rock jetty at the Sands Hotel here in the Barra Lagoon. We noticed that the rock jetty, with shells imbedded in it, had scraped a hole in our dinghy the last time we were here. We toss out the anchor behind the dinghy to hold it away from the jetty, and it has been working very well. Yesterday we heard a knock on the side of our boat and a shout “Ahoy, Aurora.” There alongside was the cruiser who had sold me the anchor along with his wife in their dinghy. He was asking if there was any way he could buy the anchor back from me, as he had not realized that he might need it down here. We cruisers try to be accommodating, but a purchase is a purchase, and I “traded 15 coconuts” for that anchor. An earlier blog explained the fact that we are not allowed to buy or sell anything in Mexico, we can only trade. Therefore we “trade for coconuts” when we are exchanging money for an item. I did not sell it back to the original owner.

When we originally set out, most of us stocked up on items that we heard would be necessary to cruising, but you can’t have everything on a 42’ boat. Some of the items we decided not to bring down until we had some experience were folding bikes, kayaks, surfboards – generally anything bulky. Bikes need to be carried in sealed plastic bags in the lazarette to prevent rust and corrosion and they are not all that beneficial on the cobblestone roads that are prevalent in Mexico. Some cruisers carry kayaks and surfboards attached to the lifeline stanchions around the boat, but these can be a real problem in bad weather. They have a tendency to be torn off their mountings by high winds or strong seas and can have the same destructive power as an unguided missile. They are certainly not appropriate for heading across the Pacific, but they could be very handy in the Sea of Cortez or in the Virgin Islands.

Since we have decided to stay in the Sea of Cortez we may rethink our purchase of a kayak for getting some exercise and poking around in small bays. There are actually collapsible kayaks that take up very little room in the hold and can be inflated relatively easily. We have also ordered some arched shading panels that will cover most of our deck from front to back to keep the hot sun from heating up the boat. We understand that these are necessary during the summers in the Sea of Cortez, although we have not had to concern ourselves with this kind of shading during the winter season here in the tropics. We’ll furnish pictures of the shade panels when we finally get delivery of them.

We will be staying in the Barra Lagoon for at least the next blog, but will be heading north again within a week or so. We are still waiting for the return of our autopilot from the manufacturer – it’s only been causing us problems since August (before we set out). Sheilagh reminds me that we have chosen the cruising life to be able to learn to slow down and smell the roses (in the ocean?), that Mexico offers a mañana culture (meaning things will get done tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day), and that this is the ideal environment for helping me to both relax and gain patience. I have a sneaking suspicion that, if I don’t learn patience, I could have a heart attack and Sheilagh would own everything, and damned if I’m going to let that happen. Oops, maybe that’s not the right attitude! More later . . .