Zihuatenejo to Huatulco

We arrived in Zihuatenejo to meet up with Jack and Judy before they left to go south.
Zwhat as it is commonly known by cruisers is a picturesque town set on a bay with a long sandy beach. It is a “cruisers major stopover” and each February cruisers have a sailfest where they raise money for the disadvantaged children in some of the poorer Indian communities. Subsequently many boats had been there for months and it was strange to arrive and know fewer boats that we had known before. Many of the boats we had been traveling with had gone north before this and only a few continue south.
Nathanial, a local fellow has seen an opportunity and spends his day on the beach helping everyone pull their dingy up on the shore and watches them all day. Cruisers tip him and he makes a good living during the season.
We had a few good days with Jack and Judy and went into the square on Sunday night where there was yet another festival—I am not sure what this one celebrated but who needs an excuse? Ate dinner at a waterfront restaurant—literally, we had a table on the sand which definitely adds to the ambience.
After they left we took a trip to Patzcauro—I have done a separate blog entry for this as it was very special.
We arrived back to await the arrival of Kristen and 4 1/2 month old baby Adelyn. It was lovely to see them again and get some rewarding smiles—the last time I had seen Adelyn she was 2 weeks old. We all learned to adjust our schedules around her and would go into town to shop in between feeds and sleep. We sailed out to Isla Grande for a couple of days with them, a 2 hour trip to a small island where there are only daytime palapas and everyone leaves by 6pm. There is a lovely beach and we were able to swim and snorkel. Adelyn does not appear to have her mother’s early love for swimming and preferred sitting upright in a bucket of water to cool off. She has a cute smile and bright eyes so was able to win the hearts of all of us. She was a little young to appreciate the pokes and prods of all of the Mexican ladies who wanted to see her.
Kristen loved being back in Mexico and we enjoyed roaming the market and streets. We did find the best hamburgers ever-- has avocado and all other imaginable fillings.
All in all it was a great visit and we were sad to see them go.
We then headed to Puerto Angel, down in the Huatulco area where we will await a weather window to cross the Tehuantepec, a notorious passage which you time to avoid 60 knot winds which can be common. It will definitely be one time we will be happy not to have wind!!
Another mostly motoring passage!!! We get about 5 or 6 hours each afternoon of wind with land and sea breezes then it drops. This is a 350 mile passage and takes 3 days.
Ken caught another benito and also a turtle!!! We did manage to get him off—he had hooked his flipper. There are huge numbers of turtles around here. We have had numerous large pods of dolphins who love to play at the bow of the boat. They leap and cavort for quite a while before heading off wherever they were going in the first place. Some leap right out of the air—tried photographing them but you never know where they are going to come up.
Our first stop was a tiny white sandy bay called Jicarel which we stayed a couple of nights and swam and snorkeled off the boat. It was sheltered from the swells and we were anchored all alone—a rare occurrence in Mexican waters.
We then headed off to Huatulco where we tied up in a marina and did all of the necessary regrouping activities to ready ourselves for the passage across the Tuentapec to El Salvador. A lot of boats that we had been with previously are here, Kayak with Betsy and Richard who we had gone to Colima with Seascape from Victoria, a power boat we had been with off and on. They and a contingent of others are all getting ready—documentation to clear out of Mexico, fuel etc. etc. to leave.
Those who have never cruised before can have no idea of the work involved in having a boat and crew actually able to voyage—everyone assumes we are sitting drinking pina coladas under the palm trees but I can assure you that that is not done nearly as frequently as one would like. It is amazing how long the smallest task takes to do and how many tasks there seem to be—just getting some charts photocopied took a day involving several taxi rides. Boat repairs seem to materialize as another is resolved.
It has all of a sudden got really hot—a combination of being a long way south—we are 15 degrees north of the equator—and also it is now spring!!!! Means that the smallest task is now compounded and we are in a constant sweat.
This town is a very tourist based town and amenities abound but it lacks the character of “real Mexico”
We will leave in a few days and will be sorry to leave Mexico, it is a great place to cruise, friendly people with a rich and colourful culture who smile readily and are willing to help in any way. It is a very easy place to travel, very safe and most North American things are available here. On the other hand we are looking forward to our new adventures in lands more exotic.
Hope spring has sprung for you all wherever you are and will next write from El Salvador.