Friday, April 06, 2007
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Patzcuaro
As we continued our Southwards voyage along the Mexican coast it became clear there was a vast amount of the country inland which we had not seen.
We took a couple of short trips but the place we kept hearing about from fellow cruisers was Patzcauro.
While we were anchored in Zihuatenejo, a cruiser friendly safe anchorage we arranged for several nearby boats to check on ours for a few days.
We caught an early morning bus which was, as we have found all long haul Mexican buses, extremely comfortable with reclining seats with a lot of leg room, movies, snacks and bathrooms on board. Mexico also has a great system of toll highways so the five hour trip up into the mountains was painless.
Patzcauro is 7400 feet above sea level so the temperatures in the day are hot but you need a light sweater in the evenings, a nice relief from the heat on the coast.
The history of this region dates back to the Tarasco people who built pyramids dating back to 450AD. They repelled the Aztecs but were friendly to the Spaniards when they arrived. Conquistador, Nuno Bertrande Guzman was sent by Spain in 1529. He was a very cruel ruler and after a period of carnage Spain decided to send Vasco de Quiroga a judge and cleric from Mexico City to repair the damage. He established a society in which education and agriculture self sufficiency was emphasized and each village developed their unique craft specialty. These traditions continue today and he is revered with plazas and towns named after him. The next turbulent time was during the independence movement in the early 1800’s when another heroine Gertrudis Bocanegra was shot by firing squad in 1818 after both her husband and son had been killed in the fighting. She is also remembered with a plaza named after her.
The architecture and buildings in the town date back to the 1500’s and it is very picturesque town of 30,000 people with cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings with tiled roofs, it is hard to remember you are in Mexico not in Europe. The treed central plaza from which the rest of the town radiates is the hub of activity. It is surrounded by former mansions which have been converted to hotels and restaurants, most of which supply outdoor seating. We had most of our meals outside on the square as life went by. Tarasco soup which is a tomato and cream based soup with beans and crispy tortillas was a delicious specialty. American style desserts including cheesecake and black forest cake were available with cappuccinos so it was quite a treat.
We stayed in the prettiest hotel imaginable. The central courtyard was blue and orange stucco with plants everywhere and huge wooden beams, breathtaking.
The people appear to be affluent and well educated, we talked to a local man who currently lives in Houston but was having his children educated there to avoid the drugs and violence in the USA schools. The friendly people are justifiably proud of their community which has a deeply rooted colourful culture.
As we ate our breakfast on the square on our first day it started to fill with people. Hundreds of kindergarten age children all dressed in costumes, most girls were butterflies or some beautiful winged creatures and the boys various animals—there is no gender confusion here!!! They had a parade complete with marching bands around the town and it appeared it was the first day of spring. There is always a reason to have a celebration in Mexico, it seems every weekend there is a festival.
It was also Friday which meant market day and all of the surrounding villagers bring in their wares. One of the most unique was the native Indian people who have herbal remedies for all that ail you. They had cures for cholesterol, asthma, back pain and blood pressure to name a few; these appeared to be roots and plants from which you would make tea.
We continued to explore and found the former convent which had been converted into working craft studios where you could watch people make their crafts as well as purchase their products. Lacquer ware, brightly coloured woven fabric, painted wooden masks and corn husk dolls were amongst the local crafts.
The basilica was lovely with a domed ceiling and had a revered figure of the Virgin; this particular one is believed to heal. Pilgrims come from all over Mexico for a miraculous cure.
The library had a huge and beautiful mural depicting the history of the region from the original Tarasco Indians to the present day.
In the square in the weekends an energetic dance troupe performed the dance of “The Old Men” regularly. The origin of this is not clear but adds colour to the already colourful town.
In the evening we happened upon a dance performance put on by two local dance troupes, one was traditional Mexican dancing and the other Mexican style country western. The caliber of the concert was amazing and it appeared that they were raising money to send them to Chihuahua for Easter weekend for the National Championships. They should do well.
We hired a taxi for one day to take us to the surrounding local villages.
We started at the village of Quiroga which specializes in wood products. These ranged from trinkets for $1 to beautifully hand crafted wooden furniture.
We then went to the archaeological site at Tzintzuntzan where huge pyramid structures dating back to 450AD are being excavated. In 1978 an intact tomb full of ceramic offerings was found and the explorations continue.
Santa Clara del Cobre another town we visited was based around a copper mine and every craft imaginable made from copper was available. Jewelry, platters and vases and even the bandstand in the town square were all made of copper.
There are towns which specialize in huge stone carving, ceramics, one of straw where corn husk dolls are made and one which makes guitars. The guitars are beautifully crafted and range in price from $50 to about $500 for one inlaid with beautiful woods.
We finished our tour at the small lovely Zirauin Lake which is of the tears of a Tarascan princess who lost her loved one and her spirit lives on in the lake.
We would have loved to have had more time in this area as it is a craft lover’s paradise but the season is running down and we need to move on.
We continue our voyage and are readying to cross the Tehuantapec to go to El Salvador but are thankful that we had this window to this lovely region.
It is a place to consider as a vacation spot for anyone traveling to Mexico.
We took a couple of short trips but the place we kept hearing about from fellow cruisers was Patzcauro.
While we were anchored in Zihuatenejo, a cruiser friendly safe anchorage we arranged for several nearby boats to check on ours for a few days.
We caught an early morning bus which was, as we have found all long haul Mexican buses, extremely comfortable with reclining seats with a lot of leg room, movies, snacks and bathrooms on board. Mexico also has a great system of toll highways so the five hour trip up into the mountains was painless.
Patzcauro is 7400 feet above sea level so the temperatures in the day are hot but you need a light sweater in the evenings, a nice relief from the heat on the coast.
The history of this region dates back to the Tarasco people who built pyramids dating back to 450AD. They repelled the Aztecs but were friendly to the Spaniards when they arrived. Conquistador, Nuno Bertrande Guzman was sent by Spain in 1529. He was a very cruel ruler and after a period of carnage Spain decided to send Vasco de Quiroga a judge and cleric from Mexico City to repair the damage. He established a society in which education and agriculture self sufficiency was emphasized and each village developed their unique craft specialty. These traditions continue today and he is revered with plazas and towns named after him. The next turbulent time was during the independence movement in the early 1800’s when another heroine Gertrudis Bocanegra was shot by firing squad in 1818 after both her husband and son had been killed in the fighting. She is also remembered with a plaza named after her.
The architecture and buildings in the town date back to the 1500’s and it is very picturesque town of 30,000 people with cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings with tiled roofs, it is hard to remember you are in Mexico not in Europe. The treed central plaza from which the rest of the town radiates is the hub of activity. It is surrounded by former mansions which have been converted to hotels and restaurants, most of which supply outdoor seating. We had most of our meals outside on the square as life went by. Tarasco soup which is a tomato and cream based soup with beans and crispy tortillas was a delicious specialty. American style desserts including cheesecake and black forest cake were available with cappuccinos so it was quite a treat.
We stayed in the prettiest hotel imaginable. The central courtyard was blue and orange stucco with plants everywhere and huge wooden beams, breathtaking.
The people appear to be affluent and well educated, we talked to a local man who currently lives in Houston but was having his children educated there to avoid the drugs and violence in the USA schools. The friendly people are justifiably proud of their community which has a deeply rooted colourful culture.
As we ate our breakfast on the square on our first day it started to fill with people. Hundreds of kindergarten age children all dressed in costumes, most girls were butterflies or some beautiful winged creatures and the boys various animals—there is no gender confusion here!!! They had a parade complete with marching bands around the town and it appeared it was the first day of spring. There is always a reason to have a celebration in Mexico, it seems every weekend there is a festival.
It was also Friday which meant market day and all of the surrounding villagers bring in their wares. One of the most unique was the native Indian people who have herbal remedies for all that ail you. They had cures for cholesterol, asthma, back pain and blood pressure to name a few; these appeared to be roots and plants from which you would make tea.
We continued to explore and found the former convent which had been converted into working craft studios where you could watch people make their crafts as well as purchase their products. Lacquer ware, brightly coloured woven fabric, painted wooden masks and corn husk dolls were amongst the local crafts.
The basilica was lovely with a domed ceiling and had a revered figure of the Virgin; this particular one is believed to heal. Pilgrims come from all over Mexico for a miraculous cure.
The library had a huge and beautiful mural depicting the history of the region from the original Tarasco Indians to the present day.
In the square in the weekends an energetic dance troupe performed the dance of “The Old Men” regularly. The origin of this is not clear but adds colour to the already colourful town.
In the evening we happened upon a dance performance put on by two local dance troupes, one was traditional Mexican dancing and the other Mexican style country western. The caliber of the concert was amazing and it appeared that they were raising money to send them to Chihuahua for Easter weekend for the National Championships. They should do well.
We hired a taxi for one day to take us to the surrounding local villages.
We started at the village of Quiroga which specializes in wood products. These ranged from trinkets for $1 to beautifully hand crafted wooden furniture.
We then went to the archaeological site at Tzintzuntzan where huge pyramid structures dating back to 450AD are being excavated. In 1978 an intact tomb full of ceramic offerings was found and the explorations continue.
Santa Clara del Cobre another town we visited was based around a copper mine and every craft imaginable made from copper was available. Jewelry, platters and vases and even the bandstand in the town square were all made of copper.
There are towns which specialize in huge stone carving, ceramics, one of straw where corn husk dolls are made and one which makes guitars. The guitars are beautifully crafted and range in price from $50 to about $500 for one inlaid with beautiful woods.
We finished our tour at the small lovely Zirauin Lake which is of the tears of a Tarascan princess who lost her loved one and her spirit lives on in the lake.
We would have loved to have had more time in this area as it is a craft lover’s paradise but the season is running down and we need to move on.
We continue our voyage and are readying to cross the Tehuantapec to go to El Salvador but are thankful that we had this window to this lovely region.
It is a place to consider as a vacation spot for anyone traveling to Mexico.
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.
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.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Tenacatita-Las Hadas
We are sailing into Las Hadas retracing our trip we did with Barry and Diana 16 years ago when they were on their way to New Zealand and Ken and I joined them for three weeks in Barra de Navidad and sailed to Zihuataneo.
We left Tenacatita after having done most of the most urgent repairs and had a functioning water maker again. Nice to be able to use the washing machine and have showers again!! Said goodbye to Garret and Carlie on Light Wave; friends who we had been sailing with off and on since San Francisco. They are finally heading back north to the sea of Cortez. Many boaters are now heading back North and the number of boats who are continuing south is diminishing.
We met up with Judy and Jack Welch, our good friends from Calgary in Tenacatita. They are on their new fancy 55foot Tayana, Matsu and are on their way to the Panama Canal and back to the BVI’s. They had left San Diego recently and had brought our shopping list with them; it was like Xmas—until you are traveling in this way it is hard to imagine how difficult it is to find the smallest thing which you had never thought of till you needed it, it takes a whole day to locate even the smallest thing. One requirement on this voyage is to have friends and family joining you all coming laden with necessities.
We had yet another dingy trip up the jungle with them. It was great to see them again and fun to travel on and off with them.
Ken and I continued to Barra de Navidad to spend a few days. There is a very shallow entrance to the anchorage and we had to help two boats who had grounded in the channel of the sand. Matsu’s depth sounder is not functioning so they wisely decided not to come in.
Barra is a pretty little town and you can take in your dingy to the hotel and if you buy a beer can use their pool. This coincidently is the hotel Ken and I had stayed in 16 years ago. One of the treats was the visit each morning to all of the boats in the marina by “ze French Baker” who would have a supply of croissants and bread. How civilized!!
We left the boat there overnight and went to Colima and Comala with our friends Betsy and Richard who are sailing the same route as us on Kayak from Seattle. We caught the bus at 7am, it was the fanciest bus I have ever been on, reclining seats with a full leg rest, movies and a sandwich and drink. All for our 2 ½ hour bus ride. Colima is a pretty European like city and we enjoyed the museum and wandering the cobblestone streets and the many beautiful treed squares. The one lesson we haven’t totally grasped it that siesta time is from 2pm to 5pm between these times NOTHING is open and you may as well find a spot to sit and chill out. We found a great restaurant for dinner and I sampled the Mole sauce on chicken which I had read about. This is a specialty from Oaxaca and is a cocoa based spicy sauce, it is has quite an exotic taste.
The following morning we took a cab for the 7 miles to Comala. This is a pretty little town at the base of a 14,000 foot volcano which had apparently had snow on it a week or two ago, hard to imagine as most days are about 28C. Colmala was also very Spanish and as we wandered the streets came across a number of stores advertising (in Spanish so we were not sure what it was) Ponche. We deduced that one should drink it and then spent the next hour wandering tasting the fruit and cream liquors which are a specialty of the town. Fun even though it was only 10am!!
At 2pm in time for siesta we found a restaurant on the square and sat to have a beer. We found that as long as you ordered a beer various taco style appetizers would continue to appear. After having this lunch we caught the bus back to Barra and found that our boats were all secure—another consideration when one wants to go inland.
The next day we went to Santaigo, a day sail to meet up with Jack and Judy again. This is a lovely bay and we had a relaxing few days. We went to the Saturday morning market to buy some souvenirs and more fruit and vegetables. Jack and Judy were ready to leave but found that the oil Jack had just put in his engine had all leaked into the oil pan. He cleaned up and Judy, Ken and I went in search of more. After they refilled they left the next morning for Zihuataneo.
Ken and I went back to spend a few days at Las Hadas. This is the beach where those of you old enough to remember Bo Derek in the movie 10 was filmed. It is designed with a Moorish theme and is all white marble with lots of lush greenery and lots of bougainvillea growing everywhere. Unfortunately I developed a bad cough so did not enjoy the swimming pools. Ken did more boat projects—these are never ending!!!
We are now on our way to Zihuateneo which is a two day sail where we will meet up with Jack and Judy one last time before they will head off ahead of us. We are going to take another inland trip and await the arrival of Kristen and Adelyn on the 21st. we are looking forward to having them—and of course all of the things they have on their list to bring!!!! Another light wind/motor sail trip—oh where are all the big Pacific winds??!!
I guess we get no sympathy from those of you battling the Canadian winter, it is about 30C every day and so far the nights are pleasant and cool enough to sleep. We love the feeling that we don’t have to go home to work next week—the case for most of the tourists other than cruisers down here. Anyway I am sure it is warming in Calgary and the grass will turn green and we do miss seeing you all.
Till next time,
Wendy and Ken
We left Tenacatita after having done most of the most urgent repairs and had a functioning water maker again. Nice to be able to use the washing machine and have showers again!! Said goodbye to Garret and Carlie on Light Wave; friends who we had been sailing with off and on since San Francisco. They are finally heading back north to the sea of Cortez. Many boaters are now heading back North and the number of boats who are continuing south is diminishing.
We met up with Judy and Jack Welch, our good friends from Calgary in Tenacatita. They are on their new fancy 55foot Tayana, Matsu and are on their way to the Panama Canal and back to the BVI’s. They had left San Diego recently and had brought our shopping list with them; it was like Xmas—until you are traveling in this way it is hard to imagine how difficult it is to find the smallest thing which you had never thought of till you needed it, it takes a whole day to locate even the smallest thing. One requirement on this voyage is to have friends and family joining you all coming laden with necessities.
We had yet another dingy trip up the jungle with them. It was great to see them again and fun to travel on and off with them.
Ken and I continued to Barra de Navidad to spend a few days. There is a very shallow entrance to the anchorage and we had to help two boats who had grounded in the channel of the sand. Matsu’s depth sounder is not functioning so they wisely decided not to come in.
Barra is a pretty little town and you can take in your dingy to the hotel and if you buy a beer can use their pool. This coincidently is the hotel Ken and I had stayed in 16 years ago. One of the treats was the visit each morning to all of the boats in the marina by “ze French Baker” who would have a supply of croissants and bread. How civilized!!
We left the boat there overnight and went to Colima and Comala with our friends Betsy and Richard who are sailing the same route as us on Kayak from Seattle. We caught the bus at 7am, it was the fanciest bus I have ever been on, reclining seats with a full leg rest, movies and a sandwich and drink. All for our 2 ½ hour bus ride. Colima is a pretty European like city and we enjoyed the museum and wandering the cobblestone streets and the many beautiful treed squares. The one lesson we haven’t totally grasped it that siesta time is from 2pm to 5pm between these times NOTHING is open and you may as well find a spot to sit and chill out. We found a great restaurant for dinner and I sampled the Mole sauce on chicken which I had read about. This is a specialty from Oaxaca and is a cocoa based spicy sauce, it is has quite an exotic taste.
The following morning we took a cab for the 7 miles to Comala. This is a pretty little town at the base of a 14,000 foot volcano which had apparently had snow on it a week or two ago, hard to imagine as most days are about 28C. Colmala was also very Spanish and as we wandered the streets came across a number of stores advertising (in Spanish so we were not sure what it was) Ponche. We deduced that one should drink it and then spent the next hour wandering tasting the fruit and cream liquors which are a specialty of the town. Fun even though it was only 10am!!
At 2pm in time for siesta we found a restaurant on the square and sat to have a beer. We found that as long as you ordered a beer various taco style appetizers would continue to appear. After having this lunch we caught the bus back to Barra and found that our boats were all secure—another consideration when one wants to go inland.
The next day we went to Santaigo, a day sail to meet up with Jack and Judy again. This is a lovely bay and we had a relaxing few days. We went to the Saturday morning market to buy some souvenirs and more fruit and vegetables. Jack and Judy were ready to leave but found that the oil Jack had just put in his engine had all leaked into the oil pan. He cleaned up and Judy, Ken and I went in search of more. After they refilled they left the next morning for Zihuataneo.
Ken and I went back to spend a few days at Las Hadas. This is the beach where those of you old enough to remember Bo Derek in the movie 10 was filmed. It is designed with a Moorish theme and is all white marble with lots of lush greenery and lots of bougainvillea growing everywhere. Unfortunately I developed a bad cough so did not enjoy the swimming pools. Ken did more boat projects—these are never ending!!!
We are now on our way to Zihuateneo which is a two day sail where we will meet up with Jack and Judy one last time before they will head off ahead of us. We are going to take another inland trip and await the arrival of Kristen and Adelyn on the 21st. we are looking forward to having them—and of course all of the things they have on their list to bring!!!! Another light wind/motor sail trip—oh where are all the big Pacific winds??!!
I guess we get no sympathy from those of you battling the Canadian winter, it is about 30C every day and so far the nights are pleasant and cool enough to sleep. We love the feeling that we don’t have to go home to work next week—the case for most of the tourists other than cruisers down here. Anyway I am sure it is warming in Calgary and the grass will turn green and we do miss seeing you all.
Till next time,
Wendy and Ken
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Chacala to Tenacatita
Life seems to have slowed down to a pleasant crawl and with boat projects, snorkeling and swimming little time has been spent on the computer so I have been reminded to update the blog—we have not sunk into the deep blue and are alive and well.
We finally left Chacala (still one of our favorite places) and had a good sail to Punta Mita spending a couple of days there. The weather is warm and the water is too. Punta Mita is a small town where condos are being built all along the beach and everyone is trying to hustle you to buy a time share. There are very few people on the beach so I would be a little hesitant to invest in that area. There is a huge push on development here but one would be a little suspicious that perhaps it is being overbuilt. We have by the way discovered why everything in Mexico is a work in progress, it is because taxes on unfinished houses are way less than finished so there is always a wall which is not quite finished.
We went out to Isla Mariettas for a day where we anchored and had some great snorkeling, lots of fish swimming around. A nice island to hike and we came across some more of my favorite blue boobys. There is a great cave system on the island so we enjoyed exploring. We then headed to La Cruz which is the closest place to anchor to Puerta Vallarta without tying up and paying for moorage. It is a nice little Mexican town which has a large cruiser base. Philo’s has a couple of open mike nights where there is a huge talent base to draw from and great dancing to be had. A highlight was a one man band where the musician used a washboard, he was amazing.
The bus takes 40 minutes to Puerta Vallarta so we had a couple of days in PV. It is a pretty town with a renewed malecon (the boardwalk along the beach) which has sculptures erected all along. The galleries have some wonderful art and crafts and it was hard neither feeling I could spend the money or have anywhere to keep it if I did so passed on some lovely pieces. The old town has been well kept and is picturesque with white buildings and roads made of cobblestones. Great supermarkets again, they seem to be well placed down the coast so as your favorite US items run out you are able to replenish, so far the gin and tonics have not run dry and I am managing to eke out my tea and hopefully will meet up with Judy soon with my replenishments. They are, as I write this now in PV but are awaiting autohelm parts so I hope they don’t take too long!!!
We had met Roger from Kimberley who is down her for the winter who had offered to drive us around to see the area so we took advantage of the invitation and he picked us up and took us to Sayulita for the day. This is the Mexican version of Ganges, lots of artsy crafty stores, fruit shakes everywhere, hippies and surfies (from North America). Very cutesy, he has bought land down there as have many youthful retirees so it is a very active anglo saxon community. We had a great walk along the coast which is lovely. Came across a work crew building a cobblestone road, very common here and they last forever so makes sense but was blown away by the work required.
“Warren Peace” another boat we had spent time with took us and a few others back out to Isla Mariettas for the day where it was a lot calmer than had been on our previous visit so we had a good dive. There are a lot of fish to be seen but the visibility is not as clear as in the Caribbean.
The next major area to be careful of is Cape Corrientes which can have wicked winds and currents but a weather window was forecast so we headed over to Yelapa for the day and would head around the Cape in the evening. Yelapa is gorgeous, lush and tropical with a very cutesy Mexican town set sprawling up the hill on a pretty bay. The anchorage was pretty scary where we ended up setting the anchor in 60 feet of water and when we backed up on the anchor appeared to be 20 feet from shore. Ken was not comfortable leaving the boat so swam to shore and took a walk to the town and up to the waterfall at the top of the valley. It was lovely, we would have liked to spend more time there but weren’t prepared to stay the night so headed around to Chamela. Had an uneventful sail there but were surprised at the dryness of the hills as back in the PV side it had been quite lush.
It has a lovely long white sandy beach with the obligatory campsite which is, as they all seem to be, frequented by a huge number of Canadian (mostly BC) campers. The little store in town carried Canada dry ginger ale which I have not often seen and other Canadian delicacies.
We had a couple of days there but were anxious to get to Tenacatita where the man whom we had bought our water maker from was camping as our high pressure pump was leaking and we wanted to give him time to resolve our problem. We arrived with a leak in the prop shaft, 2 heads which were refilling, a single sideband on which we couldn’t transmit on and the leak in the water pump so came in feeling a little as though perhaps this whole idea of sailing was not a good one!!
Tenacatita turned out to be “cruisers summer camp”. Up to 45 boats at any one time right now, some going North and some going South. Every day they have activities, a swim to the beach at 1 30pm followed by a walk along the beach. The men then play Bocce ball and the women play a dominos game they call Mexican train in the palapa onshore and around 4pm everyone heads back to their respective boats to get ready for happy hour with another boat or two and then maybe supper or a movie night. Friday nights everyone dingys in to raft up with all of the other dingys, books are exchanged appetizers are passed around and each boat has to introduce themselves and reveal a little of their plans. It is a good way to get everyone to meet each other. We met up with a number of people we had cruised with previously and had movie nights on our boat a few times. One night we were invited by one of our favorite families who we are honorary Nana and Poppa to their bonfire on the beach with a huge marshmallow roast.
We took a dingy trip up the jungle ride and ended up at “the aquarium” which is great snorkeling area with huge numbers of all kinds of fish.
We took 17 other cruisers on our boat over to La Manzanillo, across the other side of the bay and had a lovely day with one of the best lunches at Martines we have had in Mexico, our lunch was $30 with tip, included drinks, main course, desert and cappuccinos. Went and viewed the huge crocs which are in the river there—hopefully not in the ocean!!
Did a lot of kayaking, swimming and generally regrouped.
During this time Ken fixed the heads, I did some sewing projects which had been put off, one of the other cruisers helped Ken change the prop shaft seal which we had thought we would have had to have the boat hauled out of the water to repair—not an easy thing with a catamaran and another boat spent many hours helping Ken up and down the mast trying to resolve the single side band issue. It is still not resolved but we are ruling out many solutions so are getting closer to the answer—well we hope!! The watermaker man was located and agreed that it was a faulty clutch which is still under warranty
Life seems to have slowed down to a pleasant crawl and with boat projects, snorkeling and swimming little time has been spent on the computer so I have been reminded to update the blog—we have not sunk into the deep blue and are alive and well.
We finally left Chacala (still one of our favorite places) and had a good sail to Punta Mita spending a couple of days there. The weather is warm and the water is too. Punta Mita is a small town where condos are being built all along the beach and everyone is trying to hustle you to buy a time share. There are very few people on the beach so I would be a little hesitant to invest in that area. There is a huge push on development here but one would be a little suspicious that perhaps it is being overbuilt. We have by the way discovered why everything in Mexico is a work in progress, it is because taxes on unfinished houses are way less than finished so there is always a wall which is not quite finished.
We went out to Isla Mariettas for a day where we anchored and had some great snorkeling, lots of fish swimming around. A nice island to hike and we came across some more of my favorite blue boobys. There is a great cave system on the island so we enjoyed exploring. We then headed to La Cruz which is the closest place to anchor to Puerta Vallarta without tying up and paying for moorage. It is a nice little Mexican town which has a large cruiser base. Philo’s has a couple of open mike nights where there is a huge talent base to draw from and great dancing to be had. A highlight was a one man band where the musician used a washboard, he was amazing.
The bus takes 40 minutes to Puerta Vallarta so we had a couple of days in PV. It is a pretty town with a renewed malecon (the boardwalk along the beach) which has sculptures erected all along. The galleries have some wonderful art and crafts and it was hard neither feeling I could spend the money or have anywhere to keep it if I did so passed on some lovely pieces. The old town has been well kept and is picturesque with white buildings and roads made of cobblestones. Great supermarkets again, they seem to be well placed down the coast so as your favorite US items run out you are able to replenish, so far the gin and tonics have not run dry and I am managing to eke out my tea and hopefully will meet up with Judy soon with my replenishments. They are, as I write this now in PV but are awaiting autohelm parts so I hope they don’t take too long!!!
We had met Roger from Kimberley who is down her for the winter who had offered to drive us around to see the area so we took advantage of the invitation and he picked us up and took us to Sayulita for the day. This is the Mexican version of Ganges, lots of artsy crafty stores, fruit shakes everywhere, hippies and surfies (from North America). Very cutesy, he has bought land down there as have many youthful retirees so it is a very active anglo saxon community. We had a great walk along the coast which is lovely. Came across a work crew building a cobblestone road, very common here and they last forever so makes sense but was blown away by the work required.
“Warren Peace” another boat we had spent time with took us and a few others back out to Isla Mariettas for the day where it was a lot calmer than had been on our previous visit so we had a good dive. There are a lot of fish to be seen but the visibility is not as clear as in the Caribbean.
The next major area to be careful of is Cape Corrientes which can have wicked winds and currents but a weather window was forecast so we headed over to Yelapa for the day and would head around the Cape in the evening. Yelapa is gorgeous, lush and tropical with a very cutesy Mexican town set sprawling up the hill on a pretty bay. The anchorage was pretty scary where we ended up setting the anchor in 60 feet of water and when we backed up on the anchor appeared to be 20 feet from shore. Ken was not comfortable leaving the boat so swam to shore and took a walk to the town and up to the waterfall at the top of the valley. It was lovely, we would have liked to spend more time there but weren’t prepared to stay the night so headed around to Chamela. Had an uneventful sail there but were surprised at the dryness of the hills as back in the PV side it had been quite lush.
It has a lovely long white sandy beach with the obligatory campsite which is, as they all seem to be, frequented by a huge number of Canadian (mostly BC) campers. The little store in town carried Canada dry ginger ale which I have not often seen and other Canadian delicacies.
We had a couple of days there but were anxious to get to Tenacatita where the man whom we had bought our water maker from was camping as our high pressure pump was leaking and we wanted to give him time to resolve our problem. We arrived with a leak in the prop shaft, 2 heads which were refilling, a single sideband on which we couldn’t transmit on and the leak in the water pump so came in feeling a little as though perhaps this whole idea of sailing was not a good one!!
Tenacatita turned out to be “cruisers summer camp”. Up to 45 boats at any one time right now, some going North and some going South. Every day they have activities, a swim to the beach at 1 30pm followed by a walk along the beach. The men then play Bocce ball and the women play a dominos game they call Mexican train in the palapa onshore and around 4pm everyone heads back to their respective boats to get ready for happy hour with another boat or two and then maybe supper or a movie night. Friday nights everyone dingys in to raft up with all of the other dingys, books are exchanged appetizers are passed around and each boat has to introduce themselves and reveal a little of their plans. It is a good way to get everyone to meet each other. We met up with a number of people we had cruised with previously and had movie nights on our boat a few times. One night we were invited by one of our favorite families who we are honorary Nana and Poppa to their bonfire on the beach with a huge marshmallow roast.
We took a dingy trip up the jungle ride and ended up at “the aquarium” which is great snorkeling area with huge numbers of all kinds of fish.
We took 17 other cruisers on our boat over to La Manzanillo, across the other side of the bay and had a lovely day with one of the best lunches at Martines we have had in Mexico, our lunch was $30 with tip, included drinks, main course, desert and cappuccinos. Went and viewed the huge crocs which are in the river there—hopefully not in the ocean!!
Did a lot of kayaking, swimming and generally regrouped.
During this time Ken fixed the heads, I did some sewing projects which had been put off, one of the other cruisers helped Ken change the prop shaft seal which we had thought we would have had to have the boat hauled out of the water to repair—not an easy thing with a catamaran and another boat spent many hours helping Ken up and down the mast trying to resolve the single side band issue. It is still not resolved but we are ruling out many solutions so are getting closer to the answer—well we hope!! The watermaker man was located and agreed that it was a faulty clutch which is still under warranty
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