Cruise of the Confidence 20-Feb-2014 to 04-mar-2014 Barra de Navidad

19-Feb-2014 Barra de Navidad and Ajijic

On Tuesday we raised than anchor and headed to Barra de Navidad. We have been keeping in touch with Mike and Mae (my brother's partner, Heather, and Mae are sisters). It just so happened that they were going to be golfing on the 18th and 19th in Barra. 

We met up with them for dinner at the Grand Bay Hotel and made some plans.

We had anchored in the lagoon for the night and had to make arrangements to get some water. The next morning Mike and Mae took the water taxi out to the boat and we left the lagoon for a short sail to Cuastecomate (Secret Anchorage). We just wanted to give them a taste of our new life on the sea.

I let Mike sit in my favourite spot on the boat!

Mae and her new sun hat - not a boat hat!

Mike at the helm!

I know that Mae likes the water so we anchored and then her and I swam to shore. The boys followed us in the dinghy. After a nice lunch at a beachside palapas (thatched roof outdoor restaurant) and some excellent entertainment from the meriache band,  Mae and I swam back to the boat. We had a nice dinner on board and enjoyed a quiet calm night on the water.

 

The next day Mae and I went for another swim before heading back to Barra. We made arrangements to keep the boat at the Marina Puerto de la Navidad and then jumped in the Jeep with Mike and Mae and headed inland to their home, or should I say small hotel, in Ajijic. The drive took us through mountains and across salt flats

 and alongside coconut groves, mango groves

, papaya groves and agave - the cactus that they use to make tequila.

A few pictures of their beautiful home.

 

 

 

 

 

Then another 4 days living the life of the rich and famous. Mike and Mae were very gracious and generous hosts - introducing us to their friends and sharing their home. We just caught the end of the Olympics which was a treat in itself. We actually stayed the extra day so that we could watch the Gold medal game between Canada and Sweden. We also got to see the finals of the curling. Go Canada Go!

 

We took the bus back to Barra on Monday and were lucky enough to see the volcano belch white smoke at Colima. Volcan de Fuego is one of the world's most active volcanoes in the world.

 

It was nice to be off the boat for a couple of days and sleeping in a real bed, with a flush toilet and TV. But the best was just getting to know Mike and Mae. Mae and I did not know each other while we were growing up but we had so many of the same experiences that it felt like we did. And knew a lot of the same people.

 

After being pampered we decided to stay at the marina for a few extra days. At $28 per day, why wouldn't we.  This included full use of the hotel and of course the pool. And rather than taking the dinghy to town, as the resort and marina are actually on an island, we took the watery taxi.

The town is great with lots of nice tiendas (stores) and restaurants. We were told about the French baker (more on home in a minute) - so we went there for a latte and croissant. We were almost done when this women comes up to David and starts hugging him. Bronnie was one of David's favorite deckhands when he worked for BC Ferries. I had met her and her husband on Hornby. Jim is from my home town and was best friends with one of my brother's good friends. So how bizarre was that to run into them in a place that I hadn't even heard of a month ago. So we invited them for dinner the next night. David and Bronnie got caught up on the BC Ferry gossip and Jim and I reminisced about the Sault.

 

Next couple of days was spent doing a few projects on the boat. We got someone to clean the bottom and replace the zincs, David did some varnishing and painting and We defrosted the freezer. And of course I put in my daily workout in the pool.

And it is a good thing that I can workout every day as the French baker delivers fresh croissants, my favorite being the almond croissant, to the marina and lagoon every morning except Wednesday. So David puts on the coffee and I lay in bed until both are delivered. I would say that this is the definition of decadence. He also has other treats like baguettes and Danishes. What a way to start the day.

 

Today is carnival day in Barra so we will take the water taxi to town to watch the parade and join in the festivities. The Marina and resort are actually on a island and rather than bring our dinghy across we make use of the great water taxi service at less than $2 for a return trip. Not only is it a great service but it is also a great way to meet the other boaters and get the skinny on places to eat and shop and make new friends.

This posting is getting a bit long so I think I will close here.  I have more to add on our visit to Barra but I will include it on the next blog.

Cruise of the Confidence 14-Feb-2014 to 20-Feb LaManzanilla

14-Feb-2014 La Manzanilla

Bahia Tenacatita has three anchorages. La Manzanilla is the southern anchorage and is home of the main town in this bay. It is not a good anchorage when the north westerlies are blowing but lucky for us - the winds were just about non existent.

So we headed over there to meet up with Al and Sandy for a lovely Valentine's day dinner. As a reminder - Al and Sandy are from Vancouver and we originally met them in Sausalito on their boat - Marova. They were also the couple that were in the boat yard in Ensenada at the same time as us.

Al has a beautiful home in La Manzanilla and we were very happy to meet up with them again - not bad for two couples who really have no itinerary. They know the area quite well and were able to give us excellent recommendations when it came to restaurants, groceries and such.

This is a  view of our boat at anchor taken from their house on the hill.

A view of the pool and the view.

 

La Manzanilla is a lovely town with a nice blend of Mexican and Gringo eateries. There is quite a population of Canadians here with some beautiful winter homes. The anchorage was great and I was able to do my daily routine of swimming into shore and back to the boat.

There is another town in the next bay which is also well known for provisioning. Al had a vehicle so we took advantage of that and drove to Melaque to get money and groceries. The Hawaiian store caters to Americans and Canadians and there was also an excellent butcher. So we stocked up. The only problem was getting all the supplies back on the boat. There is a bit of a surf in this bay so we put one load in the dinghy and I opted to stay in the water to help David get over the surf without flipping. He brought that one out to the boat and then returned for the second load. Rather than chance another surf landing, I carried the rest of the stuff, bag by bag, through the surf to the dinghy with David keeping it straight to the surf. You must use your imagination a little as the water is up above my waist and I am forced to carry this stuff on my head. Did I tell you this delivery also included our laundry? So we most certainly did not want to get anything wet. The waterproof nap sacks that I bought in Canada were a good investment. 

After the second load was in the dinghy I opted to swim back to the boat as there was no room for me and the act of me getting into the dinghy gracefully would have been a long shot. The water was getting pretty choppy and I was swimming against the surf. I made it but it was quite a workout. Everything made it onto the boat - dry and in tact. But I was tired from the ordeal and still had to get everything put away. Ah - life on a boat!

There is a protected sanctuary at the edge of town that is filled with giant crocodiles. Once in a while the tide and the surf are really high and the banks of the estuary overflow and some of the crocodiles escape! Not while we were there thank goodness.

 

We had a wonderful time in La Manzanilla which was largely to do with Al and Sandy. It was sad to say goodbye but we had places to go and people to see and they had to get ready to return to Canada. We are sure to keep in touch and hope to see them again - somewhere in our travels.

Cruise of the Confidence 12-Feb-2014 to 13-Feb-2014 Paraiso to Tenacatta

1100: We brought up the anchor and headed out of Paraiso. It was difficult to leave this anchorage as it was one of our favorites to date. The winds were relatively calm so we decided to motor.

We had no plans to stay in Bahia Careyes but decided to check it out anyway. Most of the coastline is quite rugged and sparsely developed. Then you come into this bay and wonder if you had just been transposed into the Mediterranean. The shoreline is dotted with luxurious homes and hotels. The most striking part of them is the display of color. Check out the pictures to see what I mean.

 

Though it looked quite beautiful from the water, the cruise book informs us that most of this bay is private and the holding ground is not very good. There are actually 3 small coves in this bay with the most southern bay being the least developed. However, anchoring is not allowed as this is a protected area for the annual turtle migration. The turtles use this beautiful white sand beach to lay their eggs. The locals assist in collecting the eggs in the summer and then releasing them in the winter.

1300: abeam of Punta Farallon. It is easy to make out this point from the white lighthouse and the Copa del Sol monument (bowl-shaped) on the tip of the point. This part of the coastline is dotted with many rocky islets and reefs.

 

1330: abeam of Punta Hermanos and the entrance to Bahia Tenacatita. There is an anchorage just inside of the point but the swell was quite large and the winds were starting to pick up from the north so we chose to continue on to the next anchorage. It ended up being a good decision - in the past the first anchorage had a lot to offer but due to a land dispute a lot of the services were closed.

1400: We set the anchor in 20 feet of water northeast of Punta Chubasco. The waters were calm and made for a very pleasant stay. The anchorage is very close to the entrance to the estuary

 and the cruise book said that you could go 2.5 miles up the fresh water river and end up in a small lagoon. A short walk across the beach and you are suppose to end up in Punta Hermanos - a good place to enjoy a cold drink or tapas in one of the many palapas. Notice I said "suppose". It did sound like an adventure so off we went. After about 2 miles I was starting to get a little nervous as the mangrove branches were starting to close in and we were getting caught up on the roots. But David wanted to continue on - just a little further he said. When it opened up we were looking at a dilapidated dock and metal fence.

We found out later that this was where the land dispute was going on so we could not get access to the wonderful beach and restaurants - that were closed anyway. So we struggled back for the first part - thank goodness we did not see and crocodiles. But we did see lots of birds and red-clawed mangrove crabs. By this time I was pretty hot and sweaty so I decided to swim back to the boat.

The next day we walked along the shore to the all inclusive Hotel BluBay. Though it looked rather nice it was not receptive to boaters - guess we are considered part of the riffraff - could not even buy a cold drink. So back to the boat and another swim. We were honored with the visit from a couple of minty whales (small) that liked to rub on our anchor chain. So the day was not lost.

We got a hold of Al and Sandy and found out that they were in their house at La Manzanilla which is just across the bay. So we made a date for the next day to move over to the other side of the bay and join them for dinner.

14-Feb-2014 Valentine's Day and Roz's birthday. Raised the anchor and headed to La Manzanilla

Cruise of the Confidence 07-Feb-2014

 Friday 07-Feb-2014 1230 19*28.339N 105*03.644W

Our next stop was only 8 nm away so we motored. Saw a manta ray jump out of the water. That was pretty exciting.

Entering was a little tricky as the bay is surrounded by rocky islets.

 There were already two boats at anchor that we had seen in Chamela. There was also a power boat and two panga's but they were just there for a short time with a group from Tenacatita. We noticed that the two sailboats had a stern anchor so it was time for us to practice this maneuver as our swing room was pretty narrow.

A stern anchor is put out in addition to the main bow anchor. This helps to position the boat into the swell and helps reduce rolling.The first thing you do is set the main anchor. Then you get in the dinghy and put in the stern anchor manually. Sometimes it is necessary to let out the forward anchor to about twice the length that you would normally. Then you drop the stern anchor and haul in the forward anchor to the required scope. We were lucky as we were able to set the stern anchor with the dinghy. All three boats still had a pretty rocky night due to the winds and the surf. David slept out in the cockpit to keep an eye on the two anchor lines.The other two boats decided that they had had two nights of this and were tired so the next morning they raised their anchors and left.

Things settled down during the day and the following night so David and I decided to stay. And we were glad that we did. The water is beautiful and perfect for swimming. It was a bit cloudy with the surf stirring up the sand but I would not complain. Even David got in the water. I did my daily swim to shore and back to the small deserted beach. The other beach had two small boutique hotels but they seemed to be busy and not boater friendly so we did not go ashore.

 

Monday morning we woke up to a beautiful morning. I decided to make one of my special skillet breakfasts. As we were sitting in the cockpit David noticed that the boat was starting to swing and the stern anchor was no longer doing its job. He pulled on the line only to discover that it was no longer attached to the anchor. We were wondering what we were going to do today - guess we know now!

First task will be to find the anchor. I figured that we were only in 16 feet of water so there should be no problem. I put on my fins and snorkel and got in the water. Visibility was poor and I could not make out the bottom. David got in the water to join me.He used a technique that they practiced in the arctic by following the tide ridgelines in the sand to set up his grid. After three attempts and a total of about 4 hours David finally spotted the anchor. Now what to do? First things first, we put a float and weight at the site to mark the location of the anchor.

So we swam back to the boat to make a plan. We needed to be creative and rig up a long pole and hook to retrieve the anchor. We used the telescoping boat hook and the handle from the deck brush. David tied them together using a series of lashings. This was attached to a 40 foot line. Now back in the water.

I stayed in the dinghy and David did several duck dives to try and hook the pole to the line between the weight and the anchor. The anchor was cemented in the sand and David could not get the boat hook around the line. Back to the boat.

I suggested that we strap the gaff hook to the pole as that hook was sharper and might grab better. So David did that. I went back in the dinghy and David went back in the water.

After 3 attempts he had success. Now I had to pull on the pole from the dinghy in order to get the weight off of the bottom. This raised the line to about 10 feet. Then David went down and attached a more secure line to the weight. We were able to raise the weight and the anchor to the surface. Success!

And who said cruising was boring? We were quite proud of ourselves - did not relish the thought of losing a $250 anchor! Let along figuring out a way to get it delivered to where we were.

The evening stayed relatively calm and no boats joined us in the anchorage so we decided that we would not set up another stern anchor. If we roll we will just enjoy it!

Showers on deck with our solar shower to rid ourselves of all the salt. I was preparing dinner and David decided to get out his fishing rod - after seeing all the fish around the boat. He did not have the line in the water for more than a minute and he had one. Too small to really keep but they do look a bit like a perch. 

He released it and it swam away. Then he caught himself a blowfish. 

I believe they blow up as a defense mechanism and can expel a poison from their spikes. So I suggested that David use his plyers in order to release this one.

Nothing big enough for dinner so I guess we will have leftovers.

We spent over 6 hours in the water today. I do not think we will have any trouble sleeping tonight

 11-Feb-2014 to stay or go? The admiral, that's me, suggested we stay for one more day. We still had enough of food and water and such. After a light breakfast we got into the dinghy and went exploring around the surrounding rocky islands and caves. It was really cool!

 

 

 

I went for four long swims today, two with the fins and snorkel and two without.

We had a wonderful romantic dinner (I guess when you look at it they are all romantic) of steak and prawns under  a mostly full moon. Then we brought the dinghy on board and got the boat all ready for an early departure tomorrow morning.

This was a beautiful anchorage, especially for the couple of days where we had it to ourselves.