When we arrived at Santiago Bay the winds were predominantly from the SE so we chose to anchor at Playa La Audiencia. If we were to anchor in the more popular spot, and where we had anchored before, we would have been too exposed to the winds and the swell. It was a good choice as it rained like silly for the next 24 hours but the protection from this little cove meant that there was very little rock in' and Rollin'.
Next day we pulled up the anchor and set out around Santiago Point to Las Hadas. The skies were clear and sunny with westerly winds at about 8 knots.
The resort looked impressive from the boat and was very protected. But that was about it for anything positive. I cannot imagine anchoring there if it was busy - you would definitely have to put out a stern anchor. We went to the dinghy dock to check things out. They wanted 200 pesos whether we used any of the facilities or not. Call us cheap but we just spent 100 pesos a day at Barra and that was at the dock with all the facilities at our disposal. So if you figure that you spend 200-300 pesos for lunch for the two of us, 200 pesos just to come into their restaurant seemed a bit much. The pool was nice enough but the showers left much to be desired. All in all we were not impressed.
In the meantime we heard from Dave on Pacifico and they were coming down from Barra. So we de decided to go back to the main anchorage at Santiago Bay and meet up with them.
I know we had just said goodbye to them in Barra but it is still very exciting to see a boat come into your anchorage that you know. Being so far away from home and a bit out of touch, even with the Internet, it makes any familiar face seem like family. Confidence and Pacifico at anchor in Santiago Bay.
We shared a few meals on the beach. Dave and David and me. Pat took the picture.
And I was happy to be able to swim into shore and back out to the boat!
David and I went into Santiago by bus to pick up supplies at Walmart. David finally found a computer repair guy that could speak English and could fix the computer problems. David's profile was corrupted and they were able to uncorrupt it. Do not ask me what that means or why it happened or how they fixed it. David is a happy camper. And it only cost 160 peso!
The fun started when we headed back to the beach. The guy at the bus stop told us Number 12 would take us to where we wanted to go - Santialgo and Playa Santiago are not the same! So we got the. 50 cent tour through rural Santiago, into the hills, past the prison - now we knew we were on the wrong bus. The driver finally asked us where we were going. When we told him all the other people on the bus had a good laugh at our expense so he took us to the bus meeting place, told us to get on bus 6 and we proceeded to return to the same place we started from. Finally we got on the right bus! But it was interesting as the Mexican government had built a lot of government subsidized housing - cement brick row houses - which was an improvement over corrugated metal shacks. Some of them were painted with bright colors and looked quite nice.
The next day we took the right bus into Santiago and managed to find the local market. We bought lots of fresh fruit and vegetables for a song. Less than$30 Canadian and that included the 12 pack of Corona Light! Even found fresh raspberries and blueberries and homemade raspberry jam. A local guy offered us a ride down to the beach where our dinghy was. Way better experience then yesterday but then that is what this adventure is all about.
When we finally made it back to the boat we ran the engine to charge up the batteries. And yes, I swam out from shore.
The next day we were to leave for Ixtapa. This is a 198 km journey so we are expecting a 2 day run. So off to bed early to get a good night sleep in preparation for two days of interrupted sleep!
Manzanillo: this is a pretty large bay with the commercial port on the east side and the resorts and beaches on the west side.
Manzanillo is the home of many deep water harbors and therefore quite a maritime history. Most of its history began with the Spanish conquistador exploration of the Pacific Mexico shoreline. It started in 1522, Hernan Cortes
came to the area looking for a trade route between China and Mexico. Goods used to come from Spain to the Atlantic side of Mexico and then transported across land to the Pacific. Goods were then shipped to the Philippines. These ships were prime targets for pirates. So the Spanish used these protected bays for repairs, hideouts and resupplies.
This trade route came to an end in 1821 when Mexico gained independence. In 1821 Manzanillo was officially opened as a port and with the completion of the transcontinental railway, it was officially registered as a Port of Entry in1908. It is now one of the busiest commercial ports on the Pacific coast.
With that and tourism it is a very busy area.
No comments:
Post a Comment