HOLY MOLEY - OUR ENGINE QUIT!

This is a version of the email I sent out to friends as an addendum to Ade’s log about our eastward journey from Cartagena, Columbia to Aruba… I’ve cleaned it up a bit here for you that are seeing it for the first time.

The engine just stopped. We were cruising along a few hours into this treacherous leg, the one around Rio Magdalena, and all of a sudden, the engine just sputtered for a second and stopped.  We would get it going and our hearts would leap and then, sputter-sputter-stop, and as it would stop, so would my heart.  Oh crap, here we are in the middle of one of worst stretches of oceans in the world with no engine, no sail, no Tow Boats USA, no US Coast Guard.  Thank goodness we were traveling with our buddies on Voyager.  Not only did they loan moral support just out there circling, but Les has been on every size Selene, talked to almost every owner, and has experienced just about every mechanical issue at one time or another and is familiar with our boat and engine, so he was giving us many steps to try.  It was a day of 5-8 footers and there were many many at 8 foot or better and so close together, it was crazy choppy.  Poor WS was rolling rail to rail and these boats are not set up to heel like a sailboat, so things were flying, like microwaves, upturned plants with dirt everywhere, a few broken dishes in the mix, drawers flying open and contents spilling about.  Think earthquake with endless aftershocks… you just want it all to stop so you can think for Pete’s sake!!!  But it doesn’t.

I am on the handheld VHF talking to Les and he is giving us instructions on what to try and I am calling them down to Ade in the engine room and then back up to the pilothouse to try the engine again.   I know Ade can usually fix anything, so I kept thinking it would finally start up and keep going, but he was getting seasick in the hot engine room and I could tell by hour 2 or 3 that he was tired and things just weren’t working… Les and Rose had offered a tow …and they have a larger boat capable of towing us,  but we knew it would be dangerous to get the lines together and so held off as long as possible.

After three attempts, including one that landed Voyagers harness with 200 feet of line floating off a bumper-come completely off his boat and float away.  That took a man overboard drill on their part to retrieve and thankfully it was all still there, so they tried again, this time with Rose driving as close as she dare to us while Les heaved the bumper with a few hundred feet of light nylon line attached to the heavy tow line rig, it just missed, but hung up on our big Rocna anchor so Ade could scramble for it.  We are both on the foredeck, with life jackets, on our hands and knees to keep from falling over.  Once he got it on board he had to work quickly as now Voyager has to hover too close to keep the line loose enough for us to attach to the harness Ade made and rigged like our anchor bridle off the bow… so he quickly had to get it coordinated and out the two forward hawsers and over the anchor on the bow pulpit…no limbs (or fingers like I did on another voyage) near it as one big wave could take it all overboard (and us with it)

Once he got it over we heaved a huge sigh of relief as the two harnesses, the one on our bow, and the one on the stern of Voyager fell into place and the 100+ foot line is pulled taut… so taut that I was terribly fearful that it would snap.  We’ve had that happen when towing a dinghy in a gale with big seas in New Zealand.  I couldn’t look at it as I could not hold a positive vision while looking.  In my eyes, it was the hands of God tying us together and so I sat (there was no standing as even though we were now being towed, we still flipped and flopped from side to side in a most un-natural way) and scooted around trying to pick up pieces of this and that to clear a path thru the salon, I was about as holy as a fallen away Catholic girl could be.   But I really did feel a divine connection and was calm.  I actually am calm when things are really serious… semi serious or just annoying and I’m a drama queen, but in a fix, I’m your girl.  There is a grace that comes to you when you acknowledge your vulnerability, and I think that’s what happens to me… Let Go, Let God.  I knew there was nothing I could do to fix it.  You feel so useless knowing that frankly, you (well, me) can’t fix anything.  I think many women at sea feel that way.  I know the basics, where the fuel travels and thru the filters, etc., and where the hoses come in to keep the engine cool, but if you aren’t mechanical, the ideas of what to do don’t come to you…it’s all foreign. (Ladies, keep doing the routine engine checks just to stay familiar with where everything is just in case).

Our decision to travel together, not just for all the fun, but for safety, is a good one.  By the way, we are three boats, but Dot and Ken wanted to leave a day ahead of us as they are slower and knew we’d just be behind them and then connect for the final run into Aruba together - which we did.  There is something about having others out there with you that is unbelievably comforting, even if they can’t really help, but that they were genius like Les and Rose makes us so terribly grateful.  Rose, for the record, does know her way around her engine, and I think can fix most things…she’s a tiny, dainty and lovely girl, but as a farmer’s daughter and Dobbe-Wan’s wife, she is unbelievably capable.   We didn’t take any pictures, but Rose shot some video, so maybe Ade will post it on our site later this week.

So, there’s the first mates side of the story… phew.

We are sitting in Aruba now - got here yesterday afternoon and after five days at sea - no matter what this place looked like, we were going to LOVE IT.  It felt soooo good to get our shaky legs on terra firma again.  Turns out, it is really is quite cool, and what’s this I hear, people greeting us in ENGLISH, and Dutch and Spanish and some local dialect I can’t make out at all.  Really feels like we are in the Caribbean now, that’s why we are here to experience the different cultures, languages, food and beverages… and Aruba’s Balashi Beer is good!  We all gathered on Voyager after checking in for a quick toast to our survival (Les and Rose had their own adventure the last night out, but I don’t want to try to tell it, ask them…another nail biter-and Dottie and Ken had serious alternator issues) … well, one toast led to another, and you know… we girls ended up singing what is now our signature song “I Must Follow Him” with a few lyric changes, and the boys returned the favor with a memorable rendition of “My Girl”.   Apparently there is also footage of these performances and they are about as ugly as the turbulent seas!

Cartagena- Even Better than “Romancing the Stone”We found it, the most exotic old city of our voyage thus far.  Cartagena, Columbia is just fantastic to visit and practically perfect by boat.  The anchorage and two marinas are in Manga, a residential island with homes that date to the late 19^th century, with new, smaller high rise apartment buildings  scattered here and there, so many of the services we need, great supermarkets, laundry, banks, restaurants, etc., are literally just steps away.  And all of this is just minutes from El Centro, the old walled city within the city.  Our marina, the Club de Pesce is actually in the Fuerte de San Sebastian del Pastelillo, an old fort and has what is reputed to be one of Cartagena’s best and most scenic restaurants with classical guitar music most nights.  We lucked out and were side by side with Voyager, med-moored, stern-to the quay on the dock looking out over Cartagena, and so our continuous view was the same as the restaurants - and we were in the perfect cycle of the moon to have her brightly shining down on us every night.

From the moment we were secured at the club, people were there greeting us, making introductions to everyone we might need during our stay.  We met Lee, “Mr. Emerald”, whose wife Pachi, is really the hostess to all visiting yachts (I don’t actually know her official title, but she is little dynamo of a lady), and Carlos the manager, who “gave” us Hernan who immediately set to washing Wandering Star and became our daily helper with the upkeep of WS.  David “Does It All” became our agent and was invaluable in securing everything from customs and immigration paperwork (you must use an agent here) to the parts and services we needed.  They all knew everybody which leads me to believe that this is really a small town indeed.  We had a rather serious alternator issue, as Ade’s log reported, and this team of people could truly make anything happen.  They helped with finding parts or mechanics, having them rebuilt when not available, and insuring that we were able to get a quick delivery from Seattle via FedEx.  We even found a computer expert who fixed our Nobeltec issues, as well as our laptops and printer.

We connected with Susan and “T” on Phantom and she graciously took us out to see the sights that first night.  We wandered all over “El Centro” and were soon as lost as we’ve ever been in Venice.  The cobblestone streets are maze like and consist of long blocks angled this way and that.  We’d swear we had our bearings as we set out to find a church, museum or store, and yet at the end of the passage we’d find that we’d curved around a good 90-degrees and were nowhere near our intended destination.

There is a wonderful Fernando Botero sculpture of a rather large reclining naked lady in the Plaza de Santo Domingo and she became our compass.  Somehow we’d walk two blocks in one direction, and a block in another, then turn around see her again…how can that be?   Thankfully it’s a lively square and there are great little restaurants and shops and artisans centered here, so no matter how lost we were, we could find something to do and see.  I call her a compass because David on “MV Jenny” when asked the whereabouts of a certain restaurant said “go the fat lady in the square, follow the direction of her feet and look butt side and you’ll see it!” So I guess the compass rose would show Head/Butt/Feet/Boobs - yep those are the four directions.  Why do I think the Tourist Office won’t include those clear instructions in the new map of the city?

We six hired a van and guide for a tour of the city (and several stops at alternator shops-which were in the real working part of town) and somehow managed to see the high points of Cartagena.  Frankly, there isn’t much to see on a tour as you can walk to almost everything of any historical significant as most of it is in El Centro.  The exception is the Convento de la Popa, which sits atop a 150-meter hill, the highest spot in town.  This convent was founded by the Augustine fathers in the early 16^th century and offers a stunning view of the city, so it’s worth the visit.  You could walk it, but the road does wind its way through less than safe looking neighborhoods.  Overall, Cartagena feels safe, especially in Manga and El Centro, but locals are careful to point out which streets and neighborhoods to give a wide berth to.  There is a lot of poverty and many desperate kids left over from years of drug wars, and as one exchange student we met told us, there are two Cartagena’s, the one we were enjoying and the other “no regard for human life one” from which the hard working Columbians try to safeguard their families. Everyone we came in contact with was delightful, eager for us to love their city as they do and to be of help.

I got up a few mornings extra early and headed over to El Centro to try to capture the beauty of the colorful old buildings with balconies full of cascading flowers down to the street before they were filled with people, carts and cars.  It’s fun watching a city wake up.  There is a university in the heart of this old town and students were rushing off for early classes, mass was being held in a few of the churches, vendors were setting up their carts and women were sweeping the streets in front of their homes and businesses.  Ade has posted a few of my favorite shots.

There is only one thing more beautiful that the light reflecting off the colorful buildings and that is the Columbian women.  They are just gorgeous.  Miss Columbia was at the club one day on a PR event and she was tall (6′) with most of it legs and caramel colored perfect skin and sun kissed hair and she was stunning…but I must have seen 30 or more other young ladies that were equally as beautiful.  And the older women are just as fabulous looking and they dress for attention, but aren’t “skanky” at all…just flat out sexy.  No matter what I put on, it felt like a muumuu in their presence.

The Columbians of Cartagena are either of Native Indian, Colonial Spanish, or escaped African slave descent, and although I do not know the current percentage, it appears many are a beautiful blend of all.  They speak Spanish and it is different from Mexican Spanish which seems to be more Spanglish, as it is so intertwined with our North American cultures.  They love to play with the language, like “you teach me the word in English and I will teach it to you in Spanish” and we often found ourselves carefully repeating a word over and over until we got it…for a little while anyway…my brain is Teflon and the words just slide away to some unknown place never to be found again.

The people have a zest for life that is a big part of the charm of this city.  They sure like to have fun.  I’d like to say we were out dancing at the clubs that abound here, but we just couldn’t stay up late enough to make it happen.  The clubs open at 10PM, sort of get going at 11PM, and finally wind down about 3 or 4 AM.  With cruiser midnight somewhere between 8-9PM, we’d have a better shot at getting up early and joining them at the end of their night.  Ah, but we girls, knowing that we wanted to see some of the action convinced the boys to take a Chiva Tour that Rose uncovered.  It’s one of those unforgivably touristy things that we savvy travelers like to turn up our nose at…until we do them.  It’s inexpensive, includes all the cheap rum and coke you can safely drink and circles thru the various neighborhoods, including El Centro.  We had a blast, found ourselves atop an old fortress with musicians, dancers, craft sellers and lots of other tourists.  They were playing large exotic looking drums and Rose inquired about the price and found that they were a bargain…so we both bought one, despite dire threats from our husbands - and they delivered them to the last “club” we stopped at and the bartender kept a watchful eye on them as we danced.  The next morning Ade rolls over and says to me, “you know you bought a big ass drum last night don’t you?”  Of course I did!  For the record, Dottie and Ken already have a cool drum that I coveted, which they bought in Mexico last year, but theirs is more sensible that the 36″ by 18″ diameter one I bought- so practical on a 43′ boat.

Land travelers have a nice selection of hotels.   There are resort hotels on Boca Grande and in El Centro.  For a unique experience, I’d suggest El Centro as the other properties are just the usual holiday style hotels.  There are many great restaurants in El Centro, but in Manga, it’s the Club de Pesce or LaOliva and for a casual meal, the cruisers hangout, Club Nautico or one of the Pizza places.  For our anniversary we went to El Centro and to the Convento de Santa Clara, now a 5-star Sofitel property and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the French Restaurant that is across the bird filled atrium from the lobby.  A wonderfully romantic way to end our stay in this “Romancing the Stone” city, and thankfully we already have the yacht so we didn’t have to wrestle an alligator for an emerald.

April/May 2008

Pacific Central America in a Coconut Shell

I am extremely tardy in penning my thoughts about our jaunt thru Pacific Central America, and since I swore to Ade I’d do it, I am just expanding on an email I sent to our friends, the Youngblood’s in answer to their questions about this stretch, and so it is written for those who are planning to cruise down this way…

I am also in Colon, Panama in what they call the “Green Season” – that means that its verrrry wet and thus lush, but Colon is hardly a garden spot.  It also means that I cannot play outside which I so like to do, so perhaps this might be a little like the old song, “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Granada….”
 
As I write this I am sitting in an almost empty Shelter Bay.  It rained all morning so I couldn’t get in my early morning walk.  That walk is taken with a keen eye for the black leopard family that has been spotted in recent days, and also dashing lemurs, giant gerbils and lizards, howling monkeys sounding like they are mating and fighting over females, (or celebrating themselves for a good performance?) crashing branches or palm fronds from the high trees, vultures soaring overhead-no doubt hoping I will drop from exhaustion, but knowing that the squished bullfrog I just passed (the size of a chicken) might keep them busy for awhile… yet… it is so beautiful.   I just wish that I did not have a Teflon brain so that when I looked at the myriad of flora and fauna, heard the colorful sounds of the many tropical birds I could know their names and get a kick out of actually knowing something rather than muttering “Preeety” like a deranged character from Lord of the Rings….  that’s my summer in Panama.  Okay, okay, a little attitude there.

As you know we loved Pacific Coastal Mexico and the people, also the experience of being there during the cruising season with so many others from all over North America and beyond.  Perhaps it was having just left that environment and our favorite port of all – Huatulco - that set me up for disappointment with C.A.  We kept thinking it’s been so good and yet we hear that it gets better and better as you go south, so let’s get to it. It’s that belief that kept us sort of propelled southward.  I guess it’s my job to tell you that from this bridge, it doesn’t get better as you go south. We had lots of time as we’d set an arbitrary time of early June to transit the Panama Canal, and we had a date with Laura and John for Costa Rica for her birthday in May.  We didn’t need to dial it in any closer as everyone has to fly into San Jose and then take a puddle jumper/or car to the coast anyways, so we had flexibility.  Bottom line, we had several weeks to explore.  We decided not to stop in Guatemala as we’d all been there before and cruising wise, the Pacific side has little to offer. 

So, with a wonderful weather window, we took on the Tehuantepec and our three day jump to Barillas, El Salvador.  It is way back in an estuary of Bahia Jiquilisco  and the entrance has a shoal-and-breakers mouth (Rains), so it’s not easy getting in, however the marina sends out a guide and he gives the follow me signal and off we go. It is very secure, quiet and nice.   They also are wonderful with paperwork, tours, shopping, etc.  We tried to do it all in the few days we were there.  We went on a jungle trek to see the monkeys and downtown to shop in the open stall marketplace as well as at a modern super market.  We also took a very long day trip that took us up the mountains, to ruins, old colonial and native towns, and downtown San Salvador. El Salvador is a poor country, all of C.A. is poor.  We met very nice people and were never afraid, but the poverty is omnipresent and the toll taken from the decades of civil wars still so apparent. There are upscale neighborhoods in San Salvador, and signs of a small middle class emerging here and there, but mostly, the standard of living is quite low.  They seem a more serious people, as I imagine I would be, if I’d just survived years of terror and war.  What stood out for me however, was that the women almost all wear bright and frilly aprons all the time, over whatever else they are wearing and can be seen laughing and joking amongst themselves.  Girls will be girls, no matter the age, no matter the culture.  I like that about us!

Meanwhile, back at the marina there is a pool, bar and restaurant, internet and most often a friendly group of cruisers.  However we kept thinking, this is nice, not Huatulco “why are we leaving anyway” nice, but nice… but hey, since it’s only going to get better as we go further south,  we’d better keep going.  NOT ALWAYS TRUE.  So, if you find yourself wanting to laze around Barillas and hang by the pool, play Mexican Train with new found pals, etc., etc.  then do so here.  It doesn’t get better and this is a good place to rest, or stage a Central American inland trip.  Heriberto can set you up with tours or cars and your boat will be safe and secure in your absence.  Sister Dottie and Ken did an extended road trip from this port.   M/V Jenny left her for a long trip home, both with no hassles. 

But we didn’t know this yet, and we had checked off all we wanted to do in ES, so once again we were face down in the charts, notes and guides deciding on our next stop.  Our insurance would not allow us to stop in still sort of unstable Nicaragua, darn it anyway.  It’s the one C.A. country I’ve never visited and I would have liked to have seen it.  They also have a well regarded marina there, Puesta del Sol.  They really want cruisers to stop and those that have say it is a nice marina.  Paperwork cha cha is sort of a bother I am told, so if you are going to stop – might as well stay awhile.  M/V Wahoo just told us that they rented a car and did a wonderful inland trip to the two massive lakes and volcano’s that dominate the western coast.  There was a bus strike at the time, so they had the roads to themselves.  That’s a thumbs up from Wahoo, and an I have no idea from WS!

Our expectations are really high now, because it’s finally time for Costa Rica.  Pura Vida, Costa Rica.  We really wanted to love it.  We’d been here before and did love the mountains and cities, so the coast has to be magic, right?  Wrong.  Cruiser wise, at least for late Spring 2008, it is just okay. The anchorages are mostly just okay, the little towns near them, also just okay.  Before my negativity wears you down completely, let me tell you what we LOVED.  The Islas Tortugas, Manual Antonio National Park, and Bahia Drake.  Lovely, fun and we’d linger the next time in each of these.  We also really like the surf towns like Montezuma, (not Jaco tho) but of course, big surf towns don’t often have nice quiet anchorages, so to see them, we had to hire taxi’s and take long rides.

Costa Rica has a well deserved reputation as a high theft area and many friends did lose things this year…dinghy’s and motors, backpacks, even thieves breaking into boats at night while they were aboard, so we were not tempted to take longer excursions inland.  I should also point out that this is late in the season (May) so we saw no other cruisers, the lingerers were still behind us, and the pack was far ahead.  We were pretty much alone, that is Voyager and WS. 

There are almost no marinas, but with luck the one in Quepos will be finished soon.  Los Suenos is ‘Newport Beach gated community’ beautiful, but ridiculously expensive.  Puntarenas- especially CRYC, which we did not see, is apparently a good place to keep the boat while traveling inland. S/V Tropical Dance echoed that, and said that even tho it offers only moorings, it is quite secure as CRYC has their own patrol boats. 

So my advice to southbound cruisers is to linger wherever you find a beautiful anchorage, and savor it.  Weather didn’t allow us to stop at the Murcielagos Islands, but hear it offers good snorkeling and diving. We liked Playa del Coco and Playa Panama, but experienced little crab almost spider-like creatures when swimming there.  Didn’t bite too hard, but not nice.  And I know that there are many other anchorages others have found and loved.  We tried several in each bay and again, don’t know if it was our timing, weather, whatever – they were just not nice.  DRAT! 

Golfito is okay (there’s that word again, almost as chilling to women as fine…as in, “you look fine”.  It has much of what you’ll need and it’s a great place to walk, you have three good choices of marinas all side by side, and even three decent markets.  You can run over to Puerto Jiminez for a diversion and even hike to the top of the mountain for beautiful views of the bay… (or take a cab).  Port clearances are a real cha cha here, but everyone is nice and most cabbies seem to know where to go.

With expectations now quite low, we made our way to Panama.  We skipped a lot of the northern islands due to weather and the controversy over anchoring fees in areas now designated as national parks.  It was one of those, if we stop, we may be locked in for a week or so before we can round Punta Mala.  So we decided to head for the Las Perlas, and say hallejuela, it was fantastico!  We really liked the islands, especially the little town of Contadora.  We spent several great days in the islands before finalizing our Panama Canal transit plans and our rendezvous with Dreamweaver after months of separation.  We had a slip at Flamenco which is a great spot and a quick reunion with Dottie and Ken who left the next morning to help friends on ARGO out as line handlers.  Les’s folks, Katie and Gerry flew in for the Canal experience and soon we were in a social whirl.  We had a wonderful time in Panama City and transiting the PC.  I already covered our transit, so will jump to another delightful surprise…Caribbean Panama,   and our journey north again to Bocas del Toro.  It a fun funky town, touristy, but also a real cruisers town, great for those like us just passing thru, and for those that got stuck there, kind of like Key West before they fixed it up.  We absolutely adore people watching/chatty places like this.  And the islands, so many of them, all picture postcard perfect, lush surrounded by turquoise blue water-that crystal clear Caribbean water, with fantastic snorkeling  and interesting colorful people.  In fact, if we were laying over the summer and going to be onboard, I think I’d HQ up there.  It is sort of remote and not easy to fly in and out at this point in time, but it’s much more fun than Shelter Bay, which is really just a marina nestled in an old fort.   

The final word to our friends seeking advice about C.A., and summer in Panama, (and that’s what this column has turned out to be, a Dear Jo kind of deal) is this… if you don’t have to fly home, and you have the weather window, take the time to gunkhole down Pacific Panama’s coast, and allow lots of time to explore the Las Perlas and to hang out in Contadora.  Flamenco on the Pacific side would also be a great place to keep the boat for the summer, (left or staying aboard) but again it is expensive and has limited availability.  The upside of staying in Panama City is that you are close to everything, there is a lot to do, and the airports are right there for a quick flight home or off on inland travel.  If you’ve already gone thru the canal, allow a few weeks for Bocas del Toro for great in the water fun and a cool atmosphere…and June is a good month there.  Or check out their marinas and fly home if that works for you.  If cruising below the hurricane belt is your plan for the summer, Portobello and the San Blas are very close and less crowded this time of year.  But since we have not yet done that, I have nothing to tell you!  

If you are planning to fly home from anywhere in Panama, it seems that July, August and September are the months to be gone.  It’s not terrible here at Shelter Bay by any means, it’s just that there are few people, there is little to do, and if you want freedom, you might want to rent a car.  (But at $35-$55 a day, you might as well have paid the Flamenco marina prices).  Shelter Bay really does a great job, and there is a wonderful National Park in the compound area, Fuerte San Lorenzo, on the bluff above the entrance to the Chagres River and well worth the visit(s).  You can bike there from the marina ($5 entrance fee pp) or take the 20km RT long walk.   They have free and low pay bus service to Colon and PC, a decent restaurant, and by next summer, a swimming pool will be complete.  Bruce runs a great yard, and Russ a great marina.  Friends have had good luck with doctors and dentists.  So it’s hardly Hell.  Plus you can watch the mold grow on your boat – just like science class. 

Okay, ”wait a minute, it stopped raining”…things at Camp Granada are lookin bedda, I think I will go out and play….”

April/May 2008

Pacific Central America in a Coconut Shell

I am extremely tardy in penning my thoughts about our jaunt thru Pacific Central America, and since I swore to Ade I’d do it, I am just expanding on an email I sent to our friends, the Youngblood’s in answer to their questions about this stretch, and so it is written for those who are planning to cruise down this way…

I am also in Colon, Panama in what they call the “Green Season” – that means that its verrrry wet and thus lush, but Colon is hardly a garden spot.  It also means that I cannot play outside which I so like to do, so perhaps this might be a little like the old song, “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadder, here I am at Camp Granada….”
 
As I write this I am sitting in an almost empty Shelter Bay.  It rained all morning so I couldn’t get in my early morning walk.  That walk is taken with a keen eye for the black leopard family that has been spotted in recent days, and also dashing lemurs, giant gerbils and lizards, howling monkeys sounding like they are mating and fighting over females, (or celebrating themselves for a good performance?) crashing branches or palm fronds from the high trees, vultures soaring overhead-no doubt hoping I will drop from exhaustion, but knowing that the squished bullfrog I just passed (the size of a chicken) might keep them busy for awhile… yet… it is so beautiful.   I just wish that I did not have a Teflon brain so that when I looked at the myriad of flora and fauna, heard the colorful sounds of the many tropical birds I could know their names and get a kick out of actually knowing something rather than muttering “Preeety” like a deranged character from Lord of the Rings….  that’s my summer in Panama.  Okay, okay, a little attitude there.

As you know we loved Pacific Coastal Mexico and the people, also the experience of being there during the cruising season with so many others from all over North America and beyond.  Perhaps it was having just left that environment and our favorite port of all – Huatulco - that set me up for disappointment with C.A.  We kept thinking it’s been so good and yet we hear that it gets better and better as you go south, so let’s get to it. It’s that belief that kept us sort of propelled southward.  I guess it’s my job to tell you that from this bridge, it doesn’t get better as you go south. We had lots of time as we’d set an arbitrary time of early June to transit the Panama Canal, and we had a date with Laura and John for Costa Rica for her birthday in May.  We didn’t need to dial it in any closer as everyone has to fly into San Jose and then take a puddle jumper/or car to the coast anyways, so we had flexibility.  Bottom line, we had several weeks to explore.  We decided not to stop in Guatemala as we’d all been there before and cruising wise, the Pacific side has little to offer. 

So, with a wonderful weather window, we took on the Tehuantepec and our three day jump to Barillas, El Salvador.  It is way back in an estuary of Bahia Jiquilisco  and the entrance has a shoal-and-breakers mouth (Rains), so it’s not easy getting in, however the marina sends out a guide and he gives the follow me signal and off we go. It is very secure, quiet and nice.   They also are wonderful with paperwork, tours, shopping, etc.  We tried to do it all in the few days we were there.  We went on a jungle trek to see the monkeys and downtown to shop in the open stall marketplace as well as at a modern super market.  We also took a very long day trip that took us up the mountains, to ruins, old colonial and native towns, and downtown San Salvador. El Salvador is a poor country, all of C.A. is poor.  We met very nice people and were never afraid, but the poverty is omnipresent and the toll taken from the decades of civil wars still so apparent. There are upscale neighborhoods in San Salvador, and signs of a small middle class emerging here and there, but mostly, the standard of living is quite low.  They seem a more serious people, as I imagine I would be, if I’d just survived years of terror and war.  What stood out for me however, was that the women almost all wear bright and frilly aprons all the time, over whatever else they are wearing and can be seen laughing and joking amongst themselves.  Girls will be girls, no matter the age, no matter the culture.  I like that about us!

Meanwhile, back at the marina there is a pool, bar and restaurant, internet and most often a friendly group of cruisers.  However we kept thinking, this is nice, not Huatulco “why are we leaving anyway” nice, but nice… but hey, since it’s only going to get better as we go further south,  we’d better keep going.  NOT ALWAYS TRUE.  So, if you find yourself wanting to laze around Barillas and hang by the pool, play Mexican Train with new found pals, etc., etc.  then do so here.  It doesn’t get better and this is a good place to rest, or stage a Central American inland trip.  Heriberto can set you up with tours or cars and your boat will be safe and secure in your absence.  Sister Dottie and Ken did an extended road trip from this port.   M/V Jenny left her for a long trip home, both with no hassles. 

But we didn’t know this yet, and we had checked off all we wanted to do in ES, so once again we were face down in the charts, notes and guides deciding on our next stop.  Our insurance would not allow us to stop in still sort of unstable Nicaragua, darn it anyway.  It’s the one C.A. country I’ve never visited and I would have liked to have seen it.  They also have a well regarded marina there, Puesta del Sol.  They really want cruisers to stop and those that have say it is a nice marina.  Paperwork cha cha is sort of a bother I am told, so if you are going to stop – might as well stay awhile.  M/V Wahoo just told us that they rented a car and did a wonderful inland trip to the two massive lakes and volcano’s that dominate the western coast.  There was a bus strike at the time, so they had the roads to themselves.  That’s a thumbs up from Wahoo, and an I have no idea from WS!

Our expectations are really high now, because it’s finally time for Costa Rica.  Pura Vida, Costa Rica.  We really wanted to love it.  We’d been here before and did love the mountains and cities, so the coast has to be magic, right?  Wrong.  Cruiser wise, at least for late Spring 2008, it is just okay. The anchorages are mostly just okay, the little towns near them, also just okay.  Before my negativity wears you down completely, let me tell you what we LOVED.  The Islas Tortugas, Manual Antonio National Park, and Bahia Drake.  Lovely, fun and we’d linger the next time in each of these.  We also really like the surf towns like Montezuma, (not Jaco tho) but of course, big surf towns don’t often have nice quiet anchorages, so to see them, we had to hire taxi’s and take long rides.

Costa Rica has a well deserved reputation as a high theft area and many friends did lose things this year…dinghy’s and motors, backpacks, even thieves breaking into boats at night while they were aboard, so we were not tempted to take longer excursions inland.  I should also point out that this is late in the season (May) so we saw no other cruisers, the lingerers were still behind us, and the pack was far ahead.  We were pretty much alone, that is Voyager and WS. 

There are almost no marinas, but with luck the one in Quepos will be finished soon.  Los Suenos is ‘Newport Beach gated community’ beautiful, but ridiculously expensive.  Puntarenas- especially CRYC, which we did not see, is apparently a good place to keep the boat while traveling inland. S/V Tropical Dance echoed that, and said that even tho it offers only moorings, it is quite secure as CRYC has their own patrol boats. 

So my advice to southbound cruisers is to linger wherever you find a beautiful anchorage, and savor it.  Weather didn’t allow us to stop at the Murcielagos Islands, but hear it offers good snorkeling and diving. We liked Playa del Coco and Playa Panama, but experienced little crab almost spider-like creatures when swimming there.  Didn’t bite too hard, but not nice.  And I know that there are many other anchorages others have found and loved.  We tried several in each bay and again, don’t know if it was our timing, weather, whatever – they were just not nice.  DRAT! 

Golfito is okay (there’s that word again, almost as chilling to women as fine…as in, “you look fine”.  It has much of what you’ll need and it’s a great place to walk, you have three good choices of marinas all side by side, and even three decent markets.  You can run over to Puerto Jiminez for a diversion and even hike to the top of the mountain for beautiful views of the bay… (or take a cab).  Port clearances are a real cha cha here, but everyone is nice and most cabbies seem to know where to go.

With expectations now quite low, we made our way to Panama.  We skipped a lot of the northern islands due to weather and the controversy over anchoring fees in areas now designated as national parks.  It was one of those, if we stop, we may be locked in for a week or so before we can round Punta Mala.  So we decided to head for the Las Perlas, and say hallejuela, it was fantastico!  We really liked the islands, especially the little town of Contadora.  We spent several great days in the islands before finalizing our Panama Canal transit plans and our rendezvous with Dreamweaver after months of separation.  We had a slip at Flamenco which is a great spot and a quick reunion with Dottie and Ken who left the next morning to help friends on ARGO out as line handlers.  Les’s folks, Katie and Gerry flew in for the Canal experience and soon we were in a social whirl.  We had a wonderful time in Panama City and transiting the PC.  I already covered our transit, so will jump to another delightful surprise…Caribbean Panama,   and our journey north again to Bocas del Toro.  It a fun funky town, touristy, but also a real cruisers town, great for those like us just passing thru, and for those that got stuck there, kind of like Key West before they fixed it up.  We absolutely adore people watching/chatty places like this.  And the islands, so many of them, all picture postcard perfect, lush surrounded by turquoise blue water-that crystal clear Caribbean water, with fantastic snorkeling  and interesting colorful people.  In fact, if we were laying over the summer and going to be onboard, I think I’d HQ up there.  It is sort of remote and not easy to fly in and out at this point in time, but it’s much more fun than Shelter Bay, which is really just a marina nestled in an old fort.   

The final word to our friends seeking advice about C.A., and summer in Panama, (and that’s what this column has turned out to be, a Dear Jo kind of deal) is this… if you don’t have to fly home, and you have the weather window, take the time to gunkhole down Pacific Panama’s coast, and allow lots of time to explore the Las Perlas and to hang out in Contadora.  Flamenco on the Pacific side would also be a great place to keep the boat for the summer, (left or staying aboard) but again it is expensive and has limited availability.  The upside of staying in Panama City is that you are close to everything, there is a lot to do, and the airports are right there for a quick flight home or off on inland travel.  If you’ve already gone thru the canal, allow a few weeks for Bocas del Toro for great in the water fun and a cool atmosphere…and June is a good month there.  Or check out their marinas and fly home if that works for you.  If cruising below the hurricane belt is your plan for the summer, Portobello and the San Blas are very close and less crowded this time of year.  But since we have not yet done that, I have nothing to tell you!  

If you are planning to fly home from anywhere in Panama, it seems that July, August and September are the months to be gone.  It’s not terrible here at Shelter Bay by any means, it’s just that there are few people, there is little to do, and if you want freedom, you might want to rent a car.  (But at $35-$55 a day, you might as well have paid the Flamenco marina prices).  Shelter Bay really does a great job, and there is a wonderful National Park in the compound area, Fuerte San Lorenzo, on the bluff above the entrance to the Chagres River and well worth the visit(s).  You can bike there from the marina ($5 entrance fee pp) or take the 20km RT long walk.   They have free and low pay bus service to Colon and PC, a decent restaurant, and by next summer, a swimming pool will be complete.  Bruce runs a great yard, and Russ a great marina.  Friends have had good luck with doctors and dentists.  So it’s hardly Hell.  Plus you can watch the mold grow on your boat – just like science class. 

Okay, ”wait a minute, it stopped raining”…things at Camp Granada are lookin bedda, I think I will go out and play….”

The Panama Canal Bacchanal

June 2008

We did it…made it all the way down the coast from Alaska to just above the equator, and through the Panama Canal. It’s a real benchmark for sailors to have gone through on “your own bottom”. Thought I’d tell you how it went from my side of the boat.

Miraculously, we were able to schedule our transit day with great friends Les and Rose on Voyager, and at the 11^th hour, sister Dottie and husband Ken on Dreamweaver. No word on whether we’d be together, or even if we would be in the same lock. We didn’t know if we’d be tied to tug boats, on the wall, or centered, but the same day was a great start.

An awful lot of preparation goes into transiting the canal. We’d already gathered 20 tires to drape around the outside of Wandering Star, had rented four 125′ lines and completed a few rounds of paperwork which began weeks before the transit, etc. Our agent was most helpful, but not very punctual so we had three days of hurry up and wait for him to do one thing at a time. He told us stories of what to do and not do. The “AD-measure” lady came to measure and inspect the boat, and she told us stories too. People we met on the docks and at the restaurants all had tales to tell. And then, Dottie & Ken helped other friends out as line handlers a few days before and they’d had a disastrous time, had to be towed, spend the night in the lakes, pay over $2000 in fines, etc…and they were very experienced sailors on a finely fitted yacht! So, the anxiety was amping up! While the guys waited for the various officials, the girls were busy gathering every conceivable item we’d need. A lot of food and drink, and also extra chairs, umbrellas, new cameras, etc! A big part of our job was to take care of the people who would become part of our “crew”.

We were given a line up time for 7AM on Monday, June 2^nd. We were quite sleepless the night before after hearing all those horror stories of folks that’d gone before. We were told that if the pilot didn’t like what you were serving for lunch, he could and would call for a launch to bring him lunch…at a cost of about $250; $10 for lunch and $240 for the launch. One guy apparently ONLY eats KFC chicken, and believe me, we tried to find it just in case. We’d heard tales of lazy line handlers who wanted to drink beer all day (I’d hidden ours) and were not properly trained. We were told if we couldn’t make it thru the locks in a certain time, we would have to moor in Gatun Lake, pay twice the fees AND keep everyone aboard (sans pilot) so I’d have to find places for four big sweaty guys to sleep and of course another round of meals. I had so much food socked away you’d have thought it was Thanksgiving weekend - I precooked dishes for a fussy pilot/advisor and had lots of lunch choices and carbs and junk food for snacks for the line handlers.

Monday morning: We were up at 5AM, it was pouring and the lightening was wild…nice start! I had to get my egg soufflé (I know, maybe a bit over the top) in the oven and have it ready for the pilot and crews breakfast, plus had to fashion a coffee pot out of a funnel and thermos using coffee borrowed from Dot (we don’t drink it) so I could offer it. God forbid the pilot wanted coffee and I didn’t have any ($5 for Starbucks, $245 for the launch). I was just a little anxious…

Well, the rain let up a little, then the line handlers showed up and glory be - they were great guys, very professional and funny. Then the skies cleared, and we three Trawlers headed over to the Balboa approach area - all VHF radios were tuned into Channel 12, our handhelds to Channel 68 so we could talk between boats and still not miss a word from the canal control people, we circled and awaited the two headed dragons (pilot/advisors). We couldn’t see who got on Dreamweaver, but when the pilot launch got near us, our crew started laughing and heckling him- apparently they all knew our pilot and loved working with him. Jose was the sweetest guy, very easy going, genial, joked with the guys and was happy with every little thing. He wanted whatever I was serving. Coffee, okay, but tea or just water would do as well. Then he delivered the best news - we three would be rafted together for the transit - unbelievable!

We motored in, as Voyager was the largest at almost 60 feet they were center with Wandering Star on her starboard and Dreamweaver on her port. The crews were very professional and got us lashed together snugly. Two of our line handlers and two of Dreamweaver’s grabbed the monkey fist with the messenger lines that the Canal (ACP) handlers tossed down (a big thud on deck) and then fastened the eyes of the 125′ lines so the ACP guys can haul them back up to secure to the bollards. That left little for the other 8 line handlers to do… so they danced! Really. They brought their CD’s along and all knew each other and they danced, and laughed, and ate their way thru the day! We girls (Rose, Dottie and I) climbed from boat to boat to visit and take pictures. Loren Hafen was onboard Dreamweaver as a line handler, but with the two “professionals” he was able to be ships photographer. Katie and Gerry, Les’ parents were aboard Voyager and were a big part of the celebration. Our captains had to stay at the helm, and Les was the one driving when we were rafted together (he said it felt like trying to land a 747), so the guys were working, but still having fun. Loren brought banners to support Big Bear Olympian Ryan Hall (Marathon this summer in China - GO RYAN) which we tied to our boats, Rose made a God Bless America sign and we all had large USA flags which we flew with pride…after all if not for the USA there’d be no canal! It was quite festive.

It just had to be the BEST CANAL TRANSIT ever. Going thru with dear friends and family, a fun loving crew and knowledgeable and easy going advisor/pilots - perfecto!

It was a long day and we didn’t clear out of the locks until dusk and it was dark by the time the pilot was picked up and the crew dropped at the PCYC. We felt our way into Shelter Bay Marina (hardest task of the day in the dark) quickly tied up and gathered on the docks for a champagne toast! And another one…and maybe just another little one! It was leftover junk food for dinner and then we all collapsed onto our bunks with self satisfied smiles on our faces. Ya shoulda been there!

SPRING BREAK FOR SENIORS

April 2008

When we were home, we were asked what cruising Mexico is like and I told friends that it was sort of like Spring Break for 50 year olds! It’s fun, it’s social and silly, and you know it’s a special time in your life…

It was great getting back to Barra as so many neat people were still there on their boats, and more still arriving. Fellow Selener’s Les and Rose on our Buddy Boat Voyager arrived just a few hours after we did from a few weeks in Cozumel (their vacation from this endless vacation!). And the YB’s, John & Kathy finally caught up, we’d not seen them since the end of the FUBAR in November. They had a welcome home dinner for all of us on their beautiful Mystic Moon. We swapped tales and heard about the fun we were going to have over the next three weeks cruising with them. They will be going north and spending the summer in the Sea of Cortez, so conceivably, this is the last time we three Selene’s would be able to cruise together. We had to make the most of it!

Kathy had made big plans for a memorable St. Patrick’s Day in nearby, almost Irish Melaque (it’s original name was San Patricio after all). It was one of the wackiest we’ve had in a long time… After an extended happy hour on Panchita with lots of cruisers, we made our way to Melaque and enjoyed dinner at a new restaurant overlooking the square, then went to the bull ring to watch rather bizarre rodeo events, not bull fights, and back to the zocolo, the town square where a large crowd had gathered to watch the fireworks. Then, at about 11PM we heard screams of “RUN” (universal language) and saw a young man, with a bull like headdress and upper body frame with spinning, lit fireworks nailed on, run thru the crowd in a charging bull stance…these fireworks were spinning off and flying into the crowd. We were in the crowd…oh dear; this is what they meant by the “running with the bulls” on St. Patty’s day. Run! Heck yeah, run - where are the California lawyers when you need them? It was scary and really really funny! We kept trying to leave, there must have been a dozen of these “bulls” that would charge from every direction and we found ourselves ducking for cover behind stone benches, cars, other people…we were shameless in our cowardice! Small kids, no problem, we can hide behind them!

Manzanillo, which is Barra/Santiago/Las Hadas, is the southern-most turn around points for many…and late March is the end of the season. The rest of the week was happy-sad as we bid farewell to people we’ve been seeing off and on all winter. Rich and Sandy and Sam and Daryl were going back to a Catalina summer with Corsair YC, many others like Mystic Moon and Jammin would spend the summer in the Sea of Cortez, Kalinga back to Mazatlan, and John and Vicki of Lo Maintenance with their dream house right in Barra (Colimilla) would be settling into a much quieter off-season in paradise!

We went to anchor out in Santiago to see Kalinga for a final farewell. It’s Easter week(s) and the nationals, as Mexican tourists are called, are out in force - everyone comes to the coast for vacation during these two weeks. George and Joanne showed us all around “their” town and we had a delightful day. We then spent a few nights anchored off the Las Hadas resort, and found that it was an easy walk into town and Wal-Mart for provisioning. Easter morning started with Mimosa’s on WS and then into the restaurants at Las Hadas. John and Vicki were in town shopping for new kitchen appliances for their Barra casa, and were able to join us for Easter breakfast.

We took advantage of a good weather window and made our way down to Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo. We stopped at Grand Isle, but the seas were unusually large and the anchorages rolly, and crowded with sports fishers, jet skis, etc. so we stayed only one night and made for the marina at Ixtapa. We’d been warned that there was a dangerous break at the entrance but after a nice conversation with the Marina Mistress were assured that if we were there by noon, we’d have no problem with the entrance. Whoa. It is quite intimidating, and the surf was way up. We watched the waves crashing and timed them to the best of our ability and then went for it… our pals said they saw us surf our way in, and I was freakin out when I watched the depth sounder show 2 FEET (we draw 5) as we were careening in - it made Malibu Rapids in BC seem like child’s play. One by one, we made our way into the marina - I greeted the others with shots of tequila to celebrate our machismo in making such a brave crossing!!! Rose then surprised us with these cool fluffy flip flops that she made - cute sandals that she decorated with colorful bits of fabric, she calls them our “passage sandals”, she is very dear and clever that farm girl from Wisconsin.

There were several great cruising families at Marina Ixtapa and a dock party was deemed a necessity to get to see everyone. We were told of a rather large crocodile that liked to cruise the area and it was suggested that perhaps we’d like to have the dock party on the lawn. What? On the lawn, no way can you have a dock party on the lawn. Probably still filled with the adrenalin from our courageous entrance we decided the party would be held at the stern of our boats on the dock. We aren’t afraid of no stinkin crocodillia…

Right at the appointed hour as savory and aroma-iforous hors d’ouvres were being set out, a HUGE Crocodile appeared just behind our boat…I mean he was as long as we were wide. Turns out, I am afraid of stinkin crocodillia! Locals would come by and tell tales of him jumping up on the docks and grabbing dogs off their leashes. I kept my eye on him and ordered friends of Hiatus, who were visiting with a one year old, onto our boat. If he likes puppies, he might like babies too. He just sort of floated from stern to stern, and after awhile everyone seemed to forget that this is not a zoo or Disneyland and had another drink, but not me until that giant was several docks away, and I still jumped at shadows all night. It was quite a crocktail party! Ouch.

The Ixtapa Marina has several really good restaurants and an extraordinary new wine shoppe at the end of the row of stores. They had an impressive selection of well-priced excellent wines and assortment of liquor, by far the best since San Diego, so we stocked up. Ixtapa proper is about a mile away (an easy walk) and it’s really a tourist town with lots of high rise hotels dotted along the beach and a small town center with little markets, large restaurants and shops. The real town in this region is Zihuatanejo, or Z-what as everyone calls it. It’s very Mexican, yet it has a more cosmopolitan feel than some of the other beach towns we’ve visited. We left the marina for Z-what after a few days. The seas were still quite large and therefore the anchorage was rolly, so we moved away from the sailboats towards the middle of the bay and set stern anchors that kept us nose into the waves.

Z-what is a wonderful walking town and we often found ourselves ashore and enjoying the myriad of little tiendas with beach clothing, and lots of handicrafts, a farmers market that extended several blocks, neighborhood “pubs”, palapa restaurants, etc. Everyday was busy and eventful. Two restaurants with fantastic views we especially enjoyed were “Il Mare” on the hill overlooking the anchorage, and “Villa de la Selva”, the former home of Presidente Luis Echeverria, on the ocean side cliffs nearer Ixtapa. Of course, we still liked the simple places like the Sunset Bar on the beach that served great quesadilla’s and cold cerveza’s, and Rick’s Bar where we enjoyed the music of Jimmy Mamu and the pizza the boys went out on the streets to find (a whole ‘nuther story).

That wild night led to yet another adventure, the one featuring Ade’s lost cell phone. Don’t you hate waking up realizing that something is wrong and the details of the night are well, fuzzy? Mid morning he realized he did not have his phone, so I called it thinking he misplaced it and a little voice answered, “Bueno” - oh oh, not lost on the boat, just lost! Suffice to say, this presented us with a wonderful opportunity to meet the locals, work on our Spanglish, find streets and neighborhood we’d never otherwise see, and be rewarded with not only the return of Ade’s indispensable cell phone, but a mile wide smile on the face of the ten year old girl who found it when we offered her a reward. All and all, a win win!

Z-what is a great place to buy Mexican handicrafts, gift items for loved ones, and cool objects d’arte for the boat. Sandy of Chelsea Skye had showed me the hand painted wooden bowls that she found there during Z-fest, and so the hunt was on. We worked our way through dozens and dozens of tienda’s each looking for the perfect piece! We found several! There were good buys on lightweight clothing that have become essential in the heat and humidity and each night we girls would show off a new outfit. All too soon, it was time for the YB’s to head north and for us to get south before the weather turned. It was especially hard for Les and Rose to say goodbye, as they have all been close friends and cruising buddies from the PacNW for years. John and Les are like two little boys who would never have been allowed to sit near one another in grade school - they bring that out in each other, which is what makes them such delicious playmates for all of us!

So, Spring Break is over, for now, and we ready ourselves for the high adventure of moving further south and east into more exotic and remote cruising destinations.

Mule Train Back to Mexico

March 2008

We’re back on board after a three-week trip to the states for business and family. We ‘d left Wandering Star snuggled into Barra de Navidad’s Grand Bay Marina, and knew she would be fine.

It was fantastic seeing family and friends, we really had a fast, but productive trip. However, immediately after our arrival we had to plan our departure as we had so many things we needed to bring back, things that were just not available in Mexico and were likely to become even scarcer once we moved onto Central America. Ade had been ordering must have items for the boat since Christmas, and as our mail is all sent to BB, he had everything shipped there. As packages arrived, Heather and Ted dutifully loaded it all into our bedroom…that is, until there was no more room, then they started to stack it in the garage.

Ade had to get right to work on business and the ATPA, which meant the whole team was in Las Vegas - so I took a quick trip to BB to see Mom and the kids. I arrived when no one was home and when I opened the door I could not believe my eyes…what was all this stuff and how would we ever get it back to the boat in Mexico…in fact, how was I going to get it all into the 4 Runner and back to LV? Boxes of all shapes and sizes from every imaginable boating catalog company were stacked on the bed and into every corner of the room. Then I remembered the stuff in the garage…oh my! We were in trouble. Included in the mix were a new, slightly smaller dinghy, a huge dehumidifier, bumpers, lines, SSB radios, and lots of essential parts. Add to that the items we’d promised to bring back, like 36 paint sets for the kids at the school in Colimilla, boxes of other give away items to villagers, and of course, the girly items that I can’t find here and are every bit as essential to ME as the other stuff was to the boat.

I was able to discard enough of the packaging to get it in the car and back our HQ in the desert and see how Ade figured this one out.

He did, send back the items that really were too big (the dehumidifier that was the size of a dorm refrigerator) or just not right, and made piles of things that might have to wait until we return in July…but still, it looked impossible to me. Ade somehow got it all into three huge suitcases and one box, all over the weight limit for the airlines and then we packed ourselves like Sherpa’s with backpacks, carry-on’s, etc.

After weeks of concern about how we would ever pull this off, combined with a healthy dose of playing the positive “wouldn’t it be nice if…game” (where you imagine everything going very well and say to yourself, and each other things like, “wouldn’t it be nice if everyone we encountered today loved their jobs and were good at it” and you know what, it was one of those rare perfect days to travel. We arrived at 4:30AM on a Sunday morning to an already crowded Las Vegas airport, with long long lines just to get into the check in counter, and were dragging our luggage out of the taxi, when magically, a large, bald, non-uniformed man appeared at the curb and said he could check our bags for us, and loaded the four 50- 75 lb bags on his unmarked cart and took us to the front of the lines. Okay, so far so good. Then he asked for our passports, tickets and a credit card and disappeared with our baggage into the massive crowd. We were smiling when Ade suddenly frowned and said, “we just handed over our luggage, passports, credit card, etc. to a stranger who we have lost sight of…find him”! Shaken from the blissful feeling of the success of my “wouldn’t it be nice if… game” I quickly ran after him. Oh ye of little faith, there he was all the way at the end of the counter working with a uniformed employee - I tried to stay hidden as I watched them handle our luggage and paperwork, and raced back before he could catch my distrustful actions. And voila, 10 minutes after our arrival, we were checked in all the way to Manzanillo with only a minor fee for excess luggage, even though we were using multiple carriers! It was like that all day.

Ah, but here come the sweaty palms again, as we now have to get all this stuff through Mexican customs with random receipts, official boat import paperwork and really sketchy Spanish. “Wouldn’t it be nice if, wouldn’t it be nice if…” and it was magic time again! A baggage handler loaded our stuff onto his cart, Ade stepped up and pressed the Red Light/Green Light button (they way they randomly check luggage) and got a green light and we started to waltz our way out the door when, Oh-Oh, the Aduana- customs man signaled for us to stop and pointed to our massive load of luggage. Drat! Ah, but he only wanted to see one of the bags, and only one section of it…and wouldn’t you know it, it was the compartment with all my girly stuff in it. He nodded to Ade with a knowing look, like, ‘Whoa, this is ALL HER stuff, she must be seriously high maintenance!” If only he knew!

The Gold Coast

February 2008

George and Joanne on Kalinga are as great as we remembered. We met them on the docks at the Marriott in San Diego over four years ago on the eve of their departure for Mexico.  They haven’t been back since.  They have made a wonderful life for themselves down here.  They go south for the winter, then back up to the Sea of Cortez , Mazatlan or PV for the hotter, wet summers. Sometimes they take a condo, sometimes they spent several weeks with friends back up in the PNW or in other locales, and are ready again come late fall to explore the coast again.  We asked what their favorite place is and they just don’t know, they like it all, Mexico and Mexicans.  They think they might just rent homes in different towns when they are finished cruising, that way they will have a kind of mobility, similar to what they have enjoyed so much on the water…they have it figured out nicely. 

We spent six nights here, it’s a perfect anchorage.   With Kalinga nearby, and other friendly cruisers, each day was fun.  We had them over, they has us over - George is a fantastic cook and we enjoyed a special meal they prepared for us…We took the dinghy ashore, again pleased with our decision of an additional smaller, lighter dinghy that will come back with us in March. The beach landings are a hoot…timing is everything, that and a strong back to lug the beast ashore.  The beach goes forever and offers great opportunities to walk.  We also just hung out one day, did a few boat chores, watching as a few boats haul anchor and leave, and then more come in to take a slightly different spot, the scene changes constantly.  Kalinga is going to PV to help host a wedding, so we said hasta la bye bye, knowing we will see them next month in Santiago.

We next moved south into picturesque, colorful Careyes.  Not much room to anchor, but thanks to a shout out by S/V Jacaranda, we were directed to the perfect spot, just off the beach, but far enough from the rocks and other moored fishing panga’s to know we would not go bump in the night.  This is a deluxe, secluded resort with colorful terraced cottages, wild bougainvillea and charming restaurants on the beach.  We went ashore for nice walks, and a delicious lunch one day, and on another day, a dinghy explore around the bay, and then a romantic dinner at the resort.  Ade had anchored the dink for a more elegant retrieval, but the tide came in even higher than anticipated, so, with a careful look around to insure we were alone (still the only boat in the anchorage, very few hotel guests and none in sight), he decided to shed his evening wear and go starkers into the sea to fetch the dinghy for his lady (that would be me, now doubled over with laughter) - a fun night. 

We are really getting to heart of this aptly dubbed, Gold Coast,  cruising to places those who’ve gone ahead of us said we would love.  And we do.

Bahia Tenacatita is a great anchorage, another one of those magical places where there is room for everyone, it’s free, there are things to do ashore, nice villagers, a hotel with wi-fi, and a turtle egg preserve, a good “local” palapa beach restaurant for gatherings, etc.  The special feature of Tenacatita is the Jungle River dinghy trip.

We saw friends David, Mary and Jim from M/V Jenny, on our arrival and decided to go ashore for a gathering Saturday night at the palapa where we were delighted to see several familiar faces, and have the opportunity to meet new people.

On Sunday, we went ashore for a nice long walk along the beach and to explore the hotel and turtle egg reserve and then made a wet re-entry thru the surf to get back to WS.  We heard our names being called and were hailed over to the lovely Moody Blues where a birthday brunch was being held for Helen on Jammin.  They didn’t care that we were wet and sandy, and after a mimosa, neither did we.  We met several really great couples, and had an opportunity to toast the beautiful Helen who is as fresh and adorable as a kid. Hubby Dave is recovering from an encounter with a stingray (stepped on it buried in the sand) as he was boarding his dinghy in the bay.  This painful, I guess it’s a “stabbing” had him incapacitated all week.  Thankfully Dr. Jerry was in the anchorage and along with support for the cruising community, he was well on the mend from this really scary accident.  The next day we had dinner aboard Jammin - we finally got together for a nice long, visit.  We’ve been chasing each other since Tracy Arm in Alaska, and now we fear we will lose them as they turn north for the summer soon. They are one of those very capable couples who make everything themselves, including the wine!  We wish they were going south this year too, but just know we will see them again…somewhere…out there.

We joined the crew of Jenny for the jungle cruise on Monday…it’s quite different than the San Blas jungle tour, but nonetheless enjoyable.  We kept an eye out for crocs, but only really saw birds.  It turns and twists and reminded us of the Everglades.  We had little traffic, but it takes a while to get to the end of the river, where it ends on a beach lined with tienda’s and restaurants, and just in time for a nice walk and then lunch in the shade of thatch umbrella.  We raced back, Jenny’s dink is faster than ours- darn!  But wait, ‘what to my wondering eyes doth appear?’   Voyager!  Ahoy Voyager!  Les and Rose are on the move again and they caught up. Yippee.  They, as you may remember, were the Selene Fubar leaders and also people we’ve been having so much fun with since the Selene Rendezvous in Roche Harbor in April, and Alaska in May.  That’s the cool thing about the cruising lifestyle, just as you have to say goodbye to someone, other friends show up and you pick up where you left off. It’s not stagnant, we are all thrilled to be out here, can hardly believe our luck to be so free, and while it’s incredibly social, it’s also independent.  Each couple (most of us are couples) is following their own dream, going at their own pace.  You find that you will encounter those on the same general itinerary over and over, but seldom for more than a few days at a time.  So, it’s fantastic when you find each other again.  It’s this community that make missing family and dear friends at home bearable.  We do miss you.

We couldn’t wait to swap tales and lucky for us, join them for fresh Mahi-Mahi as Les caught a Dorado on the way into the bay!  We always have such fun with them.  They will stay here for a few days while we leave in the morning for Barra de Navidad, then they get in at the end of the week…kind of like leap frog. 

We have heard “Barra” stories for months, it’s like, “You will LOVE Barra”, “wait til you get to Barra”…so I am afraid it might be too much of an Oz-like buildup for me. It’s not. 

The first thing you see is the Bahia Grand Resort on what appears to be an island. Its main buildings sit quite high on the hill, with buildings terraced down from that to the pristine beach on one side, and a marina with mega yachts on the other…oh my…it is OZ.   Here’s Daedus, the Boeing Yacht from Lake Union, and a row of 100 + footers along one dock, and mere 70′ + in most of the others.  Nice crowd.  We find our spot tucked back in with the smaller vessels and glide in.  There is a large but shallow lagoon beyond the resort where 30+ boats are anchored.  The marina is pricey, unless you are going to stay for a month as we are, then its actually quite reasonable.

Because the marina is on one side of the lagoon entrance and the small village of Barra de Navidad on the other, there is no walking to “town”.  We were trying to get our bearings to find a water taxi and the Port Capitan’s office when we hear the putt putt of an outboard engine.  Surprise! John & Gaye from Maestra have arrived!  We haven’t seen them since the Baja HaHa 05 where they were the unofficial leaders of the Trawler Trash M/V’s that crashed the traditional sailboat race from San Diego.  They look great, it’s hard to believe that they have traveled up and down the coast of Mexico, thru Central America and down to Ecuador and the Galapagos!  They traveled extensively inland, seeing the Andes, Machu Picchu, Chile, Argentina, etc.,  They set aside three years from their businesses (she runs a preschool, and they own Toby’s Tavern in Whidbey Island) and are scheduled to return this summer.  What stories they have to tell.  We have driven them nuts with questions, and been fortunate to share a few meals together (he’s also a great chef-restaurant owner and all).

Thus began another week (my birthday week) of visiting boats, meeting people, scribbling notes from those returning adventurers who’ve already been there-done that, and  making plans for the future with those on our path.  We’ve roamed around the villages of Barra, Melaque, Colimilla on foot, and on a long one-day car rental, went out to see what is around the corner in Manzanillo so we can plan our next leg. We were lucky enough to be invited to a fabulous home here just outside the resort gates in the village of Colimilla. John & Vicki are friends of Les and Rose’s and D & K’s, and we’d been told to look them up. Really great people who sold their large sailboat in favor of a smaller launch and this incredible place and now live here most of the year.  They work closely with the small village school providing much needed items.  They have set up a wifi network in the Barra Lagoon and cruisers anchored in the lagoon can buy a month of coverage from them with the proceeds going to the school.  It’s a fraction of what the hotel charges, so it’s a win win situation.  The house is jaw dropping in its understated elegance - as they opened the modest front door you enter this tropical world with a killer view out onto the lagoon.  There are several levels of indoor/outdoor living with lush gardens throughout - bedrooms, kitchen, office and several places to lounge in the comfy sofas and chairs, some under a palapa thatch roof, others under a tree…it’s bright and colorful with secret little corners everywhere.  It feels heavenly and it just suits them perfectly.  We laughed and listened to stories for hours.  Such fun.    

We finally have had time to follow up on information we are getting about marinas we will need reservations for in Central America, Panama and Cartegena.  We are swapping info on insurance companies,  which is a big consideration as we plan our itinerary.  Will we be restricted in our movements during the dreaded “hurricane” season?  Will we even get coverage?  How does that affect our plans?  Les and Ade are shooting emails back and forth and we are coming up with a realistic plan. 

There are a lot of different ideas out there, some who have gone south and hated it and come right back, some can’t stand the long rainy, hot summers and fill our heads with stories of incredible lightning, torrential rains, corrupt officials - while others delight in the summer rain, the friendly natives and officials and think it’s the best time to explore San Blas and Cartegena.  At one point we thought we would just leave the boat in Costa Rica for the summer and fly home, but there isn’t a “good” place to leave here there and we really hate to miss half a year of travel…we aren’t getting any younger.  We’ve pretty much decided to keep going after our March break home for work and family.  We might as well do all we can in this neutral zone of CR, Panama, San Blas Islands and Cartegena.  We will then be in a position to start on the Caribbean come November, thus giving us a full winter to cruise from island to island. There are several boats here planning on this schedule, and we are excited to know we will be in good company.  And, since they face the same weather constraints, there is a chance we will be able to connect with D&K again to do at least part of this region together–which we’d all like. 

We are packing up to head home - making lists like crazy as we will have a lot to bring back to prepare WS and ourselves for a summer in the jungle.  Think  insect repellant by the gallon, rain gear and a lot more provisions. Our days of dining out, and easily obtained staples are coming to an end we are told…gasp, I might have to cook again!  Poor Ade will have to eat it.  I wonder how many cans of chili the boat will hold??? 

PUERTO VALLARTA and Banderas Bay

January 2008

We left Chacala and made straight for Banderas Bay. It’s a huge bay with a large anchorage at La Cruz, in the northern part. D&K spent Christmas, in fact several weeks there in 2005 and talked often about how much fun they had, so we were anxious to check it out.  There were about 30 boats at anchor and just after we set ours, several whales appeared leaping and playing just a few hundred feet away.  We’re off to an exciting start! 

We were up early the next day and off to Puerto Vallarta, specifically Marina Vallarta to see if we could find a slip for at least some of the time that Ade’s sister and brother in law, Audrey & Don, were due in town to celebrate their 25^th Anniversary.  We’d been trying to make reservations since September at either Marina Vallarta or Paradise Village, two well located, and popular marinas.  Both had consistently told us they were pretty much sold out for the entire winter season. We’d called MV again the week before, spoke to someone, and were told that nothing was open, but to come in and check when we got to town…ah, a glimmer of hope.  We had backup reservations at the new marina in La Cruz, but it is 30+ km from PV, and while it’s a cool little town, dirt streets and the “Taco Stand” are just not what a girl pictures when she is away on her 25^th anniversary!  We were anxious to line up at least a few days “in town” with our fun-loving, active guests. 

We entered Marina Vallarta and saw how wonderfully situated she was, and also how many hundreds of boats there were, with nary an open slip in sight.  OhOh.  We called on Ch 16 and 22 and got no answer.  Darn.  I really want to be here now, I could see cool looking bars and restaurants, big beautiful yachts, and lots of activity…this is the place we have to be!  Then a cruiser with a lovely accent said come on over to G dock, there was a slip just recently vacated by a Nordhavn 43 and perhaps we could fit in it.  We located G22, and it looked too narrow, but all these guys on the dock were eagerly signaling us that ‘no problemo’ we could fit, and were there helping us with lines, so Ade cautiously and masterfully squeezed into this narrow slip, with literally 4″ between the hull and the dock.  Phew, we’re in. Then they said, with limited English “Daniel sent you”?  OhOh.  I said, “Who’s Daniel”?  They didn’t want to hear or understand that we didn’t know Daniel, asking only if we’d called, and we had, so we thought well, this just might work out.  But then there was much discussion, and they said, (in rapid Spanish) pointing across the way, G7 is larger (mas grande), you should go in there.  OO-kay.  So, Ade carefully extracted himself from that slip, went around the docks, and backed into another narrow slip (it only had about 10 inches to spare, but was roomy by comparison). By now we have at least 6 guys working on the docks (in various capacities) and one official from the marina.  Things are looking good. 

The official guy is talking to the office on the VHF and all I understand is ….’Daniel’, (drat-it’s still about the unknown Daniel, and now someone named Darrel) and they just keep smiling, and KNOW that we are the ones they are expecting, but at this point, I’m darn sure I am NOT the one they expect…but, Ade is giving me the “just shut up look”, so I smile and wait to see how it plays out.  More radio click clicks, rapid Spanish and the official Marina guy is shaking his head and tells us there is a ‘problemo’, (ohoh) but all he needs is for us to go back into in the G22 slip, and so, smile still plastered in place, Ade does another masterful job of backing out of one narrow slip and around back into the impossibly skinny slip. (Remember we weigh 56,000 lbs, a nice big girl)

There are now 8 guys working with us, and it’s become quite the party.  I quickly tip all of them, grab our papers to check in before we are asked to move again and head out in search of the marina office.  Adrienne, at the office, is most casual, but she too is talking Daniel and Darrel, (I really have to find these guys), and once again I am confessing that I don’t know them. But she didn’t seem to believe me, as if I was just confused… ‘No problemo’, she says taking our papers, “you know Daniel” (will no one listen to my confession? Catholic guilt is killing me!). Ade gives me the look again, hands her the money and drags me out the door before I blow it completely. We got back to the dock and low and behold, there was Daniel.  He says, “You are Darrel’s friend right”?  “NO” I say, I do not know a Darrel.  But he’s also a pretty kick back guy and shrugs, “well, no problemo”. I’m still terrified that at any moment the real friends of Darrel will show up and we will be out on our tail! 

We made a quick dash to the marine store and when we returned we couldn’t believe it, there are our pals on Chelsea Skye backed into the lone available slip. We said, “Sure hope you know Darrel”. Yep, that’s their buddy…it’s a small world.  Best of all, they were perfectly happy in that slip. We are so grateful that somehow, things always work out!  Proving that it is indeed a tiny world, later that day I am on a walk away from the marina and started chatting with a delightful lady about this and that and it gets down to the fact that she’s also on a boat, from California, and by the way her friends just arrived and are on G dock…. you know the rest, I started laughing and said, “your husbands name wouldn’t be Darrel would it?”  Well, of course it was! I finally feel secure…cuz now I know both Daniel and Darrel! 

That settled we went about discovering this great resort town.  We had a nice dinner with Rich and Sandy, and new friends, Darrel and Sam, at the elegant Tikal.  It’s a beautiful place and Sam filled us in on all the wonderful things to do while in PV with guests.  We followed up on all her leads and plotted out a fun filled week with the Hazen’s.

This marina is surrounded by dozens of great bars, restaurants and shops, and we checked most of them out.  We took the bus down to old town, walked the lovely Malecon and river area, checking on places Sam told us about.  We decided to rent a car, not only to provide airport transportation, but also to insure that we’d get to see everything that Banderas Bay had to offer. 

And we did do it all. While the Hazen’s were with us we did a fantastic canopy tour at Los Veranos, 14 zip lines over the rivers and through the jungle (more like a forest really) with really fun guides strapping us on and off the lines and running up and down the mountain…it was a blast.  We also went ATV’ing back into the woods - started out disappointing, but after the Tequila tasting things looked up!  Another day, we hired a panga and spent all day in the south part of the Bay visiting hard to get to coves like Yelapa, and beaches, waterfalls, seeing whales, dolphins, manta rays, etc.  It was fantastic.  We walked all over Old Town, the Malecon and the Romantic Zone and along the beaches near the marina.  We found great restaurants, places to dance and listen to music, and shopped for treasures they could take home.  For their 25^th we decided on the superb service, food and ambiance of La Palapa, with the jazz group playing the background and a full moon overhead.  Can you tell we really like PV? 

We wanted them to have the full experience, so we left our coveted spot at Marina Vallarta, and went out to Tres Marietas Islands and finally the water was warm and clear enough to enjoy snorkeling.  We went back into the La Cruz anchorage for a night.  We cooked aboard, watched the whales at sunset, danced on the back cockpit, fed the fish (they hate tortillas by the way) and were gently rocked to sleep on this calm night.

Then, we finally showed up for our reservations at the new marina in La Cruz.  We hit the ground running as it was Thursday, and if it’s Thursday, it’s Philo’s for open mike, great rock and roll.  It did not disappoint.  We saw old friends, chowed down on the ribs and chicken and then were thoroughly entertained by Philo and his regulars.  They let Don sit in on the keyboard and he rocked!  We had a blast!

We were so sorry our whirlwind week was over and we had to say goodbye to Audrey and Don, but they had Lexi at home, work, and of course more parties to attend for Super Bowl Sunday.  We all have a lot to be grateful for.

Ahh, we were sad to lose them, but what did we see?  More familiar, happy faces on fellow boaters that we were happy to spend time with. We had friends on a catamaran from Big Bear, a Nordy 46 who are on our same itinerary (south and thru the PC), another Wanderin’Star (beautiful sail with a pilot house) and others we’ve met here and there.   We looked ahead and the seas were building, so we decided to stay put for several more days to explore the quiet side of Banderas Bay.  Little La Cruz has a great music scene and restaurants, and thank goodness, lots of places to walk it all off.  We especially enjoyed the Black Forest, the Taco Stand (it’s sooo good), Ana Bananas for Sunday afternoons, walking to Bucerias … it’s changing fast however, with the marina almost complete, the condo’s along the shore in the immediate future…   

paved roads have to be just around the corner. 

We left late late Thursday night, to round bumpy Cabo Corrientes when the winds were down.  We had a date to keep this weekend with a neat couple we’ve been corresponding with for four years.  They’d chosen idyllic Chamela Bay for our rendezvous…we can’t wait to see them! 

Mazatlan to Chacala - the little anchorages

January 2008

Farewell to Mazatlan

We keep falling in love with these Mexican towns.  Mazatlan has it all, a nice small city, with beautiful beaches, good marinas, restaurants, all the amenities and really nice people.  But, we are drifters, followers of that wandering star…and so we move on.

Life in Little Anchorages

We left snug El Cid Marina in the late afternoon, with some goodbyes, and some ‘see you soons’ and set a course for Isla Isabella.  We quickly found those things that had not been sufficiently stowed after weeks in a quiet marina, they have a way of announcing themselves as you rock this way and that.  You hear them sliding, then clink, clank, and hopefully not…crash.  We enjoyed a fairly gentle night at sea and arrived at the islands, which are a Mexican Wildlife Preserve and National Park.  We launched the dink and took a good look around the islands and bays. New Friends on Chelsea Skye arrived later in the day and the next morning, together we went ashore to look at the nesting birds.  It’s a lot like the Galapagos, with blue footed (& brown) boobies and male frigates with huge red necks all puffed up (apparently it drives the females crazzzzy) and other seabirds.  The differences in the Galapagos are the numbers of these rare creatures, not that they do not exist anywhere else. It’s fantastic that Mexico and the Central American countries are all creating sanctuaries to protect these creatures.  With a weather window to take advantage of we were heading for San Blas by midday.  

We elected not to go into the estuary that takes you to the town of San Blas, but rather to anchor in nearby Matanchen Bay.  Rumors of bugs, the “jejenes” and “Norm” warn you off that.  The anchorage was great, little palapas line the beach and as it was the weekend the local families were out in numbers enjoying water sports and the “playa”.  We love that the families all go out together on the weekends for good old fashioned fun, the women (especially older women…like me) are modest, so often they are in the water almost fully clothed, splashing and playing with the kids.  Dad’s too, but usually with a cerveza in hand.  Teenagers are there too, not too cool to be seen with their embarrassing families.

The town of San Blas, is about 5 miles away along a dusty narrow road from the anchorage, so we found a cab and explored the town.  We located the lovely Hacienda Flamingos, where we saw a copy of Longfellow’s final poem, the “Bells of San Blas” which he wrote here just days before he died.  We stumbled into a great place for lunch, “Mike’s Place”, and saw that several of the other cruisers in port were here too.  In the square, still decorated for Christmas, there were little stands where we could buy small Huichol (Indian) beaded characters and other treasures.  We hiked up to the nicely kept 18^th century Spanish La Contaduria fort and church with a wonderful view of the city and sea.  We nabbed a taxi for the ride back, and on the way had him stop for fresh langusto’s (lobsters) we saw cooking on the grill of a roadside tienda just on the edge of town. 

Seeing as we’d “parked” our dinghy in front of the palapa with green poles, and he’d assured us he’d keep an eye on our dink all day, we stopped in to repay him by ordering beer, then salsa and guacamole…strictly as a repayment mind you!  We were actually working up our strength to drag the now waaaay far from the water dinghy without wheels or rollers back into the surf.  The saga of this dinghy continues.  It’s just been one of those things that, while a good dink, with an awesome motor, have just been problematic.  Today’s issue was the wheels.  The guy who put on the plates to which they attach didn’t get it exactly right, the result is that the wheels won’t go down into place as they hit part of the RIB.  We tried, hard, to figure some other way, and a local guy who was selling ice cream from his cart jumped into our dilemma with us, and with no English and our non-Spanish communicated a few ideas, and finally with a ‘lo siento’, showed us that he felt our pain.  Nice guy.  He was there again in the late afternoon as we starting lugging the 200#  beast back thru soft sand, and he jumped in with his buddies and helped us carry her back down to the waters edge.  

Rich and Sandy’s dink wheels work like a dream, so they picked us up the next day so we could experience the jungle cruise, we had no idea it was so organized and fun.  It is right there in Matanchen and goes back for miles past the fresh water spring of La Tovara, pretty waterfalls, to the ‘cocodrilario’…crocodile nursery, and a pretty good restaurant where we enjoyed lunch.  There are huge turtles and many species of exotic birds to see along the way, like spoonbills and flamingos, and these dark birds with huge wings that keep them extended like they were in flight as they rest - really different.  Afterwards, we went back into town for some minor provisions, parts, and to enjoy a cold cerveza at the fantastically seedy looking San Blas Social Club, with equally looking seedy characters.  We were seated next to a gentleman in a suit who told us he was the ‘el presidente’ (mayor) of the town.  Maybe he was.

Our next stop was Chacala Bay.  This marks the beginning of these smaller lovely coves with white sand beaches, lined with coco palms, palapas, and small hotels, the perfect looking anchorages. We couldn’t wait to go ashore and explore.  At this point, we had abandoned our wheels and used extra bumpers, as D & K do, to roll the dinghy up the beach, and it was soooo easy.  We were ashore in no time and taking a long walk down the beautiful beach, and thru the sleepy village.  It ended at an eco-style resort, The Mar de Jade, so naturally we walked right in.  When the sign-up sheets were for reiki, massage, yoga, meditations, etc., I was thrilled…woo woo’s right here.  Yea!  But, they were all sold out with a Sufi group from SFO, so all we were able to do was soak up the “vibes”, and find a rock to sit on and be in gratitude for this lovely peaceful place.  On a return visit, we were shown a path that led up the hill thru the jungle, past another spiritual type ecolodge, the Majahua, and to the caldera and a fantastic view of the bay, and of course our beautiful boat at anchor.  There are mountain goats all over, and evidence of the hillside being carved up for development - get here as fast as you can, it won’t be sleepy for long.

We stayed a few days, having adjusted to the rolly anchorage by putting out a stern anchor to keep us at least in concert with the surf as being sideways to it is NO fun for this Dramamine Queen.  In these little villages, we have lunch ashore, walk it off, then get in the dink, and are back aboard before the ‘jejenes’ know where we went.  We read, have a light supper, and then enjoy a movie before settling into our cozy beds and being rocked asleep.  Hard duty.

Next stop…wicked, wonderful Banderas Bay, and the port of Puerto Vallarta.