Lyn's Log, 30th March 2009
Barra de Navidad, Mexico
Barra de Navidad
N19º11', W104º40'
21,081 miles.
We left Cabo San Lucas on 17th March with a four-day passage ahead, but at last in true T-shirt conditions. The journey was a little slow but very comfortable. Without the encumbrance of heavy clothing. I enjoyed a daily workout to pop songs on my Ipod. At other times I relaxed with fond memories of times with loved ones back in England, or reading. I read two books. I was glad to have some creative thinking each day as to what kind of evening meal I could produce with the ingredients available. At night the stars were bright and for the first time we could see the Southern Cross, before it dipped below the horizon.
We anchored in Bahia de Tenacatita early in the morning after the fourth night at sea. The small village on the shore was dominated by tightly packed 'palapas', basic restaurant beach-bars under a palm-thatched roof supported by tree trunks, serving Mexicans on holiday. We enjoyed a day of rest, my first swim in the sea for nearly two years, and an excellent meal on shore that cost us about £12 including beers and a Margarita.
In the morning we made the short sail around the headland into Bahia de Navidad, and anchored by the village of Melaque, where we hoped to meet our friends Marilyn and Darvin. We first met this couple on the east coast of the United States at Belhaven, and then at their home near Niagara Falls.
As the local phone number they had given us was wrong we were wondering how to get in touch. But when we took the dinghy ashore in the morning, Darvin appeared from a group of people doing 'aquasize' in the sea. Over the next few days he showed us where all the best shops were, and their rented holiday apartment where we could cool down in the pool. Marilyn was busying herself with a number of worthy community projects, including teaching English at a local school and helping a doctor who was providing a free medical clinic for Indian groups living in the hills. One morning I even joined in the last of the water aquasize classes that Darvin had been attending three times a week along with several other Americans and Canadians on holiday. It was rather different from doing it in the swimming pool at Dover as the swells kept taking us off our feet! The scenery was better, too.
One problem with this spot was that the swells created considerable shore-break which was a real menace for transporting goods out in the dinghy. Twice we misjudged it and were swamped. There was a popular palapa (beach restaurant) where the proprietor found us one case of beer and two of Sprite, together with 18 5-gallon fresh water bottles to refill our water tanks (tap water isn't drinkable here). We hired a local panga (open fishing boat) with two guys to transport this lot to the yacht at anchor off the beach. It cost a bit, but with the waves crashing on the shore and the number and weight of bottles, was the only thing we thought we could do.
On Thursday we went to the other end of the beach where there was a lagoon and marina attached to a very plush hotel. As an early birthday treat, we spent two nights there enjoying all the hotel facilities such as the bar in the middle of the pool, and communication via the Internet. We had a few more nights anchored in the lagoon. There were water taxis to take us to the town, and a very useful service provided by Maria. She had a shop-cum-restaurant on the shore of the lagoon and provided a propane bottle refill service, collecting empties and returning them full, and would deliver any groceries required. If we'd known about this earlier, we would not have had to bother with the over-priced panga off the beach. So I ordered all my final fresh food requirements before setting out across the Pacific.
Then, with all the preparations complete, we went out to a very nice restaurant with Darvin and Marilyn. They were also leaving, ahead of the wet season, to return home to Ontario. All that is left for us to check out with immigration, and we can leave Mexico for the start of a new adventure.