Coming into Santiago Bay and Las Haddas

There was a big earthquake in Chile in March which was supposed to bring a big Tsunami to our part of Mexico, so we all departed Tenacatita for Las Haddas (it is safer to be at sea in deep water in case the Tsunami hits) . We never felt anything although we had a nice sail down to Manzanillo and Las Haddas, where we stayed for a week. I like to sit here when we are underway, in the shade of the mainsail.

New Kayak

This is the 2 man kayak that I bought for my birthday. We both love it and have used it on the mountain lakes around our house and here I am using it in Tenacatita Bay. It worked as a spare dingy and transport to other boats and shore, as well as a free diving platform (although I did not see any fish worth shooting) We both enjoy the exercise and the joint effort.

Sunset at Tenacatita

One of the great joys of cruising is the fantastic sunsets you get to experience. Here is nice one from the anchorage at Tenacatita, where we stopped on the way back north to Banderas Bay.

Las Haddas

This is the resort where the movie "10" was filmed. We were fortunate this year to have our friends Carol and Dick with at all of the anchorages on the trip south. We were sad to leave them at Las Haddas as we headed north to return to Paradise Village before heading up into the Sea of Cortez to San Carlos. The beach in the second photo is the one where Bo Derek was jogging with her hair done in corn row braids and beads. You can still have that done on most beaches in Mexico, but I recommend avoiding it unless you have a perfect face for the look.

Hair Drying at Sea

I love this photo (don't know what Linda thinks about it). When we are underway or anchored it is a challenge for Linda to wash and dry her hair, so she air drys it on the foredeck with the wind blowing it out for her instead of a blow dryer. I like this shot because she did not know she was being photographed and has her natural good look.

Beach at Tenacatita

It is not as lonely as it looks! There were 35 boats in the anchorage, and several folks at the Blue Bay Resort, not visible here, but you can get an idea of the great expanse of beach. We loved walking on it each day. Several skates and manta rays were in the shallows at low tide. They bury themselves in the sand, so you have to be careful to shuffle your feet in the shallow surf so you don't startle them and get a painful sting.

Sundowners with friends

It is a cruiser tradition to celebrate the sunset with cocktails on board. We enjoy entertaining on board Iron Rose. Here are Carol and Dick of Tanoshii, Doro and Gary of Salty Dog. Gary owned Horizon Marine in San Diego and helped us get Star Bird (our previous boat) and Iron Rose ready to cruise. He is now a part time cruiser on a boat we helped him find, the former Mandingo, now Salty Dog. Doro is a Vetrinarian and they do free neuter and spay clinics along the Mexican coast while they cruise.

Jungle River

This is the famous Jungle River in Tenacatita Bay. We have done it several times with the dingy and outboard. This year we used our new inflatatable kayak. Since there was no motor noise, we saw more wildlife. We enjoyed the kayak so much, we never launched the dingy at Tenacatitia, and paddled to shore daily for a walk on the beach or lunch at the little tienda. We walked all the way around the beach at low tide and discovered that the rumours about the beach on that side being a nudist colony were true! Sorry, no photos.

Isla Pasavera

This is an Island in Chamela Bay that is a National Preserve. We took our dingy there with Carol and Dick of Tanoshii, to enjoy the perfect crescent shaped beach, the easy swimming in the gentle surf and the active bird life. The water was exceptionally warm this year and we were able to swim and dive without wetsuits for the first time in years. I was still working on my tan.

New Dive Camera

Before we left, I purchased a digital dive camera to replace my old Nikonis dive cameras, which used film, and always seemed to run out of film before a once in a lifetims shot. These shots are from my first dive at Chamela. We were surprised to have exceptional visibility (for the Mainland coast of Mexico) of around 35 feet. I know they are not great shots, but for not having a flash yet, I was pleased, and I can take up to 500 photos, delete old ones etc with the digital.

Arrival at Ipala

This is the first stop over on the way south. We usually just spend the night and leave, but this time we took the dingy ashore and had a great lobster dinner. We had a little difficulty on landing as I decided to leave the outboard on the boat and row in. We were assisted by a young man who was a student at the University of Guadalajara. The beach has some of the best sand we have found in Mexico, very white and almost like sugar. Eduardo (our new friend) declined a tip but joined us for dinner and a cervasa.

Video of Whale

This is my first attempt to include video on this blog. I shot it with my new dive camera. Hope it works.

Squalls and Wales

We sailed to Punta de Mita for the first leg of our cruise. After a nice sail out, we were surprised by an unforecast squall with 40 knots of wind. We managed to anchor after the wind dropped to 25 knots. We sailed out to see our friends and fellow Cal 2-46 owners, Pinky and Danny of Dulce Sueno. We were joined en route by Dick and Carol of Tanoshii. The seas were a little too rough for boat visiting, but we were entertained by a whale, which hung around long enough for me to shoot some video. Fortunately, they are very common on Banderas Bay, but always exciting to watch

Back on Iron Rose!! Linda and I arrived back on Iron Rose on January 19th, 2010, after missing the 2008-2009 cruising season. You can tell she is happy to be back on board and looking forward to a great cruising season. We plan to head south down the Gold Coast and then be back in Paradise Village for the Banderas Bay Regatta, and then head north to San Carlos, where we will leave the boat for the summer