Cruiser Fun

Well cruising is not always about great sailing, dinner with friends or walks on endless beaches. Sometimes you have to repair the head (thats a marine toilet for you landlubbers) Linda took this to remind me life is not always what we wish for. I am trying to put on a couple of hose clamps in a mostly inaccessable area.

More Cruising Friends

When we are in a marina we enjoy going out to dinner with our friends or having them on board. The top photo of Hank and Betsy of Equinox, was taken at Barcelona Tapas overlooking the Bay, the second is of our neighbors, Kim and Dave of S/V Maluhia on board Iron Rose for an Indain Food dinner prepared by Linda. The bottom photo is of Bill and Cynthia of Creme Brulee, Dick and Carol of Tanoshii, Don of Freezing Rain, and of course, Linda. Our friends from San Diego Gary Kowal and Dorthy surprised us and joined us at Barcelona but the photos of them did not turn out. Sorry Gary.

Turtle Release

What are all of these people doing? They are releasing the baby Olive Ridley turtles, which come to this beach near our marina to lay their eggs every year. The Mexican Government protects this area and the eggs are placed inside a fence and covered and dated so that 45 days later when the eggs hatch, the turtles are carried to the ocean by eager tourists and released. Only about 2 percent survive normally, but since the eggs and the baby turtles are protected from the birds during this process, maybe more survive. We have done this outselves and taken several visitors to the turtle release. It is always a thrill to be a part of the ongoing process of nature. The turtles seem to be coming back as we have seen more each year as we cruise up and down the coast.

Restaurant Maya

Linda is standing by the best table at our favorite restaurant in Melaque, Maya, which is owned by two Canadian women who are cordon bleu chefs. The cusine is excellent and the views spectacular of Barra Bay. The surf was so high and close when we were there that spray was coming onto the patio.

Fast Passage

We left Chamela at dawn and arrived in Punta Mita less than 12 hours later, an average speed of over 8 knots, the boat's theoretical hull speed (1.4 times the squre root of the water line). As you can see, we did over 9 knots over the earth at times according to all 3 GPS units. We had about 3 knots of current and 12 to 15 knots of wind on the beam, a perfect passage. You can see the crew was pleased to be back in Banderas Bay and enjoyed the run. I caught a nice yellow fin tuna for dinner to top off a great day.

Lake Chapala

Lake Chapala is Mexico's largest lake, and home to around 30,000 American and Canadian retirees. There are 5 towns around the lake, and the climate is ideal, 70s and 80s year round, dry in the winter and spring and the rains during the summer and fall are mostly at night. I am standing in the gardens of a boutique inn on the lake where we had lunch.

Telaquepaque

Telaquepaque is one of the municipal areas within Guadalajara. It is famous for its artwork and classic Mexican Architechture. Although it is much larger than we remembered, it is like a small village with beautiful plazas, surrounded by restaurants, shops and art galleries. A great area to walk around in and enjoy the music. On Sundays, several Mariachi and Folklorico dancers perform in the gazebo in the square, which is surrounded by several restaurants. The church is one of the newer ones, from the 1700s, the main cathederal in Guadalajara was constructed in 1560.

Round Pyramids

We traveled from Telaquepaque to the Round Pyramids called Guachimontones, which are believed to be over 2000 years old. There are 10 in this site and several other sites are being excavated by an American professor of the University of Michoacan. Linda is standing in front of the largest pyramid and I am in the ball court with our guide, Chava. Each of the pyramids is a perfect circle, surrounded by another circle with multiple platforms, arranged in another of the 3 concentric circles. The ball game was played using only the hips and a 10 pound ball. They are believed to have played from dawn to dusk with the captain of the winning team beheaded at the end of the game. We visited another area where they are carefully excavating in a grid pattern and preserving the ancient obsidian knives, arrowheads and spearheads as well as pots, and sculptures.

El Super Classico

For this year's inland trip, we traveled to Telaquepaque (Guadalajara), and we were fortunate to acquire tickets to Chivas vs America, a football (soccer) match between Mexico's two most popular teams, Chivas (Guadalajara) and America from Mexico City. Chivas only plays native born Mexicans, while America has many foreign born players. This game has the highest ratings of any sporting event on Univision in the US The stadium in Guadalajara has hosted the World Cup twice and the 1968 Olympics. Chivas won 3 to 2 although the game was not that close. We were probably the only Americans there but it is a really exciting event, with everyone including us, wearing the jersey of the team they support. The staff at the hotel helped us acquire the tickets, at only twice the face value. Everyone at the restaurant in the square was also wearing a Chivas shirt, whether they were going to the game or not. A great cultural experience

Barra Bay

This is the south end of the bay taken from atop the surfer hotel, our favorite place to watch sunsets. The second photo is taken from the Grand Bay Hotel, and shows the lagoon entrance in the foreground, the town of Barra de Navidad and the beach looking north to Melaque.

Melaque

This is the view from the a restaurant on the beach in San Patrico de Melaque, of the bay of Barra de Navidad. The previous photos are of the opposite end looking toward Melaque. Melaque's patron saint is St. Patrick and they really go all out for St Patricks day. We were there last year for the celebration with a carnival midway, multiple bands on the square and the biggest fireworks display we have ever seen.

Cruiser exercise

Linda is always looking for new exercises to do on board. Last year she hosted a yoga on-board instructior. She decided this is a great exercise for her waist. The hoop comes apart so we can store it more easily, and she has fun doing it. So far, I have abstained.

Barra de Navidad

This is our 3d visit to Barra de Navidad (so-called because it was discovered by the Spanish on Christmas Day). In the background is the Grand Bay Resort, a 5 star resort, on a pennensula with the marina, across from the funky little Mexican village of Barra de Navidad. We arrived on Friday, the 28th of March, and true to cruiser superstition should not have started even a short cruise on a Friday (it's only 2 hours from Tenacatita). We had 20 to 25 knots of wind all the way, and gusts of 30 when we got to the marina. We got pushed off trying to enter a slip, and hit the stern of the large motor vessel (125 foot Feadship) Orion. Little damage to their boat (a scratch to the new paint job and the stainless rub rail) and a dent in our solar panel. We moved to this slip the next day. Carol of Tanoshii was there to cheer Linda up. We are reaquainting ourselves with Barra and planning another inland trip, leaving the boat here.

Fellow Cal owners

It's always fun to have another boat like ours pull into an anchorage. This is the vessel Sailfisher, owned by Al Briggs and his wife Yevette. They got married this month in Manzanillo. Al was President of the Cal 2-46 Association when Linda was secretary. We joined them for dinner on our last night in Tenacatita and explored all the modifications to each of our boats. As usual, we found things we liked better on each others boat.

Tenacatita

This was our 5th time in Tenacatita, and we stayed for a week. The anchorage was great, although we did have a couple of problems with the dingy landing as the surf was very large. Linda got thrown out of the dingy on one landing and we just missed dumping the whole thing. I like to kayak for exercise. We bought this one 4 years ago from Gary of Delphina, and I used it a lot. It finally gave up in Tenacatita with the last of the d rings ripping out. The schooner in the photo was one of the funkiest boats we had seen lately so Linda wanted a photo. Kind of a Chinese Junk combinded with a schooner rig. While in Tenacatita, we met new friends Peter and Lane, who have been cruising Cheerio for 23 years, John and Laura of Pacific Wind, first season cruisers and Jay and Janice of Chelidh, pronounced Kaylee, with their little Pomeranian, who is demonstrating an amazing sense of balance in the photo. We also enjoyed spending time with Don and Marie Irvin of Freezing Rain, which had just returned from Ecuador and Central America. They like Mexico better.

Spring 2008 Cruise

We finally got underway (and are actually sailing!) on March 19th. We stopped at Punta de Mita the first night and then went around the dreaded Cabo Corrientes the next morning, anchoring for the night at Ipala, which, we are pleased to report is an ok anchorage again, as the fish traps and oyster farm have disappeared. It was the first week of Semana Sante, (Holy Week) the biggest Mexican Holiday, and as usual the bands on shore played through the night.

Frustrating Season

This is how I looked for much of this season with the continual delays and revised plans. It is all part of cruising. Linda likes this picture.