Gold Coast, Mexico

February 14, 2005 – Barra de Navidad, Mexico

We are on the Gold Coast of Mexico, that beautiful coastline area between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo.
We sailed out of Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta on January 27, at 3:00 a.m. with a full moon to light the way. After motoring out of the bay for 3 hours and rounding Cabo Corrientes (a point noted for its potential dangers - like Point Conception in California), the winds built and we sailed for the next 10 hours with the winds and the waves almost directly behind us. During a 4-hour period we had 25-30 knot winds with 5 to 7 foot swells. Dream Caper surfed, and practically flew, off waves, at times reaching as much as 12 knots. We averaged 8 to 9 knots for most of the trip. Our sail brought us to Chamela, an anchorage about 100 miles south.
As we started our turn into Chamela Bay, a sailboat which we had been following in the distance hailed us on the radio. At this point it was 1 mile Southeast of us and had lost its steering. We immediately changed course, took down our sails, and motored to the rescue. The seas were still at 4-5 foot swells and winds at 20 knots. Maybe it had something to do with the name of the boat, Wild Wild West, but we charged right in, making the mistake of going to its downwind side, and threw a line to the guys on board. With the swells and the wind pushing the boat down on us, we came within 3 inches of colliding! Luckily, with Steve’s expert handling of the boat we safely moved off, the guys aboard secured the line, and we towed the boat 2 miles into the anchorage. They subsequently were able to repair their jammed rudder cable and continue cruising South.
We spent 2 days at Chamela as there was good snorkeling at the nearby rocky shore. Steve speared fish each day for our dinners. Porpoises regularly visited the 4 boats anchored here. Bat rays entertained us with their flips in the air and their flops back into the water. We understand that they do this to remove parasites from their wings.
Next, we moved 10 miles to Careyes Bay, the site of the now closed Club Med Playa Blanca which Portia had visited some 15 years earlier. The grounds appear to be well maintained, but it is vacant and has been closed for 3 years. We anchored in front of the resort with towering cliffs all around us and snorkeled off the back of the boat. There are now huge homes built on the tops of these cliffs. The water down here is nice and warm (82 degrees) and does not seem to contain the horrid hydroids that are referred to as “string of pearls” jellyfish, so Portia was very happy to be able to go in the water without her black ninja diving outfit covering her from head to toe.
After one night in Careyes, we motored (no wind) 2.5 hours to Tenacatita Bay. For 3 days we anchored off the beach at the outer anchorage of the bay, and swam from our boat to shore where there are several palapa restaurants, and to the “aquarium,” a large shallow area of underwater hills of green coral and numerous fish. The snorkeling was the best we’ve had since the Sea of Cortez.
We then spent 4 days at the main Tenacatita anchorage inside the bay where 35 to 40 boats were at anchor. The water was very clear making for nice swimming off the back of the boat. We took our dinghy on the “jungle” ride, a 3-mile river ride that resembles a Disneyland ride but without the large animals. A third of the ride is in thick mangrove trees with just enough space to get the dinghy through. We had to watch for a few fast driving pangas carrying tourists through this area.
The cruising boats in the Tenacatita anchorage have become a community in itself, with regular beach volleyball matches, bocce ball, group swims, cocktail hour raft-ups, and a local radio net at 9:00 am every morning, and an unofficial mayor.
In the last few days an unofficial coup has recently occurred in an attempt to dethrone the unofficial mayor. In response, an unofficial election was held on the morning net and the tally by an unknown unofficial has produced unofficial results which unofficially certified the re-election of the unofficial mayor. The mayor has officially accepted re-election, thanked his supporters and offered unofficial posts to his unofficial opposition. An unofficial source, however, has announced that a box of uncounted ballots has been found, so the unofficial controversy may continue.
We moved on to Barra de Navidad, just 6 miles south of Tenacatita, and anchored in the lagoon area with 25 other boats. Barra is a nice size village with many restaurants, small stores and internet access, but no banks. The town of Melaque is on a nearby beach, a 20-minute bus ride from Barra, and does have a bank, as well as many stores (including much needed hardware stores and repair shops), a very good Japanese restaurant for lunch (with an actual Japanese cook! What a find!), and restaurants on the beach. The bank is important because when you reach a new port you have to check in at the Port Captain’s office and pay a fee. The Port Captain, however, is not allowed to accept payments. Instead, you check in with the Port Captain then go to the bank to pay the fees and return to the Port Captain’s office to finish your check in. In Barra, checking in involves a bus ride to the next town to find the bank to pay the fees.
Every morning at about 8:30 we hear on the radio and/or over the water, the call of the “French Baker” announcing his rounds of the boats. He speaks with a very distinct French accent, and his call sends the cruisers into a frenzy of anticipation. He has fresh baked baguettes, chocolate croissants, almond croissants, Danish and tarts which he delivers right to the boats at anchor and in the marina. If he is late, or if there is fear that he might be late, panicked calls can be heard from any number of boats asking if he is coming or trying to put in orders to make sure they get their fix. For the last few days we have been living on French pastry for all of our breakfasts and sandwiches. We have to get moving south again, before we’re too fat to move at all!
After 4 days in the lagoon we moved to the marina at the 5-star Grand Bay Hotel. It is always nice to plug in our 220 and 110 electrical plugs, get our refrigerator nice and cold, and run our air conditioner. The tropical grounds, exotic pool and tennis courts are just a few of the amenities that make the price of the marina worth it. Barra is filled with delicious restaurants and little tiendas (shops). We bought a few DVDs of currently released movies for $3 each. The quality is average as they are apparently pirated copies and have Spanish subtitles. There are numerous such shops throughout Mexico.
Tomorrow, we leave for Manzanillo, some 25 miles further south where we will spend a few days before continuing to Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa.