There is this strange phenomenon among long time cruisers in Mexico. I don’t mean to generalize, because of course I didn’t get this from everyone, but many, many times when the conversation turns to future plans and I mention that we are going to the South Pacific, it’s like they immediately go on the defensive. Like just because you say you are leaving Mexico you must be wondering how come they are not, and maybe even be judging them for it. Sometimes I hear that was once their plan but they like Mexico so much they stayed. I get that. I respect that. I love Mexico, and I think it is amazing cruising, and I could stay here forever and be quite happy. Sometimes they say, “I have friends who have cruised the world and they say Mexico is the best cruising, so why leave?” OK, this I don’t get at all. Everybody has different perspectives and different priorities and different things they like, so why is that even relevant? Stay in Mexico if you want to, I totally get that, but don’t tell me other people say Mexico is the best, because the way I see it, even if we spend 2 years in the South Pacific and go to places like French Polynesia and Tonga, and I look back and I think, “you know what, Mexico was my favorite,” I would NEVER regret going. I would want to be able to say that for myself, I guess. I must admit, though, that I do hope Tim and I end up retired in Mexico playing Bocce Ball and Mexican Train. It’s a good life.
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Lady Carolina Welcome Party
When we arrived back in La Cruz about mid-day, we pulled up alongside Lady Carolina, and it felt like home. They welcomed us back with drinks, snacks, and a fun afternoon just hanging out on Lady Carolina. I mean seriously, we felt really special the way they dropped what they were doing, and Carolina made a bunch of yummy appetizers and Steve, well, he poured the rum. After a few hours we headed to town for an early dinner at Los Twins, and let’s just say the evening turned into another one of those nights where we need a conch, and all you have is a ketchup bottle.
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Passage Back to La Cruz
February 20-22, 2014
This was an awful overnight passage where we motor bashed into the wind and chop the entire way. We decided not to wait for a weather window like we normally would because it was just one night, and we wanted to get back to Banderas Bay for our homestretch of preparations for the Pacific crossing. There are no photos. We were just miserable the whole way.
Logbook – February 21, 2014 (Bahia Paraiso to La Cruz)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1224 Engines on
- 1235 Depart
- 1321 Engines off, main + genoa
- 1508 Port engine on to avoid fishing boats
- 1647 Port engine off
- 1709 wind shift, fishing line fouled the port rudder. After clearing it, port engine on
Logbook – February 22, 2014 (Bahia Paraiso to La Cruz)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0722 Port engine off
- 1219 Port engine on
- 1238 Arrive La Cruz
Daily Notes
- Bashed all night
- Wonderful day with Lady Carolina!
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Bahia Careyes and Bahia Paraiso
February 18-20, 2014
Bahias Careyes and Paraiso are two small anchorages between Tenacatita and Chamela that we stopped at on our way back up to La Cruz. I think this just might be my first photo album without any pictures of the boys. I swear they were there. I guess they just didn’t do anything interesting.
Logbook – February 18, 2014 (Tenacatita to Bahia Careyes)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0937 Engines on
- 0945 Depart
- 1434 Arrive Careyes
Daily notes
- Snorkel/spearfishing when we got to Careyes
Anchor Waypoint – 20140218 Careyes 19 26.572 N 105 01.995 W 24 ft20140219
Logbook – February 19, 2014 (Bahia Careyes to Bahia Paraiso)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1109 Engines on
- 1117 Depart
- 1242 Arrive Paraiso – bow & stern anchor
Daily Notes
- Short passage to Paraiso
- Getting hotter – cold showers OK again
- D/T paddle around the bay. Very choppy. T – went for a dive
Anchor Waypoint – Paraiso 19 28.363 N 105 03.648 W 19 ft Bow and Stern anchor due to swell
Logbook – February 20, 2014 (Bahia Paraiso)
Daily Notes
- Nothing logged
Categories
The Itchy Rash Mystery
Brenden got sick almost right after we dropped anchor at Tenacatita. He had a low fever and a rash on his body that just kept getting worse. He was really disappointed, because Fluenta had joined us so, “being sick was seriously impacting his play time.” I asked about doctors in the area on the daily VHF net and got back a few options. We decided to cross the bay over to the town of La Manzanilla, where there is a pharmacy that has a doctor on site. The doctor was very pleasant, but she had no idea what was wrong, and when she took his temperature, it was under his armpit, and she concluded he didn’t have a fever (although I knew already for a fact that he did). She gave us amoxicillin, Benadryl, and some topical medication that you were supposed to dissolve in water. Seems like she was just covering all the bases. I didn’t start him on the amoxicillin right away because I wasn’t convinced it was bacterial. So, we were baseically back to square one, and we had no idea what was wrong with him. Then Brenden piped up and said, “maybe it can be the different soap.” Excuse me, what? What different soap? Brenden filled us in on how he’s been using the soap in the “blue bottle” since he’s been showering in our shower.
OK, mystery solved. Brenden had been washing himself with Head and Shoulders. And when he started getting a rash, we had him shower more frequently and since he kept washing with Head and Shoulders the rash kept getting worse. Once diagnosed, the rash cleared up quickly, and he was back to getting to enjoy his playtime with Fluenta. On the upside, I’m not sure we would have gone to La Manzanilla if we didn’t need to go to the doctor, and it was a very nice little town. It had its share of beachside palapas, and we had some very nice, very reasonable priced fish tacos at Pedro’s (a good recommendation from another cruiser). It seems a favorite pastime of both locals and tourists is flying kites, so there were lots of good kite flying sites as we walked down the beach. There is also a crocodile sanctuary, and the boys went and checked it out, but it was pretty sad and nothing like seeing the crocodiles in the wild when we did the jungle tour near San Blas.
There is quite the retirement community in Bahia Tenacatita. And I’m not talking about a residential community, I mean the other cruisers that hang out there. It seems like there’s a group that spends their summers above the border and their winters on their boats in and around the vicinity of Tenacatita. They run a daily VHF radio net that reaches down as far south as Barra de Navidad, so we found out quickly that there’s a group of folks who swim to the beach in the afternoon and then hang out at the restaurant and drink beer. So, Tim and I decided to join them, and we quickly realized that we were smack dab in the middle of the retirement community. Tim played bocce ball with all the guys on the beach while I took a walk by myself down the beach. When I returned, everyone was at the restaurant and all the men were at one table drinking beer and all the women were at another table playing dominoes and drinking various things that were not beer. I ordered a beer and sat next to Tim for a while, and then I just decided to conform, and I went and joined the women’s table. They were nice and pleasant, and they let me join their game of Mexican Train. They had a few different rules than I was used to, but I got the hang of it, and was constantly laughing inside at how competitive they were. Some were chatty, and I tried to talk and get to know them, but others were focused on the game and always had to tell the rest of us when it was our turn. I think I came in last place, and I also think this endeared me to them in contrast to how it would have been received had I kicked their asses. Anyway, I just kept thinking, wow, they do this every day?
While I was walking alone down the beach, I decided to try to go all the way to the end. I don’t know why, but I like to walk the beaches we come to end to end and take photos from different perspectives. I walked past a pretty big hotel that looked majestic from afar, but as you got closer you could see that it was a bit weathered and run down. I kept going just a bit further until I got to some rocks that extended out into the water. I climbed up a bit trying to decide if I could get over them safely since I could see that the beach extended further past the rocks. Then I heard someone blowing a whistle. At first, I didn’t pay it any attention, since why would I think it was directed at me. Well, it turns out that it was. I noticed a hotel security guard walking towards me, so I abandoned my quest of climbing over the rocks and headed in his direction. He told me I couldn’t be over here and that I needed to go back to the hotel, and he asked me what I was doing. I was nice and polite and told him I was just walking to the end of the beach. I agreed immediately to turn back and apologized that he had to walk all the way over here to collect me. Then he started teasing me asking why I wanted to walk to the end of the beach, and I told him I just like to do that sort of thing. He kept teasing me and said I just wanted to go see the nudist beach. Nudist beach? Really? There’s a nudist beach over there? He said, don’t pretend like you didn’t know, you are a bad, bad girl. I never saw any nude people, so I have no idea if it really is a nudist beach or if he was just having a bit of fun with me. I asked the retirement community, but they had no idea.
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Tenacatita
February 12-17, 2014
A day sail south from Chamela brought us to Tenacatita. It is a huge bay with several anchorages (reminiscent of Bahia de Los Angeles).
Logbook – February 12, 2014 (Chamela to Tenacatita Aquarium)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1018 Engines on
- 1028 Depart Chamela
- 1130 Engines off, Main + genoa
- 1351 Main + genoa, wing/wing
- 1541 Engines on
- 1601 Arrive Tenacatita
Anchor waypoint – 20140212 Tenacatita 19 16.978 N 104 52.251 W 21 ft Near “The Aquarium”
Logbook – February 13, 2014 (Tenacatita Aquarium)
Daily Notes
- B – low fever – up to 101.3 – gave 1 reg strength Tylenol
- D/T worked on electrical wiring diagram
- T – spearfish with Max
- A – Beach with Fluenta kids
Logbook – February 14, 2014 (Tenacatita Aquarium)
Daily Notes
- Nothing to report
Logbook – February 15, 2016 (Tenacatita Aquarium to La Manzanilla)
Daily Notes
- Moved over to La Manzanilla
- Dr. & Pharmacy
- Saw Second Wind again
- Lunch at Pedro’s Fish Tacos
- Light provisioning
- Crocodilos
- Wifi
Anchor Waypoint – 20140215 Tenacatita 19 17.077 N 104 47.440 W 24 ft Off of the town of La Manzanilla
Email to family and friends dated February 15, 2014
Hi, we are with one other kid boat right now, Fluenta, but we left them for the day to come across the bay to a small town called La Manzanilla. Brenden has been running a low fever and has a rash all over his body, and it is seriously interfering with his play time. So, we enquired on the VHF radio net this morning about a doctor in the area, and we were pointed in this direction. He saw the doctor earlier today, but she didn’t really know what it was. Rashes are pretty hard to diagnose. So, she gave us some Benedryl, some Amoxycillan, and something to dissolve in water an wipe on his rash. She’s pretty much covering all bases. I gave him some Benedryl, but I’m going to hold off on the anti-biotics for a bit.
The town is a really nice little town, and we had a great lunch on the beach of fish tacos. We are back on Exodus and were able to pick up some wifi, so maybe I’ll do a little facebooking before we head back across the bay.
Love and miss you,
-D.
—–
At 2/13/2014 12:00 PM (utc) our position was 19°16.78’N 104°52.25’W
Logbook – February 16, 2016 (La Manzanilla to Tenacatita Aquarium)
Daily Notes
- Boys – play at estuary w/ Fluenta kids
- T/D paddle to beach
- T – bocce ball, D-walk on the beach, stopped by hotel, security with a whistle, Mexican Train
- Fluenta over for drinks after dinner
Anchor Waypoint – 20140216 Tenacatita 19 17.963 N 104 50.276 W 22 ft Main anchorage of Tenacatita near the estuary
Logbook – February 17, 2014 (Tenacatita Aquarium)
Daily Notes
- Estuary dinghy tour and long lunch at the palapa w/ Fluenta
- T – afternoon in the hammock
- D – paddle around the rocks
- A/B – beach with Fluenta kids
Email to family and friends dated February 18, 2014
Subject: Heading back North
We’ve spent a few days at Tenacatita, and the kids have had a lot of fun, since Fluenta joined us here. We took our Dinghies up the river yesterday through the Mangroves, and it was a great adventure, but everyone was disappointed we didn’t see any crocodiles. Brenden was actually sick the first couple days here with a fever and a rash. We even took him to see a doctor in La Manzanilla, just across the bay, but she didn’t know what it was and just gave us Benadryl and Amoxicillin. It turns out he had been using Tim’s anti-dandruff shampoo as body wash! I am so glad we figure it out, because it was “seriously impacting his play time.”
Today we are heading to a small anchorage just 20 miles north of here called Bahia Careyes. It’s small and is supposed to have good snorkling.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
—–
At 2/13/2014 12:00 PM (utc) our position was 19°16.78’N 104°52.25’W
February 7-12, 2014
We finally made it out of Banderas Bay to do a little cruising. Chamela was an overnight passage, and we had great wind, and a really nice sail. The boys were all really glad to get back in the water, but the spear fishing has been a bit disappointing. We stayed the first couple nights at the main anchorage, where there is a little town, but we never went ashore and explored. Then we moved to anchor off a small island group in the middle of the bay. This was magic.
Anchor waypoint – 20140208 Chamela 19 34.979 N 105 07.962 W 23 ft Main Chamela anchorage near the town of Perula
Logbook – February 7, 2014 (Punta de Mita to Chamela NE)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1030 Engines on
- 1045 Depart Punta Mita
- 1108 Engines off – Spinnaker
- 2300 Genoa only
Daily Notes
- Skipjack x 2 😦 😦 make it x 4
- Alex spotted a shark
- Bonita!
Logbook – February 8, 2014 (Punta de Mita to Chamela NE)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0157 Genoa. Wind died @~0115
- 0655 P engine on, genoa furle
- 0800 SB engine on
- 0819 Arrive Chamela
Daily Notes
- KK4WYW (This is my HAM radio call sign)
- Boys spear fish – huge pargo
Email to family and friends dated February 8, 2014
Subject: Chamela
We had a great sail to Chamela… dropped anchor at about 8:15 this morning. We started on a light spinnaker run out of Banderas Bay and by the time we were rounding Cabo Corrientes we were flying along at 8 kts. We had that kind of speed until we dropped the spinnaker in the evening, just because it was getting dark. Of course the wind died and we limped along most of the night at about 2-3 kts, but it worked out fine since we approached the bay just as the sun was coming up. The boys caught a lot of fish, and after 3 Jack Crevalles and 4 Skipjacks we were all a bit discouraged, but then they landed a Bonita late in the evening and had a sushimi snack.
We are tired, but looking forward to a day of playing in the water.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 2/8/2014 3:51 PM (utc) our position was 19°34.98’N 105°07.96’W
Logbook – February 9, 2014 (Chamela NE)
Daily Notes
- Made a comprehensive to do list for puddle jump
- Boys played in the surf
- Watched Gravity
Logbook – February 10, 2014 (Chamela NE to Chamela Isla Cocinas)
Daily Notes
- Boys forgot my birthday 😦
- Spearfishing – no fish
- D – paddle to beach – brief exploring. Met Roger & Susan SV Second Wind. From just south of San Jose. Susan retired elementary school teacher.
- Black bean soup – B had 4ths
- Hot & gooey chocolate cake w/ choc fudge sauce
- Dinghy fishing – no fish 😦
Anchor waypoint – 20140210 Chamela 19 33.135 N 105 06.426 W 16 ft NW side of Isla Cocinas
Logbook – February 11, 2014 ( Chamela Isla Cocinas)
Daily Notes
- Generator – 4.9 ours on 1 full tank of gas (0.75 gal –> 400 AH)
- Afternoon at the beach on the sw side of Isla Cocinas. Boys spearfish
- D- snorkel & walk. Met couple who own lodge near Punta Mita
Email to family and friends dated February 11, 2014
Subject: Nice birthday
hanks for all the happy birthday wishes! I had a great day here in Chamela. Well, it started off a little shaky, because the rest of the crew actually forgot, but then Tim was on the computer and saw the happy birthday e-mail from my mom… Brenden made me flowers out of legos, and Alex and Brenden baked a chocolate cake. They tried twice to catch some sashimi fish, once spearfishing and once dinghy fishing, but no luck there. I enjoyed a nice paddle and explored the little beach, and then I relaxed with a bottle of Chardonnay that Gary and Marsha brought me. Brenden kept my glass full.
We will likely head a little further south soon to a bay called Tenacatita, but for today we are going to enjoy this spot anchored among the islands in the middle of Chamela Bay.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 2/8/2014 3:51 PM (utc) our position was 19°34.98’N 105°07.96’W
Categories
Costelegre Route Recap
February 7-22, 2014
We escaped Banderas Bay to do a little bit of cruising south before heading back up to do final preparations for crossing the Pacific.
Costalegre is a stretch of the Mexican mainland coastline from Cabo Corrientes (the southern tip of Banderas Bay) to Punta Campos (the southern tip of Bahia de Manzanillo). It literally translates to “happy coast” and it is also commonly referred to as the “Gold Coast.” Although we didn’t get as far south as we would have like, we really enjoyed the anchorages we were able to visit.
We left Punta de Mita on Friday, 7 Feb and had a great overnight sail to Bahia Chamela. We started on a light spinnaker run out of Banderas Bay and by the time we were rounding Cabo Corrientes we were flying along at 8 kts. We had that kind of speed until we dropped the spinnaker in the evening, just because it was getting dark. Of course, eventually the wind died and we limped along most of the night at about 2-3 kts, but it worked out fine since we approached the bay just as the sun was coming up. The boys caught a lot of fish on passage, and after 3 Jack Crevalles and 4 Skipjacks we were all a bit discouraged, but then they landed a Bonita late in the evening and we all had a nice sashimi snack.
Bahia Chamela is a large bay, and the main anchorage is tucked up with excellent protection from all directions but the south, but there was a little wraparound swell entering the bay. We’ve gotten used the the rollier anchorages on the mainland. Gone are the days when the anchorages were flat as glass, and you could pick from the plethera of anchorages around for one that had protection that matched the weather forecast. Chamela has a beautiful white sand beach with palapas dotting the shoreline, not unlike Chacala, but we never actually went ashore. We just wanted to “relax on the boat.” Another feature of Chamela are the many very small islands that are scattered throughout the large bay, and a couple provide an anchoring opportunity, so we took advantage and anchored off of a small beach on the northwest side of Isla Cocinas. This was a spectacular location, and where I got to spend my “39th” birthday. While there we made a dinghy day trip around to the other side of the small island and hung out at yet another beautiful little beach. We all snorkeled, and the boys even went out around the outside of the island to try some spearfishing. The novelty was an area where the water funneled in from the ocean side around the rocks and made a washing machine environment that the boys never got tired of playing in.
Our next move was a day passage down to the next major bay called Bahia Tenacatita, which has many possible anchoring locations. This is a major cruiser hangout, in fact they even have a daily VHF net like in La Paz, Puerto Escondido, and Banderas Bay. We started at the west most anchorage around the first point into the bay that is billed as having fantastic snorkeling, in fact it’s even called “The Aquarium” in the guidebook. It was here that Brenden started getting sick, so he and I didn’t snorkel, but Tim and Alex said it was nothing special. We were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of Fluenta, one of our buddy kid boats, so Alex spent a fair amount of time over there while Brenden was working through his illness. We ended up moving across the bay to anchor off the town of La Manzanilla for one night, in order to take Brenden to the doctor, and after that we headed for the main anchorage in Tenacatita where there were about 20 other boats anchored. We hung out there with Fluenta for a few more days, and then motor sailed north to a small anchorage between Tenacatita and Chamela called Bahia Careyes. We did a little bit of snorkeling when we got there, but again nothing special, since there was a lot of churn and the visibility was poor. The next morning we had another short passage to Bahia Paraiso, another small anchorage just south of Chamela. We were the only boat there, so we had plenty of room, but we chose to stern anchor anyway in order to keep our bow pointed at the swell. Here Tim and I did a fair amount of paddle boarding. We also noticed the weather was starting to turn warmer again, I guess winter was coming to a close. Cold showers in the evening were once again the norm. On Friday, 21 Feb, we had a horrendous overnight passage back to La Cruz, bashing against the wind under motor the whole way. But our arrival and reunion with Lady Carolina was heartfelt, and it was time to get down to the serious business of final preparations for the Pacific crossing.
Gresham Family Exodus 