Living in the Lap of Luxury in the marina at Barra de Navidad

Friday, February 28, 2014

We did arrive here on Tuesday after several hours of motoring.  Once again we had no wind and flat seas.   

Just outside the marina, I radioed to ask for a slip.  It was a comedy of errors in a way.  The guy in the office spoke so quietly I had to ask him to repeat himself several times.  Finally an English voice came on and we were told to go to dock G 21 or 22.  At the entrance to the marina, a man was waving us on, but Bob thought that he was waving us in and started to turn.  I yelled but not loud enough...so we backed up and found that we could only go in to G21....as luck would have it we had stuff ready on both sides.  Then to our great fortune the boat in G20 was Hilbre whom we had met in Mazatlan. So we had 4 people to help us dock ..Bob made a great entrance.  He is getting good at this stuff.   Docking is always reason for anxiety as you don't really do it that much.  But thanks to new friends and old, all went well.

As it turns out, the big winds that were forecast arrived on Wednesday but subsided after dark.  The winds were refreshing and blew away the humidity for a few hours.

What can I say?  I love it in the marina.  

Just jump on the dock, 

Take the dog for a walk,

Stroll to the pool,

Order a drink, cool! 

Swim for some laps

Make yourself at home! 

I still cannot upload photos.

Yesterday the hotel hosted a cocktail party...free drinks and booze.  My! My!

Yachties  sure can eat and drink.   It was a fun to get together and a great way to say hello or goodbye to people that we have met along the way.

Yesterday  we breakfasted with Mary and Tommy.  We  see them here and at home.  How nice is that?

Today we are getting our car out of storage and bringing it to the marina.  It will be convenient to have access to the car.

Tonight we are going out with a large group for Chinese food...yes I do mean Chinese food.  I will be  commenting on that tomorrow.

For those who wonder when I am returning to Patzcuaro, I should be home on March 9.

Getting Ready to set sail tomorrow

Another gorgeous day here!  And even better, last night cooled down so that I needed a blanket....heavenly.
We will have spent 2.5 weeks in Tenacatita.  Most days we have gone to shore, and yes I have swum in most days.  After the swim in, Bob has been playing bocce while Patches and I walk down the beach.  While the ladies swim, the guys dinghy in so we are stomped on by other boats.
Oh yes and the water...it is not 'bath tub' warm but it is just the right temperature for swimming....it is a luxury to swim here.  When I get into the water I recall swimming in Pelican Lake...I do remember loving to swim but the water was cold and opaque.  Then when it did warm up, out came the algae...therefore end of swimming.  Lake Winnipeg was much the same experience.  Yes I know that is almost heresy coming from a Manitoban.
Of course swimming here has its downside too as there are sting rays and jelly fish...not to mention crocodiles and sharks.  Speaking of which,  the other day we had an infestation of jelly fish but the next day they were gone.  The sting rays are always a factor when you come in through the surf.  I do a little dance through the surf hoping the rays will heed my shuffle and leave.
Up until a few days ago there has been little surf here but that has changed.  We have taken a wave or 2, and usually my fault.    Being short and fat is a real hindrance when one is trying to 'leap' into a dinghy.  Bob took a wave when only he and Patches were in the dinghy.  That made me feel better as I was not the cause.  Now, once again, my legs are covered in 'dinghy bites' from jumping, then dragging and I mean dragging myself into the dinghy.  Bob pulled me into the dinghy a few days ago, and almost yanked my shoulder out....these are the frills/thrills of sailing.
Tomorrow will be a new experience for us as we are going into the marina in Barra de Navidad.  Apparently no one comes to help you dock so we are counting on the help of our friends!!
And once again no photos as I can't even upload a light file.

Not Much to Say

February 20, 2014

On Tuesday we took a cab into La Manzanilla.  It was a necessary trip  as our laundry bag was taking on a life of its own.  The surf has kicked up a bit so I was anxious about that..who wants a bag of dirty laundry saturated with salt water?  All worrying was in vain as we came in and out without getting anything wet.  Yeah for Bob.
To catch a cab you walk to the Blue Bay Resort and they call a cab for you.  Very simple.  Then you arrange for the driver to pick you up wherever you want in La Manzanilla.  Cost 400 pesos..round trip. Cabs hold 4 people so it a cheap excursion.
We spent about 5 hr hanging around La Manz...it was a treat to have a cinnamon roll and coffee.  Lunch was at Yolanda's....Bob had spaghetti and I had an avocado stuffed with shrimp.   And I would like to rave about the stuffed avocado.  (Nothing wrong with the spaghetti but I didn't taste it.)  The shrimp were in a mayo based sauce but had a great flavour...chopped celery, onion and something that gave the sauce some zip...it wasn't a peppery taste...perhaps horseradish?  And the plate was big...I could not finish the avocado, and did not need to eat again until the next day.
Patches has become quite a 'water dog', not in the sense that he and Bob will be going duck hunting anytime soon, but in the sense that he jumps out of the dinghy into the water before we reach shore!!  He runs along the beach no longer afraid of waves.  When Bob takes him to shore, Patches, on their return, jumps from the dinghy into the boat.  This bothers me so much that I do not watch.  When I go swimming around the boat, Patches is ready to jump in to join me!  Who would have believed that a dog so terrified of a wave would be doing this?
When I swim to shore, Bob rows the dinghy....Patches sits on the bow watching me.  He is ready to jump way before he should...sometimes when they are close to me, he jumps up on the side of the dinghy....Bob has to tell him not to jump...Bob is calm about this, me not so much!
The swims to shore get better everyday.  I have improved my speed greatly....but Marilyn Bell I am not.  The swimming has been so enjoyable that I will look for somewhere to swim in Patzcuaro.  Please do not suggest that I swim in Lake Patzcuaro!!  When we take a boat to the island I live in fear of being splashed by the water ...very  polluted.
It is much hotter these days and nights.  At 9 am it is already nearing 30C and little relief over night.  It is not my kind of weather.  Various people have told us that the temperatures have been higher as has the humidity.  I guess that is the counterbalance to the very cold weather in Canada??
Bob has been having fun with his under water metal detector.  But so far he has only found beer cans...no Spanish gold yet.  Today he is off snorkeling, while I hold down the fort on the boat.
We are at the end of 2 weeks here and will likely stay for about another week.  Then we will be off to the marina in Barra de Navidad.

Drinking beer, reading, swimming and watching dolphins

It is already a hot, humid day.  This morning there was a dark band of cloud over the bay just dripping with humidity, as I am as I write this.  Not my favourite weather but sure beats snow.
I chose to defrost the fridge today...my worst job as I have to hang into this box in the counter to clean it.  It is cool in there but no matter how I try to work it. I can't fit into the fridge.
Naturally we are beside a large boat which was running its air this morning...I was envious.
At this time of year the bay is a place of comings and goings and I don't mean only the tides.  One day there are 36 boats and the next 16.  We  watch each incoming boat to see if it is a new boat or someone we have met before.  Cruising is like RVing...you do tend to meet the same people year after year.  That is fun, as is meeting all those who are headed to Panama, the Marquesas or somewhere into the wild blue yonder ...it truly is the wild blue yonder when you are on a boat.
I know that I have commented on boats with kids but I remain in awe.  A Canadian boat came in with 3 kids on board...so what you might say...one is only a few months old.  I watched them go into shore and no one had on a life vest.  If I had that 2 month old it would be in a PFD like Patches has...such confidence blows me away...impresses me to no end.
Yesterday we spent an entire day lazing on the boat...Bob took Patches into shore twice and I went for a swim.  Then I was in bed at just after 7 pm!!  Doing nothing really exhausts me!!
I am sorry that I have no photos but Bob is the guy with the cameras!  He took a neat video of the boat but I cannot upload it...I left it uploading for an hour and not much had happened after an hour.  When we return to Barra I shall try to upload it.
No exciting stories to tell...I am truly thankful for that but it is boring reading for you.

Tenacatita News

Thursday, February 13, 2014

 2013  In the Bay

Although I can't say that my life is busy here, the days fly by.  Most days we leave the boat to join a group on shore.  I have swum to shore 3 times in my 6 days here...the water is like silk.  And just cool enough to give you a little shiver when you jump in.  Such a delicious feeling!
Yesterday was a big day as I shared a cab into La Manzanilla.  That means we will have more variety in our meals for the next few days.   My lunch consisted of 2 shrimp tacos and beer of course.
I also had a delicious scone baked at the Canadian store...I don't know its real name...but it is run by a Canadian man.  For such a small place La Manzanilla has amazingly good provisioning and loads of restaurants...mind you,  you more or less trip over Canadians and Americans who winter there and of course some people have bought homes.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and we will be celebrating at the local restaurant in the bay.  They are  serving enchiladas and flan.  I imagine there will be a group of 30.  Then the 'mayor' is having the raft up but we will likely miss that after spending about 4 hr at the beach.
This year we have a different little phenomenon in the bay.  There are some big fish that hit our hull several times a night..I guess that they are hunting.  Every once in a while we see a school of little flying fish...I imagine they take to the air when the predators strike.  Then there is a sound under the hull that sounds as if something has 'f...ted' right against the hull.  Who knows what  that is?
Bob has taken Patches to Good Dog Beach for a run...another morning ritual.
This morning I have already cooked for the day...rice and hamburger to become some gourmet (ha ha) dish later in the day/week.  (Yes JP I have cooked for more than 1 day.)   It was a brilliant morning and cool enough that I felt that I could cook without expiring.
The bay has been  experiencing a lot of traffic but most days we are looking at about 30 boats ...it is a big bay.
Now I must clean...yes it is still pleasant enough to do that.

Tenacatita 2014

Dusk Tenacatita

For whatever reason, Tenacatita feels like home.  Barra offers many restaurants, shopping etc but Tenacatita feeds your soul. 
 Our trip here yesterday was good in so far as the waves were almost non existent, but as there was no wind we also could not sail.  As a result it was a short trip and we were lunching at noon.
Tenacatita is a veritable village right now.  Finding a place to drop our anchor took us a few minutes, and then finding ourselves a bit too neighbourly with another sailboat, we took up the anchor and made a move.
Then it was off to the beach to socialize and speak with people that we had not seen for a year...and of course meet a whole new group
Friday is the raft-up and it was by far the biggest we have attended.   I made appetizers for about 25 people (ham roll-ups) but they certainly never made it around the group.  With more than 30 boats at anchor (and many people did not come to the raft up), the crowd may have numbered 40 but who was counting.  The raft up always has a theme and yesterday the theme was 'your talent'.  There was music, poetry, jewellery, books, and then the rest of us talent-less people having to 'fess up.
Last night just before dark, the bay was an abstract painting of pinks and blues....calm and exotic.  Once again I did not have my camera but I will hope that we will have a replay tonight and I will post photos tomorrow.
The visiting dolphins woke Patches and I (NOTHING wakes Bob is seems).  But they were well behaved as they did not rattle our anchor chain.
This morning was a work morning...Bob does most of the cleaning as I have kept my role as the interior worker.  After being in the Barra lagoon, the boat is covered in green slimy stuff which Bob scrubs off with a brush.  After he did that job, he rearranged (?) the anchor chain.  I compare that to tidying the cupboard where I keep my plastic bowls and lids.  You reach a point where it seems the lids have disappeared and nothing is working.  So the chain gets twisted, etc and needs to be untwistedd...that is my version of what happened the morning.  For the moment the book looks pretty nice inside and out.  
Today I am swimming into the beach with some women.  Apparently they are swimmers after my own heart...swim, float, chat...and finally make it to shore.  We will be accompanies by dinghies so that the local fishermen don't mow us down.  The afternoon activities consist of Bocche (beach rules) and Mexican train.  We sometimes play Bocche but I am best at sitting under the palapa drinking beer!!  Maybe that is my talent!!
Another magnificent day has come...calm waters, blue skies and a gentle breeze to keep the bugs at bay.....

Tenacatita Bay

Time Flies in Barra de Navidad

February 5, 2014

We are still in Barra and will leave either Friday or Saturday for Tenacatita.
For the most our stay in Barra de Navidad has been benign.  I have played bridge, shopped, ate out, and generally have been spending a relaxing time here.   Bob has not had to make any major overhauls so he too has relaxed.
BUT, we did have a unique experience on Monday.  There we were at the Sands Hotel about to disembark from the dinghy...how easy that sounds!! Usually I crawl off the dinghy onto this very rough piece of concrete, swearing silently or not so silently.   Any other person would just kind of step up and jump, but for some reason I can't.  But on Monday, Bob turns off the engine and then says in a very quiet voice "Deanna get off the boat as quickly as you can."  He then throws the dog from the dinghy onto the concrete step.  Already I am freaked out.  "What is going on?"  Bob repeats his directive and I begin to crawl onto the jetty (for lack of a better word) but the dinghy moves away from the jetty and somehow I fall backward into the dinghy...into our bags of garbage!  Oh yeah.  Now Bob is hoisting me up as I am immobile...think of turtle on its back.  Once more my hero comes to my rescue.  When I am on the jetty he tells me that there is a snake in the dinghy.  Remember the Fat Broad character in BC and her aversion to snakes...that is me!   Apparently the snake had wound itself around the key to the engine and when Bob tried to remove the key (kill switch) it would not come out...so he looks and sees the snake.  Bob of course knows that I have a snake phobia so he just tried to get me out of the boat.  When I am on land, Bob knocks the snake off the engine with an oar.  Then the snake tries to climb into our friends' dinghy but falls off and then tries to climb a wall but falls off.  About a half hour later I see a guy with a machete moving along the wall around the pool, hacking away...later he is cleaning up leaves ...I presume someone saw said snake and they sent the gardener to go on a 'snake-seeking expedition".
Oh yes and I had an audience when I did my backward flip into the dinghy...they were wondering about my modus operendi?? of getting out of the dinghy.
So how did we manage our own dinghy snake...we think that it crawled into our dinghy when we were having lunch on Sunday.  The dinghy was on shore next to a fence that had lots of tropical vegetation and I suppose the snake thought our dinghy would make a good home.  That means that Bob took the snake on 2 outings on Monday but the snake remained in the bilge of the boat.  Perhaps the longer trip to shore annoyed it and it surface so to speak.
Now Bob has another job to add to his chores:  cleaner up of barf, etc and snake removal from dinghy.
 Today we went shopping in Melaque to stock up for our 2 week or so stint in Tenacatita.
Tomorrow the water taxi will deliver the important provisions..beer and water.
This year we have had an annoying experience with the ATM in Barra...they will not recognize our Canadian and yet in Melaque there is no problem accessing our accounts. 
Sorry no photos of our snake .....nor of me thank goodness.
Next blog will be from Tenacatita.