Every Friday in the Blue Bay anchorage in Tenacatita the mayor organizes a dingy potluck with the boats in the anchorage. These are always interesting, fun and bring the already small cruising community closer. We have been in the area for three weeks and are beginning to understand how easy it would be to just be in the area for months! Supplies are close, beaches are beautiful, snorkelling is fantastic , every day there are a number of activities, surfing, Bochi on the beach, Mexican train in the palapa or ….. the days just drift by. This area is also the dividing line between those heading further south. A small group go as far a Zihuatanejo for Sailfest and the Guitar Festival then return, the rest head on to destinations further south. Zihuatanejo is usually a motor both ways at this time of year ( 400 kt miles in total ) and the temperatures pops up another 5 + degrees so with out AC or bigger fans Sue would definitely over heat! As a result we will be soon saying adios to a number of boats heading further south on bigger adventures. I can’t express how wonderful and open the people we meet cruising are – becoming friends in such short time only to find ourselves saying heart felt good -byes. The saying “ships passing in the night” has a whole new meaning for us on Adesso.
Monthly Archives: January 2015
More Repairs
Yes, all those projects I thought I would get to once we were cruising in the south, with time on our hands, have remained. Once in a while things do require attention. Recently we noticed our water makers production fall off and lucky for us Chris on SV Legacy went to Spectra Factory training and carried a few spare parts aboard. After a little testing we decided the problem was the feed pumps needed rebuilding and yes he happen to have two kits available. With the rebuild kits in hand I had to remove the pumps rebuild them and put them back. The removing and putting back being the hardest part of the job, hot ,sweaty ,upside down in a small space! Now we are making a full 15 gallons per hour of water so we don’t have to change our rich water use ways.
Then the dingy motor – just three years old was having starting and idling problems. Upon checking the oil was being diluted with gas – yikes. This turned out to be a small metal shard in the fuel jet preventing it from closing but took a morning on the beach learning all about Tohatsu repair on the run. Oh and of course an oil change.
Its that it – well not really – a few electronic communication issues, our Dripless Shaft Seal lost lock nuts and started to sink the boat, the head needs greasing and oiling and the bottom of the boat is in constant need of cleaning – barnacles and other tropical life seem to laugh at the bottom paint that is supposed to keep them off!
Throw in cleaning, eating , socializing, surfing, walking, snorkelling … there is not time for discretionary boat projects – yet!
Surfin!
Well Josh has made it past the learner stage and is now catching way more waves than this old guy! The wave a Tenacatia is not huge but on the larger sets there is a great right pealing into the beach. If you crouch low enough you can even get tubed!!!! We are all having a great time with Matt ( a San Diego local ) on sailing vessel Tipsea pulling nose rides and all sorts of tricks that only someone who has spent his youth on the beach could do. We have loosely called our surf group the Wolf Pack, when the surf is good you can hear the howling in the bay. Sue has joined us, catching her first ride, her smile was a mile wide.
More Fishing Stories!
As you might have surmised from earlier posts Josh is our fisherman and he can spend hours at it. Sue and I often wish he would take his High School as seriously as the fishing, he spends hours working on lures, even inventing his own designs and if he doesn’t catch fish, he is not a happy camper! He has even taken to feeding the fish in hopes that they might grow bigger, his latest pet is at least a couple of feet long, a Jack he names – Googies -that has come regularly for snacks. This Jack has been known to nibble on toes if left dangling in the water a well.
Here in Tenacatita Bay Josh has a couple of equally fanatical fisherman (surfers as well), Dave on Aussie Rules and Matt on Tipsea. Dave and Josh caught the Dorado below as the sun went down and it was pitch black by the time the fish was landed in the dinghy. From the smiles you can tell how happy they were!
Melaque
Melaque seems to be the best provisioning town in the area and the only one with a Bank! It is so great that Laurie (my sister) and Rob have made this town their winter home. She has all the inside info on where the best meat is, which grocery store to get veggies, what restaurants are good … They also have made a fantastic home base, a beautiful palapa over the upper floor where they live, with guest suites below. Oh, and a garden that we are told is a yearly challenge to keep under control. Rob also put his panga fishing boat in the water and has taken Josh on a few fishing trips, which is always a highlight from him.
Christmas in Barra de Navidad and Tenacatita Bay
We took advantage of a 5 day special to be on the dock in Barra de Navidad for Christmas. Here we: enjoyed a wonderful cruisers Xmas Potluck, hailed the French baker so we could enjoy decadent breakfast treats with our coffee, visited with Laurie and Rob who spoiled us in Melaque, re-provisioned, explored Barra, enjoyed the novelty of being on a dock where we got to enjoy all the Grand Bay Resort’s facilities. (included with moorage)
Next we drifted over to Tenacatita Bay where we went in a biathlon, organized a blind dingy race, made some wonderful new cruising friends, did the daily swim to shore for bochi ball, snorkeled in the Aquarium, watched the baby turtles make their first ocean entry, walked cobbled roads, socialized copiously, hid from hordes of nightly mosquitoes, drank coconut juice and ate fresh fish ….well as you can imagine… it hasn’t been easy, but we are managing!