We have not had that may injuries this trip.  The usual scrapes that often take a long time to heal if they are on the feet, as they often are.  Sue even had to take antibiotics for a toe issue that got quite infected.  Josh on the other had did get stung by a ray not once but twice.  These stings are very painful as the tail of the ray has a barbed hook that jabs you if you happen to step on them.  The word at the beach is “shuffle your feet”!  The remedy for a ray sting is get hot water – VERY hot water , on the wound right away and keep it there for as long as you can stand.  The picture shows Josh getting the hot water treatment but by now the beers that you get in sympathy have numbed the pain.

Josh with his foot in a buck of hot water.

We have had the odd bit of crazy weather in Mexico but the storm in La Manzanilla tops them all.   Water has been warmer than usual and the ITC zone has been spinning disturbances off for the last month.  The latest, moved through our area while we were visiting La Manzanilla and it was quite a light show.  I was hoping that the steel boat anchored close to us would draw any lightening strike first!   The local cell tower was close as well so I suppose that would get hit first.  It took a couple of hours for the front to move through and though the rainfall was less than when we were in Melaque the electricity was astounding.  I have never seen the like of this in my life.

We are in the middle of the sunny Mexican holiday season where it never rains, right?  Well we had a couple days of cloudy wet weather but one day was a full on tropical downpour .  Streets turned to mud, the Melaque lagoon burst and the beaches were deserted.  I took a quick video from the boat.

Melaque 2015

Rob and my sister, Laurie have a house in Melaque, so this  was our next stop for a week or two while we catch up with family.  Brother Peter and his wife Heather travelled south from Calgary which was great fun.   The Bay gives you great protection from the wind but swell has been known to challenge even the best at dinghy landing.

The point that protects Melaque Bay

Adesso anchoring infant of Melaque.

We were lucky this year with mostly easy landings though when the Tohatsu outboard was being repaired  we got wet a number of times- mostly at night when the swells were hard to see.

Always lots of room on the jeep

Rob took us on a number of Jeep adventures, travelling into town was a regular occurrence with the horn always bringing smiles to kids faces.  Of course a little back-roading took us into agriculture area behind the town with proved to be enlightening though we always seemed to be covered in mud!  Rob found this Veep is the US, a 1951 Jeep body that was put on a VW beetle under carriage that turns heads where ever it goes.

Josh and Rob catching more fish

Rob Josh and Peter were always game to fish, they had some success.  Here is a pic of Josh with another Durado , we have bee eating well from the sea!

The week with family went quickly with trips to La Manzanilla, Barra de Navidad, Costacomante, the local Melanie tienge (street market), beers at Alexe’s on the beach and …….   It was so fun to have most of the Bannister together for a week but alas all good things come to pass.  We have truly enjoyed getting to know this town and area.

Mayors raft up overflows on to SV Aussi Rules

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.

Josh riding a knee high peeler.

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.

Sue riding a wave with Adesso in the background.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0bUT2IxEZk&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share

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.

Josh talking to Fish.

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!

Dorado in hand!

Laurie in their town car, a VW jeep that is the envy of the town!

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.

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!