January 10, 2012

Anchored agin in Tenacatita-just about 150 miles south of Puerto Vallarta and 18 miles north of Barra de Navidad. We came over here last Friday for just a few days but found that we loved the clean water, abundance of fish and activities here so much we stayed. On Friday nights all the cruisers get in their dinghies and raft together for a potluck. It is fun to meet other boaters and share stories of the cruising life. At 1:30 pm everyday some of the gals (me included) swim to shore about 500 yards or more and then go for a walk down the beach to the hotel which is about a half mile away. There is a turtle egg nesting site where the locals collect the eggs and rebury them and place dates for the approximate hatching date. There are several nests that are scheduled to hatch this week. The locals watch and wait and then in the night release the baby turtles into the sea. I am hoping to stay here to go and see this process. Last year in Barra we saw some turtle eggs hatch but did not get to see them released.

Another activity that happens after the daily swim to shore and the walk is that the cruisers get together on the beach to play Bocci-Ball. There is a playapa on the beach with great food and cold beers. The weather here has been great. It cools off to about 62-65 at night and then gets up to about 85 during the day-great sleeping weather. We will head back to Barra to restock and then come back here for a few days until we head south. Jim has been working on the solar charge controller and solar panel wiring as it seems they are not charging our batteries as well as last year. This is a great place to get things done and still have time to enjoy the anchorage.

We enjoyed having Lucy and Anna and her family on board. Lucy was a life saver when Jim was so sick. She and I sailed the entire way across the Sea of Cortez-a total of 320 miles from Cabo to Barra. Jim would come up to check and reset the sails if we needed it but other than that it was her and I on the night watches and sailing the boat for 60 hours. We did sail for 70% of the time for this crossing. Anna, Mike and boys came on Christmas Day and stayed 9 days. They were with us for 5 days on the boat and then 4 days at the Grand Bay Hotel. What fun to have them with us for a little while. Now when we talk to them about what we are doing they know first-hand what it is like. The Grand Bay Hotel is a 5-star hotel so it was great to pool it for a few days. I think that they have a better understanding of Mexico and now know why we love it so much here. More to come…..