Make Me Laugh Again

Tenacatita, April 1, Thursday

We started out with breakfast then got the dinghy down and went over to see if we could help Chris with his radar and chart plotter (same model as ours). We talked for a while, then took a stab at the radar, unsuccessful. Oh well, then we came back to our boat and took naps. This retired life and schedule avoidance is great!

When we woke up and decided it was calm enough to go ashore, Chris came by with his dogs in his dinghy we talked for a bit, then he went ashore and we followed. We had a difficult landing (read VERY wet!) I almost lost my glasses and hat, and anyway we got ashore and walked to a resort to get a beer. Of course you had to be a guest with a wrist band to get a beer, and we were not guest so no beer. But the staff thought we needed one and gave us a couple of beers. We figured that was worth a tip, so we checked our finances, the smallest bill we had was a 500 peso note, (about $25 US). We asked for change and when the waitress came back with 2 200 peso notes and a 100 peso note, we gave her the 100 peso note. Shortly after that she brought back two more beers. We were happy. Then we walked back to the dinghy noting the size of the waves were bigger than they had been.

As we approached our dinghy we saw Chris was still there and he was taking to another couple, we got into the conversation, and chatted for awhile then they went for a walk and Chris helped get us back out.

We got back to our boat and put the dinghy back up planning to go for a swim. About that time the other couple came by and told us that Chris had some issues getting back out and basically they had to pull him and his dingy and dogs out. We invited them aboard for a beer, and then we talked for a while more. We talked about being retired, and I asked him what he was retired from, turns out he was a switchyard supervisor at San Onofre until about 2005. We had crossed paths a bunch. Steve and Denise Pepper. We talked for another hour or so. As you might imagine. Eventually they left and we started the generator to charge the batteries and clean the boat.

Cuastecomate, March 31, Wednesday

Well, the intention was to stay here two nights, but it was very rolly. We had breakfast did our bible reading then got the kayak out and went to shore, Renee’ looked for her glasses (did not find them) and then we went to the side of the bay and tried out our new face masks. They worked sort of ok, but the water was really too murky here to really see much. So, back in the kayak and to the beach and we had a beer. Renee’ got a couple of souvenirs and then back to the boat.

Barra de Navidad to Cuastecomate, March 30, Tuesday

We got up at almost 8 am, we plan to leave after the net this morning (9 am, channel 22). We will need to check out of the marina and get rid of our trash (the bins are all the way around on the far side of the marina from here). Then we will pull out and head up to Tenacatita (about 16 miles) or the “secret anchorage” Cuastecomate, about 6 miles. There is no rush to get to either location. If the weather is good, and not to big of waves, we will try for Cuastecomate, as there is very good snorkeling there. Two nights here would be the plan, and then two nights at Tenacatita, where we would pick up Elton Lee on Friday night, and then sail back Saturday morning to Barra de Navidad. We will see what we actually do.

We wound up talking to John Schulthess from S/V Baja Fog (a catamaran) for about an hour, then left and headed out to Cuastecomate. We sailed for a couple of hours and then took the sails down and motored in and dropped anchor (only about 6 miles). We had lunch and talked to a few people on the phone and then Renee’ went for a swim.

Good news the water was great! Bad news, she lost her hat and dove in to recover it. Good news, she got the hat, horrible news, she lost her sunglasses. These are not “just” sunglasses, they are tools that we need for daily operation on the ocean. It is important to protect your eyes when you are out in the sun all day every day, also we get reflected sunlight off the water again all day. So, these glasses are wrap around with wide temples to block the sun from the side, polarized, blue blocking anti glare and progressive lenses for distance at the top and reading at the bottom. In other words not cheap.

We called the place we got them and ordered another pair. Ouch!

Barra de Navidad, March 29, Monday

We got up around 8 am, made coffee and called the French baker. This is an incredible service! Within about 10 minutes of us calling him we had a knock on the hull as he was there with a very good supply of fresh baked goods. Renee’ had a quiche and I had an apple tart, we also got a baguette. All for a very reasonable price (170 pesos, or about $8.50 USD). At 9 am, I listened to the net and Renee’ took the laundry in. Plans for today include going into town and getting a haircut.

We walked for awhile, checked the map, and walked for awhile, then checked the GPS, and then walked for awhile (sometimes in semi circles), then asked someone and continued to walk for awhile. Then asked someone else and then we saw a paper/office store, we have been looking for one so we could get a better envelope to hold the boat documents, so we got that taken care of and then walked for awhile. Renee’ checked the GPS, and I crossed the street and looked down where we were headed, and found it! The Port Captain’s office is in a residential district nowhere near the water. In any case we got checked in and the port captain checked us out leaving on Monday after Easter, so we don’t have to go back! Then it was look for a place to get a haircut for both of us.

Mr. Google likes to take us on weird routs, this was a zig zag through a residential district and eventually (at least we were walking towards the water taxi and downtown) we found the shop. They were closed, but the window was open and when Renee’ asked she opened the shop and did a very good job on our hair and my beard. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch then grabbed the water taxi back to the boat.

After Naps, and relaxing for a bit, we changed into swim suits and washed the boat, boy was it filthy! That took about an hour and half, when we got done, it was time for Renee’ to go get the laundry and me to run the water maker. The water pressure here is the highest I have found in Mexico, good for washing the boat, not so good for the water maker, I have to throttle the supply quite a bit to keep the supply pressure on scale, it is almost high enough to run through the membrane with out the high pressure pump.
We ran the water maker from about 4:30 to 8:30, at about 30 gallons per hour, 120 gallons of water for a week.

We had company after dinner, Elton Lee from the church we went to on Sunday came over after his swim in the bay. He might join us for the sail back from Tenacatita next Saturday.

Barra de Navidad, March 28, Sunday

We got up on time (7 am) and had coffee and breakfast then got it together and called the water taxi to take us into town and so we could get to church. While waiting for the water taxi we met the French baker, he delivers fresh backed pastries to your boat in the morning! Guess what we are having tomorrow?

Renee’ plugged the address of the church into her phone and we started walking as we were talking to one of the other cruisers who was headed off to something else. After a few minutes walk she figured out that the 10 minute estimate for arrival was if you were driving a car, but we were walking and it would take 54 minutes from where we were to get there, so we got a cab instead!

The church is called Coastalegrae community church. There was 40+ people in church today. They said the numbers are down as many of the Canadians have gone home. This is an interesting church, it is a multi-denominational church with many different backgrounds. It was interesting to be in a church with a liturgy for the first time in ages, the entire congregation is made of ex-pats. Many of these people have dual citizenship and own property here in Mexico. They might be Canadian or US ex-pats but they all meet together in this church. After church we went to lunch with about 7 other people from the church. When we got to the restaurant, they said they come here often, and the menu we got was for breakfast. The orders were being given and Renee’ asked for a lunch menu, so she and I had lunch, we had several comments from the others “How did you get lunch?” I am ordering lunch next time etc. It was fun!

After lunch we were given a ride back into town by the pastor and his wife and then we walked around town for a bit, and did some shopping and had ice cream, while at the ice cream shop we met a couple who were also enjoying their ice cream. As it turned out, they have moved from Hawaii to Mexico to enjoy a change of culture, they run a YouTube channel (I have not checked it out yet, so I am not listing it here yet) and we talked about blogging and video channels and the difficulty, and amount of time it takes. Then back to the boat, changed our clothes and headed back to the pool.