The warmly cool, clear, ringing, perfumed, overflowing, redundant days, were as crystal goblets of Persian sherbet, heaped up – flaked up, with rose-water snow. — Herman Melville
It was almost surreal to pull away from our “B” dock spot at the marina. We were ready, though, and there was much of Pacific Mexico to explore. We waited patiently for a weather window to round the haven of Cabo Corrientes and savored the chance to sail again.
Yelapa is a sleepy village in Jalisco, Mexico, with no real accessible roads, so folks arrive via boats. The village lies in the southernmost cove of the world’s seventh largest bay, Bahia de Banderas (Bay of the Flags). They are known for their cream pies – the women ply the beach with the whole pie balancing on their heads! Raicilla, the local moonshine, is made here and there are a handful of expats that make this ‘back in time’ village their home. We anchored out for just one night, but took a sunset walk through the village and slept happily on a mooring, getting once again familiar with the sounds of the popping shrimp, lapping waves and clanking in the rigging. It’s always a good idea to roll some (for a night or two) before setting out on a passage, to acclimatize.
We made this river crossing trying to find a trail to a waterfall. Ha, never found it!
Neat little village of Chamela. I left Marcus here on Allora to go to San Francisco for my cousin Brian’s memorial. Took a surf landing with crocodiles, and a 4 hour gnarly drive, but I made it back up to PV for my flight.
Brian’s memorial was all about his generosity of heart. He inspired just about everyone he met – and it seemed that almost all of them showed up to process his sudden absence. A true void. My heart is broken.
Go. Change the world.
Lea and Max. Couple extraordinaire. It’s always good to be in their company.My brother, Joe, and Rena. It was so good to see them.My Uncle Joe and Aunt Gerry, and my lovely mama. So sorry they all have to know that particular kind of loss.Some of the less sleepy among the group stayed up till the wee hours (relegated to one of the hotel rooms) – celebrating our beloved Brian with some meaningful laughter and love.Seattle, WA. Rhodes Scholar Interviewees!!! Thank you, Doug and Shelly for hosting Madison! (Proud from afar).
We spent a lovely Thanksgiving in Bahia Tenacatita with Bill and Jean on their Sundeer, “Pelican Express.” There were 8 of us and we enjoyed a Turkey with stuffing and my first ever (spicy) Bloody Mary! A great day – we even played the Metaphor game!
Pumpkin pie – my favorite!Mangrove lined estuary. We took Namo down here for a few miles, on our own.We think this little guy was a Cayman because it was so small??I provisioned in a nearby village (took a taxi there) and this shot was taken on the return ride.Marcus is actually a FIERCE competitor at Baci Ball!!!Wild rock on the beach at Tenacatita.Marcus gets out fishing whenever he possibly can! I always have to remind him that we have a FREEZER full already!!! But some cruisers talk about how they never catch fish, so quietly, I feel really lucky!We saw these black flags coming up to us from a distance and all we could think of was PIRATES! Turns out, they’re just the fishing flags which mark the long lines which we have to leave to windward.
My Birthday (yowza, 53!!!) – Ensenada Carrizal in the morning …
First drone flight in Mexico!Good morning birthday first tentative drone flight.This number seems preposterous!
… and Manzanillo at night!
Anchored near Las Hadas Resort in Manzanillo for my birthday evening.
Not much light left, but you can see the almost Greece like architecture.They sang a great Mexican song and presented a delicious flan for my b’day!(Thanks for the online research on restaurants, sis.)
Jueves (Thursday) Posole night in Zihua.Excellent fish market each early am. There was a woman serving the fishermen breakfast, as she had been for 30 years … and her mother and grandmother did the same job before her.
Scarily good hamburguesas served up here!A local woman taught a yoga class just off the beach and I walked the malecon most mornings, so my Garmin watch stats were up in Zihua!Patrick serenaded us on his bagpipes for this sunset. Everyone in the anchorage applauded and hoped he’d make it a routine, but later he explained that he was only trying to impress a girl he’d met and brought on the boat!
This multipurpose ‘field’ is right in the middle of the town plaza, so everything from impromptu soccer and basketball games to dance to rehearsals happen here.
The core of the paper mache Christmas decorations – I liked them as balloons!Plenty of Poinsettias to go around!Zihuatanejo decorated for the holiday.Even the Mexican fish like their colors!Gotta love Elote!Yeah, that pool WAS all that we’d been hearing about! Worth a quick pit stop into Acapulco.
The La Quebrada Divers of Acapulco!
The divers leap from cliffs 136 feet above the crashing Pacific, landing in an 11 feet deep inlet. “Timing is the key. Three seconds it takes to arrive at the sea. Only five seconds of high waves tide – a two second span for any error.”
We had to wait our turn behind a line of locals who wanted to get their pic on these ponies. There were a few of these booths set up for Christmas in Acapulco. As my childhood friend, Jeff said, ‘Glad to see we weren’t perpetuating any stereotypes.’
We had to wait our turn behind a line of locals who wanted to get their pic on these ponies. There were a few of these booths set up for Christmas in Acapulco.
A boat needs to be hauled out every 1-2 years for the hull to be painted, so we researched the process, bargained hard for our paint, and headed over to La Cruz Shipyard for the 4 day process. Allora would be lifted out of the water for the first time since she splashed in Oakland in early June, 2015.
Getting a lift.Power wash.Palm trees aplenty.Rigging a return line in the fuel system.6 guys worked for 4 long days and the paint job was $400. They were attentive and generous with us lingering around for the whole thing.I was told that if OSHA came for a visit, they’d shut the whole yard down. These guys are exposed to some icky stuff 🙁That’s a lot of sanding.Our fin keel with a 3500lb. bulb
Our land galley.The scale of a land home is so GRAND!
We woke up at 3:00am and knew within 10 minutes that we needed help and that it was probably a kidney stone (Marcus’ first and hopefully last). Not an easy feat to find a cab in a sleepy Mexican village in the middle of the night. Once secured, we bumped and raced along jerkily and the poor young driver had to listen to Marcus’ endless loop of F-word wailing.
Marcus’ Too Small Slipper (World) Hospital Tour.Another stellar, yet expensive, private hospital visit for this Captain.Waterline taped off.
