Isla Grande to Maruata-3/1/11

Caleta de Campos anchorage

Pemex Prince II passing us by

Sunset under sail

Jan tugboating Cuervo into Las Hadas

We've started back north. We anchored at Isla Grande for one night, and on 3/2, it was off to Caleta de Campos.

We made it up the coast to Caleta de Campos just before sunset, and at dark two fishermen came and said we needed to move our boat so our chain didn't wrap around a rock or their fishing nets, and lead us into the darkness, but we managed.

Off to Behia de Maruata. A beach with heavy surf. We arrived and dropped the hook just before about 4:00 p.m. and rocked and rolled so bad that a couple of hours after we anchored we decided to pull up the hook and head out, but less than an hour later our diesel quit, so it was back to the crappy anchorage. Dave worked on the motor the next day so we could get the heck out of there. We ended up leaving at 7:00 a.m. and about an hour later the diesel quit again, but instead of going back to Maruata, we sailed day and night until we made it to Manzanillo Bay commercial shipping lanes, and then the wind just stopped. Dave and I dropped the sails and threw the Porta-bote together, put on the outboard motor, and within 15 minutes Jan was tugboating Cuervo into our next anchorage about 7 miles away. Ahhhh, we made it and Dave got everything fixed so we were ready to leave the following week from Las Hadas.

Marina Ixtapa

Playa Escolleras sunset outside of Marina Ixtapa-Favorite beach

Iguana on rocks in estuary

Jan on bicycle trail in Ixtapa

Channel entrance to Marina Ixtapa

Cuervo docked at Marina Ixtapa

Dave on bicycle trail in Ixtapa

Playa Escolleras-Favorite Beach in Mexico

We pulled into Marina Ixtapa for a few days to change Cuervo's oil, give her a bath, and just have fun.

We celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary by riding bikes on a great bike path to Playa Linda, had a nice lunch of Laura (parrot) fish, then back to the marina for a siesta, then a dinghy ride through the estuary, and then a walk on Playa Escolleras (our favorite beach in Mexico), an all around great day!

Playa Escolleras is the coolest beach ever, with surf from every direction, and great sunsets.

We'll be leaving Ixtapa soon and heading north. Wow, what an awesome first year we've had!

Zihuatanejo-our final destination south

Mexican Dancers in Zihuatanejo Square

Mexican Dancer in Zihuatanejo Square

Jan and the bronze statue guy

Bronze statue guy

Zihuatanejo streets

Coastline to Zihuatanejo

After a great couple of days at Isla Grande, we made it to Zihuatanejo.

Zihuatanejo is a nice clean town, but gets a bit stinky at night. Had some nice walks around town, and good food on the beach. We hung out with Jerry and Loren/SOMF for a few days, and then we split up, with them heading down to El Salvador and us heading back north.

Isla Grande

Jerry and Loren/SOMF looking nome-like at Lili Cipriani

SOMF setting their hook at Isla Grande

Dinner after closing at Lili Cipriani

Our meal at Lili Cipriani

Well, 35 hours later, here we are.

After about 24 hours of constant motoring, we hit heavy commercial shipping, they seemed to be everywhere, but we managed to get around everything just fine. Cuervo was leading the way, and Dave did an awesome job communicating with SOMF as to what was ahead of them.

On my watch, during a full moon on my brother Gerry's birthday on 2/17, I scattered some of his ashes in the ocean. It was pretty emotional, as it always is.

Dave and I had a couple of mishaps during our passage. The first one was that we needed to add deisel while underway at 2:00 a.m. and we spilled about a litre or so on deck and in the cockpit, but we got it all cleaned up. And, about 8 hours after that, we had our engine overheat from the raw water strainer clogging with jellyfish, which messed up the raw water pump. So we told SOMF that we needed a half hour to change things out. We raised our sails, let the auto pilot go and we went to work. Within a half hour we were up and running again.

Lots of humpback whales along the way, and they stayed clear of us and we stayed clear of them. We also came across a long-line, and went about a half mile out of our way, until we saw the pange fisherman and they waved us over the line, and all was well again.

Both of us sleep deprived, we made it to our anchorage after only 35 hours.

Las Hadas and Manzanillo

Dave at cento Manzanillo Market

Manzanillo Centro Market

Manzanillo City Hall

Sailfish sculpture in Manzanillo Square

Walkway to Paradise Restaurant in Las Hadas

Las Hadas Resort from Dolphin Cove Inn

Heading down the coast to Las Hadas

Las Hadas anchorage from resort pool


We arrived on 2/8.

Along the way, we had a problem with the engine and needed to tugboat with the dinghy, but made our anchorage safe and sound.

We're anchored at Las Hadas Resort, and it's so picturesque. The hillside is a morish design, and looked great from a distance, but close-up it needed work.

Dave and I went sightseeing in Manzanillo on Sunday. We had a good time just walking around cento. The market was amazing, and the port was ok.

Loren and Jerry/SOMF anchored in the same area and came and found us. We had found a good pizza restaurant. For Valentine's Day the four of us went out for pizza and beer. On Monday, Jerry, Loren and I went and reprovisioned at Walmart in Manzanillo, while Dave stayed aboard while Hugo cleaned our bottoms. After fueling and doing laundry on Tuesday, Loren and I had a couple of hours at the pool, and if I might say, it was well deserved!

We decided to do the 36 hour passage to Isla Grande with SOMF, so we pulled up the hooks, and headed out for our first buddy-boat experience.

Barra de Navidad

Cuervo at anchor in Barra Lagoon

Dave in the Grand Bay's jungle garden

Sailing out of Tenacatita

We've been in Barra for about two weeks and are getting ready to leave for Manzanillo around 2/10 or so. We've been having a great time, but there's more to see down the road before heading back north by the end of March.

Banderas Bay/La Cruz

Lucy on watch

Dave, Jan and Justin in Sayulita

Dave at Justin's surf pad in Sayulita

Chacala hillside from anchor

La Cruz square

Well, we're here and getting settled in. We think we'll be here for a few weeks. Along the way, we saw humpback whales, sea turtles, dolphins and manta rays.