5/23-30/2013   Zihuatenago, Ixtapa

A lovely, deep bay filled with fishing boats.  Only 2 other cruising boats.  The obligatory palapa restaurants on shore.  There are several more beaches around the bay and pongas are racing back and forth taking families from one side to the other.  There is no dingy pier here, we will have to land  on the beach.  Landing in the surf is a problem with the motor so we will be rowing ashore while we are here.  The first time in is not very pretty.  We get swept sideways and I fall completely into the water.  Luckily a couple of fishermen come running over and help us pull up above the tide line.  It goes much smoother the rest of the time we are here.  Luckily all of our stuff is in waterproof bags and cases.

We check in with the port captain and set off to investigate the town.  It is charming.  Several blocks closest to the beach have been fixed up with a wide arcade along the front of the shops and brick patterned streets.  The rest of the town spreads back up into the hills.  We are far enough south and late enough in the season that there are few American tourists around.  It is obviously a beach resort but for the Mexicans.  We have drinks on the beach and enjoy paradise.

We only intend to stay here long enough to catch our breath and get gas and groceries before we keep going.  But the fuel dock is not here, it is in Ixtapa, 10 miles up the coast.  Once again the familiar layout of the traditional village separated from the marina and high rise hotels.  We spend a last afternoon exploring the estuary; fishing boats, egrets, herons and crocodiles.  The next day we are off.  Again the marina entrance is a narrow, shallow channel beset by waves and tides, closed is rough weather.  A quick sail up the coast and we are at the entrance.  I call the port captain to report our arrival and ask for permission to enter only to be told that the channel is closed until 7pm and the marina is out to lunch until 4pm. 

So here we are with 6 hours to kill.  We could go back and anchor again.  We could motor around in circles.  We could sail out and back.  There is a fairly nice wind.  Alan decides that this is the perfect chance to try out our new mizzen staysail.  He ordered it before we left and I brought it back to La Paz after Christmas.  We hoisted it once at the dock to see how it fit and since then he has bought all of the lines and shackles needed to hoist it but we have never actually tried it at sea.  It fits between the main sail and the mizzen and is intended to give extra speed when the wind is behind us.   It is stowed in the lazarette but since we have never used it, all kinds of stuff has been put on top of it.  So everything has to come out and then the sail, with great pulling and puffing, is finally free.  Now to put it up.  One corner ties to a cleat on the main mast, another hooks to a line on the mizzen boom.  An extra halyard has been added to hoist it up.  It is huge!  And very blue.    Time to turn off the engine and see what happens.  Interesting.  It gives us about 2 knots but it is impossible to hold a course.  It just pulls us up into the wind.  None of the other sails are up so Alan decided to hoist the main and see what happens.  This is better.  The two work together but it is still hard to hold a course.  the 6 hours pass quickly as we mess with various sail combinations.  Eventually we bring it back down, fold it and stow it.   While Alan was messing with the sail I took the chance to reorganize the lazarette and It actually goes back in much easier than it came out.

Back at the harbor entrance again, we reach the marina office and learn that the channel was closed not for weather but for dredging.  She says to stand by and she will let us know when the dredger has stopped for the day so that we can enter.  About 20 minutes later we get the all clear.  Here we go .  Alan’s days spent body surfing in Malibu pay off and we surf huge swells into the very narrow channel. 


Once inside it is hot and still with very few boats.  The office staff has left for the day but the security guard meets us at the dock and helps us tie up.  Water and power are turned on and the numbers logged.  He gives us keys and shows us the office and showers.  Once again a typical FONATUR marina, miles away from the local culture, surrounded by a golf course, condos and upscale restaurants.  We pop a warm beer and sit on the deck and watch a crocodile drift slowly past, only his eyes above the water.  And then the bugs start to bite.  We had been warned about no-see-ums in other places but not here.  I had stocked up on all kinds of inset repellants before leaving so I frantically dig out the bag and we slather ourselves with some of everything.  Unfortunately I have never figured out how screen the hatches without cutting off all of the air inside.  We spent an absolutely miserable night and got us the next morning to find ourselves covered with bites from head to toe.  Luckily they went away during the day and after a long shower we felt much better.  Unlike mosquito bites, the welts disappeared within a few hours.  Anyway, we are only here long enough to get gas and get the laundry done and then we are leaving.

Right.  When Alan went to check in with the office he discovered some unpleasant news.  First, because of the dredging we can only leave after 7 pm and before 7 am, or from 1-2 in the afternoon.  We are not really anxious to leave in the dark but we figure it is almost light by 7 in the morning.  If we cast off at 6:30 am we should clear the channel before they start work.   That means one more night of bugs.  However, more importantly, the weather does not look good.   And when we show up in the afternoon to check out we are told that we cannot leave.  Not only is this channel closed but all the ports all the way down to Huatulco are close due to a “weather system”. 

I spend the next 2 days in the office catching up with my writing.  Alan gets to know a Brazilian couple on one of the only other boats here and they trade info on weather software.  In the evening we walk about 10 minutes up the road to a shopping center where we can get reasonably priced tacos. Finally, after two more bug ridden nights, we are told that the system has passed and the ports are open.  Not only that but the dredging machines are not operating so we can leave any time.  We are ready and out of there  before noon.  Alan had wanted to be south of 10 degrees (somewhere close to Costa Rica) by June first and it is now May 30.  The longer it takes the more danger there is of hurricanes.