June 19-21, 2013,  Acapulco

Anchored in Puerto Marquez.  This is a beautiful harbor, fitting all the pictures of sailing in a tropical paradise.  Deep water surrounded by tall cliffs.  Thick forests with colorful blossoms on the trees.  The sound of birds.  Only a few other boats.   The water is wonderfully warm and we dive off the boat for a swim several times a day.  The nasty weather from the night before seems to have blown itself out.  If it weren’t for the threat of hurricanes I could happily stay here for a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately it is not to be.  We give ourselves a day to sleep and straighten up the mess of discarded clothes and jumbled cruising guides and charts and another day to have a beer on the beach, investigate the town and check email and then we are off. 

We head across the bay to Acapulco itself.  This is truly an amazing natural harbor.  A narrow entrance between rocky cliffs opens into a wide deep harbor with green hills running down into the bay.  There is a line of hotels along the beach and houses climb  the hillsides.  It reminds me a lot of San Francisco.  I keep imaging Spanish galleons sailing in and dropping anchor after the long trip around the horn and up the coast.  Our goal is the fuel dock at the Acapulco yacht club.   Perhaps because it is a yacht club and not a marina, communication is less successful than usual but eventually we find the dock and tie up.  Then, before we are allowed to buy gas, we have to check in with the office and get a guest pass.    Tying up is interesting.  There are no cleats on the docks.  Instead the dock lines are attached to the dock with chains and tossed to the boat.  They are not very long and very frayed on the ends and there are only 3, 2 for the bow and one at the stern.  Actually, most of the boats are in stern first, so that gives them 2 for the stern.  They tie the bow to the dock on one side and to the boat next to them on the other side. 

As soon as we are tied up we grab a quick sandwich and head ashore to the pool.  This is the life.  We settle in lounge chairs and are provided with cushions, an umbrella, towels, menus.  There are not many people here but everyone is very nice and eager to know where we are from.  Upstairs in the main building we discover hot showers and a sauna complete with large fluffy towels.  Just past the main gate there is a very complete ships chandlery.  There is a subtle but noticeable difference between being in a marina and being at a yacht club.  As much as we tout the vagabond life, we also love the life of luxury.

In the evening we walk across town to see the famous cliff divers.  There is an official viewing station right next to the cliff but most of the locals are spread out along the cliff road.  There are hundreds of people out enjoying the evening.  Street vendors work the crowd.  Families pose for photos.  Lovers snuggle.  Performances are at 7:30, 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30.  We watch the 8:30 show from the road and then,  since this is a once in a lifetime trip for us, we pay our money and follow the steps down the cliff for the 9:30 show.  We are just a few yards from the pool that the divers will enter.  It is an amazingly small area to hit, surrounded by rocks on all sides.  The water swirls and rushes in and out.   4 or 5 young boys in swimsuits push through the crowd and climb down the cliff into the water and start jumping and diving and playing in the water.  Then the divers themselves appear.  They come down the steps through the crowd, over the railing and into the water.  It is dark now and spotlights come on, illuminating the cliffside and the pool of water.They are so young, teenagers, with very strong, well muscled bodies.  Soon we seem them on the other side of the pool, climbing up out of the water and onto the sheer face of the cliff.  Suddenly they are swarming right up the cliff like monkeys.  Several of the very young ones are right with them.  Then the first one dives off the face of the cliff into the swirling water below.  One by one, they climb higher and higher and dive down, sometimes in pairs, mostly on their own.  Finally there is only one left, at the very top.  There is a small shrine there and we can see him turn and say a prayer.  There is a long period of anticipation while he works the crowd and then he is off is a beautiful swan dive and the performance is over.

Just as the last dive is complete, it starts to rain.  Gently at first but by the time we get back up to the top and into a taxi it is pouring.  We left the hatches open on the boat and by the time we walk from the gate to the boat we are soaked, the rug is soaked and worst of all, the bed is soaked and rain is dribbling in through the portholes.   Luckily we had put the computers away before we left.  We close the hatches and portholes, which now makes it really hot.  One person can sleep on the dry half of the bed, while the other half is layered with towels.  I get to sleep on the settee.  It pours for most of the night but by the morning it is clear and beautiful. 

When we emerge we discover and unforeseen problem.  The cement docks do not float and the tide has dropped so low that our rail is almost under the dock and the side has been dreadfully scrapped.  Luckily, we have passed the low and it is on its way back up.  Beautiful as it is here, we cannot afford another night.  We treat ourselves to a cappuccino at the restaurant, check the weather and check out with the port captain.  The weather system offshore is gaining strength although it is heading northwest so we are going to go back across the bay to Puerto Marques and anchor until it looks safe to head north