6/27/2013 Puerto Marquez(Acapulco) to Zihuatanejo

6/27/2013  Puerto Marquez(Acapulco) to Zihuatanejo

Leaving today.   It looks like a great day; clear, scattered clouds, light wind.  I was up bright and early.  Since Alan was still asleep, I decided to wash down the decks and get everything ready to go.  Unbelievable!  There are still live bugs left from the swarm that invaded us 2 days ago.  It looks like their wings fall off and the little worm bodies are free to crawl.  Buckets of water later, I think I have gotten them all this time.  Most of them smashed, the rest washed overboard. 

The storm has passed.  There is a light wind, fairly large swells but nothing too bad.  We are out of the bay by 11 and there is finally enough wind to turn the engine off by 2:00.  We settle easily into our watch routine of 4 hours on and four hours off.  Typically the wind is not cooperating and we need to tack up the coast.  I have now gained enough skill and confidence to successfully make a couple of tacks by myself.  There are a lot of lines which all have to be handled at once and if it is not done exactly right the jib gets wrapped around the forestay.  If this happens, I need to secure all of the lines and crawl forward and try to unwrap it without getting flung overboard when the flapping sail is finally released.  (yes, we ALWAYS wear safety harness). 

We have had the usual puffy clouds over the mountains but it is fairly clear out to sea.  There is one large dark cloud ahead and to the right.  If it just stays there we should be OK, especially if we head offshore a little more.  By the time I get up for my midnight to 4am watch, that cloud has moved behind us but is also drifting out to sea.  There is lightning all around again.  I make sure our new battery cables are attached with the ends in the water.  There is an almost full moon, stars, clouds and lightning, all at once.  What crazy weather.  Lightning continues to build until it is all around us.  At least there is no rain yet.  I am really glad to turn over the watch to Alan when he shows up.  When I go back up on deck in the morning, he says that he turned on the engine and radar and managed to dodge all the storms.  I’m impressed.  The clouds gradually clear up during the day and we are joined by flocks of birds diving for fish.

We had expected to pass the harbor at Zihuatanejo in the morning and continue up the coast another 2 days to Manzanillo where we would make a quick stop for gas. However, because of the contrary winds, we had made almost no headway last night.  Now it looked like we would be getting to Zihuatanejo in the late afternoon.  We decided stop here for the night, get a good night’s sleep instead of dodging lightning storms all night and head out first thing in the morning.  We could also check the weather.  The bay is full of moorings, very shallow and open to south swells but we managed to find a spot that looked good and dropped the anchor just before sunset.  There were enormous dark clouds everywhere.  Lightning flashed, seemingly right over us and the rain came down in buckets.  I am really glad we stopped. 

Next morning the skies had cleared but a check of the NOAA weather site showed that there was yet another tropical storm heading right up the coast.  Looks like we will be here a few more days.  Since we have time to kill, I decide on a walk along the waterfront.   There is a charming even if crumbling walkway around the cliffs.  It eventually ends at several beachside restaurants and we turn inland and head up the steep hills lined with colorful hotels and condos.  From the boat we had spotted what looked like the ruins of a greek temple on the hillside so we decide to see if we can investigate.  We pass several barred gates which look like they are going in the right direction.  Eventually we come to an overgrown drive climbing almost straight up the side of the hill through the lush vegetation.  Up we go.  Around a final curve we are face to face with enormous black wrought iron gates topped with gold spikes.  No rust here.  Behind is an overgrown drive lined with broken statues leading to a lovely building with a greek portico in the front.  Reminds us a lot of the Gerry Villa in Malibu.  Suddenly we realize that there is a dog behind the fence and an old man.  He first tells us that it is private property and then offers to give us a guided tour for 100 pesos.  Eventually we decide against the tour.  as far as we can tell the building is empty and we barely understand his Spanish.  We wander around outside, peering over walls and through walls, taking pictures for a while and then head back down to the beach for a cold drink.  The waiter in the restaurant tells us that is is a museum called the Parthenon and it is free admission.  Back at the boat, a google search reveals that it was built by a drug lord/government official in the 70s and fell into ruin when he was thrown into jail.