We are now anchored safely in Tenacatita, a very protected spot along this coast of Mexico. We left Bahia de Santiago just after sun-up yesterday morning and had a nice offshore breeze to send us on our way. The winds were light until almost noon and we were only 10 miles from our destination. The winds then really piped up from the NW right on our nose. They increased thru-out the afternoon reaching 30 mph by 3PM and the seas built too, giving us big waves. Lanikai’s deck got thoroughly washed with the big waves coming onboard, as we now tacked our way up the coast arriving at the outside of the bay just after sunset. We anchored in the dark, but with the full moon and with waypoints from prior visits to the bay, it was no problem. Today we are both sore and tired from the passage and will probably stay here a few days before moving on.
Yesterday afternoon we swam ashore to find some cold cervezas, only to discover that all the little places that looked to be restaurants from the boat were closed. We did find one place that had some beer and a few other items from their menu so we did get our beer and a nice plate of ceviche. We swam back to the boat in rather rough water due to the light wind that had been blowing from off shore most of the afternoon. It was still quite calm on Lanikai as she had her nose pointed into the light swell but we decided to move on in the morning to Tenacatita.
19 06.570N, 104 21.208W
We just dropped the hook in the north east corner of Bahia de Santiago just north of Manzanillo. This is a very calm spot probably the most calm that we have seen since leaving Costa Rica last year. It was not even this calm in the marina Chahué. This last passage was exactly 120 nautical miles and mostly a nice calm passage. When the waves wanted to roll us, most of the time the sail was full and inhibited the rolls.
This afternoon and yesterday afternoon we swam to shore and enjoyed some cold beers and ceviche. We only ordered one order of the ceviche and thankfully so as the plate was a big dinner plate full, almost too much for the two of us, but it was so yummy that we ate it all anyhow. The surf on the shore was quite large and although it broke in quite shallow water, it was more than we wanted to bring our dinghy thru but Lanikai was anchored close enough to shore so the swim in was possible. It actually did not take too long at all to make the crossing. We both wore our fins in and carried a dry sack with our dry shirts and glasses. It made for a very pleasant few hours off the boat as this proved to be a quite rolly anchorage at times.
We just dropped the hook in this nice little anchorage… a bit rolly but then all the anchorages along this coast are. We left the anchorage at Isla Grande late yesterday afternoon and made the overnight hop further north along the Mexican coast, although this leg was mostly west. We had almost flat seas with little wind until the middle of the night when the offshore breeze picked up and we got a nice push, although not enough wind to truly sail. The current was against us so it was a slow although pleasant passage. The moon set about midnight and the stars were spectacular although as we move north the nights are cooler and we need sweaters over our shorts and T-shirts to be comfortable. Bill even used a lap blanket over his legs for the just before sun-up time. We did enjoy lots of dolphins that visited the boat, some playfully jumping out of the water, others only lifting their heads out of the water or flapping their tails. The last two hours of the trip we were almost constantly surrounded by them as we passed thru pod after pod of the friendly animals.
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