We dropped the hook yesterday morning in the protected NW corner of this large bay. We left Tenacatita about 8 pm the previous evening hoping to catch the offshore night breeze, but instead we experienced the strong NW winds that tend to predominate during the afternoons along this coast. Lanikai got a good tack to the west for several hours before we had to tack north to avoid a ship that was getting too near for our comfort. The seas built, but not so much as our afternoon passage to Tenacatita, and the wind was really a nice 20 – just too bad it was coming right on our nose. We needed to make several more tacks but ended nearing Chamela before sunrise so we slowed down to wait for daylight before entering the bay. Current plan is to stay here where the water is clear in hopes of finding some good snorkel spots and hoping for a nice weather window, before we take off to round Cabo Corrientes into Banderas bay and Puerto Vallarta. Yesterday we spent the day resting and reading, with an early to bed last evening to make up for the prior night of “too rough to sleep”.
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.
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