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.
Today we are on the move again. We traveled 9 miles to anchor off Isla Grande where we will spend only a few nights before continuing our journey north. We had a few hiccups as we started to get underway. The anchor chain and snubber line were covered with a thick growth of algae which I brushed off much of as it was slowly brought to the deck but the worst problem was that the GPS would not light up. Bill spend some time trying to get one of the spares to talk to the radar and nav computer. Without much luck there he decided to unplug the old boat GPS, clean off the contacts and plug it back in…wa-la it worked. The passage was in very calm seas and no wind, but we are now into the calm season here and so should have light-to-no winds the rest of our trip to Banderas Bay. No internet here so it is a good thing that Bill spent the last 5 days making use of an internet café in Zihuatanejo.
Last evening Bill and I went ashore to find a nice meal To celebrate Thanksgiving.
We enjoyed a two-course dinner for the occasion. Starting our with chili rellenos that were very nice we both had a second course of chicken. The restaurant gave us a desert of fried ice cream.
Bill also took his little computer and found an internet café where he connected it to the internet to download his many mails and to let the folks at UNISYS know that for at least a few days we would have internet access. The plan is to go ashore each evening until we leave and at least check his mail.
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