The Big Day!

One night somewhere between Punta Ipala and Tenacatita we invited our good friends Lou and Lydia over to our boat for dinner; that’s not anything unusual because often while anchored out we hop into our dinghy and either go to their boat or them to ours to enjoy dinner together and maybe a game of Mexican train dominoes. Anyway…that night we told them we had an announcement. Our announcement was that we had decided not to wait until we got to the Cook Islands to get married (that is still probably 2 years away) we were going to get married in Manzanillo. We celebrated and soon Lydia and I were in full planning mode; to find the perfect dress for the perfect wedding. Which is exactly what it was!
We anchored outside of Las Hadas Hotel (of the movie "10" fame) on Sunday, March 9 and began making inquiries about someone to marry us, by Monday afternoon I had it all arranged, even found a local bakery for the cake and flowers as well. Lou and Lydia had graciously offered the use of the house on the beach in Santiago. They had arranged months ago to rent this beautiful beach house, where they were having their kids join them there for the week. Two birthday parties were planned for that week so we just tacked on the wedding to the week's festivities. Karlene came down on Tuesday; we had booked her a room at the hotel. Trish came down as well. Everything turned out wonderful. Everyone was given a little ceramic cup tied with a turquoise colored ribbon to wear around their necks for tequila shots; we all had heaps of fun. A special thank you to all our friends and family that helped make our day such a glorious one, one I will always remember.

After Yelapa

Once we rounded Cabo Corrientes we continued south to many beautful anchorages and great beaches; Chamela, Playa Perula,Tenacatita, Barra de Navidad, Melaque, Santiago and then Manzanillo.
In Chamela Al bought another pair, of what I call, souvenir shoes. He usually forgets his sandals on the boat when we dinghy to shore; hence he's got a few pair of interesting shoes. In Tenacatita we did what is referred to by other cruisers as the "Jungle River Dinghy Ride. It takes about 3 hrs round trip through mangroves, canopied by flowering vines and 15' aerial roots that dangle into the water. I took heaps of pics of colorful birds and iguanas but never did spot any crocodiles. Before returning we stopped at the Beach for some provisioning and lunch. At Tenacatita landing the dinghy was interesting but not nearly as much as launching. During a dinghy raft up a few folks, even seasoned cruisers, told harrowing tales of getting thrown out of their dinks. I guess I got off esy with just breaking my glasses and having my ring finger turn bright purple. Archie and Bev of s/v Sea-tacean are the unofficial Mayor and mayoress (?) of Tenacatita, whenever landing is advisable they conduct a walks, boucle ball on the beach, beading at the palapa and the weekly raft up. I'd been eyeing Lydia's beautiful bracelet made by Bev and I was able to have Bev make me one as well. I wore it on our special day in Santiago but that's for another blog. Here's some photos.

Catching Up With 2008

Feb 8 & 9, 2008 The first stop after Mazatlan was Isla Isabella. We anchored at the a spot near a rock called “Las Monas” (mannequins). The small island, 281 ft. volcanic peak, less than a mile long, is a national wildlife reserve. Our guidebook says Isla Isabella was frequented by Jacques Cousteau 30 years ago to film the rare frigate bird nests. All over the island in shrubs and low trees are nests of hundreds of frigate nests, as well as the amazing looking blue footed and yellow footed boobies. I think I’ve even captured, in one of my photos a male frigate puffing out his huge red neck, strutting his stuff, so to speak. There were great tide pools formed by the lava flow of the volcanic peak. Enjoy the photos, they say it better than I can. Here is the first place we met the folks on “Chemistry”, Sean, Malavika and Denali. As is the cruiser tradition we enjoyed happy hour together and look forward to cruising with them for a bit.

Feb. 10. San Blas, in Nayarit state is the first place that feels like the tropics. We’re guided in by Norm (more about Norm later), into the bird estuary anchorage. Along the shore there are many fishing pangas, colorful buildings and palm trees with a backdrop of mountain ranges off in the distance. Over dinner (a group of nine) Norm weaves stories of the Friar Sierra sailing from San Blas to establish the missions in Baja and up and down the California coast, intermittently we hear many fishing stories and local info.
Norm & Jan who started out in New York came down to San Blas in the 60’s and stayed. We’ve come across a good many expats that have made Mexico their home. Anyway…Jan is a watercolorist who has done a beautiful series of pieces of the Huichol people. Norm is a semi-retired sport fishing captain.
Norm was also our culinary guide to San Blas as well, we enjoyed the best meals at a different local every night, winding up in the town plaza, the local gathering place. One night Denali played us some beautiful music on an instrument I can’t remember the name of right now. Anyway, here’s a photo.

After San Blas we cruised into the marina in La Cruz on Feb 14. La Cruz is a small town which is a 45 minute, hair raising, bus ride to Puerto Vallarta. We stayed for nearly a week only getting into town a couple of times. Next we stopped over night in Yelapa. The old phrase “ a palapa is Yelapa is better than a condo in Redondo” is alive and well here. Yelapa steeped in a tie-dyed Reike massaged aura, is hill side palapa community of dogs, horse, chickens and rasta-haired folks. It’s got a great little beach with water taxi access to Puerto Vallarta, actually by water is the only was to get there. There’s a few places to stay and we enjoyed a great dinner served by a tanned charming Frenchman. For rental info: www.casayelapa.com or it’s www.casasyelapa.com