Where the Beautiful People Hang

Our longest continuous time at sea so far (and hopefully going forward) is 5 days and 4 nights: about 560 nautical miles. Due to the high cost of clearing in, we decided to skip Guatemala. I told Tom that I think 3 nights in a row at sea are my max, the 4th night in a row at sea was tough.

The cruising guides say good things about both Bahia del Sol and Barillas Marina Club, but Barillas charges $100 less just to go there, so that made our decision easy. After 96 hours at sea, we barely made it to the pilot waypoint by the 4 pm cut off time. It’s early because it takes another hour to go the 7 miles or so up the estuary and there are no lights along the way.

We got tied up to our mooring and our “guests” arrived about 6 pm: the Port Captain, Immigration and Customs Officials and a military guy to do a boat inspection. They completed our paperwork efficiently and made us feel very welcome. Then we went ashore to check in to the marina, they too were wonderful. It was Thursday evening and Friday is one of the two days they go in to town so we signed up to go. It was Christmas Eve so the town was crazy! We’d been so out of touch with the holiday rush.

Barillas Marina Club is a private club that many wealthy people in El Salvador belong to: many arrive by private airplane on a nearby landing strip. They have tight security, a nice pool, 20 or 30 palapas near the pool and scattered over the neatly landscaped grounds – all with power and wifi. Twice a week, at no extra charge, their van takes you to Usulatan, a nearby town with a vast range of stores and services. The mooring prices are very economical and we liked it so much we stayed for a week!

While they have many, many moorings, only about 6 boats, including ours, were in the marina. Two were long term tenants without their owners present. One had been there for 6 months, one got in a week before we did and the other the day before we arrived. We met the three other couples on the van and became fast friends.

We had Christmas Eve cocktails and hors d’orves on the Santorini and made plans for a Christmas Day Turkey and Potluck Dinner. The next day Jack cooked the turkey on the BBQ and we chipped in for the rest of the dinner. We ate under one of the palapas.

It was so much fun to connect and create an instant Cruiser Family. Joanie and Jack have been cruising for 17 years and were on their way home to Canada to complete their circumnavigation. Dick and Nancy have been cruising for 14 years and were on their way to Z-town to complete theirs. Both couples were headed north. Don and Judy had been at Barillas for 6 months doing repairs on damage sustained in Tropical Storm Agatha earlier in the year. They fell in love with the place and decide to stay a while. They were just about ready to continue south, so we ended up leaving together to head to Nicaragua.

DO GO to Huatulco!

We arrived at Marina Chahue (chow-way) around 1:00 pm, it’s a short 25 miles from Puerto Angel. The charges were very reasonable, the marina staff was more than helpful and the people we met were great. It would be our final Port of Call in Mexico, and one of our favorite spots.

We walked to the Port Captain’s office to check in, it was a good walk but not too far. It was located one bay over. Bahia Huatulco (wah-tool-koh) is actually a series of 9 bays in a row, it’s a very pretty area.

The next day we unloaded our fold up bicycles and went into the town of La Crucecita to sniff around. What a charming town! It had an adorable square in the center of town, surrounded by shops, bars restaurants, hotels and coffee shops. People were very friendly. It is sort of a tourist town, in that cruise ships come in, but vendors don’t harass you like they do in Mazatlan and Z-town. We found the fruit and vegetable markets near the square and yet another AWESOME grilled pollo restaurant. Mexicans sure do chicken right, sorry Colonel.

There was a potluck get together on the dock on Friday Night, about 6 boat couples. It was so nice to get together with other cruisers again! One couple was actually in from Texas, boat sitting for the owners who’d gone to the US for the holidays. The host couple had actually been at the Marina for the last two years, so they weren’t cruising either (but they had been!). It was a lovely party and evening.

On Sunday, we biked into town to get items Tom needed from the hardware store. We finally found it after asking several people for directions. When we got there it was a big warehouse with a counter running across the front, like a bar. We stepped up to the counter and greeted the proprietor and started ticking off the items on our list.

There was a big bowl of chili lime shrimp sitting on the counter and they were drinking ice cold Coronas behind the counter as well as a couple of hombres hanging around outside. I eyeballed the shrimp and the owner quickly offered them up to me, which of course I obliged him. I inquired about a cold cerveza to go with it, and two ice cold Coronas promptly appeared. We paid for our hardware purchase and we tried to pay for the beer, but they wouldn’t accept it. It was by far the best trip to the hardware store we’d ever taken!

Although we’d hoped to ‘Buddy Boat” with other cruisers headed south, we’ve had difficulty finding any cruisers at all, much less anyone inclined to go at our aggressive southbound pace. We have faith in our vessel and each other and trust the fates to be good to us and that we will be fine.

Pretty Little Puerto Angel

Puerto Angel is 180 miles and a world away from Acapulco. It’s a friendly, picturesque little bay that’s very sheltered. We arrived at 8;00 am after an overnight sail. We were having breakfast when a panga pulled up: it was the Port Captain (female!) coming out to greet us and get started on our paperwork! She was utterly delightful, recently promoted to her position and had relocated from Puerto Vallarta a few months earlier. Tom apologized for not being properly dressed with a collared shirt, she was gracious about it.

We went ashore and poked around the main beach, the town and over the walkway built over the cliffs connecting the main beach to Playa Panteon. We found a hotel with free wifi so relaxed and had a guacamole and beer afternoon snack. Later we returned to the Port Captain’s office to pick up our paperwork, it was all ready for us. We caught her eating dinner and her desk with just a t-shirt on, this time she apologized for her attire. We all laughed.

Later we had freshly made chicken tacos from a cart. We sat at a table next to two other gentlemen , one older with blue eyes and blonde/gray hair. Tom said “You guys aren’t getting into any trouble now are you?” – thinking they spoke English. They returned blank stares and started speaking to each other in Spanish. I asked Tom if he thought they were Americans, which he did.

I told him that the guy was probably of Danish decent: the cruising guide mentioned that there was a Danish shipwreck of a privateer years ago and the survivors mixed with the local population. We saw other locals that looked very European. What a great little seaside community, we enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Acapulco: A City on a River called Denial

Although we’d planned to skip Acapulco because of negative comments from both cruisers and the guides, a couple we’d met anchoring at Las Hadas said to go. They told us about a great place to anchor, where to land the dinghy and that the town was worth seeing. Suitable stops become fewer and farther between as you head further south down the Mexican coastline so we thought it was worth at least an overnight stop. We pulled into the very scenic, natural harbor on Sunday morning at about 8:00 am.

Once inside we immediately headed east for the spot described by our friends between the Navy base and the high rise hotels. We really didn’t see a suitable place to anchor where instructed, so we found a spot just outside of some mooring balls of the beach by the high rise hotels in about 30 feet of water. We dropped the anchor, had some breakfast and offloaded the dinghy. Water traffic started getting busy, jet skies, jet boats, banana boats, etc. buzzed by our boat. It was rougher than we liked it but, the anchor was secure so we went ashore to find out where we could land.

There were roped off sections of beach in front of most of the hotels. We saw another inflatable head in to shore near the moorings so we followed. They just dropped someone off and headed back out. We inquired about landing the dinghy and were told there was no place to do so. Since it was rough, Tom took me back to the boat and decided to make a reconnaissance run further over by the Navy base. He returned disappointed, unable to find a landing spot as described b y our friends.

When a power boat with para-sailors passed by our stern nearly tangling his sailor in our rigging, we decided it was time to move. It was as if the water traffic was saying “This is our beach, how dare you anchor here???”

Consulting the cruising guides, they indicate an anchorage is located on the other side of the bay near the Acapulco Yacht Club. We motored over to the area to find it. When we got there, it was clear that the guides were all wrong. The entire area is full of privately owned mooring balls, with no place to anchor. Of the boats on moorings, most were frightening: derelicts sunk, sinking or looking like they were about to including old, neglected, beyond their prime ferries, fishing boats and pangas.

The Nuevo Club deYates (Acapulco Yacht Club) charges $3.25 US per foot, per night for guest slips, if available. For Santorini, that would be $156 per night. No thanks, especially since it didn’t look very nice. The other marina, La Marina has sinking docks with rusted out steel pilings, but they are building brand new offices, complete with an impressive stone encrusted lighthouse tower. So where does the income come from for a marina? The answer would be: slip rental, but they’re investing in new offices. Go figure.

We finally picked up an empty mooring, the went to the main dock (one not sinking) at La Marina (the only one not sinking or submerged) and asked about paying for a mooring, which the guide book said runs about $200 pesos per night. Since it was Sunday, the office was closed. A security guard who looked about 16 years old said the moorings had nothing to do with their marina, but they wanted $100 pesos to use their dock to tie up our dink.

We went back to the boat and soon a couple of guys came by wanting money for the mooring, $300 pesos to be exact. We said we’d pay $200 and no more, otherwise we’d leave. They took it, and informed us they did not have a place for us to land our tender. We went back to La Marina, tied up and told the guard we’d stop by the office the next day to pay.

We walked out through the marina gate to the main road to catch a bus into downtown. The bus was worn out and loud music blared but it was cheap. We got off near the down town stop and tried to find the Municipal Mercado. The streets were busy, and the park had a festival going on so it was packed with families, so we had to wind our way through. We had no map of town so relied on instinct and asking for directions.

We walked for blocks through the old city with dirty streets, past dilapidated buildings. We were hungry and passed by a bunch of open air pollo restaurants in a row. We stopped at one for lunch and had a delicious meal of grilled chicken, sides and cold beer : that proved to be the highlight of our time in Acapulco. We discovered that the Market was quite far away, and settled for a small supermarket for a few provisions.

Before we left, Tom wanted to go get a bit more fuel. Again, the fuel dock was managed by Performance Marine. This time we got smart: we’d jerry jug the fuel to the boat to avoid the fuel dock surcharge. No dice: they still charge the fee if you use jugs. Tom thought “No problem, I’ll just walk over to the Pemex station on the street and fill them there”. Wrong again: Performance Marine has made a deal with the gas station NOT TO SELL ANYONE FUEL IN JUGS!!! In the US, that would violate anti-trust laws, but not in Mexico. I’d say Performance Marine has some Mordita Action going on in the Mexican cities they operate in. What a racket, shame on them!

The town put out a strange vibe, we didn’t feel safe like the other Mexican cities and we did not find people to be as friendly. We couldn’t wait to leave. The best analogy for Acapulco is this: she’s like a 65 year old woman who longs to be 25, going out to night clubs and living in an era in that is behind her. In our opinion: It’s a Must Miss.

Next Stop, back to Ixtapa.

After growing weary for the nasty sewage smell in Z-town and figured out that there is no way to get fuel at a dock, we decided to take a bus ride to Ixtapa to look at our options. Is the bus rolled through town and north to the marina, it became apparent that in comparison Z-town is NOT a tourist town. Ixtapa is over-the-top touristy.

We found the marina office and inquired as to slip prices, thinking we might stay a night or two. When we saw the offered slip location and got a price quote, we decided to pass. When we asked about getting fuel we were instructed to go to the Performance Marine office, apparently the marina doesn’t handle fuel, it has been outsourced to this outfit. We had to make an appointment, which we did for the next day at 10:30 am. By the way, sorry they have no water for us.

The next day we left Z-town at 08:00 hours and headed north to Ixtapa. The entrance to the marina was surprisingly narrow and shallow. Why do they build these great big fancy marinas that have such difficult entrances? Can’t they make the jetties a little farther apart, maybe longer to protect from the surge? Mazatlan’s Marina entrance had the same problem, and further south at Huatulco.

As we approached the harbor entrance, we noticed a mega-yacht approaching as well. We continued in and she went in behind us. We tied up and the fuel dock just after 9:30 am and noticed about 10 people scurrying down to the fuel docks. Was it a welcome committee just for us, perhaps? Alas no, they were all anticipating the mega-yacht pulling up and buy fuel. Cha-ching! When they all realized she was instead destined for a slip, they scattered – no one even said hello to us. In fact, even though no one else was there, they made us wait until our appointment time for fuel service.

Meanwhile we were eyeing the fresh water spigots, trying to see if we could run our hoses to fill our tanks. Due to the raw sewage, we couldn’t run our water maker in Z-town. Tom asked a guy washing a large power boat in a nearby slip if we could buy some water from him. He pulled of his hose and we attached ours to reach the water tank. He wouldn’t accept any money, but we thanked him profusely.

Our appointment time was finally approaching and a Performance Marine employee finally sauntered down to the fuel dock. After finishing his breakfast, he saw fit to service us. The fuel was more expensive than anywhere else we’d been, but to add insult to injury they tacked on an additional 17% “fuel tax”. When I pointed out that the fuel pump said “all taxes incluso” (included in the pump price), I was told that it was a “fuel dock surcharge”. Basically that’s what Performance Marine hits you with for the privilege of using THEIR dock (built by the Mexican Government). OUCH!

By 12:15 pm we were too glad to be out of the harbor and begin the 110 mile overnight journey to Acapulco.

Z-What’s The Big Deal ?

We left Isla Grande at 3:30 pm to make the 6 mile trip south to Zihuatenejo. As we entered the harbor it appeared to be everything we’d be told: Playa Las Gatas beach looked attractive to starboard as we cruised in the harbor: in 1400 AD it was walled in for royalty. Perhaps we’d check it out via dinghy. Further in to starboard we passed Playa La Ropa, named that because clothing from a pirate-scuttled galleon washed up on shore many years ago. The north end of the beach has rocks that was supposed to make it a great snorkel spot.

We approached the anchorage and were shocked to see just a few boats in the harbor. One was a Baja-Haha boat: Kamakasi, and we stopped by to say hello to Captain Patrick and his crew. We anchored east of the area off the municipal pier to avoid the panga fishing boat traffic. In speaking with Patrick, that was a big complaint as he was anchored closer to the pier, right in the panga traffic lane. He also complained about the sewage smell. We’d read in the cruising guides that the town sewer system dumps into the bay, but had no idea how bad it really is.

We landed our dinghy on the beach between the pier and where the fishing fleet goes ashore. There were always helpful Mexican hombres ready to pull the dink up on the beach. We’d tip them about $2 and they’d also keep an eye on it so it was very safe. It was later that we realized how great it was to do that, and that you couldn’t safely leave your dinghy ashore in other places.

The port captain’s office closed at 3 pm so we’d have to go by the following day. A tourist information center was next door, so I went to find a map of the town, but it was “cerrado” (closed). I saw a police hut across the street and went over to ask when the office would open the response: Never! Apparently it only opened when cruise ships came into town. Next door was a tour operator so as asked him if he knew where I could find a map, bless his heart he gave me one! It turned out I was speaking with Ismael, the guy who operates the cruiser panga service for fuel, water, laundry, etc.

We decided to investigate the fuel dock as we saw the Pemex sign to port as we entered the harbor. When we approached it was clear that the fuel dock wasn’t open – EVER. You either had to order fuel that was jerry jugged to your boat, or head north back to Ixtapa to get to a fuel dock. Ok, great.

Next, we were off to find ‘Rick’s” the cruiser bar/restaurant hangout. When we got to the address, it was a fancy restaurant with a different name. It turned out Rick had sold the place, then it became “El Faro”, later it changed hands again and the cruiser hangout is no more. We did find a cruiser friendly bar a couple of blocks away called Zorro’s with cheap beer and free wifi , across the street was an excellent restaurant owned by Daniel that serves a great breakfast and lunch. They even serve Zorro’s customers food in their bar, since Zorro’s doesn’t offer food. It’s a nice arrangement for both establishments.

The biggest problem in Z-town, aside from the raw sewage being dumped in the bay, is the tourist town atmosphere. You can’t walk anywhere without taxi drivers harassing you to hop in for a ride. Shopkeepers constantly hawk at you to buy their trinkets. Most of the bars and restaurants in town reflect gringo pricing: their pretty proud of what they offer and demand high prices. Of course, most of them sit empty of customers.

The one place that did not disappoint was once again the Mercado Municipal. Again there was a vast selection of inexpensive, quality fruits and veggies, and this time fresh ground Guerrero region coffee. Once again we had a scrumptious, economical meal and cold beers at one of the restaurants adjacent to the Mercado.

There is no VHF Cruiser’s Net in Z-town, because there are no cruisers. Maybe we are just “early” in the season, but I don’t think so. Maybe the Golden Age of Cruising is gone?

Isla Grande is GRAND!

We left Manzanillo Bay at 3:30 AM on 12/6/10 hoping to get to Maruata to anchor before dark. The winds were light so we motored much of the way. As we passed Punta San Telmo, the wind picked up.

It was a gorgeous sunset and looking off the stern I saw a whale breach. I mentioned it to Tom and when he looked back a second, much larger whale performed the same maneuver. As we approached Maruta we looked in to the little bay. It was rocky, it didn’t look all that protected the sun was setting and the wind was favorable. Our intuition said to keep going so we sailed overnight.

We arrived in Isla Grande at about 12:30 pm the next day. We anchored on the north side of the island, which is just off the coast of the terribly touristy city of Ixtapa. Tour boats bring tourist en mass to go snorkeling and hang out at the expensive restaurants and palapas on the beach.

We dropped anchor on west side of the cove near the rocks. Tom jumped overboard to check for “burners” (jellyfish) and reported back that it was clear. I donned my mask and fins and joined him. Incredible. Visibility was excellent and we saw a nice variety of fish and coral so we snorkel the next morning as well.

We were tempted to stay a second night, but anxious to get to Z-town (Zihuatenejo). We’d heard so many great things about it. We were surprised at how few cruisers we were running into on our way down the Mexican Riviera. We’d expected to find many more in Manzanillo, and the other anchorages. We’d heard there was a large cruising community with a VHF Cruisers Net and a great local bar where they hang out in Z-town.

If we’d known what we’d find, we’d have stayed that extra night in Isla Grande.

Las Hadas Has Had It

Mark had been so excited to go to Las Hadas, he said it was the crème de la crème of resorts for Mexicans. The movie “10” with Bo Derek was filmed there years ago. Five star resort, a pool, swanky facilities – we were so looking forward to it. When we arrived, it seemed nice enough. We quickly realized – it’s a ghost town.

Built in the mid 1970’s, the gray hair is showing. The waterfall in the pool is broken, the showers for cruisers are disgusting and inoperable, its landscaping is not kept up as a resort of this caliber should be. The new Marina port captain was confused and incompetent, each day we’d stop by his office to pick up our paperwork – which took about 15 minutes at all of the other ports. Each day he said to come back the next day, but 4 days later it wasn’t done and we had to leave without it.

Everyday we’d watch the restaurants prepare for the evening dinner crowd. Waiters busy putting red and white checkered table cloths and candles on the tables out on the sidewalk near the Marina – but we never saw anyone sitting at the tables at the handful of restaurants lining the marina.

Around the pool, no guests or only a few lounging about or swimming, but several waitresses and bartenders were waiting to serve non-existent patrons. One bar/café advertised free wifi and a happy hour special: 2 for 1 margaritas or beer. We stopped by for beers but they said they ran out – for the entire four days we were there!

A few days later we stopped in at a Marisco Restaurante across the street from a major supermarket after we’d done our shopping. They were very busy so we shared a table and Michaladas (a salted, frozen mug of beer severed on the rocks with lime juice) with Angelo, a Manzanillo local who teaches English. We told him about Las Hadas being so dead and asked him what was going on. He said that they had acked up their prices and drove the Mexicans away. They apparently just cater to foreign guests, but they’re not coming either.

I have a theory about places like this. Knowing quite a bit about business, most legitimate businesses can last without customers. Could it be that the Cartels own Marinas and high end resorts and they don’t really care if they are full or not, because they are used as a vehicle to launder money? The business claims income from the business, then it pays taxes (and likely mordita) so the local government is happy. Claim your business is booming even when it’s not – how interesting.

Mercado Magnifico

Manzanillo’s Municipal Mercado gets five stars in my book. Incredible! We mastered the bus system and took the bus to El Centro Manzanillo. After a short walk we were at the Mercado. We headed upstairs for Sunday Brunch. We went a few days earlier but it was too late in the day and all of the food vendors upstairs were closed, as were most of the fruit and veggie vendors downstairs.

We headed straight for the second floor restaurants for brunch upon arrival. After making a pass through once, I spotted very yummy looking enchiladas. We went back and I confirmed that they were pollo (chicken), not beef. We sat down and munched on chips and nice spicy salsa. Tom ordered tacos and they brought me 5 enchiladas – magnificent! I ate 3 and passed the rest to Tom, he agreed that they were outstanding.

We headed downstairs and stocked up on fruits and veggies. There were so much excellent looking produce, it was hard to choose. We stocked up.

We really liked Manzanillo. It’s a busy commercial port and a buzzing metropolis complete with a Walmart, Sariana and Supermercado Commercial for provisioning. The people were very friendly and we felt completely safe. The best thing about Manzanillo is that tourism is not their main source of revenue.

We took the bus back, hoping to stop and watch football at a Cantina we passed on the bus on the way to the Market. Sadly, it was closed. We walked to miles to another place, but they couldn’t find the game. We did have excellent guacamole and a couple of those yummy michaladas. The buses took us back to Las Hadas – eventually, but that's another story...

A lot to Like in Malaque

Soon after we arrived, there were a half dozen or so boats joining us in the bay, including Larry on Hobo and others we'd met in Ten Bay. We walked the two miles along the beach from Malaque to Barra Navidad, then took a water taxi to Mary's Restaurant for lunch. It was nice, but expensive. Then we took a walk over to the swanky Marina in Barra. It was quite a hike up a steep hill, around the corner and then way down another steep hill to the Marina - and back again of course.

Looking out over the Barra Navidad anchorage, we saw our buddy Bill's boat there. We couldn't help but wonder how he was dealing with not being the only boat on the anchorage. We returned to Malaque by bus. The driver raced through town like he was in a NASCAR event. We were all hanging on for dear life. Then he suddenly stopped the bus, jumped out, ran across the street and punched a time card. Late for work?? He casually got back in the bus and started driving normally from there on, everyone on t bus had to laugh.

Wednesday is Market Day in Melaque and Tom wanted to spend his birthday (12/1) there so we stayed an extra day. Market Day is sort of like the Orange County Marketplace, not like atypical Mexican Mercado. It was fairly spread out and we walked the whole thing taking it in. We only made one purchase: a colorful hand painted ceramic dish for serving snacks on the boat. It was to replace one that broke a while back.

That afternoon, Tom got an awesome and badly needed haircut for 40 pesos ($4 US). Then we had a nice lunch at Sinky's, a little mariscos restaurant. We met everyone at the busy ex-pat palapas on the beach for happy hour and toasted Tom's B-day.

Unfortunately, Mark had to leave early to return to the OC, his wife's health was not good. He hated to leave and we were very sad to see him go. How great is it to have a chiropractor as crew? You don't even know! On top of that, he's as pleasant of a person to share a small space with as you'll ever find. The fact that he's fluent in Spanish is a bonus.

We took him ashore on the morning of 12/2/10 so he could catch a bus back to Puerto Vallarta and catch a flight. He was wearing a loud and obnoxious Mexican red velvet hat with silver threads and sequins that he proudly purchased at the Market the day before. We continued on to Las Hadas in Manzanillo.