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.