Another Flashback: Barra de Navidad - February 14 - 23, 2014

The Following Is Another Flashback Post -- 

Valentine's Day - Who Loves Ya, Baby?

February 14, the day after we arrived in Barra de Navidad -- as every woman in North America can tell you -- is Valentine's Day.  And yes, they do celebrate this holiday in Mexico - or at least the enterprising merchants of Barra do.  

You may recall (or not) that one of our favorite things about Barra de Navidad is The French Baker. Six mornings a week during the cruising season the French Baker rings a little bell on his delivery panga and announces over VHF Chanel 22 that "Ze French Bay-kair es een ze marina!"  He delivers freshly baked croissants, pastries, pies, breads and quiches dockside -- making the world a better place.  

Ze French Bay-kair

On Valentine's Day he also shamed most of the men in the marina by giving a single rose to each of his female customers. Bryce immediately invited Molly out for a lovely Valentine's Day dinner . . . 

A Rose Is A Rose - No Matter The Giver

Paperwork Tangle Tango Estilo Estados Unidos

Before we enjoyed another of our favorite things about Barra -- the pool at the nearby Wyndam Hotel -- we logged on to Earthclass Mail (our internet mail forwarding service) and found a scan of a letter from the California Public Employee's Retirement System (CalPERS) announcing that we had five weeks to prove that we were married or Bryce would loose his health insurance!  

Background: CalPERS is the entity through which most California government employees and retirees purchase health insurance. Bryce has been insured through the CalPERS system as Molly's dependent for twenty-four years. When we each retired three-ish years ago, we went through the process of confirming that we were still married for a variety of retirement-related purposes. And now they needed us to prove that we were married -- in less than six weeks. 

Now as anyone eligible for a certification of mental competency knows, there's no joy in trying to reason with a government entity that is on a mission to find "waste, fraud and abuse". Nor is there any hope that an exception will be made just because a likely malefactor is living abroad. Besides, all we had to do was upload an electronic scan of our marriage certificate and the first page of our 2013 tax return to the website of CalPERS' efficient third party contractor. How simple is that?  

Our 2013 tax return was easily accessible from our computer.  Sadly, our marriage certificate is in a box in a storage locker almost 1,500 miles north of Barrra de Navdad.  

But wait - a certified copy of our marriage certificate was available through the City and County of San Francisco's third part contractor (it's the season of "privatization" efficiency). They would send us a certified copy of our marriage certificate for only $27.50 USD, and all we had to do was provide them with a notarized statement that we were the parties identified on the marriage certificate. 

Of course they didn't know - or care - that the only place to get a U.S. notarization outside of the U.S. is at a U.S. Consul's office, the nearest of which was in Nuevo Vallarta -- 133 miles behind us.   

As we had only recently been released from embargo in Bahia Banderas we were not anxious to return there for any reason -- and particularly not by sailing into wind, back around Cabo Corrientes, at 5 miles an hour or less. We checked bus schedules and hotel booking websites; we despaired and fumed.   

As we were in the depth of our despair -- telling our sad story to any sailor that made the mistake of asking cheerily how we were doing -- we received an e-mail from friends Pam and Ted Simper (S/v Roundabout II).  Roundabout II was currently docked in La Cruz, but Pam and Ted were coming to Barra on a road trip to drop their daughter and son-in-law at the Manzanillo airport.  Did we have time to get together? 

Sometimes even the crappy things in life work out.

Pam and Ted arrived, we enjoyed dinner with their family and they took the bait when we told them our sad story. They offered us a ride to Banderas Bay in their rental car! We had a great chat in the car on the way Nuevo Vallarta and even stopped for a quick visit and lunch at the Puerto Vallarta botanical gardens.  

Crews of S/v Roundabout II and S/v Abracadabra

    

   

And because sailors just can't help themselves, we stopped for a quick trip to Zaragosa Marine - the West Marine of Mexico (aka: "Zar-a-gosa my money" -- thanks for the line, Janet!).  After a night at the Paradise Village Hotel (where they couldn't figure out why we weren't staying a week on the all-inclusive beverage plan . . .) we visited the Consul and got the necessary notarization (only $50 USD - maybe they need a third party contractor). After a bus ride back to Barra, scans of the two-page certification (thanks, S/v Kaylami!) and a fax by the hotel to the second third party contractor -- only three weeks and some $300 from when we started -- we had the proof that we were married. And a great story of government insanity, estilo estados unidos. 

We uploaded the marriage certificate to the CalPERS third party contractor and - voila - two weeks later we were deemed compliant.  

If anyone knows whether CalPERS actually caught anyone insuring a non-eligible dependent, would you let us know?  Just wondering.  

And The Tally For This Cruising Season IS: 

What are the odds that in any four month period (a) Abracadabra would be embargoed by the Mexican tax authorities for reasons never explained to us; (b) we would have to prove to our health insurance purchasing entity - after 24 years of coverage - that we are married; and (c) our (now former) marine insurance broker would suddenly assert that our policy requires Abracadabra be dry-stored during our summer absence?  

We'd end this post with something cheery such as "all's well that ends well" or "bad things happen in threes" except that . . . we're not ready to tempt fate yet. 

And along the lines of not tempting fate, we're currently unwilling to sail from Huatulco because weather reports call for very high winds across the Gulfo de Tehuantepec for the next week. Rather than continue staring at weather websites on an hourly basis, tomorrow we're off for a few days in Oaxaca to enjoy the unique culture of one of Mexico's colonial jewels.   

We'll be on our way to Chiapas soon - we're sure. 

"Fun in Acapulco" and Heading South (well, East-ish, really) -- March 17 - 26, 2014

Greetings from Marina Chahue (pronounced cha-HWEY") outside of La Crucecita (Little Cross) in the State of Oaxaca enjoying marina luxuries. The marina is small (90 slips) and is only half occupied; there are six live-aboard vessels here at the moment.  Because the boats can be spaced at least two slips apart the marina is relatively quiet and breezy. There's a bit of a surge, but after seven nights at anchor and four nights underway since Ixtapa, we're not bothered by a bit of ocean motion.  

We have already visited with the crews of Liebling and Flyin Sideways, compadres from "up north".  Recently we've been joined by Palarran, a boat we "met" over the radio on our way to Acapulco.  Those that have been here for awhile tell us wonderful things about nearby La Crucecita and we are looking forward to snorkeling in the famous Bahias de Huatulco.  

The shower arrangement here is somewhat primitive.  We aren't put off by the outdoor shower stall per se, but there are no hooks or bars inside the shower enclosure.  Reaching outside to access clothing seems fraught with the possibility of, uhm - unintended exposure.  So - we have been using Abracadabra's awkward but private hand-held shower.

But given all the pluses for this location, including the opportunity to use available Internet access and shore power to bring Travels on Abracadabra up to date, we are happy to be here.

Acapulco -- March 17 to 22

We didn't anticipate enjoying Acapulco:

• On our last visit (1995-ish) Bryce got food poisoning from the over-priced buffet at the restaurant that offers views of the famous La Quebrada cliff divers (subsequent rule: avoid buffets).  
• In the intervening two decades Acapulco has suffered a variety of economic set-backs - drug business violence, hurricanes, etc. and the tourist business has fallen on hard times. 
• The city's storm and water sewer infrastructure needs improvement.  
• Sailor lore is full of unflattering stories about Acapulco as a destination: few, crowded marinas with funky docks; fueling difficulties; big city dangers; etc. 

We planned to stay for only a couple days to rest up between the overnight passage from Ixtapa and the two or three night passage to Huatulco. But stuff intervened - some fun stuff and some life's-like-that-sometimes stuff - and as it came to pass, we spent a full week at anchor there.  And, unexpectedly, enjoyed a lot of things about Acapulco!

Fun Stuff: Fort San Diego 

We toured the Spanish fort built to guard the port of Acapulco, from which Nueva Espania (New Spain) controlled the world-altering trade route between Spain and the Philippines.  The English language signs in the museum are awkward translations - even comical by times - but the story of the fort and the trade route it supported is fascinating. We highly recommend a visit.  

No Fort Should Be Without A Moat . . . 

Or A Nice Color Scheme

Treasures of the Orient For Nueva Espana

Welcome to Acapulco, Cruceros (Cruise Ship Passengers)!

More Fun Stuff: La Quebrada Cliff Divers

The La Quebrada divers are the most famous tourist attraction in Acapulco and we decided their show warranted a second visit. There are four performances a day, but only one during daylight. The night shows are more spectacular (torches and lights and all that show-stuff) but we didn't want to be away from Abracadabra at night (more on that), so we saw the mid-day show. 

We watched the divers from the shady balcony of the La Perla restaurant at the El Mirador Hotel.  La Perla was the source of Bryce's long-ago near death (or so we say) experience and is much reviled on Tripadvisor. It's a great place to watch the divers and neither of us got sick this time -- no buffet for lunch -- but we still don't recommend that you go for the food.  

The El Mirador's heyday has long passed - but evidence of its former glory is displayed in pictures and copies of signatures on the restaurant walls:

Bryce's Favorite La Perla Celebrity Photo
For Reasons He Can't Explain

We Think We Took This Same Picture On Our Last Visit ---
Who Can Resist A Picture of Trigger's Signature?

The divers' show, which over the decades since it began in 1934 has become almost laminated, is still impressive. 

The divers first swim across the inlet, and climb up the side of the cliff:

And You Think Your Commute Is A Pain

Then there's a lot of looking at the inlet and contemplating of risk. At least that's what the audience is doing.

And Really, Who Wouldn't Be Praying At This Point . . . 

Interestingly (to us anyway) the divers didn't engage in the public expression of religious belief (making the sign of the crucifix, leaving offerings to statutes of La Virgin, etc.) that we recall seeing at this point in the show we saw years ago.  Divers less religious? Audience less religious? Flawed memory?

And then - they dive:

Alone

Synchronized Diving

When the show is over the viewers that arrived by boat head back to their hotels.

We Hope They Left A Tip

Again at odds with our memory, the divers did not come to the restaurant and solicit tips.  They were waiting at the door as we left.  

The whole La Perla experience cost about $50, including a tip for the divers. The food was unexceptional, but we had a great view and shade.  Alternatively, there's a public viewing area that's a lot less expensive (about $4, one soft drink included). However you choose to see the divers: Go if you are in Acapulco.  At least once. 

Anchoring In Bahia Acapulco

Anchoring in Acapulco Bay is not a tranquil experience - even tucked into the cove overseen by the Base Naval Icacos, as we were. This anchorage has good protection from wind and swell, and is also calmER than other anchorages around the bay in terms of tourist activity.  For the most part we were happy with our choice of holding ground.

During the day we were entertained by tourist boats, fishermen, jet-ski riders (los diablos, we call them) and banana ride riders. We watched the navy's swim drills, rescue boat drills and helicopter beach landing drills. 

Abracadabra even acted as a rounding point in a race among some teenage sailors using the Navy's recreational boats.

The Two Girls Won

For day-time shore visits there are beach entrepreneurs that will assist with dinghy landings on Playa Icacos.  For the princely sum of $100 pesos ($7.75-ish) a day we received assistance in landing, launching and hauling the dinghy up on the beach; the dinghy was kept secure from random acts of tourist stupidity (the dinghy as trash receptacle is more common than dinghy theft); and our trash was taken to a nearby restaurant's trash bin.  

The anchorage had less traffic at night and Senior Frog's was high enough up the hill that music that must have been deafening inside the restaurant was background music for us. 

We had a great view of the Mexican Navy's tall ship, the Cuauhtemoc.

Cuautemoc By Night

But our stay wasn't without some weirdness: Our second night at anchor we were approached by a panga full of fishermen, wafting marijuana smoke. We had anchored in a good fishing spot and would we move?  We declined - it was about nine at night and power boats were still coming and going from the area.  In fact, later that night the fishermen's net got caught in the prop of a big power boat entering the area -- we were not their primary problem. The next morning we decided that we would be good neighbors and move when we returned that afternoon -- not wanting to re-anchor just before leaving Abracadabra for the day.  

As it turned out, we didn't have to re-anchor.  When we returned from our trip to shore Abracadabra was anchored about 100 feet east of where we had left her.  Hmmm. No evidence that she had dragged (a drag would have gone in a different direction). No footprints on the deck (not boarded). Same group of fishermen busily laying a net where Abracadabra had been (ah, hah!).  We concluded that they must have raised the anchor, put it in their panga and dropped it closer to shore. 

Not a little creaped out, Bryce sat in the cockpit watching to see if the anchor had actually set. Molly made dinner. We ate at the cockpit table watching for drift and glaring at the fishermen. It was dark, but we don't think they even looked our way. No movement. Captain Bryce slept fitfully. The next morning we were in the same place.  Sigh - one's own incompetence isn't the only anchoring risk, it seems.   

This odd experience aside, we enjoyed much about Acapulco.  It's not really a "destination" anchorage for us - but we wouldn't hesitate to go back for a rest between passages. 

Office Depot -- That Well Known Tourist Destination  

Under the heading of "life's-like-that-sometimes" our primary reason for spending so much time in Acapulco was to visit the (fortunately) near-by Office Depot to scan and e-mail documents in a frustrating, but ultimately successful, attempt to extend our insured cruising ground to include Central America.
  
Last season we changed the parameters of our navigation coverage a couple of times with little difficulty.  This lulled us into believing that extending to Central America wouldn't be an unusually complicated task. Fools.

The brokers that arranged our previous changes had left the insurance brokerage, and we found ourselves dealing with a woman that evidenced little knowledge about insuring sailboats outside of the United States. And, to make matters worse, she was apparently working with an underwriter that was similarly under-educated.    

For two weeks we struggled through the following:

• We were asked for a "Plan B" hurricane plan - maybe moving the boat when we learned of the likelihood of a direct hurricane hit?  Score negative on knowledge about how fast a 33-hp diesel can move a 36-foot sailboat. Five knots an hour is not how to outrun a hurricane. When asked if this was what the underwriter really meant, we got no response. Score negative in client communications.  
• We were told that the insurance company always requires that a boat located outside of the United States that is not occupied by its owner for a period of longer than two weeks be hauled out of the water and dry stored.  Hmmm.  For two summers we have left Abracadabra in the care of professional boat maintenance companies, in the water, in Mexico.  After scouring the policy, we asked our new "broker" where that limitation was. She never responded to that question. Score negative in client representation.     
• Frustrated and stonewalled, we began looking for dry storage in Central America (which would have a negative impact on Abracadabra's five month old paint job). After several frantic days of trying and failing we even proposed truncating this season's plans and leaving Abracadabra "on the hard" in Chiapas, Mexico where dry storage is available.  It took us several attempts to get a response to this. Score negative in client communications. 
• Our "broker's" response was the tipping point. "Gee, I don't know - things are really dangerous there right now".  Score negative in knowledge of the new, security rich marina facilities in Chiapas.
• Molly, the crew member assigned to insurance, became . . . apoplectic. And then she became extremely unpleasant. The "broker" said that she was sorry that we had had such a hard time, but that she usually worked in "outside sales" and was "just trying to help". Score negative in oh so many categories . . .. 

No one died - not Molly, not the broker, not the underwriter. We contacted our prior broker at his new firm.  Ironically we had not switched firms when he first changed because we thought that to do so would unduly complicate our insurance situation. Bad call. Within two days we had a quote for insurance from our existing insurer that will allow us to cruise in Central America.  No dry storage requirement.  

We recommend Novamar Insurance Group, Inc. to anyone stuck in the never-never-land of working with an insurance company and/or broker that does not understand how the security and weather risks in Central American can be mitigated by the use of competent boat maintenance staff in well run marinas.  

Finally - Off To Huatulco -- March 23 - 26

Insurance issues settled and tourist check-list items taken care of we left Acapulco on March 23.  

On our way out of town we fueled up at Performance Marine. FYI, they have a rather funky floating fuel dock without any cleats.  Dock lines must extend over the floating dock and tie to the supporting hard dock.  Without any warning of this "glitch" we scrambled to add extra long lines at the last minute.  The fuel dock staff initially acted as though we were the first boat not to have super long dock lines . . . but finally secured Abracadabra and filled the tank and jerry cans.  Oh - and they don't take credit cards on Sunday.  Just FYI.  

Fueled and watered we left, motoring past the multi-purpose "cruise ship" dock:

German Cruise Ship?

Our trip south (actually east-ish due to Mexico's geography) was very pleasant.  We motored out of Acapulco bay, turned east and put up the spinnaker - and sailed almost the entire 240 nautical miles (our longest passage to date) to Huatulco. We were apparently on some great turtle migration route, as we saw many of them drifting by.

Sunset

The nights were beautiful, and we enjoyed using our AIS to identify traffic by name.  We heard dolphins snorting and rays slapping in the dark.  

We did have to motor for three hours on our third day out to fill the batteries in order to avoid imminent electrical disaster.  Because we had been running the auto pilot (lazy lazy!) the batteries had been drained so that we couldn't power the coffee grinder. Hand steering is one thing - but drinking instant coffee was just not on.  We are considering the purchase of a wind generator to augment our solar farm next season. To grind our organic coffee beans.   

Not that we didn't sacrifice for our "we are sailors, so we are going to sail!" principles.  Each morning the wind would drop to below the 7 knots that Abracadabra needs to keep moving in ocean swells and current, and we would drift for a couple of hours waiting for the breeze to fill in. Sadly on our last morning the wind disappeared for an even longer period of time than usual.  We drifted, we moved a little, the current that had helped us now hindered our progress . . . the sun began to get hot. Ugh.

This is what trying to get into Bahia Chahue in not-enough-and-even-that-is-shifting wind looks like:

Gybe, No Wait, Maybe We Can . . .  

  

In desperation we fired up the engine again, and motored the last two hours to the marina.  We arrived in the late afternoon on day four, in time to check in with the marina, shower, and eat dinner at a local restaurant with a (given the circumstances) really great bottle of Spanish wine. We fell profoundly asleep - nothing like being tied to a dock to make one feel (rightly or wrongly) safe.  


Soon we will post pictures of La Crucecita and surroundings!  Oh yea - and fill in the trip from La Cruz to Acapulco.  

Cruzin' On Down The Road -- February 2, 2014

The Embargo Precautorio Ends - For Us

[Note: If you have not been following our experience with Mexican officialdom, the following will not make any sense.  Take a look at our four previous posts if you want to understand what we are explaining.]

On January 31 we were given a copy of a letter from the Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT) to the Capitania de Puerto listing the more than 50 vessels released from embargo precautorio -- and we are more than happy to report that Abracadabra was on this list!

We immediately went to the office of the Capitania and filed an Aviso de Salida (Advisement of Departure) and obtained the Capitania's official stamp on it.  According to our aviso we will depart the marina, noon on Monday, February 3. 

(Insert your favorite happy dance music here _________)

More on our plans below.

It Ended Like It Began - Indirectly

For about a week, we had watched what looked to us to be growing pressure on the SAT to resolve the embargo.  The story was carried by the Mexican press in a way that was unfavorable to SAT.  In one story the SAT was reported to have said that the boats in the Marina Riviera Nayarit had already been released!  Officials in the tourism department of the government were quoted as saying extremely derisive things about SAT's embargo.

We were told by officials at Marina Riviera Nayarit that the settlement for all of the embargoed boats with proper documentation (including Abracadabra, we were repeatedly assured) was coming soon.  Very soon.  Maybe next week.

Then we were told that SAT would be coming with the final "settlement" document on the 29th; that Abracadabra was one of the boats listed on that clearance document.  Then we were told they would be coming on the 30th.  Some days we felt hopeful.  Other days we planned a trip to Morelia with the crew of Dodger Too to try to keep ourselves sane.  But we didn't buy our bus tickets because . . . we hoped.

On the morning of the 30th, on the morning net (a radio chat that includes weather reports, information about things going on around town, a chance to ask for assistance from other cruisers, and general "coconut telegraph" news), a charter captain that had been providing information from the marina via the net told those of us affected by the embargo that we would have the opportunity to meet with SAT at 13:00 that day. 

That didn't sound good to us.  If they had already decided to clear all of the properly documented boats - what would we say to them? 

So on the 30th, we showered (wanted to make a good impression!) and put on "town clothes" and went to the restaurant at the marina, clutching our documentation folder and our list of questions.  We ordered limonadas and sat, watching the two men from SAT talk on their cell phones and shift through a huge stack of paper (impressive even to those of us that spent years in civil servicedom).  Finally, we decided they had talked and shifted enough - and that they might be receptive to talking to us. 

Bryce approached and in his best Spanish, introduced himself as an owner of Abracadabra, one of the boats under embargo.  He offered to provide copies of any of our documents or a tour of the boat, if any of that could be helpful.  The official that looked like the most in-charge guy of the two assured him that all of the boats would be released that very day and that they did not need anything further from the crew of Abracadabra. 

We decided to quit while it looked like we might be ahead, and left.

The next morning we were given a copy of the "release letter" and shortly thereafter beetled off to the Capitania!  That night we went out to dinner at a German restaurant (yes, really - a German restaurant in La Cruz) with some Dutch friends (who were much happier with their meal than we were with ours).  We ate too much, drank wine, talked about things other than sailing and listened to two really wonderful musicians Latcho and Andrea.  We felt free!

So - What Now?

We're stocking up on food and necessary paper products, and getting all our clothes and sheets washed in preparation for the first leg of our journey southward.  At the risk of jinxing our plans (calling up lousy weather - or worse, no wind) here's the general idea for our truncated sailing season:

• Monday: Depart the marina and spend a few days touring some anchorages in Bandaras Bay we've never visited (Punta Mita; Tres Marietas) to acclimate ourselves and Abracadabra to life off the dock.  
• When The Weather Looks Good: Around Cabo Corrientes and continue overnight to wherever it seems like a good idea to stop (Chamela?  Tenacatita?).
• The Rest of February:  Southerly ho - Barra de Navidad; Bahia Santiago.
• March 2-9 (some or all?):  Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa for the Zihuatanejo Guitar Festival. 
• The Rest of March: Terra y mar incognito -- new places for us, such as Acapulco, Bahias de Huatulco, Golfo de Tehuantepec (there be monsters) and Chiapas.
• April-ish:  Central America -- probably no further than El Salvador this year.  

All under sail, when possible!  

Stay tuned, and we'll let you know how it goes for us.    

   

Making The Best of It -- January 12 - 21, 2014

Update on "The Situation"

If you don't know what we mean by "The Situation", and want to make sense of the following, see our three immediately prior postings.  Since our January 12 post:

January 16:  Officials from AGACE, an auditing branch of the Servicio de Administration Tibutaria (SAT) met with owners of many of the boats that have been put on embargo precautorio (precautionary embargo) status here in La Cruz.  The following description of the meeting with the skipper of the '62 foot catamaran Profligate (her nom de plum is Dona de Mallorca) comes from a post on 'Lectronic Latitude, the blog by the publishers of the West Coast sailing magazine Latitude 38:

". . . Dona de Mallorca asked them about the boat's status. The pleasant AGACE agent looked into the files and said, 'There are no problems with your boat.'  'Great,' said de Mallorca, 'she's free to go?'  'No,' replied the AGACE agent, 'she's still impounded.' He refused to say why or when she'll be released."

January 17:  When we returned from an out-of-town trip (see below - much more fun to read about than this embargo issue) we met with the lawyer for Marina Riviera Nayarit.  He confirmed that Abracadabra is one of the fully compliant boats.  He said he would be taking additional documentation to Guadalajara to seek release of all of the compliant boats on Friday, January 24.    

January 20:  'Lectronic Latitude reported that one embargoed boat in Ensenada has been told that there is a process for seeking release from embargo which includes sending copies of the vessel's temporary import permit, U.S. Coast Guard document, Mexican liability insurance policy and the owners' passports along with a letter from the marina seeking release of the vessel.  Release pursuant to this process is supposed to take two weeks. [Oddly, except for the letter, all of the documents listed above were in Abracadabra's file at the marina office that AGACE reviewed in November.]

January 21:  We sent the 'Lectronic Latitude report to the marina's lawyer, and he has said the La Cruz Harbor Master will be discussing this report with the Harbor Master for Ensenada.  We also sent this report to the U.S. Consul's office.  That office responded, suggesting that we either hire a lawyer or contact SAT in Zapopan (near Guadalajara) to request a review of our case. Sadly, the individual the Consul's office identified as our SAT contact was the same official that told people on January 16 that compliant boats could not be released.  We have pointed this out to the U.S. Consul's office and suggested that a trip to Zapopan sounded to us like an exercise in futility.  We've sent an e-mail to our Congressional Representative, Doris Matsui asking for assistance in working with the U.S. Consul.  Why?  Because we voted for her. 

Sigh.  Molly had a dream the other night in which we walked along the shore towards Abracadabra.  Or where she should have been, at anchor.  In that odd omniscient way of dreams, she saw that someone had cut the anchor rode and had sailed Abracadabra away. She woke up in the V-berth, convinced that someone had stolen Abracadabra.  We think that even without a PhD in psychology one can interpret this one . . .  

On to more pleasant topics:

Taking A Rest Cure in San Sebastian del Oeste:

To avoid succumbing to enfermidad de embargo precautorio we decided to take a short trip to a reportedly charming mountain village: San Sebastian del Oeste.  

And it is charming.  

San Sebastian del Oeste

The main square looks a bit like a movie set waiting for the director to cue the arrival of Pancho Villa or a dusty pickup carrying El Mariachi.

View From Restaurante Los Arcos del Sol

Commerce

The church - full of images of San Sebstian stuck through with arrows -- was prettier than we expected.

San Sebastian - Stage Right - With Arrows

Alter

Easter Egg Ceiling

Bell Tower

It's chilly this time of year in the mountains (about 40 degrees Fahrenheit at night while we were there) so we were able to practice sleeping under blankets, wearing jeans and jackets and putting on socks to dash from bed to bath (our hotel had thick adobe walls and no heat).  While that may not sound so charming to those who live in chilly climes, it was fun for us - well, for two nights, anyway.

Things to Do in San Sebastian:

Not much.  That's the point.  There wasn't even a television or internet coverage at our hotel!  

We took several long walks.  

One was to a restored mining Hacienda in the hills above the village often frequented by the director John Huston.  

Hacienda Jailisco

It is a lovely walk along a babbling stream which, unfortunately lost some of its charm for Molly when she slipped on a mossy rock and went ass first into the cold water.  There was a minor injury to a finger and a more significant injury to her ego (she had to walk back to the hotel through the village making squish, squish, squish sounds . . . ) but we'd still recommend the walk.  Just maybe in the dry season.   

Efficient Mexican Clothes Dryer

The Injured Digit

 We rambled around the other routes in and out of town:

Cobblestone Street - Complete With Sky TV Antenna

Charm, Charm, Charm . . . But is There Heat?

Wandering Guy

 We watched events related to the novena to San Sebastian.   

The novena is the nine day run-up to the saint's day (January 20) which is also the "homecoming day" for the village. This is the day when those born in the village that are able to do so return home to do what Mexicans do when they're celebrating something: visit family, eat, drink, dance and laugh.  We were told that, beginning on the Friday night after our departure, every hotel room in the whole town was booked (and if you are younger than 10 you get a place on the floor with your cousins!).      

The daily ritual of the novena included:  

• 5:30 a.m.: Very loud fireworks were shot of in front of the church (not sparkly fireworks -- rockets that made whistle-y, boom bomb-like noises).  We were told this was to open the heavens for San Sebastian. 
• Noon: More fireworks. 
• 5 p.m.:  More fireworks.
• 6 p.m.:  San Sebastian was paraded through town to the church, with an accompanying band. 
• 10:30 p.m.:  Even more very loud fireworks. 

How could a saint not feel well and truly welcome?

Primary Grade Roman Soldier
On His Way To Church Via Pickup Truck

Musical Welcome to San Sebastian

We watched the hordes of day-trippers arrive around 11:00 each morning, walk around, have lunch, and leave around 2:00.  We came to know most of the five overnight tourists by name.

And we took naps and read books under blankets.

Getting There Is Half The Adventure:

Because San Sebastian has narrow, cobbled streets and is reached by a winding, narrow road there is no bus service directly to the village.  Several guided tours make day trips there, and intrepid drivers can reach the village by rental car.  We wanted to stay over night and as all our readers know  . . . we're cheap, so we got there by taking:

• The local bus from La Cruz to Puerto Vallarta (17 pesos or about $1.35 usd each);
• A longer distance bus from PV to the farming village of La Estancia (80 pesos or about $6.75 usd each); and
• A cab up the hill from La Estancia to San Sebastian (100 pesos - shared with another tourist = about $3 usd each).   

The address for the bus station in PV (this line has it's own station) and the schedule and fares from PV to Talpa de Allende (La Estancia is a stop on this line) are found here:

http://www.talpamascota.com/english.php. 

The local bus from La Cruz goes near this station, but we're not sure how close.  We had to get off early to get cash -- note: there is only one stand-alone ATM in San Sebastian and none of the local businesses take credit cards.  We took a cab from the  bank to the bus station. 

La Estancia, where you will find a cab to San Sebastian is the bano stop (3 pesos to use the w.c.) about half-way from PV to Talpa de Allende.  The 100-peso cab fare from La Estancia up the hill is apparently non-negotiable (we watched someone make an unsuccessful attempt to get a discount . . . ) but you might find other tourists going to San Sebastian that will share the cab and cost with you.  And really - even if you pay the full fare, it's under $8.35 usd!

The bus to La Estancia is not the super premium long distance bus we're used to riding in Mexico - it's pretty rattle-y and it stops frequently along the way.  But the ride includes great views - both landscape and portrait.

Other Potentially Useful Information:

Hotel:  We stayed at the Real San Sebastian which was picturesque and clean and at 700 pesos ($58 usd +/-) not a budget buster.  

Rooms Upstairs, In The Back

But it was really just four rooms above a restaurant.  No maid service on our second day.  No hot water until we reminded the guy that had met us upon our arrival that the boilers needed to be turned on.  There are several hotels in town, many with websites.  We're told some of the smaller hotels without web presence are clean and comfortable - you might consider just showing up and trying to find a room though it would be a bad place to not have a room as it's a long way to the next town with hotels. . . .

Food:  Most visitors to San Sebastian are day-trippers, and there are a number of good places to have breakfast and lunch.  We particularly enjoyed El Fortin in the square.  Dinner is another matter.  The locally famous Italian restaurant we had looked forward to visiting is only open Thursday through Sunday; and, of course, we were there on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  Poor planning on our part.  Fortunately El Fortin was open on Wednesday night.  Our Tuesday night option (the only place in town that was open!) was expensive and just . . . fine. 

Coffee:  They grow it and roast it, and it's good in the two local coffee shops.  Restaurants may not do their best to showcase the local product.

Money:  There are no banks in San Sebastian and only one ATM.  Local businesses do not take credit cards.  Take cash.

Recommendation:  All-in-all it was a very nice stay - sodden butt and shoes and lack of Italian food notwithstanding.  If you're staying in PV for an extended period of time and are looking for a way to get away from la multitud de touristas a la playa - try a few days in San Sebastian.  Thursday and Friday, maybe.

Day Sailing

Last Sunday we had another lovely day sail on Bahia Banderas.  One of our Spanish instructors from Guanajuato, Rojelio Granda, joined us.  You may recall we tried to go sailing with Rojelio and his wife the weekend before, but we all opted out because it poured rain off and on all day.  Happily the weather was perfect last Sunday - wind up to 12 knots kept us sailing most of the afternoon.  

Rojelio At The Helm

And the famous whales were accommodating and put on a bit of a show for us.  

It's A Whale!

It Was A Whale!

It felt good to stay in sailing shape for the great day when Abracadabra is released! 

More stories of Life At The Dock to come.  And, hopefully, news of Abracadabra's release . . . or a plan for release . . . or something.