It’s The Tourist Life For Us! – April 5 – May 1

As previously reported, we moved into our time-share suite at the Pacifica Resort in Ixtapa (a tourist area six miles – or a nine peso bus ride -- northwest of Zihuatanejo) on April 6 and officially became tourists for three weeks.  We enjoyed all the perks of time-share life – reaching for a beer in an upright refrigerator, for example, and sleeping through the whole night; but we didn’t just watch the parasails outside our hillside window.  We did some work on Abracadabra, practiced yoga in Spanish and performed a couple of genuine Acts of Tourism before returning to life aboard:

Work:

Bryce took advantage of the resort’s Wi-Fi and electricity to bring our oldest laptop back from the dead and to synchronize and back up both of the laptops.  When one’s entire filing system is on a couple of laptops, synchronization and backing up are key components to happiness. 

We did some boat-part shopping in the ferreterias (hardware stores) in downtown Zihuatanejo:



Bryce -- In Plastic Hose Heaven

Zihuatanejo Ferreteria

Bryce used those parts to improve our water-making system, which we use to create Eau de Chateau Abracadabra from sea water.

Molly put a new leather cover on the wheel, which involved sewing -- not one of her core competencies.  So, she’s very proud of the fact that it actually works.  We didn’t get a picture of her effort, so like other big-time publications we’re substituting a “stock photo” of our friend Irene deBruijn sewing the wheel cover on Solar Wind (though Molly was wearing a t-shirt and shorts . . . ): 

Stock Photo:  Irene at Work on Solar Wind's Wheel Cover

Yoga in Spanish:

The resort offered yoga practice with a local instructor (Yogi Carlos) three times a week.  Yogi Carlos is a very pleasant leader, and he did a very good job at pitching his classes to the type of practitioners found at most resorts – the new drop-in student.  We enjoyed the chance to stretch and meet other visitors (this time of year, primarily Mexican nationals) and found an unexpected benefit to the classes, because they were taught in Spanish:  Molly now knows how to say left, right, return to center, inhale, exhale and slowly!

Acts of Tourism:

We rented a car for a day and visited Soledad de Maciel (also known as La Chole) and Barra de Potosi to the south of Zihuatanejo.  La Chole is the site of the largest archeological ruin in the state of Guerrero – named Xihuacan by archeologists.  Significant excavation began there in 2007 and archeologists have uncovered a ball court and a pyramid.  They believe there are six other pyramids, two plazas and a palace still to be unearthed.     

Pyramid - Left: As Unearthed; Right: As Reconstructed

There is a nicely organized little museum that tells the story of the pre-Hispanic cultures that crossed paths at this trading site originally established by the Cuitlatecos – including Toltecs, Aztecs, Mayans, Zapotecans and Tarascans. 

Among The La Chole Artifacts

The site was initially brought to the attention of the Mexican government’s National Institute of Anthropology and History by a local landowner who had begun collecting artifacts he found in the area.  The local “museum” was originally in the front room of this man’s house until his lobbying efforts paid off and the new museum was built two years ago.  We toured the museum and the area with Adan Velez Romero, one of the grandsons of the initial proponent of the site.  Adan has been gathering artifacts in the areas since he was a child, and has attended an eight-month long course given to guides of archeological sites.  Unfortunately, Adan only speaks Spanish, so Molly’s tour was less enlightening than Bryce’s (there were only so many times we could stop Adan while Bryce translated).  Adan was quite charming, and after the tour took us back to his family’s home and played for us some music on a pre-Hispanic whistle he had found.  [The video we got can't seem to be rotated so it can be viewed without holding one's computer sideways and it wouldn't download anyway because we don't have enough bandwidth . . . we'll just have to whistle for you when we see you next!]

This is a “must see” for your next trip to Zihuatanejo or Ixtapa.  Take a look at the website that Adan and his family have set up:  http://lachole.com .   [Note: it takes a very long time to download, so don’t get discouraged by the fuzziness of the type!]  Tour companies in Zihuatanejo also offer tours of the site, so we are sure that an English-speaking guide (or at least a translator) can be found through a hotel concierge. 

From La Chole we drove back toward Zihua and stopped for lunch at Barra de Potosi, a small village with a few vacation houses and enramadas along a miles-long palm-fringed sandy-white beach.  We ate lunch at an enramada that had been recommended to us, and Molly napped in one of the hammocks provided for over-full diners, and Bryce just drifted off sitting at the table! 



Bryce - Post Snooze

Blissful moment: swaying in the warm breeze, listening to the background noise of a Saturday afternoon in Mexico – friends greeting each other, families laughing, and wandering musicians playing. 




Molly - Full Snooze Mode

As we left, a couple was dancing in the sand to the music of the musicians hired by their family, as their family took photos of them with their cell phones.  

A Saturday Afternoon Dance

Our other Act of Tourism was not quite as idyllic.  We signed up for the bicycle tour offered by the resort.  There is a very nice 15-kilometer cyclopista (bicycle trail) from Ixtapa to Playa Linda that for those that actually know how to ride bicycles (unlike, say – Molly) can be a nice morning ride.  For Molly, it was a death-defying activity.  Fortunately, she defied death, and returned to take ibuprophen for a couple of days - and she now has renewed respect for her bicycle-riding friends!  Bryce fared better:

Biker Bryce

Return to Marina Life:

We returned to Marina Ixtapa on the 27^th, spending a few days getting ready for our sail north.  This time of year there are very few people living aboard in the marina, but we had the fortune of meeting an Australian couple with a boat registered in the Cook Islands.  Their plans put our preparations to bay-hop to the Banderas Bay area (a whopping 400-ish miles north) into perspective: they were preparing to sail across the Pacific Ocean to the Marquesas Islands – some 3,000 miles west!  A homey detail to put the logistics of our two trips into perspective: we purchased 18 eggs; they purchased 7 dozen! 

The one thing we didn’t get to accomplish before sailing north was having someone clean the bottom of Abracadabra’s hull, which was extremely dirty as a result of our few days in Bahia Zihuatanejo and the less-than-pristine conditions at Marina Ixtapa (there was some oil leaking issue with a local boat that the workers kept trying to find).  It turns out that one cannot get the bottom of one’s boat cleaned in Marina Ixtapa because there are crocodiles in the water!  And we’ve got some (not very clear) pictures to prove it:

Marina Croc -- And We Don't Mean Shoes

Northward Ho!

On May 1, with a grubby underside, we departed Marina Ixtapa minutes ahead of our Australian compadres, watching them head due west as we turned to the northwest.  Next post:  our trip north to Banderas Bay. 

Escape to Zihuatanejo – March 30 to April 5

For most North Americans, Bahia Zihuatanejo is where Tim Robbins went after escaping from prison in the Shawshank Redemption.  In the movie’s final scene Robbins’ character is on the beach at Zihuatanejo repairing an old sailboat.  The movie is set in the mid-1960s.  Today one would be hard pressed to find any space on the beach at Zihuatanejo to do boat repairs – but looking between the restaurants and tourist shops that line the bay, one can still see that it is a beautiful place. 

Playa Municipal - Zihuatanejo

Here’s how we got there, and what we found there:      

Bahia Santiago to Zihuatanejo – March 30 to April 1:  We travelled from Bahia Santiago to Zihuatanejo in one long, 189 mile passage because the anchorages along this stretch of coast don’t provide enough protection to make them pleasant places to visit; they are used by cruisers only as safe havens.  We knew there would be a lot of commercial traffic along our route so we spent a lot of time calculating when it would be best to leave Bahia Santiago in order to pass the busy commercial port of Lázaro Cárdenas during the day.  And of course Abracadabra averaged four knots rather than our assumed three and a half, and we ended up passing Lázaro Cárdenas in the middle of the night.  There’s something about best laid plans and mice in there somewhere . . .

To spare you having to bring up your computer’s calculator function, 189 nautical miles at an average speed of four knots per hour means we were underway for about 46.5 hours.  We were able to sail about two-thirds of the way, though because of light winds we had to motor off and on the first night (the log book has entries such as:  “02.00 – motor off!”  “03.10 – motor on!”) and for a couple of hours on the second day. 

On our second morning we found ourselves cruising through a herd of sea turtles.  We were reminded of those cartoons of birds riding on the backs of turtles – because in nature .  . .  they really doI 

"Ride, ride, ride, hitchin' a ride."

Less fun were the four container ships and one cruise ship that passed us at night.  The container ships were lit properly – showing a red light on the port side and a green light on the starboard side in order to communicate their course (e.g., seeing both red and green lights on a container ship that is getting larger would be very bad – that would mean it was headed directly toward you).  But the cruise ship had a red and white moving light display on its side.  It looked like a nightclub marquee and from the perspective of a little sailboat a few miles away it was difficult to tell anything but the fact that it was getting closer.  Fortunately, it eventually became clear that it was getting closer because it was passing us . . . but, frankly, we are beginning to dislike cruise ships. 

An Aside re: Standing Night Watch:  Now that the weather is warmer, we stand watch in four hour shifts: Bryce starts at 19.00, Molly at 23.00, and Bryce again at 03.00.  Molly gets the most sleep at night, but Bryce gets his best rest by making sure that all is well with Abracadabra and is better at napping during the day.  Night watch can be tiring and frightening when the weather is rough, the wind is too high or there are large ships approaching – or just plain annoying when the wind is too low and the sails flog noisily.  Night watch in heavy seas is like an involuntary trip on a carnival ride, blindfolded.  But when the sea state is gentle, the breeze steady and the sky bright with stars, night watch can be a most wonderful communion with the planet and the universe. On a good night watch the helmsperson finds him- or herself thinking “Yes.  This is sailing.  This is why I came.”

After just such a beautiful night we arrived in Bahia Zihuatanejo, and dropped anchor at about 10.00.  We celebrated this season’s furthest point south by taking showers and naps.

Zihuatanejo – April 1 to 4:  We have been visiting Zihuatanejo together for over twenty years (Bryce has been visiting since the early 1970’s!) and at one point or another during each visit, we looked out at the sailboats anchored in the bay and dreamed about arriving in the bay under sail.  And it was just as good as we had thought it would be.  Like arriving at a destination after a long hike, or by kayak or bicycle, arriving after a passage on a sailboat makes the destination seem more earned somehow. 

 We visited places we had enjoyed during other trips, and were also happy to see some changes.  In the last couple of years statues have been added to the waterfront:

Statue of Noble Guerrero Fisherman

As an aside:  While taking a picture of this noble Guerrero fisherman, we spotted (and smelled) two modern-day noble Guerrero fishermen taking a marijuana break down by the shore . . .

Uniform awnings/overhangs and signage has transformed the center of the town.   The shade makes wandering much more pleasant and the uniformity of the downtown is quite attractive – even if it comes dangerously close to making Zihuatanjeo look like a Towne and Country shopping center in an upscale coastal California suburb.

Downtown Zihua

What hasn’t been improved is the quality of the air and water in Bahia Zihuatanejo.  Periodically the air will carry an unpleasant reminder that though the city has proper sewer treatment facilities, not all of the little villages in the mountains outside of town do.  And either no one is in charge of preventing the discharge of oil into the water or the entity in charge is not doing an effective job – Abracadabra took on a very unpleasant grungy ring around her hull in only a few short days.  To those looking down from the hotels and restaurants rimming the bay, everything still looks lovely.  We can only hope that the Mexican government realizes that for the protection of its citizens – particularly the less affluent who swim and fish there – the bay needs to be cleaned up.

Fishing In Zihua Bay

And perhaps there would be a slight boost to the local tourist economy if conditions were improved for yatistas and sport fisherperson. 

For those considering a visit to Zihuatanejo: don’t hesitate to go – it’s a lovely place -- just swim at your hotel’s pool, or at beach further along the coast! 

So, while we enjoyed visiting town from our home on Abracadabra, and we hope to visit again next year – possibly during Guitarfest next March (http://www.zihuafest.info) -- we didn’t really enjoy anchoring in the bay, and moved on to another destination.    

Isla Grande / Isla Ixtapa – April 4:   After three nights in Zihua we decided to try the anchorage at Isla Grande (aka Isla Ixtapa) about ten miles to the north.  The island is a popular tourist day trip destination – no one lives on the island, but it is home to several enramadas and jetski venders.  We sailed to the island, and squeezed Abracadabra into one of the two small bays, just to the side of the route taken by the water taxis that shuttle tourists to and from the island. 

Our location gave us a front and center view of the water taxi traffic as well as the beach antics of the tourists.  After a while Molly began to consider the possibility of a stern mounted water cannon for zapping jetskis . . . but finally the day drew to a close and we watched the last tourists leave, the restaurants close down, and the cooks, kitchen staff and waitstaff depart.  Last to leave were the water taxi drivers, and the garbage boat.  Finally, dark came and we shared the bay with only empty water taxis. 

The next morning we were awakened by the water taxis bringing the workers back to the island, and by the time we left at around 09.30, tables and chairs were out at several of the enramadas.  The business day had begun.   

Marina Ixtapa — April 5

We sailed the five miles into Bahia de San Juan de Dios to our next destination - Marina Ixtapa. 

Molly on Foredeck

As we approached the marina entrance, we furled our sails and started the engine -- and when we saw the swell at the entry to the harbor, we were glad we had the engine nicely warmed up.  The surf into the narrow entry wasn’t the most exciting we’ve seen – but there was one very big break, which meant arrival time would have been a very bad time to lose the engine! 



Surf's Up At Marina Ixtapa

We spent one night at the marina before leaving Abracadabra there to move to The Land of Towel Art on the 6th.  We will post about our time in the tourist zone soon!