Forging our path
Sailing outside the norms
After so much fun in Barra de Navidad, it was time to start heading south towards Zihuatanejo, which is not where most of the cruisers were headed. They were headed back up the coast of Mexico and either across towards Cabo, back up into the Sea of Cortez or Banderas Bay to prepare for their jump across into the South Pacific. Some wait to take advantage of southerly winds that begin in the Spring so they can have following seas, or they slog it out against the wind, waves, and currents.
Most of the cruisers we know are only cruising half of the year, and the other half they like to spend time in their homes in Alaska, California, or the Pacific Northwest. I guess you call them snowbirds. So they only cruise Mexico and either put their boats on the hard or in a slip safe from hurricanes, and head home for the summer.
This year, we planned to keep moving beyond Mexico and to continue south to Costa Rica and Panama, which are both below the hurricane zone, and then later this year we want to go through the canal and into the Caribbean. The hard part is that we’re making this trip during the rainy season, so there’s a lot of rain, thunder and lightning to contend with which is a big drawback for a lot of cruisers.
It was exciting to dream about sailing beyond Mexico and to talk to others who were on their own paths. It’s also sad saying goodbye. We already said goodbye to many friends in Barra de Navidad. Our friends Joanne and Scott on Fundango were planning on crossing the Pacific in the Spring to explore the South Pacific islands, and our paths separated at the first anchorage past Barra de Navidad, called Ensenada Carrizal. Luckily the anchorage was calm and comfortable. We swam over to Fundango and had a couple of beers after we arrived. Then later we had them to Salacia for dinner, and then John and Marcy from Rochambeau came over and Peter made us all an Italian dinner.
The next morning we all hiked to a deserted beach where turtles laid their eggs. We went for a swim and explored the beach area where we found hatched turtle eggs and small trails in the sand of baby turtles making their way to the water. It was very hot after our hike and the swim cooled us off before our trek back to our dinghies.
After a fun day, it was time to say goodbye to Joanne and Scott officially. We didn’t know we would be doing it so soon, nor did they actually. They looked at the weather and then suddenly realized they only had a tiny window to get around the point back up to Bahia Banderas where they planned to do some serious work getting ready for their sail across the Pacific. So our goodbye was quick, but maybe it was better that way? We are so glad we all had a fun time together the night before. So many laughs. Since then we’ve gotten reports that Fundango safely crossed the Pacific and they are having an incredible time exploring the gorgeous South Pacific Islands together.
John and Marcy experienced a set back in San Carlos at the beginning of the season, so we weren’t sailing together yet this season. They made it down to Barra de Navidad right at the end of our time there, so we were excited to spend some quality time with them as we continued to cruise together towards Zihuatanejo.
On our way out of Carrizal we ran into some wild life that was thrilling to watch: jumping mobula rays!
Our first stop after Carrizal was Bahia Santiago where we went snorkeling over a sunken ship. It was some of the best snorkeling we experienced in Mexico. After Santiago we headed down to Bahia Manzanillo to anchor at the Las Hadas Resort for a few days.
We anchored in a lovely, calm anchorage in front of the resort. What beautiful grounds and hotel with various pools and a couple of other resorts situated next to them. It was a beautiful property and we enjoyed swimming to the beach. The only down side was that there was a huge wedding that weekend and a very loud band with professional dancers who danced to the happiest upbeat music until the wee hours of the morning. Unfortunately, the stage was positioned to blast the music right into our vee berth. Oh the challenges we must endure as cruisers.
We took a day to explore the city of Manzanillo which is a small but hard working port town not far from the resort. We took a taxi who knew about a sanctuary inside the town full of turtles, birds, and many iguanas, all different sizes and colors. It was fun just hanging out to watch them do their thing.
After that initial stop we went to find the produce market, abundantly full and colorful with fresh fruits and vegetables. We walked to the top floor to look down over it. Peter was also on a mission to find carnitas, a Mexican dish that closely resembles pulled pork. It wasn’t easy to find but one of the women working on the first floor walked us over to the corner stall that served it. We ended up sharing carnitas tacos. It was tasty going down but John and Marcy had a hard time digesting it over night. I guess they aren’t use to such rich food, or was it the band that played all night?
After a few days enjoying our time in Las Hadas and Manzanillo it was time to weigh anchor and sail over 12 hours to Zihuatanejo. It was an over night passage, which isn’t our favorite when it’s just the two of us, as alternating three hour watches prevent us from getting a good night’s sleep, but we did get to our destination early enough the next day. We left Las Hadas around eight or nine in the morning, and enjoyed a very sporty sail down the coast with Rochambeau ahead of us.
We had full sails up when it got dark and the autopilot threw out alarms because it couldn’t keep the course. This usually happens when the seas get big and when they push across our stern. It isn’t fun when the boat rounds up into big waves in the dark. Once we decided to reef both of our sails, which makes them smaller and more balanced, we had a much more relaxing sail the rest of the night. Yes it’s true, always best to reef early, preferably before the seas get too big.
When we sailed safely into Zihuatanejo it was a beautiful morning indeed. Rochambeau was not far behind us. It’s always fun to arrive at our destination safely, and after our anchor is firmly secured, we are very excited to take advantage of the full day to go exploring.
What an amazing journey. We are hoping to make it to Zihuatanejo next season and who knows... I'm so impressed that you were able to capture the mobula rays. Thank you for sharing!
So jealous of all the wildlife you saw, especially the rays, and the snorkeling sounds fun!