CHRISTMAS IN TENACATITA

After the kids went home we headed back to Tennacatita for a couple weeks, celebrating Christmas at the La Vena palapa on the beach with 70 other cruisers, yes 70. There were 40 plus boats in the anchorage, and a lot of kid boats. The party was fun and Jill got to pass out rocks she painted for all the boats.

We were ready to go to a less crowded anchorage spending New Years in Cuastecomate, “The Secret Anchorage” with our good friend Rick on Alacran. Unfortunately, Karen was not down yet, so it was just the 3 of us for the festivities and fireworks. We missed our 4th wheel, hopefully next year

CHILLING IN THE BARRA AREA

We spent January and most of February bouncing between Las Hades and Tenacatita. Basing out of Barra de Navidad. Some of our favorite anchorages lie in that 30 mile stretch of the Pacific coastline. Carrizal, Santiago, and Las Hades to the south of Barra and Tenacatita 10 miles to the North. The Mexican Gold Coast is how Bob Bitchin described this part of the coast to me back in the 90s when we first started dreaming of cruising. We celebrated Jills birthday and our 31st anniversary in Barra de Navidad .Valentine’s Day (also our anniversary) we were lucky to get a table at Galeria de Arte (the Art Gallery). Good food and a cool atmosphere, and always sold out that night. Our friend Amy was the entertainment that night, playing her cello. What a treat that was.

BARRA IS A BUSY STOP FOR NAMAHANA

This being our 5th season here in Mexico our dance card is always pretty full in Barra. Good food, great friends and just a fun place to be. Always somewhere to go and people to visit.

TENACATITA

SEAN ARRIVES !

Mid February Sean came down for a couple of months. He brought along his friend Jayden for a few weeks. It was great having them both on the boat. We left Barra and went back to Tennacatita for a few days before starting our trek south to Zihuatinajo. The swell had mellowed so we were able to go up the estuary. A fun dinghy ride with a special treat at the end. Ponchos Ricilla distillery. We had lunch and tastings. The boys had a great time, and so did we.

SOUTH TO ENSENADA CARRIZAL, LAS HADES AND FINALLY ISLA GRANDE

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First stop south was Carrizal, a small anchorage about 25 miles south of Barra. Sean and Jayden decided to go run the rapids through the reef on the Kayak. They ended up with their feet full of urchin spines. OUCH! They spent most of the day digging them out. The second day there we were surprised by SV WATTS UP, Our friends Chet and Cathy from Redondo Beach. We were on the same dock with them Portofino Marina for over 20 years. It was a great reunion.

ISLA GRANDE (IXTAPA)

We did an overnight sail south to Isla Grande. Isla Grande is a small island about 10 miles north of Zihua, busy with local tourists until the sun goes down. There is no electricity on the island so at sunset all is quiet. Our friend Juan has a great restaurant there “Pareiso”. He is also the best DJ on the island. We enjoyed a couple days of semi tranquility before heading down to Guitar Fest. Liz and Risto off Silver Wings joined us for the day on the beach.

ZIHUATANEJO FOR GUITAR FEST

This is the first year since 2020 that the festival was held. We were last here that week in 2020, by the end of the week the “pandemic”was beginning. Everything went on hold for the next couple of years. We were very excited to be back in Zihuatanejo and the great music of Guitar Fest.

Jayden flew home and Seans girl friend Charlotte “Charlie” flew down to Zhuat just in time for the shows, We had a great time at the opening concert where all the musicians play a song or two for the crowd to get to know their styles. We were able to go to 3 dinner shows. Charlie was a great addition to our crew and joy to have onboard.

Guitar fest ended in mid march so it was time to make our way north, A lot has happened In April -May so I will make another blog entry soon