12/10/2009, Ixtapa
We spent the afternoon at the pool at the Crystal Hotel in Ixtapa and on the beach. The pool and the ocean are both invitingly warm. Huge surf on the beach! We met some new arrivals, the crew of Blackdragon out of Vancouver (Tracey, Steve, Foster (11) and their dog Scupper). They participated in this year's Baja Ha-ha.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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Comments [2]
12/06/2009, Zihuatanejo
Today Sunday, Bruce took the day off. All 4 of us went to Playa
Principal in Zihuat for lunch. The resto was right on the beach. After
lunch, Francois went swimming while Antoine enjoyed his book. After a little while, Antoine joined him.
As Bruce and I were relaxing at the table, the boys came running back
scared of something they saw in the water... All the locals got out of
the water too. We looked and saw... a crocodile swimming along the
beach. We heard from a local that this crocodile was going from the
river nearby to the lagoon on the other side. Now, we know not to swim
from the boat at anchor to the shore...yikes !!!! This is not
mentioned in the cruising guides .
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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12/06/2009, Zihuatanejo
We took the bus into Zihuatanejo ("Zihuat") today and spent the day at the beach, stopping for lunch at a beachfront restaurant. The boys and Pascale enjoyed swimming in the surf, until, that is, they spotted a large crocodile swimming a few yards away just outside the surf line. The croc seemed to be heading from the river (on one side of the beach) to the lagoon (on the other side). Everyone suddenly scrambled to get out of the water, including the locals.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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Antoine makes a splash!
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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Antoine strolls on the beach at Ixtapa with his trusty wooden gun. He takes it everywhere. Smiling Mexicans raise their hands in mock surrender.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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Pascale buys some delicious looking Mexican pastries for the boys at a bakery in Zihuatanejo.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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12/02/2009, Zihuatanejo
We took the bus to the neighboring town of Zihuatanejo today. I can see why it's called the "cruiser's paradise". The anchorage is along a sandy beach with gentle surf, which is lined with dozens of nice, inexpensive restaurants. The town of Zihuatanejo is charming, reminding me a little of La Paz with its real authentic, non-touristy Mexican flavor.
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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12/01/2009, Ixtapa
We arrived at Ixtapa yesterday finally about 4:30 PM. On our approach to Ixtapa we found that the refrigeration was not working. I tracked this down to a low battery voltage condition, and eventually traced the problem to a defective voltage regulator which was preventing the engine from charging the batteries. I managed to be in touch with technical support at Balmar (which makes the regulator and alternator) via Single Sideband Radio. That would have been bad enough, but as we pulled into our slip at the marina in Ixtapa, the engine oil pressure alarm came on. I shut the motor down and checked the crankcase oil -- it was 2 quarts low, but not low enough to trigger a low oil pressure alarm.
So today I had a diesel mechanic come out. We decided the oil pressure switch was highly suspect. The boat doesn't have oil pressure or water temperature gauges, just idiot lights. So we decided to install proper gauges for these two items and in so doing determine where the problem was.
Sure enough, the oil pressure gauge is now in and it tells us we have normal oil pressure. And we have a real temperature gauge.
Meanwhile I asked around and found another boater with a spare voltage regulator. I installed that one and our charging system is back up and working. And so, likewise, our refrigeration has returned back to normal.
Ah, such is the cruising life!
| Mexico Sailing Trip 2008-2011 |
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