Sunday was a slow sail to Bahia Chacahua (Punta Galera) arriving just on sundown. Horrible place - very rolly & confused seas even with a stern anchor. Didn't have much sleep that night!
Off to Acapulco early Monday morning with periods of sailing slowly & motoring. We had a very uneventful overnighter seeing only 2 cargo ships & no local fishing boats. Plenty of dolphins kept us company.
Arrived into Acapulco early yesterday morning. It is a huge bay with older & newer parts of town. The original city has lovely & unusual houses clinging to the cliffs & the newer - high risers on the beach. We headed straight to the Acapulco marina to get diesel, but were politely refused. There was a gigantic yacht tied to the fuel dock - maybe they had no fuel? A slip was $200 per night - no thanks! We were directed to another fuel dock on the opposite side of the bay. It was a strange set up. Pick up a mooring ball then reverse towards a very large concrete wall on the mainland. Throw a line to the guys at the dock who tied us off & then they lowered the diesel hose down to us on a rope! It was interesting to get the credit card up & the docket signed! We spoke to a couple of Canadian guys tied mooring ball....cruisers are discouraged to anchor in the bay... they were told to move each day until they finally agreed to take a ball. We headed around the corner to Isla Roqueta & anchored in beautiful clear water with a sandy bottom off a lovely swimming beach. There are plenty of glass bottom boats delivering day trippers to the island, but it is still peaceful & no other boats around.
We hired a local, Vincent, & his little 1960's powerboat to take us around to La Quebrada to see the cliff divers after he introduced himself & was a very friendly & genuine guy. 4th generation divers (men only) perform twice daily starting with young boys who dive from about 1/3 of the way up the cliff. Originally started in the 1940s & was first recognised internationally in the 1963 Elvis movie 'Fun in Acapulco.' The show lasted about ½ hour & the divers are not paid for their amazing efforts. They swim out to any boats below & walk through the crowd on the viewing platform opposite for tips from the tourists.
Vincent then took us back to PANNIKIN pointing out some homes that had been previously owned by John Wayne, Frank Sinatra & Johnny Weissmuller (original Tarzan & amazing swimmer). It's easy to see how Acapulco must have been a really happening place in the 50's & 60's - the houses are perched high on the cliffs with pools below & cable car tracks alongside to get guests & goods up to the house. We had a quiet afternoon then catching up on sleep & swimming in the beautiful water.
This morning Ange caught up on computer work while Steve donned his dive gear & scrubbed the bottom of PANNIKIN. We then caught a local glass bottom boat on return to the mainland & went 'downtown.' The taxis here are old VW beetles - most in complete disrepair - & there are hundreds of them. We had a good walk checking out all the local shops & even found a papeleria (stationery shop) which sold Mexican flags! Stocked up on some coloured pencils, pens & note pads to make some small gift bags for the kids in the South Pacific as well! We had lunch in a small out of the way restaurant before heading to the local supermarket to get a few groceries to get us to Zihuatanejo (Zee-what-a-neh-ho) or Z-what for short! This afternoon we swam to the beach, had a couple of beers at the restaurant & watched people having a good time. A great day! We are loving Mexico - the people are super, super friendly & the food is great!