Still in Barra
25 February 2011 | Barra de Navidad, Jalisco
We have been at anchor in the Barra Lagoon for a week and it seems like we just arrived yesterday. I have long since understood how some boats can stay for weeks and sometimes months in some of these more popular anchorages and locations. The unending days of sunshine and pretty weather combined with the multitude of activities that present themselves in the cruising world attribute to the longevity. We never plan on staying that long…we take the days one at a time and see where each one takes us. But the time does fly when you are having fun!
We took a dinghy ride over the Gran Bay Marina and hotel to have a look. The hotel is magnificent, although it was very quiet. We had heard that there were not too many guests there and that the vacancy rate might be as high as 75%. The marina was quiet, too, but the slip rate of $2.70 per foot per night is most the likely the big deterrent. And the does not include shore power.
The hotel that we have found very inviting is the Sands Hotel of which caters to cruisers. We can tie up the dinghy to the sea wall without fear of theft, and while buying cold beers, use the internet and the pool. And it’s an easy walk through town from there. We had an “oops” moment though a couple of days ago. Where you tie up the dinghy at the Sands is a very rough sea wall and the practice is to deploy a dinghy anchor off the stern to hole the dinghy off the wall so it is not bumping the wall and possibly damaged. When we arrived, I deployed the anchor, and out went the anchor and the chain, but no line! The line was not attached to the anchor chain! Oh #$@%! We were only in about 4 feet of water but the water here is very dirty and I did not relish the thought of jumping in to retrieve the anchor. We poked around the bottom with an oar and felt the chain but could not hook it to bring it up. I swung over the pangas at the nearby fish dock, explained what had happened and borrowed a gaff. No sooner, though had I arrived back at the location of the anchor and started to try to hook the chain than I saw one of the pescadors wading over with a dive mask on his face. He went under and on the third try came up with the chain and anchor. Fantastico! We provided him with 2 cold beers from the Sands bar for his trouble and thanked him profusely.
Another “fun” thing to do while cruising in Mexico is hauling water and fuel from the source to the boat in jerry jugs. The fuel dock, here in Barra was damaged some time ago by a boat running into it so there is no fuel available. However, the Pemex is a block up the hill from the fuel dock. So we load the jerry jugs into the dinghy, ride over to the fuel dock, and walk up to the Pemex to get the jerry jugs filled. The attendant is pretty accommodating as he helps us fill the jugs through our fuel filter. Even though the fuel at the Pemex stations is supposed to be clean, we don’t take any chances and filter all the fuel. Then it was back to the dinghy with the full jugs and back out to the boat. Just another chore completed. By the way, diesel fuel is still less than $3.00 per gallon. We paid a little over 9 pesos per liter and that converts to about $2.96 per gallon US.
Yesterday was change the engine oil and transmission oil day. Always fun, especially in 85 degree heat so I won’t bore the blog with those details.
On another day we took a bus to Melaque, the town about 8 miles up the coast from Barra. Riding busses in Mexico is a real experience and very cheap, too. We paid 24 pesos for the both of us round trip, a little over $2.00. You kind of get the idea of which direction they are heading and when you see them coming you wave them to stop. Many of them will have a sign in the window giving a destination making it a little easier. When you reach the spot where you want to get off, you stand up and move to the front of the bus or just holler at the driver to stop. We boarded the bus at the town square in Barra and about 20 minutes later we were getting off the bus at the central square in Melaque. This town is a little bigger than Barra and thus has a few more amenities to visit such a larger market. We especially enjoyed talking to a guy selling coconuts from the back of his truck near the square. For 10 pesos he would cut the top off a fresh coconut to gain access to the milk inside. He would even provide a straw. We didn’t buy a coconut but he had one that he had cut open for himself and was scraping the coconut meat out. He offered some to us try. It was absolutely delicious.
On several early mornings, a lone pescadore has rowed into the anchorage in a very dilapidated boat and lays out a net in a large circle in between the anchored boats. Then he patiently pulls it in hand over hand and hopes for a large catch but it’s usually pretty meager. Mostly just small bait fish. On another day, it was fun to watch a couple of guys in a panga, one of them using a casting net. They seemed to have better luck, casting the net in a large circle in an area where they observed the birds diving on the fish.
When you are sharing the anchorage with 55 other boats, it’s pretty impossible not to meet other cruisers. We have enjoyed getting to know the crews from Blue Rodeo, Cheyenne, Shanti, Moshulu, Bright Angel, and Freya while we have been here. Last night, several of us got together and had a nice dinner ashore. Coming back to the boat in the dark on a water taxi was a real experience trying to find the boat among 55 other boats with anchor lights on was not as much of a challenge as I thought it would have been.
We will be here a few more days and then move on to another anchorage as we make our way north.