Chacala
03 April 2021 | Chacala, Central Mexican Coast
Maeve Murphy | clear, light winds
28th February - 3rd March
We had a thrilling start to the morning of our departure from Matanchen Bay. We'd just gotten up and I heard a deep thumping sound coming from outside the boat. Stepping up the companionway I was greeted by the sight of two humpback whales not three boat lengths away, rising vertically up out of the water side-by-side then landing back down with a thump. I called to Bernard and he arrived by my side just in time to see the whales do an encore - rise straight up out of the water in tandem, white throats and bellies facing us, then land with a loud thump. As they cruised across our bow heading out to the open ocean I yelled out a thank-you for the awesome show. Unexpected close encounters like this are one of my favorite things about being out here and make me whoop for joy. Of course I'd have loved to get a photo of the action, but even if I'd had my camera handy I doubt I'd have done it any justice. Sometimes you just have to live in the moment.
There were lots more whale sightings on the six-hour hop down to Chacala, a convenient stop between San Blas and Banderas Bay and highly recommended by my friend George back in Mazatlan. We arrived in the anchorage to a typical, lively Sunday-afternoon-at-the-beach-in-Mexico scene. The inevitable banda music blared from the palapa restaurants and carried across the water. By Monday morning things were much quieter.
Chacala's a tiny town in a small bay ringed by lush green hills. It didn't take long to explore - a colorfully tiled, handkerchief-sized town square, simple houses with chickens and dogs wandering around, small charming guest houses, a campground behind the beach, and a couple of 'eco-lodges' that blended into the landscape.
We were anchored so close to shore it was easy to swim off the boat right to the beach.
We hung out with Chris, a friendly single-handed sailor from Canada who we'd met back at El Cid Marina in Mazatlan and ran into again in Isla Isabela. Recently-retired Chris had bought himself a modern sailboat and taught himself to sail in a very short time (in that order), and decided to sail down the coast and across the Pacific accompanied only by his two small dogs. It was very much a new life and a personal challenge he'd set for himself, and I admired his gumption.
Chris saw us lugging our jerry cans and bottles ashore to replenish our dwindling fresh water supply, and kindly offered to lend us his Australian-made portable water maker to fill our tanks. (We have a water maker, but it's not the portable kind, and isn't installed yet.) Chris brought his kit over in his dinghy the next morning, helped us set it up and explained how to run it and then went ashore for breakfast. I was intrigued to see how the thing worked. It was a bit noisy, like a generator, and the resulting fresh water tasted just fine. By the time Chris returned our tanks were all topped up! As a thank-you I offered Chris some freshly popped popcorn but he politely declined, and we could only promise to lend our hands should he need help with anything (though this goes without saying among sailors), or to pay the favor forward.
Chacala's a really lovely spot, but with the rolly anchorage and the pesky jehenes - not as bad as at Matanchen Bay, but still annoying - for us three nights was plenty.