Hanging out in….. Morocco?
21 January 2010 | Las Hadas, Manzanillo
Andrew
One could be excused for thinking they'd been asleep on watch and have woken up somewhere on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, but it is only an illusion. The architecture of the hotels and condos that surround the anchorage at Las Hadas, Manzanillo Bay, and cover the rest of the peninsula have a distinct Moorish style. Even the high end vacation retreats have adhered to the style, making a welcome visual change from the some of the ostentatious monstrosities we have observed in other areas. Apparently the Las Hadas resort was the setting for the movie "10" with Dudley Moore and Bo someoneorother. As a mark of respect for the movie's style, we have been moving in slow motion whenever we leave the boat.
We finally dragged ourselves away from Tenacatita Bay, but left our friends on Ohana guarding our spot in the anchorage. It is rumoured they have coral growing on their ground tackle. It was a great bay, and we will likely drop in again on our way back north. Originally we planned to go as far south as Zhautenejo, but it is another 170 miles from Manzanillo without meaningful stops along the way, and even more discouraging are the reports of how dirty the anchorage is, and the thought of beating all the way back against the prevailing wind and swell (although this year we may have lucked out with a southerly, as they have been more frequent than in previous years, perhaps due to El Niño). We'll bank any sea karma points for following wind and waves as we head back to PV.
Our current anchorage is crowded and suffers from 180 degree wind shifts between day and night, but most boats are respectful in terms of having a standard 100 feet of anchor rode out. The two who weren't apparently got some grief from fellow boaters before we arrived, and either left or conformed to avoid being further ostracized! We have fully reprovisioned - the main reason for leaving Tenacatita - are fully laundered, and are looking to procure some propane, and stainless steel screws to make a further attempt to reattach my saildrive zinc. A first attempt in Tenacatita with jury-rigged screws was not successful, which is too bad, as replacing the screws requires diving and removing the propeller. Out of necessity, I am learning to free dive in case I need to retrieve any wayward parts from the ocean floor. Not bad for the old fella that took adult swim lessons 12 months ago. Tom from Ohana is an accomplished free diver, and has been giving me a few pointers. Not sure I'll ever get to his 100 foot level, but I've touched down at 27 feet so far, but only for a fleeting second!