2011 Hola Mexico - Missive 13

February 15 - 17, 2011: We managed a trip to Melaque taking the long route thru the backroads of town; not a pretty sight. What was interesting was the stop the bus driver had to make to actually punch in on a time clock that was positioned in the middle of a block. I haven't quite figured out the logistics of this procedure or the reasons why. The town caters to gringos & locals alike with miles of beach to play on in the Bahia de Navidad - Melaque is on the north end while Barra de Navidad is located on the south end of the bay.

Thursday the artisans & craftsmen were in Barra along with the flea market. It wouldn't be hard to spend lots of money buying up pottery, linens & jewelry; good thing we don't have any extra room on the boat. Walking thru the flea market itself was quite interesting ... picture all the goods you can find in a department store (like a Walmart or K-Mart,etc) ... then picture a sample of all this merchandise laying out on tables covered overhead by tarps. There were tables of hardware/houseware stuff on one side and bras, undies, socks and clothing on the other side of the walkway. Peppered in between was food produce, tourist momentos, music cd's and your basic junk. And always ... "a good price for you" ... "almost free"!

What I really loved seeing were the brightly colored bras of every shape and size imaginable. Bra shopping here could be mistaken for an Easter egg hunt ... every color of the rainbow was displayed, too bad if you were looking for white or beige. Now, getting a good fitting bra can be a challenge - matching the correct cup size to chest measurement. Each bra fits differently and each woman needs their own special lift ... so how do you buy a bra you cannot try on? And if you buy ... and they don't fit ... what do you do with them? It's not like Nordstrom's or Macy's - no money back guarantee. I was pondering this question with Sharon Howard aboard "Jake". We decided we could use them like nets and store fruits & vegetables in them. Seriously, why throw away a perfectly good but non-fitting bra? (Per Bob, he claimed he had no problem watching the women try them on in the outdoor market and besides, he said, he didn't think the women planned to be wearing them for any length of time to worry about a good fit or not. Huh, so much for a man's point of view!)

This leads me to the subject about saving plastic jars/bottles, it was a good thing I had saved a peanut butter, mustard and miracle whip jars to salvage the leaking gallon of dish soap. It's not like you can run to the store around here and find a replacement in short order.

It's now Friday, the 18th and we need to move on to Manzanillo Bay; nothing like having your life's schedule based on how full your waste tank is and how empty your water tanks are. That's okay, I am ready for new scenery, fresh air and clean looking water.

February 18 - 22, 2011: We left Barra close to high tide and successfully exited the lagoon. During the past 10 days we saw at least 3-4 boats run aground and during one low tide event saw 2 boats (1- sail, 1 - power) heeled over due to being stuck in the mud. We ended up resetting anchor after the wind swung around out of the east placing us too close to the boats behind us (didn't help that these two boats came in after us and anchored far too close to us). To add insult to the ordeal, we couldn't get below to flake the chain in the chain locker and it got jammed while we were resetting the anchor. The wind was blowing 20 kts or so ... I couldn't leave the helm (too close to other boats) so Bob went below and dealt with the jam up. It took over an hour to get us back to a normal working condition - we couldn't haul in or let out chain while the pipe was jammed.

Fortunately our trip to Manzanillo Bay was peaceful and enjoyable - no wind but oh well. At least our holding tank is empty and we were making water. Panta Rhei's crew was eagerly waiting to share a wonderful dinner, stories and receive their packages.

The anchorage area in front of the Las Hadas & Barcelo Karmina Palace Resorts is quite nice with lovely views of the resorts and surrounding community. There is a constant swell, although not too uncomfortable, it gets compounded by the waves from jet skis and tour boats. Last but not least ... the never ending music never ends.

We have very much enjoyed going to the Las Hadas resort pool - it is so refreshing in the afternoon especially after bus rides and walks around the area. Bob & Larry went to downtown Manzanillo in search of oil engine hose, a journey that took several buses and one taxi ride. At least they had an adventure which included lunch at a working man's outdoor restaurant. They were quite sight - not too many 6-2 & 6-8 ft men walking about. But they enjoyed the food and sharing a table with some of the locals. No correct oil hose was found. We did however contact Jonco Marine Repair back in Barra de Navidad and they could help us out when we return there in a week or so.

Tomorrow we make the long trek to Santiago Bay - 4 nautical miles from here. We hope to snorkel around the ship wreck and coral reef plus hang out with the other cruisers.