I realized recently that I haven't updated this blog with our whereabouts since we landed in Manzanillo, more than 3 weeks ago. Where did the time go? We've been quite a few places since then, and I'd like to bring you up to date with a short synopsis of where we've been and some of the things we've done or seen...

Our grand scheme was to work our way back up the coast to Banderas Bay, traveling along with Impulsive, visiting some of the anchorages that we'd bypassed on our trip south to Zihuatanejo.

Las Hadas anchorage, Manzanillo, 19 degrees 06.086'N, 104 degrees 20.698'W (31Mar-5Apr). After filling SCOOTS' tanks with diesel, we explored Manzanillo with Morris and Debbie over the next few days. One day, we took a bus to the nearby town of Santiago, with the crew of Cythera, where we visited a tianguis (flea market) and picked up some items. Eric bought some more Hawaiian-style shirts (one even has a the San Juan Islands map on it (?)) and I found some shorts that should dry more quickly than the jeans shorts I foolishly brought with me. It's a wet life we lead. Bob Kelly, you will be amused to know that these were "used pants." All of these were quite cheap (50-ish pesos apiece, or about 4 bucks).

Another day, we took a bus into the town of Manzanillo, to check it out. A big shipping port, it feels a little rougher around the edges, than most of the Mexican towns we've spent time in.

Santiago anchorage, 19 degrees 06.551'N, 104 degrees 23.686'W (5-7Apr). Just around the corner from Las Hadas is Bahia Santiago. The anchorage has some fish pens in it, marked by floating soda bottles, and a sunken ship. Avoid those and you'll be just fine. The beach is lined with many, many palapas. When we arrived, Easter morning, the beach was packed with people who were swimming, riding the banana floaty thing behind a panga or jet skis, or enjoying the food and shade at the palapa restaurants. A band traveled the beach all day and most of the night, playing festive Mexican music. The tuba player had "oompah" that just wouldn't quit. His lungs must be massive! We snorkeled over the wreck, and went to shore for some Mexican Train dominoes with Morris and Debbie, and Chip and Debbie, the crew of Elegant'Sea. Cuastecomate anchorage, 19 degrees 13.844'N, 104 degrees 43.874'W. (7-11Apr). Cuastecomate is also known as "the secret anchorage," though I'm not sure why; there were six other boats anchored when we arrived. Located between the popular anchorages of Barra de Navidad and Tenacatita, boats often come over for a day or two, to snorkel its reefs or check out its beach. Cuastecomate is another palapa-lined beach town, with the usual jet skis and banana float thingies. One day, we snorkeled some of the reefs in the clear water. There was a great assortment of fish! Eric and Debbie saw half a dozen different kinds of eels. We spent another day at a palapa with Morris and Debbie, and still another day took a taxi over the hill to the town of Melaque. In Melaque is a store known as the "Hawaii store," which stocks all sorts of items that gringos like but are rare or impossible to find in the usual Mexican grocery stores. Delicacies such as corned beef hash, canned beef stew, and real varieties of cheese line its shelves. We bought some cheese.

We said goodbye to Morris and Debbie after our time at Cuastecomate, as they were planning to make a passage all the way back to Nuevo Vallarta. We were planning to visit some more anchorages on our way to La Cruz.

Chamela island anchorage, approx. 19 degrees 33.5'N, 105 degrees 06.5'W. (11-12Apr). When we left Cuastecomate, we planned to anchor in the late afternoon at a beautiful little cove called Paraiso (19 degrees 28.339'N, 105 degrees 03.644'W) that we had passed up on the way south. When we arrived, we very carefully motored our way between the rocky cliffs on our left and those on our right, to reach the cove...which had large swells rolling straight in from the ocean. Darn! It would have been quite uncomfortable to stay there. (For the record, the swells were forecast to be from the SW, which would have been fine for this anchorage; they were actually from the NW, which was not fine.)

So, we put the sails up and sailed another 8 miles to Bahia Chamela, and dropped anchor in almost the identical place that we had, when we came through here in February. It was a good call...the water was calm, the swells rolled right past our little cove and didn't bother us, and we had a good night's sleep in a beautiful place.

I'm going to stop here and tell you the rest of our trip in another update.

Cheers! Vandy and Eric