And So Ends Our Last Year In Tenacatita
21 February 2016 | Bahia Tenacatita, Mexico
Mark

After several months of great fun and friendship, it is time to raise the anchor from the floor of Tenacatita Bay for the last time and head North to LaCruz, in Banderas Bay. More than in any other anchorage that we have ever visited, Tenacatita and its floating residents who return each year, have helped make this a home. As Robert and Virginia, the unofficial Mayor and Mayoress of Tenacatita, would say, Tenacatita is an intentional community with much in common to "The Farm", a commune that they called home in their younger days.
Dee and I are not known for staying in one place very long. I, especially, get impatient quickly and have very itchy feet, always wanting to be on the move. But, this near idyllic anchorage with its sandy beach, rocks for snorkelling, mangrove swamp to explore, and easy provisioning in the small town of La Manzanilla just a few miles away has held our interest far longer than we expected.
Then, the longer that we stayed, the more we got to the others that have been held in this bay's tentacles for many years longer than us. While we really only have made Tenacatita our home base for two years, coming and going, the majority of the regulars have been coming here for ten or more years. Some outsiders may say that they have little imagination and have given up the essence of cruising - exploring. But, once you scratch under the skin you find that this family of cruisers has travelled extensively, some even completing circumnavigations. They have chosen to return to Tenacatita.
Exactly what it is that draws one here is hard to pin down, and probably different for everybody. Some days I think that Tenacatita is no better than a floating trailer park, full of residents with nowhere better to go. Other days I realize that negative feelings like that are more based on my momentary state of mind.
What I do know is that, besides the incredible nature beauty that attracts one here, Robert and Virginia have a lot to do with what gives Tenacatita it soul. They use the experience that they gained from their commune past to bring all the diverse personalities, income ranges, and lifestyles together. Small things like the daily swim to the beach at 1:30pm, for those interested, or the 2pm Bocce game on the beach followed by beer at the palapa on the beach are the excuse for casual socializing that starts building the invisible web of this place. The Friday night dinghy raft-up & pot luck caps the week nicely and the "question of the week" for each dinghy to answer, if they wish, further deepens the knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of the very different people that call Tenacatita their seasonal home.
This will be our last year here since we are crossing the Pacific next month. It means saying what could be a final good-bye to many friends, some of which we will certainly not meet again. Saying good-bye is never fun, but it is a part of cruising that cruisers understand all to well. It is sad, but it is also the promise that new friendships are on the way. It is as much a part of cruising as navigating over the horizon.
For others, the entire cycle of what is Tenacatita will repeat again next year, and for years after that. Even though we will be gone, it is comforting to know that Tenacatita will be here. Future mayors will come and go, just like they did before Robert and Virginia arrived fourteen years ago. But, as time changes people and things, I like to believe that the intentional community of Tenacatita will live on for future cruisers to discover and embrace, as we have.