A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Dinner
24 January 2011 | La Manzanilla
Fred with Penny's wet 2 cents

Ian and Ellen had been to La Manazanilla 7 years ago and dreamed of the day that they would have their own boat in Tenacatita Bay anchored off the village. We both anchored and launched our dinghy for a surf landing for breakfast. We had a successful landing and a great breakfast where they really know how to serve you a large cup of coffee. Unfortunately, it was late morning and all the fresh baked goods were sold out so we opted for bacon and eggs with toast and small roasted red potatoes and, of course, refried beans. All extremely good. We then went to the house that they had rented and we met the owner, Helga. It is a beautiful property on the beach on a cliff overlooking the bay and our two boats at anchor. Helga gave us the grand tour and Penny and I have decided that we will be back for a week or so rental next winter.
We then explored the village which has a lot of expats living there and there were several art galleries that were interesting. They were going to have a 4 day watercolor class that Penny really would like to take but we won't be here at the time. We heard that at the end of the main street you would come to a chain link fence and there would be a river behind it. The reason it is fenced is to keep the big crocodiles off the street! We saw 4 really big guys and talked to a person that said the biggest is about 22 feet long and we didn't see him. Just as glad as the fence had some good sized holes in it.
Penny and I did some grocery shopping as we were pretty low on food so we picked up the essentials, milk and wine. We also got a kilo and half of marinated Angus beef Arrachera which is like a flank steak. They also had some cheese and Breton crackers; crackers are hard to find in Mexico unless you like Saltines. No Wheat Thins or fancy crackers. So it was back to the boat with our groceries and we told Ian and Ellen that we would meet to go ashore for dinner at a place that they remembered. They called it Chop Chop because all one of the cooks does is chop meat with a cleaver for the tacos and it is supposed to be quite good.
Alas, it was not to happen. We both changed into our dinner clothes and jumped into the dinghy for the ride to shore and a surf landing. So far we were experts but somehow I missed the timing and the wave was a little bigger than expected and guess what? We got dumped and the last I saw of Penny she was upside down in the water completely submerged with her head in the sand. I went over too but when she got up and we got squared away we were both drowned rats and not suitable company for dinner. Unfortunately, there were two other cruising couples that we knew that were sitting on the beach with a cocktail and gave us a standing ovation. With that we put our tails between our legs and hightailed it back to the boat for a shower. We told Ian and Ellen that we would pass on Chop Chop.
Once on the boat we shucked our wet clothes and showered and I decided that I would cook up a big pot of tuna helper and we would continue our Cribbage tournament. Must be my bad luck as Penny won but just barely. We were surprised when Ian and Ellen stopped by the boat and brought us each an ice cream. That was wonderful and they were able to do it without spilling with a surf take off. I need more practice I guess.
Penny's Wet and Soggy Two Cent's: BOINK. One minute nice and dry and the next my head was actually bouncing off the sand under the dinghy. And of course the timing was perfect since it was front and center of all the bars on the beach at happy hour.