Hello All! It was a fine few days in Melaque…as rolly as it was, the silver lining was NO BOATS!!! I literally had the place to myself…guess everyone else saw the ocean swell and said…”that dude is NUTS!” Clearly they didn’t see my dual flopped stoppers deployed, more about that in a sec!

Alex left at the butt crack of dawn…no goodbyes…just the way we cruisers do it! I stuck it out another day and left for Melaque in the morning….this is a place less travelled due to proximity to Barra de Navidad…most people go there…but, as you know, I prefer the lesser travelled spots. It was a non eventful motorsail in light winds, Making water, power via the fossil fuel burning “back up” Kubota (thank goodness for the repower!) and listening to some cool jazz, reading a new book (#10) and just letting the boat do all the work.

Arrived Melaque early afternoon…it was an empty bay….on the way in...my eyes bugged out at the biggest freaking surf I have ever seen from this boat….I mean….like Hawaii type big breaking monster waves on the shoreline….uh oh….the waves from my viewpoint…had the sun illuminating from behind, the shellacked vibrant green angry waters were topped with a fluffy sweet cream froth that was intoxicating….I could not take my eyes off of the ocean’s fury….literally the energy and power of these breakers could be felt thru my hull….yikes, respect!

As I was hand steering around the outer break…it crossed my mind how badly this could end for me and my ship if anything failed at this moment….gulp…saying a few hail mary’s I trusted my hand at the helm and went for it…spoiler alert, everything was fine…in fact, I had to get over myself as I was pumping up my chest and letting out Tarzan yells…swinging from the rigging in my underwear….I look over and see a lone panga fisherman…like…ho-de-dooo….no biggie…it’s good fishing….get over yourself poorly tanned white guy with the shiny sailboat….u ain’t nothing special :). I just cracked open a cold Modelo and kept on with the fantasy that I was Captain Cook discovering new lands, come on, makes for good content!

Well, I spend several days here, doing surf landings, eating amazing beach palapa food, go for long beach walks, shop at the “Hawaii Store” (go figure, in Mexico?) It’s just a name, but damn!, they had everything any cruiser could yearn for! Two trips later, I was fully stocked to head out.

0800, everything is stowed, Kubby warmed up, route set, I’m ready! No drama, I’m underway in 15 min. Both fishing lines deployed and water maker going, we are off to the races. It is only a 17 mile trip with little wind so again we are motorsail it. I am blown away at all the new mansions (casa grande) along the beaches…so much development down here. One strike and two gray whales later, I am rounding the corner to Carizal…my Dads favorite anchorage in all of Mexico when he used to come visit me on the first trip in 2009-2012. It did not disappoint. Still undeveloped, raw and absolutely gorgeous! I find a great spot in the middle of the cove in 32’ of water, only one other boat…SCORE!…..well, for now.

As there was some residual rolling swell coming into the anchorage I decide to put out the flipper stoppers….these things are SO cool! Thanks to my buddy Johnny the fabricator I have these STAT cool racks these things just hang on my rail….all lines at the ready. One side I put out the main boom, tied fore & aft….drop the unit over the side and tie it off….other side I use the spinnaker pole the same way. Takes like 5 minutes compared to 30-40 min’s before….they are stabilizers that flow up & down with the boat movement….like two hands making a church and then the steeple and here’s the people…seriously…they actually work like that! It reduces the boat roll by 2/3, thanks Dad!

Only one boat besides me, turns into 5, and 3 local tour boats with drunken locals and loud music…one bachelorette party (no, I didn’t go over there…..or maybe I did?) and others were just snorkeling and drinking. they left before nightfall.

I will leave you with this visual, I have never experienced before, ever.

I’m in a gorge, open to the ocean from the south, surrounded by big hills otherwise. The sun goes behind the hill to my left (west) early…like 6pm….but, I see the moon…mid sky, I mean, there is no mistaking it is a full moon, but a waxy, sexy orangish red brown, due to all the burning going on around here….I’m transfixed by it’s awesomeness when I realize the show is just beginning….the hillside to my east looks like one of those crazy artists who crank heavy metal music…dance around in bare feet and coveralls with a huge canvas on the wall…with bare hands launch gallons of fluorescent orange paint tinted with earth tones at the hillside…BAM!….the sublime colors are literally dripping from the trees and granite walls of the cove….only sentineled by the moon….it was the most moving thing I have ever experienced from the decks of my mighty little ship.

It only made sense to salute this majestic experience with my last rib eye steak, roasted garlic & rosemary potatoes and my last few sprigs of mexican asparagus….any maybe just a couple glasses of Vino Tinto!’

Thanks for listening to my introspection….sometimes it just flows.

Be well my friends!
More to come :)
Capt. Humble.