It's been a while since I blogged but I seem to have a good internet connection today so I'll take advantage of it.
As you can see from the above picture, Ian got up close and personal with the dolphins in Tenacatita bay. That day he was cleaning the bottom of the boat and was taking a break just floating around and the dolphins decided to check him out. There are about 7 dolphins that seem to come into the bay almost daily and spend the whole day there swimming around and rubbing on anchor chains. One of the dolphins is widely known as Chippy because he has a chuck missing out of his dorsal fin probably due to a mishap with a propeller. It is so wonderful to get up in the morning and have your coffee while observing the dolphins so close up. We feel really privileged to have had the chance to see them so often and so close up for the 5 weeks or so we have spent in this bay.
On Saturday the 26th, the 1st Annual La Manzanilla Regatta took place. It was organized late and therefore there was not a lot of advertising for it so the number of sailboats that entered was small about 10 altogether. Ian decided he wanted to enter and since I wasn't interested in racing my house, our friend Al, a friend of his and a local Mexican that Ian had befriended were to be the crew. It was a great day both on the water for the racers and on the beach for the watchers. It was sponsored by Corona, a tequila factory, Puerto Vallarta Yacht Club and various other sponsors. There was a big tent up with tables and chairs with flowers on all the tables and table cloths - really it looked like a wedding was about to take place. There was free beer, free tequila, free food and 2 local bands playing music all day. Tons of fun! As for the race, in the class Kasasa was in, there were 6 boats altogether. Ian crossed the finish line 3rd, but due to handicapping we came in 4th place. We both had lots of fun that day.
That evening, since it was my birthday the next day, we went out for dinner with the rest of the crew and their wives. I got to choose the restaurant and I picked on that I remembered from 2004 when we were in La Manzanilla. It wasn't the cheapest place to eat but it sure was good. 3 of the dishes our table ordered were cooked right in front of us by the chef/owner. We had ceaser salad made at the table just like they used to do in the 70's, Ian and I had this amazing curry prawn dish that was cooked right at the table and someone had Crepe Suzette for dessert and that was made at the table as well as the special coffees. It was not only delicious but quite entertaining as well. Then the owner brought me a piece of cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday. So it was a great evening after a great day.
So our next blog will be from further up the coast as we are going to start heading north. Actually as I write this we are sitting in Chamela which is 30 miles north of Tenacatita. We are going to stay here until we get a weather forcast we like to go around Cabo Corrientes which is notoriously rough. We actually were on route for there yesterday and got about 8 miles north of Chamela when we got hit with 18 knots of wind on the nose and building seas. A boat that was 10 miles north of us was really into the chop so we decided to turn around and go back into Chamela for the night rather that bash into waves which slow us down too much. There is more wind expected today and tomorrow is looking like it might be the better option. That's okay since we didn't get a chance to stop here when we headed south we can explore it today.
I've put pictures of the dolphins in the Gallery and hope to upload some of the Regatta pics today too.