La Crucecita

La Crucecita is the name of the charming little town near our marina. We found our way there yesterday afternoon looking for a capicitor for the refrigeration unit. The store was closed until 4:00 pm, so we had an ice cream and sat in the park for a while.

Then we wandered around town checking out the shops. We ended up buying a bottle of "Crema de Agave con Miel Pina Colada" which is made right here in Oaxaca. We also bought some avocados, cilantro, and limes for guacamole later.

 

A helpful taxi driver took us to four different places because the first place didn't have the correct capacitor. In fact none of them had exactly the right capacitor, but we bought one anyway that is a little bigger. Since it's only the starting capacitor, we hope nothing bad happens. We think it could eventually shorten the motor's life, but we intend to get the correct capacitor as soon as possible.

At the Marina Chahue

We left Acapulco on Tuesday February 24th around 10:15am. After motoring out of the bay, we were able to turn the motor off at 11:00am and had a very nice sail in 8-12 knot winds for many hours. We ran out of wind around 10:00pm so we turned on the engine again until 9:00am when we had enough wind to sail again. And sail we did! We were eventually flying along at 8 knots for several hours until we decided we were going too fast and needed to slow down so we wouldn't arrive in port in the dark. We put the main away and continued on with half our genoa out.
We arrived at Bahia Santa Cruz at 7:00am and slowly made our way around the reef and anchored behind Punta Rosas where we got cleaned up, had some breakfast, and took naps. We spent the night there after making arrangements to come into the marina Friday morning. And here we are now at Marina Chahue. It's a very nice marina with beautiful docks, electricity, potable water, an English speaking harbormaster, and Internet.

The old girl looks pretty good after sailing 2500 miles to get here, doesn't she?

Goodbye Acapulco

We are heading out tomorrow towards our last Mexican port; Huatulco. There we will prepare to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec.

Cliff Divers of Acapulco

 

Saturday night we took a taxi to Caleta La Quebrada to see the famous cliff divers. We arrived early so we had a bite to eat and then made our way to the viewing area just as the sun was setting.

About ten divers made the plunge into the tiny, rocky cove. It was exciting and interesting. Hope you enjoy this video.

Cliff Diver Video

Entertaining Ourselves in Acapulco

We visited the Fuerte de San Diego the other day. It was first built in 1616 and rebuilt/repaired over the years. It is now a museum featuring the history of the trade between Acapulco and Manila in the 1800s.

Acapulco

We arrived here in Acapulco Wednesday evening. We had to anchor in the dark in 65 feet of water amongst other boats on mooring balls. But it was calm and we spent a restful night.

The next morning we moved to the marina where we plan to spend a few nights getting laundry done and reprovisioning. Then we will move to a mooring ball and do a little sightseeing around town.

We had a brown boobie land on our boat around noon on Wednesday. He stayed with us for over 19 hours just sitting on the bow pulpit. It was breezy too, but he didn't seem to mind the spray. And he stayed there as I put the anchor down only 3 feet away from him. Finally, Thursday morning he flew off leaving only his poo all over the deck.

A Little Mystery in Zihuatanejo

Above the harbor here in Zihuatanejo is a building that looks like the Parthenon. Supposedly it was built by the Chief of Police of Mexico City. He apparently had orgies and who knows what all out there. They called him the Black Devil because of his ruthless treatment of his enemies. One can walk up the old driveway and take a tour for 50 pesos.

Zihuatanejo

We are back in Zihuatanejo. We are anchored out near the charming town with this view. Last night we enjoyed a live band that played all the classic oldies that we "boomers" love. These young Mexicans did a great job imitating the Beatles, the Stones, the Police, the Monkeys, the Turtles, and others. It was a very enjoyable evening.
We plan to stay here a few more days then head South to Acapulco.

Sad News From Home

On Saturday evening, January 24th, we received the call that every cruiser dreads; the Captain's father had passed away. We were approaching Lázaro Cárdenas when we suddenly had cell reception and our daughter got through to us. It was totally unexpected, but thankfully the Captain had spoken with his father just three days previous.

We quickly decided to put the boat in Ixtapa Marina and fly home. We had to wait for sunlight and high tide to get into the marina, but we were in our slip by 10:00 and had tickets by noon. We arrived home Monday the 27th at 11pm. The past week has been a whirlwind of activity as you might expect, but we are enjoying visiting with family and helping the Captain's mother deal with all the details.

 

 

 

Ned had a good long life with lots of adventures and travels. He was always an entrepreneur and even after he retired, he tackled projects with determination and inventiveness. He had a gift for gab and literally never met a stranger. He was a long time community volunteer and served for 55 years in Sertoma International, on the County Grand Jury, and numerous other organizations. He was a faithful donor at the local Blood Bank and was a member of the 55 gallon club. He leaves his wife of 67 years, three sons, five grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and many, many friends.

 

As soon as Ned gets done telling a few jokes at the Pearly Gates, I'm sure he will look back on his life with no regrets. We should all be so blessed.