Sunday, December 21, 2008

Ipala 12.21.08

We left La Cruz de Huenacaxtle early Sunday morning at o-dark-thirty so we could round Cabo Corrientes as early as possible. We have had a hard time hearing Don Anderson's weather forecast and have been doing our own research and figure today was the best day to make the crossing in the next few days. Cabo Corrientes is one of those places where if you do not time it well with a good weather window, it can be a harrowing place.

The seas were pretty calm during the passage, although there were some large swells. The wind was directly astern so it wasn't a pleasant sail (the exhaust fumes get pushed into the cockpit). The scenery here is stunning. Untouched beaches as far as the eye can see, mountain ranges in the background, palm trees everywhere, & a crystal blue sea. But we saw all kinds of marine life! It's like an aquarium everywhere we go now and it never gets boring! We had dolphins racing our bow, sail fish
jumping about 5 ft out of the water, turtles floating by with their flippers out of the water - waving them as if to say hi! This trip we have also seen a lot of rays - simple brown ones and even a few manta's (we think!). They are so graceful! When we were anchored, we saw a bunch of them jumping out of the water! Michael had a fishing line in the water most of the trip but didn't catch anything…bummer!

We arrived in Ipala around 2pm and grabbed a nice hold on the anchor & then just relaxed. I was hoping to do some swimming but the water didn't look as clean as I'd like so I read instead. I had also been given a recipe for cooked plantains that were like mashed potatoes. I had picked up all of the ingredients on our last minute provisioning trip into Puerta Vallarta on Saturday and so I made them last night. Honestly, they were pretty weird. They tasted like hot mashed bananas….so I guess I
used the wrong color plantains. I'll have to try again. Using the local ingredients is one of my favorite past times and I'm always up for trying something new. How will I know if I don't like it?!

The town here in Ipala consists of about 10 buildings. It's busy today - a Sunday - and there is a panga full of it appears Mexican tourists as they keep circling the boat taking pictures of us…haha. It feels weird to be the center of attention! We didn't go into town as it takes too long to drop the dinghy & re-sling it and we're heading out in the morning. The anchorage is a bit rolly, but not too bad. Lady Hawke, Pacific Jade, & a new boat - Acapella is in the anchorage with us, along with
a much smaller boat that we haven't seen the name of - but they have a young baby, under 2yrs old on board. A nice dinner & a movie and we were done for the night. I will definitely come back here for another visit & look forward to seeing the town.

Chamela tomorrow!
Rene

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