Leaving Tenacatita 1.20.10

I hate to even mention this….but the worst has happened. We’ve run out of gas for the generator and even worse…beer. So we’re headed into Barra de Navidad lagoon, a short, 3 hour motorsail further south down the coast where we can get resupplied and keep out of the way of the crazy large winds & swells that are rumored to be heading our direction.

Our time in Tenacatita was just amazing and we may just get resupplied and head right back instead of going even further South this season. We’ll see! The water at Tenacatita was crystal clear and warm and activities were plentiful so unless this swell totally wrecks it, we’ll just spend our remaining time this season hopping between about 4 anchorages in the area.

The few days since our last slog was spent in similar fashion – swimming, hiking, playing games, snorkeling, kayaking, enjoying dinners and appetizer parties with friends, impromptu get-togethers, and oh, don’t forget the Mayor’s Friday night raft-up! Every year a ‘Mayor’ is chosen – someone who will be in the area pretty much the entire season and provides assistance to folks coming into the anchorage. Well, every Friday night is the Mayor’s night out and everyone jumps into their dinghies, heads over to a spot in the anchorage near ‘good dog beach’ and ties their dinghy to their neighbor until a circle of dinghies is achieved. Then out comes the swappable items – DVD’s & CD’s, followed closely by the appetizers. You bring an appetizer to share and the trays of appetizers are passed around the circle. Similar to a potluck, it’s amazing what everyone manages to make up on the boat and there is almost too much food to eat! Popcorn, pasta salad, crackers & yummy dips, brownies, mango upside down cake, stuffed grape leaves, quesadillas, and other scrumptious goodies were shared. Then everyone in the circle stood up & gave their boat name, when they left, where they were headed, and answered the Mayor’s question of the day – tell us about the most memorable night passage you’ve experienced. The stories ranged from amazing to horrific but they were all great to hear. There were about 20 boats represented and it was a great night.

The day after the raft-up, a group of girls and I went for a hike from our anchorage along the top of the mangroves, and into Tenacatita. We were chaufered in to good dog beach by the guys and four of us – Juliette on S/V Synchrony, Adele on S/V Sea Change, and Sharen on the Catamaran Sunsation – hiked into town.



What a great hike! There was lots of flowers blooming, the hike was mostly without bugs, and the conversation never stopped! As we came over the ridge and could see town, the beach seemed to stretch for miles – miles and miles of clean sand beaches with the swells pounding in. We left early enough to make the hike in, check out town, grab some lunch with the guys who brought the dinghies in through the jungle trip, grab some groceries, and get back to the beach for bocce ball in the afternoon. Fun, fun.

A couple days later, after helping out a boat in the anchorage with some much needed parts for a generator repair, we were invited to dinner aboard S/V Ohana. We provided the halibut and Nicole made an incredible halibut corn chowder that was to die for. And for desert – brownies with real whipped cream mixed with grand marinier….heavenly! Tom & Nicole are sailing with their 6 & 8 year old kids, Max & Makenzie – what an experience for them! This was also after sharing a dinghy ride into La Manzanilla, a super cute town on the opposite side of the bay from Tenacatita, to watch the football game (Dallas was skumked!) & stock up on some provisions.



This was the first time we had been to La Manzanilla and it was another spectacular beach town. I look forward to going there more often!

Projects were completed on the boat, fun was had, and most of all…there was plenty of relaxing accomplished! It was a great time in Tenacatita. We’ll have to go back there again… 

The crazy weather that’s hitting the west coast of California is also hitting Mexico and is coming our way, with predictions of up to 15 foot swells and high winds. We will duck into the anchorage of Barra de Navidad lagoon to ride out the storm, if it hits all the way down here. We’ll see!

More to follow…
Rene