After 30 hours at sea we made the voyage from Barra de Navidad to the marina in Xtapa. It's a little pricey but they have fresh water, power, showers, Internet and restaurants. It reminds me of a mini version of the marina in downtown Puerto Vallarta.
The first 16 hours were nasty. We were bucking 10 ft seas and a 20 knot wind. At times we barely made 3 knots per hour even with the engine on. Things we thought were stowed well in the interior were flying abou the cabin. Nothing was damaged, thank goodnes. By midnight the winds changed to North East and the seas were calm. The boat was "rocketing" at over 8 knots consistently after that. We left Barra a 8 am on Monday and arrived here in Zihua at about 1:30 pm.
We are all tired but our captain is a "busy boy" as we all know. He has many projects on the go before we have lunch. It's already 3:20 pm and we haven't eaten since 8:30 am.
The marina is nice but as any marina, it's hot because it's sheltered. The temperature inside the boat is 90 degrees F with about 60 per cent humidity. Unbearable hardly describes it.
Well, it looks like it's almost time for lunch. The captain just cracked a beer.
Until the next report.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Barra Laundry Run
Randy is off to El Jardin Lavanderia. It's the best one in Barra! We had a big load this time because the pelicans, frigates, and boobies roost on our mast and rigging and their guano sometimes splashes into the forward cabins and onto the bedding.
Leaving Barra to Zihuatanejo
Today we are dropping off our defective ice-maker at the Barra bus depot to send it Puerto Vallarta. Our trusty marine supplier, Seagnome Adventures, delivered a new one to us just in time for Christmas! It works perfectly. We are planning to leave Barra de Navidad late today or early tomorrow so today's events will be laundry, boat cleaning, stowing, checking weather, tides and charts. Raising the anchor from the sludge and gooey lagoon bottom will be a long and mucky event.
One of our propane tanks for the galley is empty. We suspect it may have a leak. Thank goodness we have two otherwise we would have to eat tuna sandwiches the whole way or rely on our barbeque for cooking.
We have picked up an extra crew member. Eric Johnson, a seasoned commercial fisherman from British Columbia. He is also crew and guest on Northern Romance. Eric will join us for the voyage to Zihuat. His participation will me shorter shifts for us all since the trip from Barra to Zihua will take approximately 35 hours. Although he's spent over 40 years at sea, he has never been sailing so this will be an adventure for him.
We have a single side band radio and are usually on Amigo or Chubasca in the mornings.
Our cell phone will also be in service for most of the trip.
One of our propane tanks for the galley is empty. We suspect it may have a leak. Thank goodness we have two otherwise we would have to eat tuna sandwiches the whole way or rely on our barbeque for cooking.
We have picked up an extra crew member. Eric Johnson, a seasoned commercial fisherman from British Columbia. He is also crew and guest on Northern Romance. Eric will join us for the voyage to Zihuat. His participation will me shorter shifts for us all since the trip from Barra to Zihua will take approximately 35 hours. Although he's spent over 40 years at sea, he has never been sailing so this will be an adventure for him.
We have a single side band radio and are usually on Amigo or Chubasca in the mornings.
Our cell phone will also be in service for most of the trip.
Christmas in Barra de Navidad and other Photos
This is a photo of Norther Romance, the yacht where we had Christmas dinner. Note the jet skis on the fore deck. The hot tub is not visible in these photos.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Manzanillo Battery Quest
Today Randy and I spent the day with Tammy and Larry Seminutin from Vernon running around trying to find battieries for Lost Elvis. It was hot, dusty and exhausting. Will post more tomorrow with photos.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Panga at Tenacatita Beach
This is my favourite panga photo so far. In the last week of November some time, we took the "jungle tour" in our dinghy with Gary and Chris (Pursuit IV) from our anchorage up the river and through the mangroves to a lagoon and walked over to the beach for a lunch of shrimp ceviche and a swim.Pangas in Barra de Navidad Lagoon
These are the pangas that we pass on our dinghy trip on the way to the Sands in the afternoons. We have to watch out for their stern anchors and for abandoned fishing lines, nets and lures.
Boxing Day in Barra de Navidad
Randy Hale, Thea Koshman, Elizabeth Shannahan, Richard Johnson, Erik Johnson, Hedi, Dino (aka Segundino) and others enjoyed a fabulous Christmas feast aboard Northern Romance in the Grand Bay Marina. John Rudolf, the owner and chef extraordinaire, served turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn and gravy. For those who had room in their full bellies, home made pumpkin pie and fresh whipped cream was offered for desert. It was Elizabeth's 40th birthday making it a double celebration!
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