Tenacatita Re-visited

We had flat seas with minimal wind as we motored from Cuastecomate to Tenacatita.  There were about 17 sailboats at anchor when we arrived. We recognized many from Barra and points north.

The first night we arrived was the “Mayors’ Raft-up”. The cruisers anchored at Tenacatita have an unofficial social networker that brings the bocce balls, volleyball stuff and dominoes for ‘Mexican Train” to shore daily for the enjoyment of all. The raft-up is a gathering of all cruisers in their dinghies sharing appetizers and stories for about two hours or until the hehenees start biting.

This stay has been physically grueling for both of us. The group has daily swims to shore, volleyball in the sand, bocce ball, Mexican Train in the bar and beach walking. We have participated in all things physical as well as the mental exercise of Mexican Train. We are feeling like we are finally getting a good physical workout. A dinghy escort normally goes with the swimmers so they don’t worry about getting run over by a panga . The swim is not competitive. Yesterday I shared a boogie board with Patricia from the PSC “Paloma”. It was a fun “girls time”. We floated and talked and laughed all the way to the beach while Paul did circles in the dinghy protecting us from harm.

On one day, we pulled anchor early and motored to the “Aquarium” which is a lovely protected cove just around the corner. We dropped anchor and snorkeled about ¼ mile to the reefs. We saw good sea urchin colonies, eels, blow fish and lots of pencil fish. The town on the shore had been abandoned, so when we got tired we swam to shore and walked the deserted beach. We then swam back to the boat. The town is like a modern day ghost town. It’s a little creepy. I’m not sure what happened here but there were some police or security guards sitting around in the shade watching. When we got ready to leave we did the lazy sailor sail back to the anchorage by flying jib alone. It was great!

We had some new arrivals on our return and the social scene was going strong on the beach. We set anchor and got back into the water to swim ashore. The palapa on the beach had some cold te helado which was our reward.

On another day, we made a run into La Manzanilla for supplies before heading north.  We met with Don, Valerie and Kyle from the s/v Distraction. They came over by dingy and attached a tow line to the stern of our dinghy. We motored to La Manzanilla in Talos IV towing both dinghies for our provisioning before the next leg north. The seas were settled when we arrived at our destination which was about 3 miles across the bay. After setting anchor we split up and dinghyed to shore. La Manzanilla has a reputation for being a challenge for dinghy landings. Paul and I had successfully landed dinghy before on our way south so we were not as nervous as the first time. We made a safe arrival and met up with our friends for breakfast before the provisioning. After breakfast we made quick work of getting supplies and were ready to head back to the boat just as the swell, wind and departure anxiety were increasing. All went well with our prep work except that we miss judged the last wave and unfortunately took some sea water over the bow when we didn’t lift her bow fast enough. This soaked some groceries and made a sandy mess of things but was not much more of a problem than that. Paul got the engine running, Val and I jumped in from hip deep surge and off we went to the boat. I was relieved that we made it. We had about $90.00 usd in groceries including 20 liters of purified drinking water, a case of beer, beef steaks, gourmet pot pies, imported cheese and a case of Fuze brand ice tea (Paul’s latest addiction). On the way back we hoisted the sail and had a great run across the bay with 20kt winds. Kyle, Don and Valerie all got a chance to take the helm and play around a bit. When we set anchor back at Tenacatita I swam ashore while Paul escorted me in the dinghy. We met up with the rest of the cruisers on shore gathering for bocce ball and conversation at the palapa. 

A wind weather window is expected to open up around the end of the week.  We’ll stage ourselves at Chamela for the run around Cabo Corrientes into Bahia Bandaras and La Cruz.

There were mostly deserted buildings along the beach
at the "Aquarium".

The "Aquarium" lived up to its name, with some
fantastic snorkeling along the rocks.

The Friday night raft up led by the self designated
mayor of Tentacatita.

Another incredible sunset as the fisherman head
out in their pangas.

Paul on deck enjoying the sunset.