Photo taken from the boat while anchored in Zjuatntanejo Bay March 16,2008
 
This page is the log and photos for SV Tropical Dance from Puerto Vallarta to Zjuantanejo Mexico February and March 2008
The Log of Tropical Dance PV to Z-Town Feb-March 2008
By Reylyn Yarussi
 
‘Hola’ From the Gold Coast of Mexico,
 After departing La Cruz, we continued on southbound to the following anchorages:
 
 
IPALA .  One night stop if the swell is right – from the NW, and a great place to get a good meal.  Three restaurants right on the tiny little bay.  The one we went to was all the way to the left side on a ledge over rocks – great views.   We had prefect conditions to anchor for the night.
 
 
 
 
 
 
BAHIA CHAMELA:    Another 50 miles south is this lovely  big bay.  Highlights for us here was a palapa cantina operated by ‘uncle Tony’ – good food, cheap beer.  There is an RV park about a 1/4 mile down the beach for Gringo snowbirds that let us use their wifi (we gave them a
TD t-shirt in return).  An one night, Feb 13th to be exact, a Mega-yacht
was kind enough to put on a really cool small fireworks show from one of the coves closest to our boat for a full half hour followed of course by horn applause from the anchorage and cheers from shore.
 
 
 
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Photo Page
Click on Photo
 
 
 
 
 
 
The 50 photos on the above photo page were taken during the trip south along the Mexican Gold Coast, February and Marsh 2008.
 
 
Puerto Vallarta
to
Zjuantanejo.
CAREYAS: Small beautiful anchorage, lined with very expensive property, a small high end resort and happens to be a nesting spot for sea turtles during the month of December, maybe in to January. Obviously we missed that opportunity. Our friends on Wahoo did get chance to volunteer while they were spending time in Careyas, trained by the sea turtle pros to help get the new hatchlings out to sea safely before someone hungry (higher up in the food chain) gets them. We anchored in a small cove once being part of club med, now owned by someone rich and important. It was evident that the owner was devising a plan to keep boaters out of “his” cove by planting small moorings and placing small panga boats (sans motor & name) strategically in the protected cove. We managed to find a way to invade his space for a night. TENACATITA: I really liked this place. Large ‘double’ bay. Outer bay is good for day stops and snorkeling the “aquarium’. We didn’t cause we’re sissy’s – water was 68 degrees. No thanks. , a Best memories here: The jungle river and a space station/space shuttle fly-over. To get the the ‘outer bay’ by dingy you can take your dinghy through the jungle river and at the end is a lagoon and tie up. You end up in Tenacatita (La Playa Beach). There are several RV parks here, great views of the pacific and Tenacatita Beach from hilltop vistas, and a ton of places to find a Corona.  One night we were treated to a Nasa fly-over thanks to a nearby cruiser who got the info from a friend. An extremely rare sight, and it just so happened that one of the nights we were in Tenacatita, the ISS and SS, soon after their separation from each other flew right over our anchorage. We were informed of the time and azimuth earlier that morning. It just so happened, (not thinking about it) that we were watching an episode of “From The Earth, To The Moon” (Apollo 7 mission). When it was over I got up to go turn off the inverter, and at that point I had just remembered about the scheduled fly-over. I looked at the clock , and wouldn’t you know it – it was time. Dan was in the head. I ran up on deck and started looking. I checked the compass to verify direction.. The sky was clear. Suddenly a very bright “LED” like light appeared about 45 degrees from the bow towards the NW. It moved deliberately, and since I verified with my own brain that it had no aviation lights – It was them!. Just a bright white light gliding. I yelled at Dan “ Dan . .GET UP HERE NOW!” “NOW!” “GET UP HERE!” I think his pants were still down when I yelled. By the time he got up to the deck , which was in a second, the second light appeared – even brighter. Both in a line, gliding very brightly and silently with precision and grace. And quickly! They disappeared within 2 minutes in the SW horizon. My only thought then was, who was moving quicker – them or us??! It was an amazing sight. Oh,,, and finally this bay was a fantastic place to launch my sailing kayak, which I did one day and sailed the bay for 2 hours. BAHIA NAVIDAD: aka Barra. Barra is only a two hour sail from Tenacatita. In fact, both anchorages are within VHF range, and often you can hear the “NET” from Barra in Tenacatita. Barra has two anchorages: ‘rocky’ Melaque and the Lagoon. Barra seems to be a ‘terminus’ for seasonal Gringo cruisers staying within the boundaries of . .Mexico! The Lagoon is of course very protected , but difficult to navigate coming in or out. In fact, it is advised to download way-points that have been already been charted from a website of a long-time cruiser of Mexico, and plot them on your own chart plotter. We even took a google-earth pic and plotted them on that. Coming in to Barra – we aced the entrance in 20-25kt winds using the way-points of course. It did seem reminiscent of us trying to get into Anegada. Choosing a spot to anchor was somewhat time consuming, being that there were more than 50 boats claiming real- agua estate. Best thing about Barra . .the French Baker. Every morning he comes out in a panga selling baguettes, croissants, and tasty torts .. Expect to spend $10 or close to 100 pesos a day on this guy . I mean his fine breads and pastries. This is another place I spent a good amount of time kayak sailing . Lagoons are known for smooth water, and you , just have to pick a day with a good light breeze. Some mornings were very foggy. And most of the time we could here the surf pound on the beachh just to the south of the lagoon on the outside. Shopping was easy, as well as getting laundry done having good panga service from the lagoon, or marina to town. We even found a small sail loft run by a gringo. We took our new asymmetrical spinnaker that we always had thought was cut weird, to Hogan’s Sails (ex-patriot). It wasn’t cheap, but he got the job done and the sail works better. We do have one more tweak to do, as we discovered after leaving Barra, that it has a “hooked” leach. We’ll have to find another sail-repair further south, After our sail was finished ..we split town for points south. Manzanillo – LAS HADAS: What a beautiful place. We managed to anchor all the way tucked in close to the roped off beach, keeping us well protected from the growing swell. We ended up staying for a week. I took an opportunity to take the cats to a vet on the main Blvd. to get a rabies shot. When we flew back in to Mexico with the cats, the agricultural inspector at the airport in Mexico said we need to get the cats shots every 12 months, not 3 years like the US requires. The most challenging maneuver we’ve ever made with Tropical Dance, was doing a med-moor to the fuel dock in heavy surge. And the only time for us to do this was when there was no wind, or wind from the north. It was tricky, and it took us three try’s to get it right. We didn’t need fuel, which,,,,,, wasn’t available anyway, but we desperately needed water and the port captain gave us permission to get water at his dock. But boy, did we have to work for it! In any case, the pressure was great, unlike many spigots in Mexico, and we even took the time to wash the boat since there were no boats coming in to get fuel . ..since they didn’t have any. SANTIAGO BAY: Just a two night stop here, very close by from Las Hadas, we decided to anchor in this large expansive bay for a couple of days before departing to Zihautanejo. It was here I took an opportunity to clean the bottom. It’s amazing how fast ‘things’ grow on a boat bottom in these waters. A hula skirt , a few barnacles and general green fuzz can slow a boat down over the a long haul. I managed to clean the port side and only a small portion of the starboard side before my hands started tingling from cold. I was wearing a shorty, but the water was only 68 degrees. When I came out for a rest, I was shivering like all get out. Had to take a hot shower and drink hot chocolate before I started feeling normal again. I can say the rest of the day my body stayed “cool’ in the 85 degree weather. The sunset before we left we were treated to a going away dingy raftup cocktail party for a boat heading north. You don’t need much of a reason to have a party down here.