La Cruz, Barra de Navidad, Las Hadas, Ixtapa

I have been remiss in my blogging, so this is a catch-up.  We love La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, but it was definitely time to get moving if we want to be in Panama by April 15.  Leif has moved up our arrival date due to the chance of being struck by lightning being greater in May than April.
   So, a brief synopsis follows.

The new Frascati's Restaurant in La Cruz.

   We enjoyed dinners out with friends, Sundays at the local marketplace, sails out on the bay, awesome shrimp tacos at the new Frascati's restaurant at the marina, walks on the beach, SUP's out around the marina, tacos on the street, Philo's, Ana Banana's, Xocolat's, Hacienda san Angel in PV with Connie and Ed, salads with Caramba, dinner with Osprey, snacks with Unleashed, numerous walk and wine out to the end of the jetty and all over the docks, and... the endless boat chores.

The local tortilleria and canvas shop.

One of our favorite places, Philo's.

The town park, near the marina entrance.

We feel well guarded by our friend at the entrance to the marina!

Typical scene near the fish market, note the still vacant pilings remaining from the tsunami during our first trip.

   We ordered new fender covers, scrubbed the boat many times, varnished the teak rails, cleaned the mast and rigging, and numerous trips to Costco for goldfish and kirkland tuna, and of course, wine.
  Finally, we ran out of reasons to stay, and ran for Barra.  It is an overnight trip, so we left around 11 a.m. and arrived in the late afternoon.  The trip around Cabo Corrientes can be rough, but we had little wind, and a bit of swell from the north.

Finisterra anchored off Las Hadas.

Local children having fun at the restaurant, while their parents eat!

One of the local palapa restaurants in Barra near the water taxi service.

Relaxing at the Sands Hotel.

Good luck finding a spot for your dinghy!

 Barra de Navidad is a small town on one side of a lagoon, or swamp as I like to call it.  On the other side is a beautiful marina and large deluxe hotel and golf course, The Grand Bay.  We decided to stay in the marina as we draw 7' for our keel and probably would hit in the "swamp".  Oh darn!  So, we got to use the lovely pool, and walk the tropical grounds daily.  Of course, the best thing ever is the local French baker who delivers fresh pastries to your boat directly from his panga and shop in town.  Soooo good, love the Danish!   Our friends Tom and Mary Ellen arrived here for a stay with us on our boat and a sail up to Las Hadas.  Together we ate and hiked around town, discovering a new place for cold cervesas overlooking the ocean.  It was a beautiful place, but in short order, we sailed/motored to Las Hadas for a different view.

Yes, it is really tropical down here in Santiago!

   It was a calm day to motor up to Santiago, a beach anchorage near Las Hadas and Manzanillo.  We stayed for a night, riding the dinghy ashore for a walk and lunch on the beach at a palapa.  The next day we upped the anchor and quickly motored around the corner to Las Hadas, and anchored there for a week.  When we arrived there was only one other boat to join us, but as time went on, we had up to eleven in the anchorage.  The marina captain decided we were prime targets and told us to pay 200 pesos to land the dinghy each day.  Turns out we were the only ones to pay, after asking around.  I can see a fee, as it is a nice resort with a pool and beautiful walkways, but 200 a day seemed steep.  The pool was refreshing each day, and we hiked into town for provisioning and to check in with the port captain.  Turns out that was not necessary, just call him on channel 16.

The Las Hadas resort in the Manzanillo area.

   Time flew by and we headed off to Ixtapa, early in the morning of January 19th, leaving Mary Ellen and Tom to head to the airport and home.  The wind was light... as has been the norm here in central Mexico, so we motored and made water the entire way on our overnight journey.  We were almost out of fresh water, so it was a relief to get some into the tanks.  Not much sea life along the way, rather uneventful trip.  I guess that's good after the trip to Cabo.  Lots of turtles though.

Isla Grande in the morning, note the large cloud formations...

   On Jan. 21, we arrived at Isla Grande off of Ixtapa and dropped the anchor while the jet skis zoomed past.  What a beautiful location, palapas, pangas, umbrellas, with boobies and frigates soaring overhead.  We heard a commotion in the water and a school of small fish were leaping out frantically, and then a large tuna leaped out after them.  Then, a frigate scooped up one of the small fry and tried to fly off quickly, being chased by many others right on his tail.  That was fun to watch!  We both jumped in and scrubbed the bottom, cleaning off growth and some barnacles.   There were some weird jelly-like things as well, and apparently some small crabs because as got out of the water, there were 1/2 inch crabs crawling all over us!  Ewwww!  One crawled into my ear, and I just barely got it out before it took it up as its new home.  Disgusting.  But, the hull was smoother, and the prop and through-hulls cleaned out. The water here was murky, even before we added our yuck to it, odd, as last time here it was clearer and much more enticing to swim.  Our boat was surrounded by moss, or sea grass, I kept looking for cocodrillos, as they are around, but fortunately don't like salt water.
I love Isla Grande, but it was time to move on again, so we headed to Marina Ixtapa at 1:30 p.m. when the dredger was on his lunch break and the entrance was open to us.  As we entered our depth gauge read 5', and we draw 7'... not a good situation.  But, we made it, having really a 5' keel under the 2' of hull where the transducer is.  Still, aaaahhhh!  There is always a swell running coming into this marina as well, so we surfed in a bit, probably helping keep us off the bottom.  We'll leave at high tide on Sunday, hopefully allowing us a little breathing room, but not much as the tide was not low entering.
   We checked into the marina office, dropped off our laundry, and had the celebratory margarita at the local restaurant, oh ok, maybe two, and awesome guacamole and chips.  Then back to the boat for a nap.  We awoke to mosquitoes attacking us, so out came the bug screens, AC unit and the tennis racket bug zapper that we bought in La Paz.  We attacked mercilessly and in short order we were cool, calm and bug free. So, tomorrow we'll check out the town again, hopefully get into Zihuatanejo as well and see more of it than we did a couple years ago.  Unfortunately we can't stay for Z fest, or guitar fest, two huge festivals here in town that support the local schools and economy.  We can do our share though by donating some $$ towards the schools before we set sail for Acapulco on Sunday.