Chamela and Tenecatita

Chamela turns out to be a quiet, typical Mexican town, one paved road, several small tiendas, (stores) and lots of locals hanging out at the beach-side palapas on the weekend to cool off in the surf.  Well, not exactly surf, but really close, as our dinghy landings were a little wet.  It was great to see that the locals were enjoying their beaches as much as the gringos.  Many soccer games, kite flying, sand castle building and picnicking were occurring during the Sunday afternoon at the beach.  We have noticed that at many of the beaches the boat people or yates as we are called are in the minority.  To me, this shows that Mexico's economy has slowly been crawling back as the locals seem to take days off regularly to enjoy themselves at the beach, or at festivals. 
  We walked through town on the one paved road, bought some fresh produce for dinner, and headed back to the boat.  The next day we motored over to the little islands nearby, around 2.5 miles.  We anchored at Isla Cocina for the day, and dinghied to the beach to see the pelicans nesting in the cactus.  Their chicks are so cute, totally white and gangly, a lot like Woody.  After a quick walk on the little beach, we pushed off through the small waves to circumnavigate the island.  Not a huge deal, but it was open ocean swells as we rounded the outside cliffs and dodged back through rocky outcroppings to get back to the Honcho.  Very exciting of course, as Leif decided to make it an E ticket ride and cut through a white water area.  After such excitement, we could only highlight it with a quick dip for a bath off the stern.  I do miss the showers at La Cruz, but the scenery is spectacular. 
   The next morning we were up early, 8:30, and set sail by 10, headed for Tenecatita.  The wind was light in the beginning, but filled in and within an hour or so we had 15 kts, then 20's.  We hit 10 knots on the knot meter, which was a first for us on this boat.  Really fun to surf along the swells.  At around 5 p.m. we were inside Tenecatita Bay, and found the anchorage.  This is because it's rather hidden around a corner and if you don't come all the way in, you won't see it.  It was great fun to be at sea, surfing along so quickly, yet it's very nice to be at anchor at night and able to rest without having to keep a watch constantly.  We do keep an anchor watch, but it's much more relaxed than when we're sailing, then it's 3 hours on 3 off.  And cooking is a lot easier when the stove isn't swinging in front of me.  I have learned what to cook to make life easier under way, and what to leave until later.  Slicing onions under sail can be interesting, with them rolling off the cutting board and launching themselves into the air.  Tenecatita doesn't have the great wifi that Chamela had, but, who knows, maybe there's a Starbucks here?  We'll take the dinghy tomorrow to the other side of the bay to see what's there.  I have these bizarre cravings for a Chart House Restaurant.  Don't think there's one here though?