Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo

Arriving at Marina Ixtapa, the water temperature was up to 80.6, which we could determine from our instruments on board.  The air was also warmer and more humid, were we finally in the tropics?  It was tempting to jump into the water nearby the boat, but alas, the signs on the docks say "Cocodrilos, no nadar."  Yeah, right, we haven't seen one yet when this has been mentioned, but still didn't take the chance. 
  We hadn't been in a marina for around three weeks and were so looking forward to nice long, hot showers actually standing up in a real live shower stall.  Foiled once again, the water was quite chilly for the first three days making showers a challenge instead of relaxing.  Eventually I did get one day of a real hot shower, but then it departed.  Strange how that can happen. 
   Our trip here was actually in honor of a friend's 50th birthday, which was to be celebrated in Zihuatanejo, just around the corner in a nearby bay.  Friends of Judy flocked from all over, including San Francisco and Denmark to assist with her turning of a half century.  We felt honored to be invited, as we had just met them in La Cruz, and we'd do our best to help out during the week long festivities.  Our dinghy helped ferry folks from the beach to the boats for Hobie races on one day.  It was a wet affair, with our little dinghy getting nearly swamped as we took off through two foot waves on the beach with four adults on board.  The races were supposed to be all in fun, with a race course set around some nearby boats, and the start line between Honcho and Tivoli, Judy and Torben's boat.  They began with a very official three minute countdown, and horn blast, then off they went, some backwards through the line again as some folks had difficulty with sailing a catamaran.  They react differently than mono hulls and don't respond when tacking nearly as fast.  We did a major fauxpas by leading against the birthday girl when we were matched against her.  She won the start with a very superior dip start, but fell behind when the wind didn't fill in as expected.  Oh well, Leif just can't throw a race, it's not in his blood, and we got some good wind shifts.  The final event was a beautifully presented happy hour followed by dinner and dancing to the live band around the pool at their hotel.  A toast/roast of Judy was included and family and friends did their best to share her most amusing antics from the past.  After that, Leif and I tore up the dance floor, bid Judy and Torben adieu and taxied back to our barco. 
   Mark and Anne from San Francisco, friends of Leif, who had also joined Judy's celebration, decided to join us for a trip to Isla Ixtapa for the day.  We motored over to the little island, and swam in the warm water, Leif snorkeled the bottom and cleaned the speed indicator which hadn't been working too well.  Then all dinghied in for lunch and a very humorous pina colada, served in a pineapple, with bougainvillea for hair. 
   The next day it was time to leave for the north, this being our farthest point south on this trip.  That fact made this a little bit sad, knowing that from now on we were basically heading home.  We got diesel, and I ran over to pay our fees at the marina office, when, aha! a large crocodile (10'+) swam under the bridge and headed into the marina, swimming under boats and through the fairways.  Luckily I had my trusty camera and captured the moment.  So, at 6:45 p.m. we were off for an overnight sail/motor to Caleta de Campos which is up the coast about 75 miles.
   We arrived at Caleta de Campos the next morning around 6a.m. and slowed down and waited for the sun to rise so we could make a safe entrance to the bay.  The swell was rather large, breaking at about 6' onshore and we were probably 100 yards offshore which made it not too comfortable.  We were going to spend the night, but after a long morning nap to catch up on sleep, we decided to move on as the swell seemed to be picking up.  We motored out and headed north once again overnight.  The first night we sailed quite a bit, and the wind was up and just off the nose, so we tacked our way through the ships, of which there were many according to Leif.  It was my turn to be off watch, but sleeping was not happening as each time he tacked I rolled from one side of the bunk to the other, and the crashing of the hull was quite loud.  So, eventually we dropped the jib and put on the engine for an easier passage.  The second night, the wind was light, and we had to motor anyway, so a more peaceful night.  We awoke to see many sea turtles floating with birds sitting on their backs.  At first I thought they were dead, but as we came close they flipped their fins and dove down, leaving the birds to fly off.  We also caught our first mahi mahi, a little guy around 8 lbs, which we released.  My most memorable moment came when I was up on the bow in calm waters as we motored along, and voila! a huge marlin or sailfish 8' plus, swam under our boat.  So cool, black with stripes, it slowly wove it's way under us and off.  I couldn't believe I saw it.  Glad it didn't bite our lure as it was way too big to get on our boat.


Mark and Anne cooling off at Isla Ixtapa




Our new friend, the Pina Colada man!




Mark and Anne joining us for a cool one.



Finally, a croc inside the marina at Ixtapa



Cocodrillo in it's "natural state"




Our little mahi mahi, that we released

    We have spent three days in Las Hadas, and are now ready to depart once again for a trip northward.  While we were here we took a cab to the main city of Manzanillo and the port area.  There was a huge statue of a sailfish, which defines the area.  Apparently this area is known for their sailfish fishing.  So, it wasn't such a surprise that I saw one swim under us.  Diesel fuel is difficult to get in some areas, like here in Las Hadas where the fuel dock is open during the mid-day but not early or late.  This threw a kink in our plans of leaving at crack of dawn as we needed fuel prior to leaving.  So, now we'll deflate the dinghy and get fuel when we can and then leave for ?? later today.