Gold Coast

The Gold Coast in Mexico is considered from Cabo Corrientes to Manzanillo. We left La Cruz 9 days ago heading towards Punta Ipala, a distance of 44 miles. We are buddy boating with our friends John and Rosie, on Serena Ray.
We crossed Banderas Bay with seas 1-2 feet and 8-10 knots of wind. As we went around Cabo Corrientes the wind picked up to 18-20 knots and sea swells of 4-6 feet. Corrientes means currents. At this point the winds and currents mix.








We anchored that night at Punta Ipala a very small village. It is said to have 17 families lives there and they have to drive 8 hours on a dirt road to reach another village. With the small village it had 3 restaurants. We had a delicious lobster dinner on the beach. We felt very secluded at that anchorage. Unfortunately we anchored on rocks which made noise all night and made it very difficult raising the anchor in the morning.


The next morning we left Punta Ipala to Bahia Chamela, a distance of 55 miles. We left with 10 knots of wind and 3-4 feet of sea swells. The wind quickly came up to 20 knots and 6-8 feet seas. Seas were very rolly. Very difficult to sail as the wind was on our tail. We came into the anchorage with 30 knots of wind gusts.

Chamela is one large anchorage. We had dinner on Serena Ray and played our favorite game, Mexican Train.

The following morning we left for Tenacatita, a distance of 31 miles. The weather has continued to build. We had sea swells of 12-15 feet and wind up to 27 knots. We could not see Serena Ray when she dropped into the swell troughs. Coming into the anchorage the wind was greater than 20 knots. Tenacatita is a favorite anchorage among cruisers. It is usually calm in the bay, water is great for swimming, many things to explore such as the tidal-estuary channel, and a great place to relax.










We had an opportunity to visit La Manzanilla where a friend of John and Rosie's, Marcia, lives. We were able to walk the town and visit some of the local gringos homes. How beautiful they are. They had their living quarters and kitchen outdoors. The bedrooms were inside.

We spent 4 days at Tenacatita before we left for Barra de Navidad, 14 miles south. We have been in the marina for 2 days. The Grand Bay Hotel is beautiful at the marina. We have enjoyed the amenities it has to offer.








We finally have found a successful seasick cure. I have battled seasickness for years. After talking to many people and research I purchased a Relief Band Medical Device. It is a wristband worn on the underside of ones wrist. It provides electrical stimulation of the nerves in ones wrist to prevent seasickness. I used it this past week with all of the high seas and wind and I never got sick. I am very happy, and of course Wally is as he does not have to cover as many of my overnight shifts. (Maybe I will pretend to be sick.)




We are leaving Barra in the morning heading to Zihuatanejo.

Banderas Bay

What amazing morning events we experienced yesterday. During the previous night we had had high winds and rain. In the morning we were watching the seas and sky. We had black clouds surrounding us. In addition we saw many waterspouts forming. The final waterspout reached from the water to the clouds.

According to Wikipedia: "A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud. Waterspouts have a 5 part life cycle: 1)formation of a dark spot on the water surface, 2)spiral pattern on the water surface, 3)formation of a spray ring, 4)development of the visible condensation, and 5)decay." We were fortunate to see the total life cycle. We had never experienced this before.

Many boats had trouble with this weather. Some boats dragged anchor, some broke lines, some lost things off their boats, and all had a very rocky night. There were 30 boats in the anchorage in the night. By morning it was down to under 15 as most sought safety in the marina. We were glad we were in the marina.

Banderas Bay

Outdoor Adventure Experience -

Since my friend Pamela on Precious Metal and myself decided we did so well on our zip lining experience last week we decided to do an expanded adventure this week. So off we went. We first took a speed boat across Banderas Bay to Boca de Tomatlan, a small secluded beach. We then transferred to a 4 x 4 jeep truck to off road 2000 feet above sea level in the Sierra Madre Mountains to the base camp. From the base camp we got on a mule (as far as I was concerned that was the scariest part of the whole day!) to ride deeper into the jungle. We went up and down hills on narrow paths. We then got off the mules and began a series of zip lines, some of the longest zip lines in Mexico, almost 1000 feet long and 250 high. We also rappeled down water falls, walked across jungle bridges, and splashed through streams. The trip was full of excitement.
The jungle was beautiful with all the foliage and flowers.





La Cruz de Huanacaxtle was founded in the 1930's. It currently has a population of 1621. Its name came from a cross made of Huanacaxtle wood at the towns entrance. We have been here for about a month and have become quite comfortable. While a small village we are able to shop at the local tiendas. I do have my favorites. Every Wednesday there is a flea market in the street. While it generally has the same things every week it is interesting to walk through.

Our local baker at the Panderia has delicious baked goods. Wally enjoys the cookies. They also have delicious stuffed ham and cheese rolls. The baker likes to practice his English with us and we get to practice our Spanish.


Next to the baker is the Tortilleria. While purchasing our corn and flour tortillas we always eat a hot tortilla right off the press.
I have not been able to purchase fresh meat from the meat tiendas, yet, maybe soon. The local tiendas have grocery items including produce. Wednesday is the delivery day for fresh produce. It looks of good quality on Wednesday, however, by Monday the quality has deteriorated. I have had to overcome my background (Dietitian)and become more flexible in purchasing food.


Our friends from G dock, Ventura West, Don and Judy from Wind Ryder, and Jim and Jeannine from CharAnn are currently in La Cruz. We have had fun going out to dinner and having dock parties.

We are preparing to leave La Cruz and head south on Saturday. We will be buddy boating with our friends John and Rosie on Serena Ray and Pamela from Precious Metal. We will be visiting various anchorages on our way to Zihuatenejo. We plan to be there at the end of the month to participate in Sail Fest the first week in February.

Banderas Bay

We have been without internet for the past week. We wonder what cruisers did years ago without internet. We depend upon it so much as a way to keep up with world news, keep in communication with family and friends, and keep up our responsibilities in the States. With that said we have done so much activity lately that this may be a long blog post.






We completed 2009 by exploring old town Puerto Vallarta. While we had done this last year it is always fun to share it with friends. Puerto Vallarta has a long melacon with statues along the way, including all kinds of vendors. Sand sculptures are also common in the areas we have explored.


We celebrated New Year's Eve at La Cruz Inn with our friends. The owners of the Inn gave us full access to the grounds and restaurant. Our friends, Ed and Annette were one of the few guests at the Inn. We cooked a delicious dinner, shared good laughs and played our favorite game, Mexican Train. We brought in the New Year 3 times, once at 10 p.m. (New York time), 11 p.m. which is Puerto Vallarta time and then again at 12, La Cruz time. All of Banderas Bay sky line was lit up with fire works. It was beautiful. What a way to bring in 2010. Happy 2010!!! We admit...we have no meaningful New Years resolution other than to continue to enjoy ourselves.



New Year's Day we celebrated by attending a dance and dinner extravaganza, which was called "Rhythms of the Night". It was held at Las Caletas, a secluded cove only accessible by sea. It was also the past home of Hollywood director, John Huston.


We traveled by catamaran along the Banderas Bay coastline watching the sun set. We arrived at Las Caletas marked by flickering torches and candle light. (There is no electricity at this cove.)We were greeted by music and Mexican dancers in their dance attire. We had a very romantic dinner followed by a dance performance set against a torch lit pyramid and jungle. The area had candle lit pathways through the jungle. In the quiet one could hear all the sounds of the insects and birds of the jungle.



"A palapa in Yelapa is better than a condo in Redondo!" We have heard this many times so off we went to explore Yelapa. After a mile walk to the bus stop, 2 different buses(an hour), a walk to find the water taxi(panga), a 45 minute ride on a panga we arrived at Yelapa. Yelapa is at the southern most cove of Banderas Bay. (FYI-Banderas Bay is the world's 7th largest bay in the world. You will have to Google for the first 6 largest bays).






Yelapa is a tiny fishing village with a population of about 2000 people. The village is surrounded by the jungle and ocean. It has no roads or cars. We walked on brick paths through the village up to a waterfall. There were chickens, dogs and donkeys along the path.

Today I can check another item off my "bucket list". I went zip lining!!! Wally was happy to send me off with my girlfriend, Pamela. While Pamela and I both questioned what we had gotten ourselves into, it ended up being a blast. Stepping off the platform was the biggest challenge, however, once I was zipping along, what a rush. Another challenge was repelling. The ground sure looks a long way down. The guides kept telling us to look around at the tree tops, the foliage, the rivers, however I have to tell you, I just focused on getting to the opposite platform and wondering if I was going to crash into the tree. We had 16 different platforms with activities, different heights from the ground, and different zip lengths, climbing ladders, and walking suspended bridges. Both Pamela and I said we would do it again and are looking forward to our next outdoor adventure.











Recently when Wally and I were discussing "bucket lists" he told me he really did not have anything on his bucket list. He said he was happy and content. He then said my "bucket list" was enough for both of us!! However, as with zip lining, he is often happy to find a replacement for me to fulfill my bucket list. He even offered Pamela a half a pair of shoes to go with me. Life continues to be good for both of us!