Wednesday, January 27, 2010

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.

3 comments:

Sharon said...

I cannnot even imagine sea swells like that! I think I would have gone under and covered my head till it was over. You have covered so many miles this past few weeks, bet Angel is ready to get his land legs bac. Hww great you found a cure for sea sickness, now you can enjoy the ENTIRE trip! Love you all.

Craig and Eva DeVries said...

Wally and Linda,

Your blog is amazing! You are setting the bar pretty high for us who are new to this blogging deal. We are in Bahia Santa Maria and are leaving for Cabo in the AM. We'll stop briefly for provisions and rest and then wait for our window to cross the Sea of Cortez and meet Neill in Mazatlan and get him his solar panels... Hopefully, we will cross paths with you two this season! If you are interested are blog is www.southtrail.blogspot.com

Fairwinds,
Eva, Craig and Dover s/v South Trail

Gypseas Palace Adventures said...

Love the update's.Glad your watch worked well for you.Looks like you having a wonderful time. See you in Mazatlan!!1