Zihuatenjo, Guerrero, Mexico

We left Bara de Navidad January 28 to Las Hadas which was 26 miles south along with our friends on Serena Ray. We spent 2 days at that anchorage. It is a beautiful setting surrounded by huge white hotels which reminds one of Greece. Unfortunately, John got sick and he and Rosie were unable to continue south with us. We will meet up with them again later.
We left Las Hadas for Zihuatenjo 197 miles south. It took us 30 hours. If we were driving in a car and it took us 30 hours to go that far we would be miserable, however, in a sailboat we made great time. We had great weather with a full moon for most of the night. It was exciting to pull into the bay of Zihuatenjo.



One of the events that we came to Zihua for was the 9th Annual Zihuatenjo Sail Fest. Our friend Pamela from Precious Metal had asked us to volunteer for the event. What a wonderful experience we have had.





The Zihua Sail Fest is organized by volunteer sailors for fun and fellowship for cruisers, locals, and tourists. The Sail Fest raised $450,000 pesos this year. Proceeds benefit the local poor children's schools and other educational projects.

We had 5 days of activities which included a Kick off party with a live auction, a tour of the local school being benefited by the funds, a Benefit Concert with excellent musicians, a Chili Cook Off with Silent Auction, a Sail Parade around Zihuatenjo Bay and Ixtapa, a sailboat Pursuit Race, a kid's beach day, and a final Wrap up Beach Party with awards.


The local boats who anchored in the bay participated in the Parade. Locals and tourists signed up and payed to go on the various sail boats. The same for the Pursuit Race, guests signed up and payed to have a chance to race on a sail boat. Wally and I had the opportunity to be on the Committee boat and watch all the racers over the start line and returning for the finish line. All guests and cruisers had a great time.


We thoroughly enjoyed meeting new friends and participating in the weeks activities. We would recommend it to all cruisers. One can also check the web page out for more information www.ZihuaSailFest.com.

During this past week we experienced an unlikely storm. We had 36 hours of non-stop rain which included lightening and thunder.
We heard there was 10 inches of rain during this time.
One really appreciates a dry boat and bedding after that amount of
rain.


We are beginning to explore the area now that Sail Fest is over. We are enjoying the local town, people and activities. Carnival is beginning so we will stay to enjoy the cultural experience.