Saturday 29th February 2020
We were up at 7am having had a good night’s sleep. All the remaining things were stowed or tied up in readiness for the relatively short hop down to Barra de Navidad. I was a bit worried about the anchoring in the shallowest water we will have been in and also negotiating the channel to get to the lagoon as we know it is also not very deep and that the sand shifts there too. Raising the anchor went well, even though John had to go down below as the chain had got caught going into the locker and the anchor shackle came up facing the wrong way. Both issues were dealt with simply and easily, whereas a couple of weeks ago it would have probably totally thrown us. When we got to the channel entrance at Barra we followed Dennis in and I just constantly called out the depth. We got to the far end of the lagoon and dropped anchor. We bumped into the couple with a little Yorkshire Terrier from Mazatlan who told us Will had got stuck when he came in along the channel a couple of days ago. We suspect he didn’t check the tides as we came in come up to high tide. You have to get a water taxi if you want to go anywhere here at a cost of 20 pesos. Dennis has managed to get someone who will look at his outboard engine on Monday. While he was doing that we put all our sail covers on and then met him at a bar. We then went to the hotel and there was a car show which was really interesting. There was even a car the same as Dennis’ first car, so we had to take a picture. We had a drink in the hotel, which is very nice. This is where we will be meeting Bres when he arrives in a few days. We came back to the boat to shower and freshen up before we go to Barra itself to eat dinner. We may see where the Port Captain has his office as that is another thing we have to do on Monday. Somebody said a law was actually passed to say you don’t have to check in like we do but they still kept the Port Captains and the exercise of checking in as basically it’s jobs for the boys, and there’s plenty of that here in Mexico. Barra itself was quite touristy but there is still plenty more to explore. We chose somewhere to eat and weren’t disappointed at all. Although the wine was rather expensive the BBQ ribs were excellent. We weren’t particularly late back to the boat and went to bed. Both of us woke in the night at different times, itching as we were so hot, so bailed to the Salon. We won’t be able to do this when Bres is here....
Sunday 1st March 2020
Hung out the little bit of washing and phoned Dennis. The plan is to get the taxi and walk around the bay before it gets too hot. The walk around achieved 10,000 steps but there was quite a steep camber going down to the waters edge and the sand was very soft underfoot which made the going quite hard. We stopped for a coffee part way along the beach. Once in Melaque we found a cash point for Dennis and caught the bus back to Barra. After an Ice Cream Dennis went back to his boat while we bought a few bits of fresh food and had a cold drink before catching the Water Taxi back to Bamboo. Dennis is eating on his boat tonight and we will be on ours, so John is making a Guacamole to Consuella’s (The B&G man’s wife) recipe for a scooby snack. The wind has picked up again this afternoon but a bit earlier than yesterday. Will dropped by in his dinghy and spent a couple of hours with us. It was actually quite a pleasant afternoon. He did admit that he grounded on the way in and had to wait until high tide and didn’t get in until 10pm as the panga that came to help him, pulled him further on to the sand rather than pull him off. John has also managed to sort out the 12 volt socket in the rear heads and the little air conditioning unit works. We had Chilli con Carne with the Cachcumber salad for dinner. I was beaten at Yahtzee again. It was a lot cooler, so we both slept like logs.
Monday 2nd March 2020
We listened to the net before putting the dinghy in the water to tow Dennis across to the outboard repair man who what in a little palapa on the other side of the lagoon. We brought him back minus the dinghy, put ours back on its davits and made our way into Barra on the Water Taxi. Whilst we waited, we munched through the two Bacon Quiches which we bought from the French Baker who had come to the boat earlier. They were very tasty, much nicer than the ones a from the guy in La Cruz. We ordered 10 garathons of water to be delivered to our boat in the morning so we can up fill our tanks. We have no idea how much water we have actually used, so it will be an interesting exercise. We also know where we need to go to get our gas filled but that is a job for another day. We walked to the Port Captain’s Office meeting David and his friend Patrick on Eagle on the way. We all walked back together and had a drink in one of the bars before going back to the boat. On our travel we also bumped into Bill and Vicky with their little, very elderly Yorkshire Terrier named Precious. They invited us for drinks on their Catamaran later in the afternoon and said they would pick us up in their dinghy. We had a very pleasant evening, it was really nice to see their boat and actually spend some time talking to them. Dennis and Will were there too. The trip there on the dinghy was quite funny as it was quite breezy and we all got absolutely soaked. So much for the shower I had just taken in order to get rid of the salt. They are heading back to Tenacatita early tomorrow morning. When you only draw 3.5 feet you don’t need to worry about the tides....... We came back to the boat and I made Chicken Escalopes which I ate with a bit of the leftover salad from yesterday and John after in a sandwich with cheese on top and lemon juice.
Tuesday 3rd March 2020
The 50 gallons of water arrived and we got that into the tank without any bother. We then got the Water Taxi to Mary’s and walked up the street to the restaurant called ‘The View’ with our gas tanks. We had to wait two hours for the guy, so in the meantime we had some Nachos and a few drinks and played a game of Pool. John won both games. We then walked down a different road to get to where Dennis had dropped his outboard. The verdict was not good but listening to the conversation between John & Dennis it seems the reason for the engine not working doesn’t add up, so we will have to wait until we get back to La Cruz for a definitive answer. The Water Taxi nearly wiped out our Solar Panels in the wind and also charged us a fortune, but he did retrieve John’s hat which blew off in the wind. John has said it is too windy to collect the outboard, so Dennis is going to ask Bob. The panels appear to be none the worse for their ordeal, which is a relief. While we were waiting for the chap and the gas tanks, I texted Sophie on Messenger. She said some towns had more or less been closed down in Northern Italy but Florence was still good at the moment. She also sent a picture of the poster she has designed for the conference but is still thinking it will be cancelled before then. The plan is to go into town at about 2pm to see the parade and then eat dinner out. So, we set about finding the V berth in readiness for Bres joining us in a couple of days. We didn’t get into town until gone 3.30pm and it was quite choppy on the lagoon. It turned out the parade was just a van throwing sweets to the children and that the parade was in Manzanilla. We met Bob and Pat and all ate at Simona’s.. They raved about their Goulash and Osso Bucco but I didn’t really go a bundle on my Steak. Having said that, my Mojito was really lovely, so lovely I had two. I managed to redeem myself at Yahtzee this evening winning two of the three games.
Wednesday 4th March 2020
We both slept like logs last night and awoke to the usual stillness in the morning, although we are facing a different direction to how we normally are first thing. Today we need to finish getting Bres’ berth ready and we also need to get the dinghy down and take Dennis over to collect his outboard from the repair shop. From the moment we had put the dinghy in the water the wind had increased slightly and it has slowly increased until at midday is was around 15 knots. We had a cold drink in Mary’s the Restaurant while we waited for Dennis to collect all his bits together for his outboard and then towed him back. We had an early lunch and are just chilling before we get on with anything else. Bres’ bed has been made and I’ve put a towel out for him. Hopefully he has enough space in there. I just need to clean the boat and we will be done. I did say I would make some bread but will do that later. So, the dough is made and at some point during the afternoon the boat didn’t move in the mud. We have worked out that when the gauge reads 4.5’ (4ft 6”) we are actually floating in 7’ 3” of water. We need to adjust the instruments accordingly.... Sausages, mash and cabbage for dinner and an early night after watching a film.
Thursday 5th March 2020
Up at 7am this morning as we had gone to bed so early and were greeted by an amazing sunrise
Oven is on for the bread and the tea is made. We need to clean the boat, shower, get shopping and collect Bres at noon. Everything worked - we went into Barra and got our food. There was a market on where we bought some veg and found a butcher and bought some bacon which looks delicious and some minced beef. We found pretty much everything we needed as far as provisions go. We met Bres in the Bar (despite the Taxi not turning up) and had a drink and lunch. Dennis met us as he had been to town to get some cash and get a haircut. We just need to fix the ladder as we lost a rubber foot when we went to unfold it. Dinner was a quiche from the French Baker, some home-made bread and a cachcumber salad. We had an early night.
Friday 6th March 2020
We were up at about 7am. But the sunrise was nothing like what we saw yesterday morning. We had a fried breakfast with some of the lovely bacon which we purchased yesterday. I chopped the fish Dennis had given us in readiness for dinner tonight. We also got a message from Dave and Patrick who are now coming over for drinks this evening. They said they wanted to see what it was like being at anchor. We got the bus into Melaque as Bres wanted some money. We found the Hawaiian Store and bought some veg. It was rammed with people. The gas was collected and then we came back to the boat. The time galloped from then onwards as we got the dinghy out. John and Bres went to collect Dave and Patrick from the Marina then went to get Dennis. Marguerites flowed as did the wine, it was a really good evening. Once we were afloat we moved the boat a bit further into the Lagoon as we were touching the bottom at low tide. John dropped Dave and his friend back to the Marina and I cooked the dinner. John and Bres loved it but Dennis and I found it too hot... We had used two Serrano Chillis with seeds. While John took Dennis back to his boat and we put the dinghy away, Bres washed up. Dennis was absolutely ratted, so much so, I really wanted Bres to go with them when John took them back as I had visions of him falling into the water.
Saturday 7th March, 2020
We were not quite as early this morning which is hardly any surprise after the amount of alcohol they all consumed. The sunrise was nearly not as spectacular as the other morning but still beautiful. I can hear the crashing of waves from behind me at the opposite end to the entrance to the Lagoon. There are cockerels crowing all around and I can even hear the odd bray from a mournful donkey - they always sound so depressed to me. The breakfast of fresh Mango was lovely, they were so juicy and fresh. We walked to the Port Captain and were extremely lucky as it turned out they were actually closed, but he did our paperwork anyway. I explained that we were not around on Monday, and that we needed to be out first thing on Tuesday plus we can only give 72 hours notice of leaving. We stopped at the French Bakery for drinks and a bite to eat before coming back to the boat. We put the gas cylinder back in the hold and checked the water pump at the bow of the boat, which works to an extent but doesn’t have much pressure. We sat on the boat during the afternoon and the wind got up to about 15 knots. We had already observed two boats to the side of us, one of which appeared to be getting closer to the other. As time went on it was clear the boat which was the last to arrive was dragging but was getting far too close for comfort. Mamba II was in the right as it was anchored first and was holding, the other boat didn’t have anybody on board. In the end Will from Cetacean and Kirk from the Marina boarded the other boat, luckily the keys were still in the ignition, so they put it into reverse and moored it in a location further back. The boat held and that was the end of that. Although Will commented that the inside of the boat was an absolute mess and looked like it was a teenager’s bedroom. We all went to dinner with Dave and Patrick from Eagle and had a really lovely evening. We did note that on our return, the boat which had caused the problem had no lights on at all. They haven’t made a very good start....
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