Sunday 8th March 2020
Today has started off with the boat Spruce, which I am embarrassed to admit are also Brits sitting in the main channel just after High Tide. We went over in the dinghy to try and get him to move as he is in the way of the traffic coming in and out. He has refused to move and said he had tried to come in on a rising tide and got stuck. Well, if he couldn’t manage it then, when does he think he will? We said we could take him to Wills boat and he could show him the photos of his boat and get the geography of where he went aground. The answer to that was are they aerial pictures? Of course they aren’t! So, it sounds harsh, but we are all secretly hoping he really tilts over in the channel. In the meantime we have been trying to contact Taxi Aquatica to get the water which we ordered for delivery this morning and, so far, has failed to turn up. The water eventually arrived as about midday after Dennis went over there to see what was going on and insisted we needed the water today as were leaving tomorrow. All the water was used to fill the tanks, so we are set for Tuesday as the day to head out. We got a water Taxi to the Golf Club to see what that was like. There was a tournament on and they were doing a buffet outside. The course looks lovely and the building itself was very grand. We cadged a lift to The View and had some shrimp tacos and guacamole. John asked Manuel the young guy who seems to run the business what they were cooking on the BBQ in the street. Apparently it was belly of Marlin, the part of the fish they normally throw away when it had been filleted. He said it was marinated in lime and salt and then cooked with garlic and spices, he gave us a cube each to try and it was delicious. We had trouble getting a water taxi back to the boat and more or less headed straight out to Dolce Vita where Dennis was cooking Spaghetti Bolognese with Garlic Bread. It was a lovely evening as always.
Monday 9th March 2020
We didn’t see the going of him but when we got up in the morning Spruce was gone. We wondered if he had gone out into the bay as we knew he needed to check out of Mexico before sailing to the Pacific. We had a cooked breakfast using up bits. There was two lots of bacon with a couple of tomatoes plus the leftover steak and jacket potato left from the other night’s restaurant meal. We packed our swimming togs so that we could use the pool after the trip with Dave and Patrick from Eagle. The day trip was interesting, but the subjects could possibly have been covered in less time. We were shown the plantations and how they grow bananas and coconuts. Apparently, there are eight different varieties of banana. He explained how they cut the flower off after the bananas have set and why they are wrapped in paper and blue polythene.
He showed us Manzanillo and the hotel where Bo Derek was in the film ‘10’. Apparently, you want room 700. I can’t say I remember much about the film.
We were then driven around past the port of Manzanillo into the town. To our amazement, John pointed out that Spruce was in the bay there. There were also a few trees where there were loads of Iguanas were sunning themselves. We stopped for lunch, which wasn’t the best by any stretch. We collected a few fresh bits and pieces for the boat and headed back to the hotel. The water in the pool was just the right temperature and we all had a nice swim. Dave joined us and was telling us about when he was a submariner. Patrick joined us later when we were sitting on the sun loungers as the sun went down. We got back to Bamboo and sat in the cockpit and talked and had a few drinks while the moon rose. It was full moon and absolutely stunning. We also sat and watched the fishermen in their tiny boats putting out their lines in the hope of catching something. We did have a laugh about Dave asking Bres if he had been to Costco. Bres didn’t hear him properly and said No, where is that?
Tuesday 10th March 2020
We were up at our usual time, had mango for breakfast followed by an omelette cooked by Bres. High tide was at 0943, our timing was impeccable, being out of the Barra and into the bay by 09:45. We made our uneventful way to Tenacatita. It again, took us three goes before we were anchored correctly. Eagle came into the bay, but there was a breakdown in communication, and we failed to catch up. John got the dinghy out and they tried to go ashore with Dennis while I read the script Bres had been working on. They didn’t make land however as the sea was rather lumpy and they had seen someone else try to get ashore and nearly overturn their boat. They had a drink on Dennis’ boat and then came back to Bamboo where I cooked the Fillet Mignonette purchased from Kenny’s in La Cruz. It was very tasty indeed. Once John saw Dennis back to his boat we put the dinghy back on the davits and retired for the night.
Wednesday 11th March 2020
Another rocky day on the anchor. I made Chocolate Muffins, Bread and then Pancakes after the last of the Mangos. I washed the deck down, Showered and then sat and read for an hour. I did a bit of washing and we had a nice cup of tea and some of the Muffins cooked earlier. John went across to collect Dennis as the sea was still too rough to go ashore. The plan seems to be to head off tomorrow to the next stop. Dennis seems keen to get back to La Cruz in time for the haul out. We had a lovely afternoon; John made some Guacamole and we all had a relatively early dinner (the last of the Butter Chicken). Bres went back with Dennis on the boat as he will be sailing with him tomorrow, that way he can get an idea of the boat before the night sail to La Cruz. John returned and we put the dinghy away, we will finish other jobs in the morning. It is so hot and sticky; John had another shower just to cool down a bit.
Thursday 12th March 2020
We were up early as neither of us slept particularly well. The anchor was up before 9am and we set off. It was a fairly uneventful trip, we just saw a few Dolphins. We came past the little islands where you shelter when there is a southerly wind. We had already thought that the anchorage we were at before would be good as it was actually a South Westerly. The anchoring actually went well. After we had a breather and a cold drink, John went to fetch Bres and Dennis. We went ashore and had dinner. There was far too much, we should have bought two and share. We got a bit wet trying to leave the beach in the dinghy, I couldn’t get back in when we had got to the deeper water so Bres had to give me a leg up. We had a quick shower to wash the salt off and had a quiet evening just talking about the next part of the trip. We had a game of Yahtzee, John won two games and Bres won one - beginners luck as it was then first game.
Friday 13th March 2020
We were fairly late getting up this morning compared to usual. Partly because I woke in the night and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I finished my book instead (Little Fries Everywhere) which was very good. The sea seems very calm at the moment. I cooked eggs and bacon, which we ate with the bread I had previously made. Dennis phoned and I told him he was on speaker phone and it felt like Charlie’s Angels and he must be Bosley. Dennis is having a home day today, sorting out his oil pump and trying to remove the fishing line caught around his prop as he forgot to bring his lure in after the fishing competition yesterday which never got off the ground as not a single thing gave themselves up. Dennis is adamant he is not sailing today as it’s Friday 13th and has mooted Monday. We know it is going to take 16 hours to go from here to La Cruz, so we would need to head off at about 5pm in order to get round Cabo Corientes at night and into La Cruz before midday. We left Dennis doing jobs on his boat and went ashore in the dinghy. This time we managed to find the town. When we were at a Cafe drinking coffee, we met John from Orca who was told us which was the best Tienda further up the street for food. We managed to top the phone up too, which was a bonus. We walked back to where the dinghy was left on the beach and had a drink or five in the bar before heading back to the boat. In the meantime we scored any dinghy arriving for their landing... It seems the Russian Judge only ever gave 2 points. We said there was a sweepstake to decide how many of our 12 eggs which are sold here in a polythene bag would survive our trip back in the dinghy. We said we would let them know on the net at 6pm this evening. John from Orca had complete faith in us and said we wouldn’t break any... and he was right. We doubt we had a good leaving score as I could not get in the dinghy and had to be hauled very unceremoniously in. We picked up Dennis on the way back and whilst we were on deck we observed the others coming back to their boats in their dinghy’s. We did have a good laugh when Mojo went by with the wife busy bailing out loads of water from her boat which suggested a rather wet launch from the beach. We put a message out on Channel 22 to the Chimaela Fleet. We announced that John on Orca was the winner of the sweepstake for the eggs and also pointed out that he should have negotiated the prize before entering the competition. There was quite a lot of banter and we got an 8.6 score for our departure and apparently there is footage on Facebook. A challenge has now been made for Bach’s Ball at 2pm on the beach tomorrow afternoon. Bres’s comment for the day was regarding women and why they trend to make their air last longer when scuba diving. The reason he came up with was that it was because they can’t talk whilst diving. We had Shrimp in Garlic and Olive Oil Spaghetti for dinner. John took Dennis home and we put the dinghy back on the davits.
Saturday 14th March 2020
The Coronovirus seems to be hotting up. Italy is in lockdown, the USA is doing remote teaching of college students until 3rd April. Sophie has said her boss John has asked if any of them would like to volunteer to screen the tests they are doing. She has said yes but isn’t sure if it will come to anything, her view is it is a great opportunity. We have been looking at the various sites this morning looking at the weather window for going around Cabo Corientes. It seems Dennis has asked John on Orca to take a look too. Hopefully we will be going at about 5pm this evening. It was a bit windy when we raised the anchor and pretty much came up without a hitch until the last bit where we had to twist the anchor for it to come in on the roller. The chain got stuck in the Gypsy. We put the pin in and while John motored to meet Bres and Dennis I managed to get it unstuck. John later went up the straighten the metal guide which had become bent. The wind was on the nose so it was all on the motor again. The wind was about 15 knots and there was quite a swell of about 5 feet and a lot of sprays when you hit a wave. We had stowed things away on the boat and all was well until at about 9pm we heard the Dolce Vita’s engine had stopped. We then did big circles around their boat until Dennis had fixed the problem with a new Racor Filter. That was when the water garathons decided to make a bit for freedom. Besides that, it was a reasonable crossing.
Sunday 15th March 2020
We had messaged Kim & Clay on Willow and they had very kindly gone into the Harbour Master’s Office and got us Slip so that we had plenty of space to get into. We were at the end of Slip 10. Kim & Clay were there to meet us and take the lines. After the initial panic of actually seeing where the slip was, John did a really good entry with no panics or problems. We showered and tidied ourselves up and went into La Cruz for drinks and then food at the Brown chair restaurant. There were 10 of us, Bamboo, Willow, Dolce Vita, Lovely Reta, Angelique II. We had a lovely evening with great company and food. As we hadn’t slept much on the boat we were in bed before eight thirty in the evening and slept like babies. Sophie said they have had 48 hour’s notice that their lab will be closing. She is worried about her work that she has spent weeks doing and is coming to its conclusion but isn’t completed yet. It will wreck a whole load of work if she can’t complete. Robert will be working from home and thinks it could be until the Summer. We don’t know about Alex. Elderlies have also been told to stay indoors for 3 months. Robert has offered to do Derek’s shopping.
No comments:
Post a Comment