Robin arrived from Portland on Jan. 26th, Patty returned the 28th and we planned to leave the 29th for Tenacatita Bay. Manana problems again! I forgot to check out with the Port Captain, I wanted Patty to see the Iguanas in Colimilla and we still had a few last minute provisions to buy, so we opted to do that and leave first thing on the 30th. Alas, easier said than done! After being stuck in the Barra mud for a month, extricating the anchor was a chore. For starters, the snubber had proven the theory that dissimilar metals will become one in a marine environment. It took much pounding, wrenching and muscle to remove the snubber from the chain and then the real fun began. The first 20 ft or so of chain came up covered with much gross gunk that involved scrubbing with brush and water to remove. Once past that, most of the nasty mud washed off as the chain came up. The anchor itself was so stuck that I began to wonder if we were attached to some unseen cable or something. I would push the windlass button, it would grind, the bow of the boat would go down and the breaker would pop. We tried going forward and backward to work the anchor loose and Chris did some wrenching on it and finally we were free and on our way.
Tenacatita is about 12 miles north of Barra. With no wind we motored for about 1-1/2 hours and anchored off a beautiful tropical beach in the company of about a dozen other boats. This is what I’ve been waiting for! Long, beautiful beaches, clear blue and turquoise water and palms waving in the gentle breeze…just like in the Corona commercial! Once we were set, Patty & Robin tried snorkeling around the boat but it was too murky to see anything. Still…the water was warm and refreshing. Later, I asked Chris if he could get me to the beach for a walk on the sand without getting my foot wet. He was sure that if he didn’t put the outboard on and just rowed us in it would be no problem. All was well until we got close to the beach and then a wave was misjudged, caught us from behind and the dinghy went end over end with both of us getting drenched. I landed on my head and lost my sunglasses, Chris pulled a muscle in his back when he flipped and we returned to the boat looking like a couple of bedraggled rats. I was surprised to see that my foot actually was improved the next day so perhaps the seawater soaking was a good thing.
That afternoon “Arturo” came by in his panga to pick up our garbage and we arranged for him to take us on the infamous “Jungle Tour” the next day. He arrived as promised with his nephew, Oberto (age about 9), and we headed down the Iguana River. We made one stop to pick up a guy with a bicycle and ferry him to the other side and then we were off. It was like being in the “African Queen”, especially when the River got one-boat-wide and the mangroves closed in over our heads. We saw quite a few birds and crabs and one baby crocodile sunning itself on a branch. It was really quite pretty and exotic. At the end was a small village and Oberto, guided us across the short peninsula to the beach where we had a wonderful lunch at the family palapa. Arturo was to return us to our boat later that afternoon so while we waited Patty & Robin walked down the beach to “The Aquarium” to snorkel and Chris & I walked the beach.
Robin had to fly home Monday so Sunday we came back to Melaque (across the Bay from Barra) so she could get to the airport. Another lovely beach anchorage…darn! Tomorrow morning we weigh anchor again and head south to Santiago and Las Hadas anchorages just north of Manzanillo. I am using an internet café to post this so may need to add photos later. Check back for those.
We are still in Paradise but managing anyway.
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