Continued from yesterday”¦ The marina seems to be well sheltered and flat calm, which was really nice. Ahhh”¦ it feels so good not to be hobby-horsing anymore! We went to the marina office and checked in. Here is a shot of Eric on the way to the office.
The fee was even higher than Continue reading
Day 2
The slow speeds continued all night. Eric was starting to worry that we were dragging a fishing net, but the current eventually changed and we sped up. Eric heard the Pilipino monkey boy on the radio in the early morning before dawn. He was shocked. What is that guy doing here? Eric suspects it is an imposter.
Like yesterday, the day was sunny with just a little bit of haze and perfect temperatures. There was still no real wind or wind chop, but the swells were just as bad. At 1030, we rolled up 5,000 hours on the engine. That is 208 full 24 hour days! Wow. We really have spent a lot of time at sea, haven’t we? After 5,000 hours in every kind of condition imaginable, we can accurately say Continue reading
Yesterday morning we got up early and had breakfast with Bruce. This time we went to a different restaurant in the marina complex, which was more expensive and not quite as good. Man, we should have gone back to the first place. Right after we were done eating, Bruce caught a cab to the airport. We were sad it was a short visit. Gone Native also left, too. The weather window was still excellent and they wanted to make the most of it. They had really only stopped for fuel.
Even though we Continue reading
On Bruce’s watch, in the wee hours of the morning, there was suddenly a loud banging sound. Bruce woke Eric up. Eric went outside to investigate and saw that the base of the VHF antenna had come unscrewed. What the heck? That is something we have not been checking too often. Eric screwed the antenna back in and went back to bed.
Much to our surprise, at around 0500, the seas laid back down. We couldn’t believe it. We just assumed it would be rough all the way in. We didn’t get to enjoy the calm seas for long, though, because we pulled into Ixtapa Bay at about 0830 local time. Even from the distance, we could see Ixtapa was incredibly built up. There were several high rises along the beaches and expensive looking homes built in close proximity to one another along the cliffs.
Again, our electronic charts were definitely off, and again, we entered the channel using a combination of electronic charts, the cruising guide charts, and a print out of a satellite photo of the area. But the hazards in this bay were definitely easier to see, as was the channel entrance. The channel entrance is also significantly bigger and no one was swimming in it. Entering the short channel was a piece of cake. The first picture is looking right from the channel entrance, the second is looking left.
We were directed to a slip and told to pull in forward. As soon as we were halfway into the slip, we knew it was too small. Déjà vu. This time we Continue reading
Day 2
At around midnight, the moon moved to be in front of boat and really lit up the sky, seriously improving visibility. At around 0100, we turned a corner and started pitching some more, but it was still a nice ride overall. The wind did come back in the early morning hours, but it was very light at 4 5 knots real on the nose.
The excellent conditions lasted all day. This passage has been Continue reading