Category Archives: Cruising Guide

Information for other cruising boats. Our experiences finding places to anchor, dealing with officials, provisions, etc.

Passage and Arriving in Bahia de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico

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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 →

Welcome to Ixtapa, Guerrero, Mexico

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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.

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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 →

Fueling Up and Heading to Ixtapa

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Eric had not intended to buy fuel here in Huatulco. He had read about the fuel dock in Santa Cruz Bay and decided it wasn’t the right place for us to get fuel. It was shallow and there were often surges that caused the boats being filled to bang into the sea wall. Gone Native had gotten fuel there the day they arrived and had confirmed our suspicions that it was not a fun experience.

When we checked in, the marina had told Eric that a fuel truck could deliver fuel to us here in the marina, which was a big surprise to us. He debated about it for about a day, and decided to get the fuel for a couple of reasons. One, we had been planning to Continue reading →

Checking In and Crossing Paths with Old Acquaintances

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Continued from yesterday”¦ Almost as soon as we were situated, a catamaran named “Gone Native” pulled into the space we had just vacated. In a crazy small world story, it turns out that we know them. In early 2007, a friend of ours had arranged for us to meet some people who actively cruise half the year. They were really nice people who gave us a lot of good tips and advice. At the time, their boat was in Europe. We hadn’t had contact with them since. And, suddenly, here they were! Like us, they are about to stop cruising for a while and are taking their boat home to California.

In another odd coincidence story, we are now directly across from a boat named Cosmo. It was around 1115 and we were puttering around on board. Eric heard someone knocking and calling out “Hello”, but it wasn’t at our boat, so he didn’t pay attention at first. Then he looked out and saw the person was knocking on Cosmo and realized it must be the quarantine officer. Eric brought him aboard. The quarantine paperwork took 20 minutes. The only thing he wanted to see was our trash, which he looked through briefly, then left.

Now it was time to go to the Port Captain’s office. We walked out to the street and quickly caught a taxi that took us to the next bay over, Santa Cruz. Bahia Santa Cruz is definitely geared at tourists. A large cruise ship dock makes up a breakwater that splits the bay in half. The sea wall lining the inside of the breakwater is completely covered by small power boats with bimini tops, clearly intended for taking tourists on sightseeing cruises up and down the bays. There were two small military vessels in the back, too. The boardwalk is a collection of tourist shops, quite a few of them vacant. There are large hotel and/or condo complexes on the hill that separates Bahia Santa Cruz from Bahia Chahue, some of them only half completed. On the backside of the shops, on the outside of the breakwater, is a small beach.

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The Port Captain’s office is in and amongst the shops. There were several armed military officers lounging around near the office. You walk in the door to see Continue reading →