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 →
