Category Archives: Location

Categories by location. A general catch all for anything involving a certain area.

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 →

Passage from Huatulco to Ixtapa, Mexico

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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 →

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 →

ATV Rides, Huatulco Tour & Tacos al Pastor

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Continued from yesterday”¦ When we were done, it still was late morning, so we decided to do another activity at the ranch. We picked ATV riding. A few minutes later, we had bandanas wrapped around our faces to protect us from the dust, and we were ready to go rob a bank. Er we mean ready to go riding. And, maybe we’ll pass a bank along the way”¦ just kidding. Maybe.

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We had a different guide altogether this time. We followed him along a small trail, probably a horse trail, to a dry river bed. We bounced back and forth between Continue reading →

Food, Exploring La Crucecita & Zip Lines

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Yesterday was supposed to be another chore day. Christi took advantage of unlimited water and power and did load after load after load of laundry (we never explicitly mentioned that we are plugged into power here in the marina. Just in case anyone doesn’t realize, all of North America uses the same kind of power system, so at all the marinas from here on up, we should be able to plug into full power), but didn’t get much else done by way of chores. Eric worked on the internet all day, taking care of “life chores”. Unfortunately, the connectivity comes and goes, so it took a lot longer than expected and Eric never got to doing any “boat chores”. We did hire some people to wash the boat and polish the exterior metal. They did a fabulous job. By the end of the day, Kosmos was gleaming.

At 1800, we caught a taxi and went to the airport to pick up our friend Bruce. It was a longer drive than we expected. The road to the airport is nice, both in terms of road quality and scenery. We passed through an area that looked to be untouched forest. While the trees are barren right now, we are sure that in the summer the densely packed trees must be absolutely gorgeous. It turns out our cab driver, Saul, speaks pretty good English. We asked him to help us with our Spanish grammar and vocabulary. We had a conversation in Spanish, telling him all about our trip. When we would say something incorrectly, he would correct us and when we got stuck on a word, he’d tell us the missing word. Practicing with people like him helps us out a lot.

Like most of the rest of Huatulco, the airport is new and nice, though small. It is built in a rustic style, with charming tall palm frond roofs.

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Bruce emerged from the terminal a couple minutes after we arrived. It was so great to see him. Bruce commented that Continue reading →