January 17, 2010 Tenacatita

Well, we are now in Tenacatita about 120 miles south of Banderas Bay. We left La Cruz on the 5th and headed up to some Islands at the west end of the bay for some snorkeling.  Spent one night there, then back to Punta de Mita (north western most anchorage in the bay).  We were hoping to get some surfing in, but no such luck, so flat we had no trouble landing our dinghy on the beach.  We spent two nights there, then moved to Marina Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta proper.  We had a slip right next to another Liberty 458, and there is another one that berths there as well, but they were out.  Then, as if that isn't "small world enough", a couple walked up and said they used to own a Liberty too.  Theirs sank on an uncharted reef in the south pacific.  Talk about old home week.  We spent two nights there, did some provisioning, bought the telcel card for internet, got laundry done (expensive) and filled up water.  From there we headed Yelapa. 

Yelapa is on the southern end of the bay.  Very picturesque.  No cars, streets are really glorified sidewalks, mostly cobblestoned.   Primary form of transportation is mules, followed by wheelbarrows for hauling things with one or two 4 wheelers thrown in to keep it interesting. People were friendly, lots of permanent gringos.  We had some adventures in dinghy landing on the beach.  It is a very deep bay, our mooring was in 170 feet.  I guess sometime in the not so distant past the beach used to go out about 400 yards, but an earthquake did away with that.  Now, it is deep right up to the beach.  So, on our first landing attempt, Miss Grace and Coordination basically fell down as I got out of the dingy (right after a shower I might add).  We went back to the boat, I changed and we tried again, new strategy, Dennis and I will get out at the front of the dinghy....... Well, a wave hit my side, and in I went (did I mention we had just done laundry??). I guess it just proves that I am more than a little nuts, cuz all I could do was laugh.....We ended up walking around wet, got some good intel on where to eat in town (where they actually have a dock), went back to the boat, changed again, and went into town for dinner.

The next day we went into town again and did a short hike to a waterfall.  We met some nice folks from Iowa who were there for a wedding.  After lunch, we attempted dinghy landing number 3.  Bathing suits on, dry bag packed - dry like a bone.....  Josh and I had our pictures taken with a huge iguana on the beach. It was pretty cool holding them.  We had heard that there was another longer hike to a waterfall, so off we went.  It was sort of surreal, we waded thru the river to get to the path/sidewalk/trail.  Then proceeded to basically walk thru everyone's back yard.  So we're walking along, and it is very primitive feeling and yet kids go by on bikes, and the occasional 4 wheeler passes you.  Most homes had at least one mule and chickens, a couple places had cows and we saw one pig.  The path was becoming more trail like, and what do you see, but a street light!!! There were street lights all the way to the first river crossing.  The foliage was green and felt like the jungle. (probably cuz it is).  After the first river crossing the path became a trail, fortunately the nice couple from Iowa had mentioned that the turnoff to the waterfall was under a fence marked "to the waterfall". Felt kind of weird going under a fence, but sure enough we ended up at the bottom of the waterfall.  Very pretty.  On the way back, I am sure I saw Macaws.  Made it back to the beach before all the palapas closed, had a couple of margaritas, went back to the dinghy only to find that my backpack had been gone through and the only thing missing was my camera.   I know it is my own fault, I shouldn't have left my camera there even though the dinghy was in our sight....So, that is why there are no pictures of the iguanas, the mules, the waterfall,s the beautiful rooster, the poinsetias growing in the garden or anything else since I last  downloaded pictures. We left Yelapa the next day.  I am trying not to let the camera thing ruin my experience there, cuz it really is a neat place.

Our next stop was Ipala for one night.  The guys caught a bonita that day.  The next day on the way to Chamela they pulled in a 45 inch dorado. In Chamela  we caught up to s/v Totem and s/v Capaz.  Josh was  overjoyed to have friends to hang with again.  We had a great afternoon on the beach, then a day snorkeling, the next day we thought we might move to a different anchorage, but Totem scouted it and called to say it was not so good.  They came back and hosted a yummy dinner on their boat. That brings us to today and Tenacatita.  We stopped at the not so good anchorage to go snorkeling at a  place called the aquarium.  It was good snorkeling, some of the best so far.  Now we are anchored in the good anchorage and will be here for a few days........

more later