Barra de Navidad

By Aaron

We arrived in Barra after a short passage from Tenacatita and very cautiously navigated our way into the anchorage located up the estuary.  This is definitely the shallowest area we’ve tried to anchor in, and there are no markers or buoys indicating depth in the anchorage.  The charts were certainly no help but the guidebook had accurate waypoints.  So we managed to get the hook set with 2 feet under the keel.  Not that you could tell by looking since the water was quite muddy.  We watched boats go aground every day we were there.

We met up with friends from SV Jace, Ventured, and Panache and had a very enjoyable stay.  The water was so calm that after a few days we decided to raft up for a brunch.

Left to right – Bella Star, Ventured, Jace, and Panache forming the party barge.

We had pancakes, cinnamon baked French toast, chilaquiles, and scrambled eggs

Bloody Marys for some, but I think tomato juice is gross so I had pina coladas

Not a bad way to start the morning!

Ventured has a mini puma named Minion who enjoyed exploring Bella Star.

In Barra the water taxis are pretty cheap.  It’s only 25 pesos round trip to get to town and they even run 24 hours a day.  We used them several times to get to shore.

Our panga driver taking us out of the anchorage at about mach 2.  Same speed they drive at night.  With no lights.

We ate at a nice restaurant under a banyan tree and had a great meal with Ventured and Panache, despite a little chicanery with the bill

The ladies drank their Pacificos from wine glasses

We hit a few bars later that night…

For 10 pesos more your beer comes with a shot.  We’re all about value!

We danced and we partied till the wee hours.  And when a night out like that is wrapping up, there is NOTHING that tastes better than a street hotdog. 

We had ours with all the fixins’ heaped on.  Including some unidentified orange crumbs sprinkled on.  Erlin asked what they were…  Crumbled up Doritos? GENIUS!!!

We arrived at the empty panga docks in the middle of the night, nervously wondering if they actually ran 24 hours.  A sign said to flash the dock lights 3 times.  We did so, and after a few minutes a panga emerged from the darkness to pick us up.

 I woke up the next day with a headache, a yellow wristband, and a tshirt from some place called Jarro Beach Disco.

In Barra, don’t worry if you’re too hung over to make breakfast.  The French Bakery comes right out to your boat.

Voila

Barra was a good time.  A dark cloud was on the horizon though, as we would soon have to part ways with our friends on Ventured.  We keep meeting really cool people and then having to say goodbye as we go our different ways… that part of cruising is hard.

We’re really going to miss Erlin and Jenn.  In this shot, Erlin recognized the problem that we hadn’t had an American beer in quite some time.  So we split a Miller High Life outside a tienda.  For classy guys like us, only the champagne of beers will do.