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.

A little rain in Tenacatita

By Nicole

I checked the log book.  For the first time since August 1, 2011, it rained on us while we were at anchor.  Sure we had plenty of fog going down the coast, and we got drenched on our overnight passage from Cabo to Playa Bonanza.  But up to that point, our time at anchor in Mexico had been amazingly dry.

And you know what? It made me a bit nostalgic for the months we spent cruising around Vancouver Island.  The solitude.  The lush beauty.  The smell of the cedar.  The sound of rain falling on the coachroof.

But then I got over it and went snorkeling in 77 degree water.

On our way to pick up Erlin for a little snorkeling in the rain.  Aaron, Steve and Jenn opted to read in cozy, dry comfort.

With all the fresh water coming down, Bella Star got a shower, and we managed to collect probably 15 gallons of water without really trying.  Score.

But it didn’t rain forever, and once the blue skies returned, we got a dinghy flotilla together and explored the mangrove-fringed estuary just off the main anchorage in Tenacatita.  Supposedly there are crocodiles here – and we did see some big guys at a preserve in a nearby town the previous day – but they were either hiding or were well camouflaged.  Which was a bummer for everyone except Erlin (who has a fear of healthy respect for crocodiles).

Dinghy flotilla

 Molly, Ben, Mickey and J.P. of Jace (Mickey and J.P. have their own [awesome] blog… check out 2 Little Doolittles Cruising)

Steve and Zack of Panache

Four scurvy sailors

While we didn’t see any crocodiles, we did see lots of Snowy Egrets and Yellow-Crowned Night Herons. And a load of red mangrove crabs.  Mickey saw a sea snake, and a couple large butterflies flitted overhead, but overall it was a fairly critterless trek. Meandering lazily through the mangroves was a relaxing way to kill a few hours, though.

Mangrove trees line the banks of the estuary

A Yellow-Crowned Night Heron sat ever-so-quietly

The channel narrowed and the trees closed in

Winding through a mangrove tunnel

Tenacatita was a lovely and quiet stop, full of snorkeling, beach walking and the estuary trek.  The small village of La Manzanilla, great for provisioning and enjoying a flame-grilled burger,was only a water taxi (or road taxi) ride away.  But after four days, we were ready to move on… next stop, Barra de Navidad!

Beach bums and bonfires

By  Nicole

Our overnight stop at Isla Cocinas in Bahia Chamela was one of my favorites so far.  The anchorage was surrounded by rocky, cactus studded islands; a secluded, sandy beach; the vast Pacific Ocean and the tropical Mexican mainland.  Dozens of pelicans, boobies and Frigatebirds flocked overhead, and the water was a respectable 77 degrees.  It was a gorgeous spot, and we all jumped at the chance to spend the day being beach bums (very active beach bums).

We played Smashball.  We swam.  We snorkeled.  We saw a pelican rookery.  We had hermit crab races.  We ate a delicious potluck, picnic style.  We lit a raging bonfire.  We made S’mores.  We swam again under the full moon.  It was a good day.

 
The sublime little beach on Isla Cocinas

 
The ladies relaxing in the shade après-swim

Bahia Chamela is one of the primary  Brown Pelican rookeries on the Mexican coast.  Zack got some fantastic shots of the fuzzy pelican chicks by climbing a tree to see down into their nest; I just snapped a quick picture through the brambles…

Cactus, bushes and scrubby trees cover Isla Cocinas and make perfect nesting grounds for pelicans

 
One of those aforementioned Brown Pelicans

 
The rockstar photographer in his element (taking a [much better] picture of the very same pelican seen above)

We hadn’t really planned on having a bonfire, but when life gives you a beach full of driftwood and a full moon, it would be wrong not to, right?  So after zipping back out to the boats to whip up an impromptu picnic potluck dinner (which, for the record, was amazing and included Panache’s fresh I-just-killed-these-fish-with-my-spear-gun-like-10-minutes- ago ceviche), the fire building commenced.

 C’mon, Steve, light our fire

 Aaron is a master fire builder!  He and Steve even scrounged the bricks to make a fire pit.  Pro.

While waiting for the sun to go down, we watched as pelicans returned to their nests to feed hungry (and noisy!) chicks.  We also took turns shooting cans with Zack’s slingshot.  Apparently I use a slingshot like a lefty.  Maybe that explains my distinct lack of talent.

 Jenn showing off her best slingshot form

Frigatebirds circle high in the evening sky

Darkness finally arrived and bonfiring began…

 Coming back to a nice, hot fire after taking a midnight, moonlit swim was heavenly.  Until my towel somehow ended up in the fire.  Ahem.  (Don’t worry… it was rescued.)

 As boys like to do, they kept the fire raging all night long

We were en fuego, to be sure

Dinghying back to the boats with phosphorescent trails blazing put a cap on an awesome day.

My view of Ventured and Panache the next morning, as I sipped my coffee in the cockpit

A day at the beach in Bahia Chamela

By Nicole

With our last overnight passage behind us for awhile, the crew decided it was time to have some fun.  And what better way to spend a day than playing on the miles-long golden sand beach at Bahia Chamela.

It was a perfect day of:

• boogie boarding
• body surfing
• bocce playing
• kite flying
• book reading
• sun lounging
• dilapidated resort exploring and
• beach hiking

The shores of beautiful Bahia Chamela

The crew taking a romantic stroll

A mile or so down the beach, we found a resort that had been dynamited twice (without much success).  Aaron poses by what’s left of the pool.

While Erlin, Zack and Steve climbed around the crumbling concrete building, Jenn and I took a little break in the shade.

Time for some beach bocce!

Aaron’s turn… what form!

Zack gets set for one of his power lobs

Hey, guys.  Go fly a kite.

Like Erlin said, I sure hope we can recover from our day at the beach enough to spend tomorrow snorkeling!

Escape to Yelapa

By Nicole

As we hauled the anchor and got underway for Yelapa, I actually felt a little sick inside watching the La Cruz de Huanacaxtle anchorage grow smaller and smaller in our wake.  Why were we leaving this laidback paradise and saying goodbye to our friends?  Couldn’t we just stay one more week?  We spent more than six weeks living here, and it really started to feel like home. 

But cruising isn’t about parking in one comfortable spot forever, no matter how great it is.  And so Bella Star is on the move again.

Approaching the village of Yelapa, Jalisco, Mexico

Despite its close proximity to Puerto Vallarta, the village of Yelapa is still quite remote.  There are no roads into town, so everything must be brought in via horseback or on pangas (small boats).  And electricity was only run to the village in 2001. 

It is an incredibly beautiful place, surrounded by lush, tropical mountainsides that plunge into the ocean.  The town is quiet and charming, with houses nestled here and there along the steep mountainside – many perched on stilts as protection from the summer rains.  And the locals you pass along the winding cobblestone paths are always ready with a friendly greeting.

The only downside is the anchorage.  It’s quite deep (over 120’) with only a small shelf appropriate for setting an anchor, and (on most days) it’s extremely rolly.  The locals devised a solution to the first problem, though… they installed a number of mooring buoys.  The moorings are owned by different companies and before you even get into the bay, a panga driver is zooming out to escort you to his particular mooring.  For 200 pesos, you can tie up to the buoy and get a ride to shore (and back) from the panga driver. 

 Erlin and Jenn on Ventured tying up to the mooring with the help of the panga guys

It was one of those super rolly days, which made being on the boat uncomfortable.  I tried to make sandwiches for lunch but had to stop, since we were rolling rail to rail through 60 degrees, and plates and tuna fish were flying everywhere.  Yikes!  We can handle some bouncing around for sure, but this was just crazy.  So we got in touch with Ventured on the VHF, flagged down our panga dude and headed to a palapa restaurant on the beach to have a little lunch and wait for Zack and Steve on Panache to arrive.

The view from our palapa restaurant

Once the gang was all together, we set out on our next adventure… finding a waterfall.  There are two waterfalls near Yelapa – one requires a 1 1/2-hour hike, the other only a saunter through town.  It was getting late in the day and we were feeling a bit lazy (not to mention that in his hurry to get off the boat and into the bouncing panga, Zack forgot his shoes), so we opted for the leisurely stroll option.

We walked down the beach, across the mouth of the estuary, up a set of winding stairs and through the meandering paths of the village to the waterfall.

Boats in the estuary

A Snowy Egret takes a stroll on the beach

Pangas and cruising boats bob around


Gorgeous views out to the Pacific

Cobblestone paths led past brightly colored shops, houses with laundry drying in the sun and lovely brick buildings with elegant arched windows…

… And finally (I say “finally,” but it was really like a 20-minute walk) to the base of the town’s waterfall.


 Erlin, Zack and I couldn’t resist taking a dip

 
Erlin and I enjoying a little ginger time

 The waterfall shower was a little chilly, but it felt great!  And no, I’m not interested in knowing what’s upstream.

We all made our way back down to the beach for some refreshing Pacificos and a couple plates of nachos.  Another tough day at the office.

We’d hoped to spend the night in Yelapa and see the other waterfall the next day, but the rolling was too intense (and we didn’t feel like paying another 200 pesos anyway).  Just after dark, we all pulled our anchors and set out for an overnight trip around Cabo Corrientes to Bahia Chamela.  Southward!