Newsletter February 2002

"Why they are having all the fun and the rest of us just read about it?"

It’s been about a month since our last newsletter and I bet you have been wondering what the hell Pipe Dream is doing. Well, this is your lucky day. When I left you in our last newsletter, I was trying to sneak a new windlass (anchor winch) across the border through Mexican Customs. Well, I got caught and had to do a lot of explaining, a lot of apologizing, and a lot of thanking the Mexican Customs Officers for showing me the proper procedures, in my best Spanglish. The problem was resolved by the next day, the new windlass was mounted on the deck of Pipe Dream, everything was stowed, kegs of rum loaded, and she was ready to sail.
We left Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, February 5 at 0345, or for you non cruisers 3:45AM. Our intention was to round Cabo Corrientes in the early morning before the wind and waves build. This Cape is known for having 30 to 40 knots of wind and seas to 20 foot. Cabo Corrientes, meaning cape of currents, is the landmass of the Mexican mainland south of Puerto Vallarta, which sticks way out into the ocean like Point Conception in California. This causes high winds and large confused seas. We made a great passage with 12 foot seas and winds to 26 knots max, it was like a walk in a park in a bad neighborhood. We spent the first night in a very small, protected bay called Ipala, and our second and third night in Chemala.
On Friday, four days out of Puerta Vallarta, we reached Bahia Tenacatita and none to soon, we arrived just two hours before a dinghy Happy Hour raft-up. For you LB’s (land lubbers) a dinghy raft-up is done at a designated time, usually at sundown in some secluded bay. Everyone anchored in the bay prepares an hors d’oevre, gets in their dinghy with plenty of alcoholic beverage, meets at a central location on the water, ties all the dinghies together and proceeds to have a party. And you thought cruising was all work and no play.
Tenacatita is the most beautiful bay, and our favorite place on the Pacific side of the Mexican mainland, about 127 nautical miles south of Puerto Vallarta. If you will notice, in the spelling of Tenacatita, there are 3 T’s and 3 A’s. That means there is more T&A here than any other place in Mexico. On Saturday, we joined four other couples and went on a dinghy excursion through a mangrove channel. The wide, open entrance into the channel gradually narrows down to about 9 feet with the mangroves growing over the top like a canopy. The mangroves are alive with all kinds of different seabirds, iguanas and supposedly crocodiles (couldn’t verify the last!) After about 45 minutes, we arrived at another bay only to find more civilization. There, on the beach, were 10 palapa restaurants with fish rolls as their specialty. A fish roll is a fish fillet filled with shrimp, clams, and octopus, well spiced, battered on the outside, fried and covered with an almond cream sauce. I checked my diet book and it was listed right there under suicide. I did par-take, tomorrow we live to diet another day. Luckily, I found if you wash it down with three Mexican beers, the calories wash away.

Situated in the corner of the bay at Tenacitata is a large French colonial style house with a veranda around three sides. This house was built for the movie “McHale’s Navy” and was later converted into a restaurant and bar catering to cruisers. Beers are 8 Pesos or about 88 cents depending on the money conversion. The name is “La Casa de Piratas” or the house of the pirates. At the other end of the bay, about 2 ½ miles across, lies the little town of La Manzanilla. After a long and sometimes wet dinghy trip across the bay, you can purchase beer, veggies and other groceries, or have a great meal. Unfortunately, the wind comes up in the afternoon and makes for a chilling beach landing and exit through the surf. As you can see, life is not easy for Jutta and I!!!
Jutta and I sailed on the morning of Feb. 18 for Manzanillo and arrived that afternoon. Duey, on the sailing vessel “Great Escape” caught a very large Dorado (Mahi Mahi), possibly 40 lbs., we filleted it and fed 11 people and had lots of fish left over. On Tuesday the 19, we sailed for Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa. The overnight sail was to be 31 hours and about 12 hours of the trip were not fun at all. We had following seas of about 10 to 12 feet and winds of 20 to 27 knots. Part way into the night the winds turned 90 degrees and we had seas coming one direction and the winds blowing the other. It’s hard to explain to you land lubbers but take my word for it, it’s a very nasty ride. On Wednesday in the late afternoon, we arrived in Zihuatanejo and we plan to stay here for about 2 or 3 weeks before we sail to Acapulco. We are planning a trip to Taxco and then on to Mexico City for about a week or ten days. I will fill you in on that escapade on my next newsletter. I don’t want you to think this life is all fun!!! If I told you I miss working, would you believe me????
Good bye for now from the decks of Pipe Dream. I hope, your sunsets bring as much joy as ours do.
Ferdy and Jutta