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If you found this blog via a link from a cruising site ~ we did cruise Mexico on our Ocean 49 cat for a season. See the first text box on the right for links to our preparations, trip down Baja, life in Mexico, cruising and trip back up to SoCal. Unfortunately we are back to the grind in the USA...

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

South of Manzanillo

Sunday 04-15-07
Left Las Hadas, Manzanillo and overnighted to Ixtapa, just North of Zihuatanejo. Jim said it was the nicest trip between Manzanillo & Zihuatanejo yet! They went into the marina to fuel up, wash the boat and do laundry. I do have one photo of when we were at Ixtapa Marina...

Monday 04-16-07
Ixtapa Marina - did the fueling, washing, etc

Tuesday 04-17-07

Zihuatenejo! They got laundry done here and did the provisioning. They also went out to the "rib place" Alan raved about and a nice dinner. After walking around the town, Jim said he realized why I always liked that town - the walking streets, how clean it is, the excellent provisioning etc. There were only a few other boats in the anchorage with one being some people Ariel had met out at the Channel Islands! Jim did have a personal "Mystery Bag" to open here... a box of Imodium. If you want to know why, ask him about the time we left Zihua heading back to Manzanillo and I had to single-hand for 32 hours...

Wednesday 04-18-07
More provisioning in Zihua and left for the two-nighter to Huatulco.

Friday 04-20-07
Huatulco! They went into the marina to do "whatever" and started talking to the guys on the boat behind them and Jim realized it was Ed, who we had met on Kent's Columbia 50 "Magnet" in May of 2000 in San Juanico in the Sea of Cortez AND then a few months later Ed pulled his own boat into the slip next to "Thistle" at Ventura West Marina! Small world!

Saturday 04-21-07
Still Huatulco - fueled up and had beers with the marina manager (remember I'm not there, so I'm not getting a whole lot of details here...)

Sunday 04-22-07
Leaving Huatulco to cross the infamous "Tehuanapec" on their way to El Salvador. For the non-cruisers, "The Tehuanapec", as it is called is the narrow part of Mexico where the winds will howl across the land and out onto the gulf. Seas will build up and cause for a rocky and rolly ride. Some people chose to cross it as fast as possible, by going straight across. Others chose to "keep one foot on the beach" or skirt the gulf close to shore. It adds more miles but then you don't get the big seas.
Jim had taken his laptop to a hamburger / internet place where we had a good "skype" connection, so we talked for a half hour or so (I stared into the webcam and Jim & Ariel drank "Montejo Beers"). They left that night around 6 pm with 60 miles to Salina Cruz (the head of the Tehuanapec) and 190 miles to Puerto Madero, which they were planning on bypassing. Then 240 miles to Barillas, El Salvador, their next stop. This will be their longest leg for a total of 500 miles and 4 nights at sea.

Tuesday 04-24-07
My phone rang at 7:30 this am!! They were off of Puerto Madero and amazingly enough had cell reception. The crossing of "The Tehuanapec" was great - no big winds, so they were happy! All was going well and they figured they would be in El Salvador on Thursday. Jim was lucky enough to have a few cards out of the "Mystery Bags" to open - one being when the Tehuanapec was crossed, one passing Guatemala and one when he gets to El Salvador.

And now me!
I just made my reservations to fly to Liberia, Costa Rica on Saturday 05-12-07 for a week! Yahoo!

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