Apr 22, 2013

Barra de Navidad or Nuevo Venice?

I have left my heart in so many places.
Unknown 

Welcome to the very calm Navidad Lagoon!
Called Nativity Bar for it was discovered on December 25th, 1541…  on Christmas Day.  It probably should be called Nuevo Venice for most transportation is by water taxi (taxi aquatico) and businesses and houses line natural waterfront and canals.  

Tenacatita – Massive Swells Prevent us from Visiting

Take only memories, leave only footprints.
Chief Seattle

Cactus outlines with birds at tips
Another 30 miles of sailing towards the south brings us to Tenacatita; further south yet colder – what’s the deal here?  Water is now down to 66°F – brrrr…  We had a wonderful sail averaging about 5.3 knots.  We hadn’t planned on going this far today but the other anchorages along the way seemed too open to the current swells and winds.  We will hopefully visit them on the way up.

Bahia Chamela and Isla Pajarera

The first condition of understanding a 
Foreign country is to smell it.
Rudyard Kipling 

Left of the lagoon's outlet
We have gone 109 miles from Punta de Mita to anchor in this fairly large bay.  Although not very far, it gives us a very small taste of the beginning of the route many take out of here heading out to the South Pacific.  We have been following our friends’ various progressions on their way across the Pacific called “The Puddle Jump”.  We are reminded by a 93 year old ex-cruiser (cruised for 65-70 years) that “She is no puddle” and that it is definitely more than a “jump”.

Escaping La Cruz ~ At Last!

The traveler sees what he sees;
The tourist sees what he has come to see.
G.K. Chesterson 

More unfinished buildings with colorful cupola
The last time we were in the Banderas Bay La Cruz area, about a year ago, we stayed ten weeks to fix many things from our shakedown passage from Long Beach, deal with a parent passing on, and visit up in the Sierra Madres Mountains to experience some of inland Mexico. 

Bribes in Mexico – Not a Chance Right? No April’s Fool

A suntan is earned, not bought.
Unknown 


On the cruisers’ morning radio net one day, we were informed by a reliable source (i.e.: the harbor master of Paradise Village Marina who had met face to face with customs and immigration) that things were changing in Mexico.