Zihuatanejo

Alphonso, with a sucker in his mouth, and Connie with a smile on her face.

Way down south, on the edge of the earth, there is a little town named Zihuatanejo where, at present, the mighty sailboat Traveler is safely anchored in 25 feet of water over a sand bottom.  With the anchor roller at 5 feet above the water we have a height of 30 feet for figuring our scope.  At a 4 to 1 ratio we computed our rode to be about 120 feet. And so we sit, a quick dinghy ride from the beach, the town pier, and the services of Alphonso

who safely sees us in through the surf, hauls our dinghy ashore, and watches over it while we stroll the streets of lovely Zihuatanejo.  Ten pesos for the service.

After dropping off Scott and Karen Tobiason in Barra de Navidad, Connie and I cleaned the boat top to bottom, did laundry, reprovisioned, and headed south down the coast, buddy boating with our friends Kathy and Dan on Lungta and Brenda and Rick on Dad's Dreams.  With the stops few and far between it was a tiring voyage of four days but also delightful as the seas were manageable and the winds light.  We motored about 8 hours of the 50 it took us to get here.  We took two overnight stops along the way and did one overnight voyage at the end of the trip, doing our best to sail as much as possible. 

Kathy and Dan on Lungta

Zihuatanejo is a beautiful little place with colorful houses and small hotels hanging over the bay.  The malecon winds around the north portion and is full of people swimming, playing on the beach, or drinking in the little cafes.  It is a music town and we are here at the best of times, the week of the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival. 

Last night we took the dinghy to shore right on the beach where the festival is held.  We timed the landing with the swell and rode the wave right in as we are supposed to. The dinghy wheel hit sand and just as we prepared to make our exit another wave tossed us sideways.  Connie threw her weight to port and we stayed upright.  Then we walked the dink up the tide line to the edge of the concert grounds and left her there by the gate. 

The show was enormous!  Thirteen acts with three songs each introduced us to the musicians who will be playing all week.  We took third row seats and stayed from 6:00 til 10:00.  Amazing talent.  At 10:30 we launched the dinghy into the surf, skewed sideways, tried again and made it off successfully.  We were amazed to find ourselves getting to bed AFTER midnight for once.  Late night carousers for sure!

Yes Connie paddled through it!

We are in for a treat this week, I know.  Tonight we go back to the beach, this time letting Alphonso take care of us, and we'll hear three musicians give us a little more of their repertoire.  We found out that after the concerts many of the musicians retire to Jose Luis Cabo's bar and play late into the night.  So tonight after the show at the beach we will make our way to El Canto de la Sirenas and see if we can break our "staying up late with the adults" record. Can I go til 2:00 AM?  We shall see.

Two Scotts with a Sierra Mackerel

It was great to have visitors recently.  We will be ready for more visitors in a week or two so if you've got a hankering to get out of the cold, send us a note, use the credit card with Alaska Air, and get your butts down here where the water is warm and so is the beer.

Looking down into the water while dolphins play in the bow wave.

Sailing slowly south with the gennaker flying