If one can imagine 9 years ago we stood on this very beach in Melaque looking out at the bay. Nikita the age Noah is now, and saw a sailboat anchored in the bay. Having sailed before we thought how it would be amazing to do what they were doing and dreamed that someday that it could be us out there.
Yesterday, we sat under a palapa on this beach , having margaritas,... in awe of the power of dreams and thoughts........... we were having a moment under a full moon in Melaque.
Gypsywind
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Melaque Hasn't Changed
Melaque and Bara de Navidad mark half way for us on our trip, the town is so welcoming we feel at home, sort of.We have anchored in the bay the only safe spot, north tucked in against the jagged rocks, the beach ends here , 2 miles of pure sand, also the better dingy landing, small swell. or so we thought Noahs words every time is "dad are we gonna get soaken?"
Tenacatita was so nice we stayed a week, and forgot to write. Friends on Evergreen stayed over because we arrived, and Qual Chan also with three kids on board said there not leaving. We had a palapa resturant on the beech, I liked that, with a camp ground atached.Only a few tents on the week end,and some Mexican boys playing guitar and harmonizing real nice.This was snorkling heaven, clear water down to thebottom, 25 ft. Two dolifins came to great us and cheak out the anchor we had just set, they were the big gray ones, twirling around our anchor chain, like a bunch of kids. The only other thing on
tthis beach is the Blue bay Hotel all inclusive, not all that inviting to yatistas.
We crossed the bay, three miles on our dingys with Evergreen into the town La Manzania, we have been here before, small with most of the beach buildings are renting to Gringos, nice beech. But going over we stoped and talked if we should head back the chop was up, Dennis & carol got swamped in a trough. we carried on landed just bearly, looked back at the bay and said oh shit.Did we just come through that.
Oh well it will probably die down in the afternoon, it blew hard all afternoon, after having lunch at the Dutch place with veggie burgers, and a few cervazas we realaxed,walked the beach, fed the alligators, shopped.
I think they're crocadiles,$1.50 buys you a bag of fish parts, no one was feeding them,so we did. 8 big ones with a few babys, Carol asked what keeps them in, I said the caution tape of course, on the other side, the fence had 2 holes in it putting Noah and Kiya within 5 ft of the teeth, Noah of coarse needs to bounce pebbles off the head to get a reaction, they did enjoy the fish.
The other neat thing was the river ride on our dingys through the mangroves, about an hour long, crocs in here too, we got pictures, all kinds of wild life. At the end you come to a big lagoon with a dock of sorts, this is the back side of Tenicatitta township, one bay over, Resturants grocery store, small Hotel, not on the water a beautiful half moom beach. You walk over the ridge to the next bay and you are in the best snorkling grounds anywhere, called the Aquarium. It was easy for a week to pass , it felt like a few days. The kids did not want to leave. Running low on gas for the dingys, and propane which we didn't fill in PV
Well here we are in Melaque, a larger town maybe 6000, with probibly 3/4 of the Gringos are Canadian,3/4 of which live here for a min. of three months, most of who come here every year. the town joke is " so which part of B.C. are you from?" The place does not feel overly touristy, even though it is. Its where the mexicans come for a holiday. We are one of three boats in the bay, most which we can't see are in the lagoon in Bara 30 or so. If i could chose just one stop it would probaly be here.We are getting ready to great Leeza, Kims' mom sister, Victoria and the kids in a few days.
Gypsy wind standing by on the side.
Tenacatita was so nice we stayed a week, and forgot to write. Friends on Evergreen stayed over because we arrived, and Qual Chan also with three kids on board said there not leaving. We had a palapa resturant on the beech, I liked that, with a camp ground atached.Only a few tents on the week end,and some Mexican boys playing guitar and harmonizing real nice.This was snorkling heaven, clear water down to thebottom, 25 ft. Two dolifins came to great us and cheak out the anchor we had just set, they were the big gray ones, twirling around our anchor chain, like a bunch of kids. The only other thing on
tthis beach is the Blue bay Hotel all inclusive, not all that inviting to yatistas.
We crossed the bay, three miles on our dingys with Evergreen into the town La Manzania, we have been here before, small with most of the beach buildings are renting to Gringos, nice beech. But going over we stoped and talked if we should head back the chop was up, Dennis & carol got swamped in a trough. we carried on landed just bearly, looked back at the bay and said oh shit.Did we just come through that.
Oh well it will probably die down in the afternoon, it blew hard all afternoon, after having lunch at the Dutch place with veggie burgers, and a few cervazas we realaxed,walked the beach, fed the alligators, shopped.
I think they're crocadiles,$1.50 buys you a bag of fish parts, no one was feeding them,so we did. 8 big ones with a few babys, Carol asked what keeps them in, I said the caution tape of course, on the other side, the fence had 2 holes in it putting Noah and Kiya within 5 ft of the teeth, Noah of coarse needs to bounce pebbles off the head to get a reaction, they did enjoy the fish.
The other neat thing was the river ride on our dingys through the mangroves, about an hour long, crocs in here too, we got pictures, all kinds of wild life. At the end you come to a big lagoon with a dock of sorts, this is the back side of Tenicatitta township, one bay over, Resturants grocery store, small Hotel, not on the water a beautiful half moom beach. You walk over the ridge to the next bay and you are in the best snorkling grounds anywhere, called the Aquarium. It was easy for a week to pass , it felt like a few days. The kids did not want to leave. Running low on gas for the dingys, and propane which we didn't fill in PV
Well here we are in Melaque, a larger town maybe 6000, with probibly 3/4 of the Gringos are Canadian,3/4 of which live here for a min. of three months, most of who come here every year. the town joke is " so which part of B.C. are you from?" The place does not feel overly touristy, even though it is. Its where the mexicans come for a holiday. We are one of three boats in the bay, most which we can't see are in the lagoon in Bara 30 or so. If i could chose just one stop it would probaly be here.We are getting ready to great Leeza, Kims' mom sister, Victoria and the kids in a few days.
Gypsy wind standing by on the side.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
South to tenacatita
We made it over to Yelapa from Paridise so we can get an early start south. try 2:30 am we pull out black as coal, best time to round the correntes point, known for its washboard seas. All goes well we come around at sunbreak, two bats ahead of us two behind. the oyher thing is it' about 15 hr sail to Chemela 75 miles south, need to come in before dark. a little wind in the right direction helping out, nice sail but tired at the end, Pamila, single handing, on Presious Metal left 3 hrs later and past us in the last hour, She is heading down to Zhwat. she helps organize the fund raiser for sail fest, for the native kids and thier school. We pushed a little, got in at 6;20 40 min to spare.nice anchorage but tricky to come in, glad it was light we stayed a extra night our friends Quil Chan made it in just before us Chamala nice sleepy village. the next morning Qual Chan, Duefor and us sail south to tenacatita, we get out of the bay and the wind is strong, 18 to 20 knots but blowing in our direction we sail out to sea and turn south with wing in wing. the seas are running 6 ft and its a little hard to keep the boat from wandering we sail on. Qual Chan reports trouble with there head sail ,all fowled, can't untangle , we take some head sail in as the gusts reach 24 kts, 5 hrs we make it in to be greeted by our friends Evergreen, and Precious Metal whe had left the day before.busy saving someones boat that went adrift with the strong wind. we viseted on shore Nikita connected with Josh on evergreen, they did some snorkling,We pass on some school book to Precious metal to take down to the kids for the fund raiser. We head forshore and enjoyed a couple of cold cervesas. the bad weather is coming and we expect to hold out here till it passes
Gypsywind standibng by on 22.
Gypsywind standibng by on 22.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Paradise in Paradise
We got back into La Cruz, out of water, and in need of showers desperatly. Man that shower was the sweetest, its the hot water/shampoo combo. We had bad news when we tryed running the watermaker in Yelapa, a leak a bad one. Well another poject day on the horizon. We bought 5 gal of drinking water at a beach resturant, every one uses them, std in all stores, usually $2.What an amazing time with Victor we really took in a lot of sights. We travelled by bus up to Salyletta on sunday and really enjoyed walking around town. Excellent capacinos at a $1.50, had one of the nicest meals overlooking the village square. The bus ride back wasn't as crouded as the trip up, mose of us stood part way, Nikita and Noah with boogie boards in hand. They both got some nice rides in the surf, a big surf town if you don't know. On the way home the bus pulls over on the side, 90 to nothing in 200 meters, "La cruz Gringos" got dropped off on the side of the road, in the dark. We expected to go to Bucarias where we needed to catch another bus back up, we walked down the exit ramp, with the help of the Mexican man with us, he told us to stand under the street lamp, next to his house, and sure as heck a bus stops,$ .60 we got dropped at the hwy on the masin street leading to La Cruz, 6 blocks through town and we were home, piece of cake.All with surf boards in tow.We checked into the best marina in the area,well run, attacked to the Paradise village hotels/complex. Our slip comes with full privaliges to all the grounds. 4 pools, bars, some of the best beach in Nievo vallarta. If thats not enough, they got caged tigers, talking parrots, a full american style mall, complete with Mcdonals, Subway and Dominos pizza etc. etc.We took Victor to the airport on tuesday, sad to see him leave.
Mishack is next door at Nievo marina, and the kids have been enjoying the pools, along with new friends Quail Chan, three kids on board. Our other friends Whacha gonna do, still in La Cruz, have family over and will be moving over to paradise next week.As we get ready to leave, other friends Vento arrive, we have one brief evening together. We are provisioning again getting ready to head further south. Word has it that some bad weather is headed this way end of next week, we need a safe anchorage by Thursday. we are Hoping Tanacatita, in 4 days.With our Watermaker fixed , food on board, motor products bought, we are feeling ready to move on. After all, one can only take so much paradise.
Gypsywind signing off
Mishack is next door at Nievo marina, and the kids have been enjoying the pools, along with new friends Quail Chan, three kids on board. Our other friends Whacha gonna do, still in La Cruz, have family over and will be moving over to paradise next week.As we get ready to leave, other friends Vento arrive, we have one brief evening together. We are provisioning again getting ready to head further south. Word has it that some bad weather is headed this way end of next week, we need a safe anchorage by Thursday. we are Hoping Tanacatita, in 4 days.With our Watermaker fixed , food on board, motor products bought, we are feeling ready to move on. After all, one can only take so much paradise.
Gypsywind signing off
Friday, January 8, 2010
a Palapa in Yelapa
Well it doesn't get better than this. No cars , a small mexican village, discovered by the hippies in the sixties. I think we seen a few of the ones who chose to stay. the whole place has a laid back feel, very laid back.
The first day we walked the town, streets are 3, 4,5 ft wide with the odd spot at 8 ft. as we walked in amoungst the washed laundry we kept looking for the main street, there are none, the village is a maze of paths, non straight and cobblestone of coarse. Two mini grocery stores, every 10 th house is a cafe, hardware store or selling clothes or their art. Not touristy just a way of life. the touristy part are 5 palapa reasturants on the beach, who cater to the tourists that arrive by water taxi for the day, 12 to 4pm they all close at 5pm except the one that stays open to serve the ones that are staying here. One hotel that has wifi, is the other place to eat, great food and reasonable. the hotel is a bunch of huts with palm leaf roofs, no windows just sutters, very organic, oh did I mention they have a pool, made out of rocks with boulders in and aroung the edge.
We have spent 2 days hiking the waterfalls on two different rivers. yesterdays hike was into the mountains, 5 hrs, that was amazing, swam in the fresh water under the falls. the most amazing was the trail up that went through every village, complete with cows, chikens, and many horses, mule and donkey stables.
you could see the pride in horsemanship, lots of leather work.The houses are poor, and simple, the people freindly and kind.
Today we are on the beach e mailing, just in case you think this is not so special, after the two boats left today we were the only yacht left, three others arrived, one non other then, Bill Gates, his boat only slightly larger than ours.
Victor has got us motivated to take in a lot of sights, it has been great having him on board, the New Years Dinner he cooked is etched in my mind.
the last Bay we werein was Boca De Tomatlan, where we caught up to our friends Mishach, after they showed us the town, they arrived one day earlier, we hung on the beach with the locals and finished the evening with pizza on Gypsywind, (we've got the oven).
the next day Mishach left, and we caught the bus to Chicos' paradise for a swim in the river and lunch on the cliffs. The local diver gave us a personal tour, and later entertained a lot of us with 3 dives, maybe 25 ft, but at least 12 to 15 ft over a boulder, the pool he landed in about 8x12 with boulders all around, the second dive was a summer sault, the last was blind folded, most could barely watch. The days have been amazing, and eazy to loose track of the days. the one thing we have had trouble with is the internet, it seems it is far and few between that we have service.
We will try to fill you in when we can. Today is one of those days you dream about, beach, sun, hammock, cervesa got to go!
Gypsywind over and out
The first day we walked the town, streets are 3, 4,5 ft wide with the odd spot at 8 ft. as we walked in amoungst the washed laundry we kept looking for the main street, there are none, the village is a maze of paths, non straight and cobblestone of coarse. Two mini grocery stores, every 10 th house is a cafe, hardware store or selling clothes or their art. Not touristy just a way of life. the touristy part are 5 palapa reasturants on the beach, who cater to the tourists that arrive by water taxi for the day, 12 to 4pm they all close at 5pm except the one that stays open to serve the ones that are staying here. One hotel that has wifi, is the other place to eat, great food and reasonable. the hotel is a bunch of huts with palm leaf roofs, no windows just sutters, very organic, oh did I mention they have a pool, made out of rocks with boulders in and aroung the edge.
We have spent 2 days hiking the waterfalls on two different rivers. yesterdays hike was into the mountains, 5 hrs, that was amazing, swam in the fresh water under the falls. the most amazing was the trail up that went through every village, complete with cows, chikens, and many horses, mule and donkey stables.
you could see the pride in horsemanship, lots of leather work.The houses are poor, and simple, the people freindly and kind.
Today we are on the beach e mailing, just in case you think this is not so special, after the two boats left today we were the only yacht left, three others arrived, one non other then, Bill Gates, his boat only slightly larger than ours.
Victor has got us motivated to take in a lot of sights, it has been great having him on board, the New Years Dinner he cooked is etched in my mind.
the last Bay we werein was Boca De Tomatlan, where we caught up to our friends Mishach, after they showed us the town, they arrived one day earlier, we hung on the beach with the locals and finished the evening with pizza on Gypsywind, (we've got the oven).
the next day Mishach left, and we caught the bus to Chicos' paradise for a swim in the river and lunch on the cliffs. The local diver gave us a personal tour, and later entertained a lot of us with 3 dives, maybe 25 ft, but at least 12 to 15 ft over a boulder, the pool he landed in about 8x12 with boulders all around, the second dive was a summer sault, the last was blind folded, most could barely watch. The days have been amazing, and eazy to loose track of the days. the one thing we have had trouble with is the internet, it seems it is far and few between that we have service.
We will try to fill you in when we can. Today is one of those days you dream about, beach, sun, hammock, cervesa got to go!
Gypsywind over and out
Friday, January 1, 2010
New Years in La Cruz
Happy New Years Day to All
Gypsywind and crew ( including Victor) are tied up at the dock in La Cruz . reunited with our friends,Mishach, Whacha gonna do, and Evergreen. Victor came in on the 29th, we met him with a car rental (last one in all PV). we went downtown, old Puerto Vallarta that evening for dinner. wll to wall tourists, we ate at a Mexicain reasturant, complete with an eight piece Mariachi band. Music was pounding, night clubs a shaking, it felt like Cabo all over.The contrast was great to the village (La Cruz) where we made home. La Cruz is real mexicain with a few non mexicain owned resturants sprinkled in for the skweemish. but even they are real because the owners have been here 10, 20 years, and are the community. The music seen is big here,a lot of bands or acts to take in. We enjoyed a intamate consert of famed Willie &Lobo, flamingo gutar with electric violin,Willie could make the violin sound like humpback Whales, birds ect. all of which he incorporated into the songs, Lobo , worl;d famous gutarist, live 2 blocks away (La Cruz) Nikita was inspired and was able to understand his training through the fingering of Lobo, who he didn't take his eyes off all night. Nikita pointed out that Lobo had a few bad habits that he must have picked up when he was learning, that aside the man was fantastic, using the gutar as a precusion instrment, the bass and the lead, which he shared with Willie. Can you tell I was amazed.
Victor is loving the vibe of the town, where everyone says hi and stops to talk, even if it is in sign languasge.Our favorate past time is walking the streets with our children and calling into the shops, some of which are little more than wood sheds without the wood. The Mexicain soul does not need comforts to be happy, thier focus is just to be happy.
Gypsywind and crew ( including Victor) are tied up at the dock in La Cruz . reunited with our friends,Mishach, Whacha gonna do, and Evergreen. Victor came in on the 29th, we met him with a car rental (last one in all PV). we went downtown, old Puerto Vallarta that evening for dinner. wll to wall tourists, we ate at a Mexicain reasturant, complete with an eight piece Mariachi band. Music was pounding, night clubs a shaking, it felt like Cabo all over.The contrast was great to the village (La Cruz) where we made home. La Cruz is real mexicain with a few non mexicain owned resturants sprinkled in for the skweemish. but even they are real because the owners have been here 10, 20 years, and are the community. The music seen is big here,a lot of bands or acts to take in. We enjoyed a intamate consert of famed Willie &Lobo, flamingo gutar with electric violin,Willie could make the violin sound like humpback Whales, birds ect. all of which he incorporated into the songs, Lobo , worl;d famous gutarist, live 2 blocks away (La Cruz) Nikita was inspired and was able to understand his training through the fingering of Lobo, who he didn't take his eyes off all night. Nikita pointed out that Lobo had a few bad habits that he must have picked up when he was learning, that aside the man was fantastic, using the gutar as a precusion instrment, the bass and the lead, which he shared with Willie. Can you tell I was amazed.
Victor is loving the vibe of the town, where everyone says hi and stops to talk, even if it is in sign languasge.Our favorate past time is walking the streets with our children and calling into the shops, some of which are little more than wood sheds without the wood. The Mexicain soul does not need comforts to be happy, thier focus is just to be happy.
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