Barra de Navidad to Banderas Bay

It’s another quiet morning in the lagoon anchorage. I’m savoring my almond croissant when suddenly, a call comes over the radio from another boat. “Attention the fleet, attention the fleet.” That introduction always gets peoples immediate attention. I listened intently. “Can anyone tell me what I should do about an iguana in my dingy? Please come back to Rite Gallat (that’s boat talk for please respond to me).” The first amused boater responds, “How big is it?” “About three-feet”, answers RG. Another boater joins in with, “Wow, that’s a good sized one! How about getting in the dingy with him and taking a picture! Seems like a great photo op to me.” RG agrees, without enthusiasm, and then shifts his attention to what seems to be his real concern. “Does anyone know if Iguanas are aquatic?” Apparently, the captain of RG is a kind hearted soul and wants assurance that the darn thing can swim to safety if he can roust it from his dingy. Well, that doesn’t stop the opportunists who were just dying to jump in with their own witty comments and suggestions to the obviously concerned RG. One even suggested grilling the iguana for dinner. The serious-minded RG was not amused by this suggestion. “I’m a vegetarian”, he quips. RG attempts to shift the conversation back to his concern. “Can it swim if I get it in the water?’ Finally, another boater gives RG the assurance he’s been seeking. “Well, it is a reptile. They can swim.” You could sense RGs relief as he offered a hurried thanks and got off the radio. That was definitely an amusing exchange and it made me realize that an iguana could one day appear in our dingy, among other places. I wondered what I would do. They are harmless. Sometimes, you see a Mexican in town with one draped across his shoulders attempting to earn money by taking a picture of you holding it. As I’m thinking about possible Iguana encounters, we get a radio call from our friends Rick and Judith on Dreamweaver. “Grab your camera and come over on your dingy. The Iguana is climbing up our anchor chain!” It seems the Iguana was not a long-distance swimmer and decided to stop for a rest. Barry hurried over with our camera and met up with Terry on Secret of Life. Terry maneuvered the Iguana by positioning his dingy on the side of the chain opposite Barry and Judith who stayed at a distance and shot pictures. It seemed that the Iguana saw Terry as a threat and tried to “hide” behind the snubber (a rope that prevents the anchor chain from chaffing) that runs from the anchor chain, above the water, to the deck. After being an unwilling photo subject for a few minutes the Iguana tired of the attention and jumped back into the water, never to be seem by us again. You just never know what a day will bring. That was a fun experience!

We did end up taking the five and a half-hour bus trip to Guadalajara from Barra with Rick and Judith. The first-class bus we traveled in was the most comfortable public transportation on wheels I’ve been in. I’d heard that these Mexican buses were luxurious and they are. There is lots of leg-room, the seats are very cushy (and they recline), there are drink holders, shades for the windows, foot rests, A/C, a bathroom and they show movies throughout the trip. We saw three on the way there and three on the way back. Only one, though, was in English (with Spanish subtitles). It’s quite entertaining to watch a movie in Spanish that you’ve already seen (especially if it’s a comedy). They showed Bruce Almighty in Spanish. It was funny to watch Jim Carey and Jennifer Anniston speaking Spanish!

We spent two nights in a hotel in the historic district. I have never seen so many old churches in one area before! Each one was unique from the other on both the inside and the outside. I think the oldest one was built in the 1600’s. They were all stone and/or brick on the outside, but varied greatly on the inside. One was extremely opulent while others were more subdued! All were ornately appointed with gold and beautiful mural paintings. We entered them all and always found people praying, lighting candles and/or participating in a service or mass. We even saw part of a wedding ceremony. It was strange to see the wedding ceremony going on while people continued their normal rites in the church and tourists wandered about. It is different from the states where a couple rents the entire church for the duration of their wedding ceremony.

We visited the Governor’s mansion and the house of Congress. It was all very fascinating and makes me want to learn more about Mexico’s history. I’m planning to pick up a book when we get back to the states. I sure wish I’d paid better attention during my history classes! One thing I did not expect was the almost total absence of non-Mexicans. Besides the four of us, we saw maybe four different small groups of people. Consequently, we got a lot of looks. It was actually kind of entertaining to watch people checking us out! As always, people were very friendly. When we offered a greeting or a few words in Spanish, many times people would express surprise at our use of their language and would want to engage us in conversation. This is great practice and it obviously delights the Mexicans that we are trying to learn their language. It is fun for me to see just how much I am able to communicate with others in Spanish. I’m learning but I still have a long way to go.

We were there during the Popes final two days on this earth. That may be one reason there were so many people in the churches at all different times of day and night. I think some were conducting special prayer vigils for the Pope. He actually died right about the time we were in route to the bus station for our return trip to Barra. We didn’t learn of his death until the following day. I later read about the various shrines that the mourners erected in front of the churches and across town. Having just been there, I could easily visualize the fronts of churches and the many town squares adorned with candles, flowers, photos and the like. The article said that the people of Guadalajara have had a strong love for this pope ever since his visit there in 1979. It was the first foreign visit of his papacy and apparently he won the hearts of the people there.

We walked all over the historic district, shopped, ate, bought our plane tickets for our visit to the states and even took an evening carriage ride. Our driver directed our attention to points of interest in broken English as he gently coaxed his horse along with verbal commands and an occasional light touch of his whip. It was a lovely ride that included areas we had not seen on foot.

Once back in Barra we left the lagoon after a few days and spent our final night in the marina before heading north to the Puerto Vallarta area. We were very fortunate in that our first two short hops north were during southerly winds. The prevailing winds are from the north, which isn’t ideal when you are traveling north. So, we were happy to have the wind behind us. The winds were light and the seas were small which made for a comfortable motor-sail. We traveled from Barra to Tenacatita the first day. The second day was spent motor-sailing to Chamela. When we left Chamela on the third day the winds had shifted and gotten stronger. Ten to fifteen knot winds on our nose plus going against the current made for slower travel on this day. We stopped at Careyes just long enough to check out the three small anchorage areas within this picturesque, rock-strewn coastal alcove. We were unable to stop there on our trip south because of very rough water inside caused by ten-foot swells on the outside. It is a beautiful place that once was the site of a Club Med resort. The now abandoned buildings still occupy the tiny north bay that might accommodate two boats anchoring off the beach. There are two other spots where a couple more boats could anchor. The entire area is filled with large rocks and cliffs. As we motored slowly through while watching out for submerged rocks, we noticed the crystal-clear water was teeming with thousands of tiny jellyfish. They were everywhere! Unfortunately, I was so intent on watching for rocks that I didn’t think to grab the camera. Oh, well! After leaving Careyes we continued on through the night and arrived in Banderas Bay at around 1:00 p.m. the next day. This was the first overnight passage we’d made in a couple of months. It went real well. We were grateful to have an uneventful ride around Cabo Corrientes which is the southern point of Banderas Bay. More often than not, there are high winds, and strong currents that create a washing machine affect that can challenge even the most capable boater. We turned the corner without consequence and headed for La Cruz to anchor for awhile before taking Blew Moon to the marina at Paradise Village where she’ll stay for the summer.

We’ve been back in La Cruz since Friday, April 8th and plan to cross the bay to the marina at Paradise Village on the 22nd. We met with the woman who will be taking care of Blew Moon while we’re in the states. She reviewed the things that we need to do to prepare the boat before leaving her closed up for the summer. We’ve got our work cut out for us between readying the boat for summer storage and trying to do some projects in preparation for next cruising season (Nov 2005 thru May 2006). I am so anxious to see family and friends and to get off of the boat for a few months. It will be a nice break from our new cruising lifestyle and blessing to connect again with those we’ve left behind in the states. So, ready or not, here we come!

Since our return to Banderas Bay we’ve been going to church Sunday mornings at Paradise Village resort. It takes us close to one hour on the bus from La Cruz. Once we’re in the resort marina it will be only a short walk which will be nice. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings the pastor’s sister leads a ministry that feeds the children in Bucerias at three different elementary schools. The schools have two sessions each day. One group of children goes to school from about 7:30 a.m. until noon and the second group goes from about 1:00 to 5:30 p.m.. Volunteers work with Alejandra who brings her pickup truck filled with food that has been donated and/or prepared by church members or local businesses. The food varies from day to day depending on who is providing it. We had the privilege of helping feed the kids at one school the last two Mondays. Both times that we helped the children were served soup, bread and juice. The goal is make sure each child in school has at lease one hot meal each day. Kids can’t focus on school work if they are hungry! It’s just one way this church is trying to show God’s love by meeting a very basic need. We are looking forward to getting more involved in this work during our time in the Puerto Vallarta area.

Till next time . . . Stacey