We have arrived in
Las Hadas Resort Marina, just outside of
Manzanillo. Here we are awaiting the arrival of our oldest son, Greg. This is a beautiful resort, but not for people much more "senior" than we are...very steep and lots of steps.
In this marina we were required to "med moor". This means we had to drop anchor in the middle, and back up and tie our stern to the dock. Those of you with sail boats know this is not an easy chore. Those with full keel boats know this is next to impossible. Throw into the mix that: 1)I am not comfortable steering in marinas, especially backing up into a spot, but I always steer when anchoring because our chain often jams and I'm not strong enough to yank on it to fix it. So, I have to steer. 2) We are a centre cockpit, so we have Ralph on the bow dropping anchor, me in the cockpit steering, and no one at the stern to jump off and tie up. We seem to be one man (at least) short!!! 3) The marina was not supplying us with any help.4)We've never ever done this before, and we're not even all that good at stern tying in an anchorage where there is plenty of room! You have the makings of disaster here!! To be continued...
Greg arrives at 4am after a long plane trip and bus ride from
PV. After paying $45 for a $4.50 ride (tired, early morning, difficulty with exchange rate, and willing
cabbie), we had a visit, he had a nap, and then we went exploring the resort. The film "10" was shot here, and no, that's not Bo Derek!
So, you can see we did manage to tie up. Some Mexicans felt sorry for us and one came aboard while two manned the dock. We were forever grateful! This was at least a 2 drink anchoring/docking...and probably more!!
Endeavour joined us here as they also had relies show up. Beside them, in the foreground, is the boat owned by Dan
Sewell, of
Sewell Marina in Horseshoe Bay. Talk about a small world!!
Here's Dan with his newly
acquired cruiser. He's taking her back to BC.
It is quite a spectacular view from our boat, but we'd never moor in this marina again. It was far too hard to get into and the facilities for boaters were very poor...filthy washrooms etc.
While there, Ralph had to do some chores up the mast. Explorer is now next to Endeavour. Three
Bluewater boats in a row.
Here' s the captain hard at work.
This is the crew, Greg, soaking up some rays and turning his customary shade of pink! As you can see, he had a tough time adjusting to the cruising life!
No denying it, just as handsome as his folks! Although he would have loved to stay, he only had a week to visit with us because of work commitments. It just wasn't long enough for a good holiday, and
Manzanillo isn't nearly as nice a place to visit, and hang out, as
PV.
After Greg left. we went back out to Santiago Bay. Much nicer to anchor here, rather than be in the Marina.
This is Brenda, from Explorer, helping some kids with their kite.
Success, trouble is, the kids wanted their kite back and Brenda was reluctant to give it up!
John and Mary must have been involved in a very deep and serious conversation...probably wondering if they should have a margarita or another beer!
This was
Semana Santa (Easter weekend) ...what a zoo. On other occasions, we had been here and the beach was virtually deserted.
Another difficult day. Bill and Nancy Brown, our landlubber friends from Vancouver, met up with us while in
Manzanillo. Great to see them and they joined us, and all the other cruisers, during the
Semana Santa weekend.
We pushed on to
Barra de Navidad. This was a farewell dinner with many members of the cruising community, all
Bluewater Boats. We were heading north, and they south. What a beautiful spot and a beautiful evening!
We stumbled over these little girls sitting outside a store in
Barra. The little one on the left did NOT want her picture taken.
She didn't actually say a thing, but it was obvious.
Never to be discouraged, Ralph continued to snap away. I think these are precious!
On the weekends,
Barra was a Zoo. Everyone came to the beach!
Even Linda and I!
Another gathering of cruisers. Charles and Sandra Cohen, off Right
Galah are in the foreground.
A close-up of Mike, Kelly and kids from
Wyndeavor. They are heading south, and then west. We wish them luck!
We experienced some of the most beautiful sunsets in
Barra. Here are a couple of them!
Can you believe this beauty?
No comments:
Post a Comment