We spent New Years eve w Spike and Carol, Judy’s friends from Michigan, at their hotel in the romantic zone in PV, on the hill just above Ondela’s and Los Arcos. We all had fun watching fire works, drinking some beer, hanging out, watching the people, ringing in 2009, etc. I must have had a lot to drink because I remember walking up to Ondela's donkey and smacking it really hard on the ass as it stood there on outside on the sidewalk, thinking (drunkenly) that it was a wooden donkey. I was so surprised when I felt warm donkey flesh. To its credit, it didn't kick me or even acknowledge that I'd smacked it hard enough to bruise it.
Next day we hung around the boat getting it ready to check out of the Marina. I took Gina at the Paradise Village marina office up on the marina's deal that if you leave for a month or so your slip cost is reduced to $10 per day while you are gone and you get the same slip back. We loaded up with water and groceries. Gina reminded me that we were supposed to ‘check out’ of PV with the Port Capitan as we were going to another Port Captained city, but by then Vilma’s Documentation Services was closed and the Port Capitan was also closed, so I emailed Vilma all of my documents and asked her via email if she could do it while I was gone and email me the ‘check out’ document.
Anyhow, we left Paradise Village and sailed over to La Cruz with S and C. Saw whales, of course, and lots of dolphins. Anchored out, went to shore to eat and explore. Spike and Judy and Carol are very old friends – Spike and Judy in particular are birds of a feather when it comes to partying – every night all night wouldn’t be too much for either. Carol likes to stay home and go to bed early. Same as me. Thanks to Spike and Judy prodding us we had some fun! Spent the night on the hook, and did shore again the next day. We left the anchorage around 1 pm or so on the 3rd and set sail for Tenacatita, about 120 miles south.
Cabo Corrientes was relatively calm when we rounded it. This was Judy’s first overnight sail, and it was a rousing one. We had 17 to 19 knots of wind on our tail all day and all night, until maybe 4 or 5 am when it dropped to 10. The swells were not huge, maybe 5 or 6 feet, but they were coming from astern, too, and pitching the stern around, throwing us off course. Due to the wind angle we had to run on the edge of gibing. I rigged a preventer, but it was still touch and go as we were sailing right on the edge of gibing with the coastal wind dead astern. The helmsperson had to be on their toes. I heard one big crash while I was dozing in the cockpit and Judy was steering, but no harm, the sail crashed right back to the proper side without breaking anything. I wound up steering most of the night, because we continued on the edge of gibing, too close to let the autopilot steer. S and C slept through the night, as did Judy for the most part. The stars were really really amazing after the moon went down. The sky was clear and of course there are no lights on this part of the coast. I think the Southern Cross was out, but I need to see a photo of it to be sure as to whether or not this was it. We are still about 20 degrees North, maybe too far up to see it.
We kept going the next day, with me at the helm steering because of the following seas/gibing situation and because I was the only one that was comfortable steering. We got into Tenacatita around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I don’t remember exactly as was pretty groggy by then. We anchored and I went right to sleep after being at the helm for 26 hours straight.
I love Tenacatitia. It is a wonderful beautiful anchorage, well protected except from the odd and unusual south wind/wave pattern. Good holding, sand, and a nice hill blocking the prevailing northerlies. Not much on shore, one palapa restaurant/bar that serves the auto campground there, but which is only open from 8 to 5 or so. A two mile dingy ride up the jungle river takes you to the town of Tenacatita, which is really tiny. It has maybe 12 beach front palapa restaurant/bars and a little tiny grocery store. There might be more to the town, but if so it is over the hill and a long hike. We spent the night anchored there and then the next day, after doing the jungle ride in a panga because the outboard wouldn’t start, we upped anchor and headed down the coast 15 miles to Barra de Navidad.
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