Zihuatanejo

May 19, 2009
anchored off Isla Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo Bay
17 40.788N,101 39.403W

We've had a great time revisiting our old haunts and familiarizing ourselves again with Zihuatanejo. The central mercado still runs alive and well every day, you can still buy bags of jamaica juice at every corner and on Sunday night the families and vendors still turn out in the square to enjoy a little get together. A very few familiar faces are still here that we know such as the friendly Port Captain, Victor and our favorite best hamburger man in the world. Due to the fact that high travel and sailing season are over and the fear of swine flu is still in effect, it feels much like a ghost town around here. The only tourists to visit the beaches are the locals and they are having great fun with it. The parasails and banana boats still manage to have quite a business running circles around us at anchor. The food has been fantastic and we have stuffed our insides with all the guacamole, roasted peppers and arrachera we can handle.

We spent a good week anchored just around the corner here in Isla Ixtapa. A little island that is used only during the day time and accessed only by boat. We have the peaceful anchorage all to ourselves in the evenings and spent each morning and afternoon with fun family surf sessions just a dinghy ride away. School and boat projects as usual in between down time. We've even attempted the sad task of beginning to clean and pack the boat up for when it goes on the hard: what goes home, what get's given away to locals and what simply get's tossed out. When the boat is on the hard, many items won't endure the heat. Many items, such as cooking utensils, will get left on though for when we come back to work on her in the spring and potentially move her somewhere new.

Monday the 18th brought the arrival of our friends Tim, Cole and Blake Mason from back home in Port Orchard, Washington for a visit! We are so excited to have them aboard for a couple weeks as we work our way up the coast toward Puerto Vallarta. Only few days on the boat so far and they have proven themselves as very worthy crew! We gave them a day to rest up and then took them on an overnight passage. With 15-20 knots of wind against us it has been a slow and bumpy ride and they are taking it all in stride! We would keep them as crew anytime!