On the road again: Will Manana Do?

  Barra de Navidad, Mexico
Sunday, March 4, 2007

On the road again: Will Manana Do?
(UPDATED PHONE AND EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS)
After a month of Garment Guard work madness from Paris to New York to Las Vegas (and a little break in the Dominican Republic), I made it back to WMD. My cousin, Adam, joined me for the trip from Puerto Vallarta to Zihuatanejo.
We found the boat, as expected, hauled out of the water for bottom paint at the local yard. We also found the guy, Pisto, who was supposed to wash my boat and do some general maintenance on it, not so expected, just starting to get to the list of things I left him to do. The manana ethic is amazing. But he had planned on taking us to his house for the night, so off we went to Las Palmas, a half hour taxi ride away. He took us to his favorite restaurant, which we called Ace Hardware because it used to be a hardware store, as evidenced by the pushed-to-the-back counters and shelving with a few dusty products still on them. Luckily the lack of any décor or ambiance was forgiven by the amazing quesadillas with different homemade sauces and toppings. Afterward, we were welcomed in his house by his beautiful wife, who had made us nice beds on the floor. Sleep was less than restful since there seemed to be a rooster convention going on that night. The best part of it was Pisto waking us up at 5:30 AM by turning on the TV and playing the Sade DVD. Nothing says "Good Morning" like "Smooth Operator."
So we took the bus into PV in the morning (after 45 minutes of Sade), and worked at getting the boat ready to leave the next day. Pisto wasn't the only one who hadn't finished what he was supposed to do. Only one guy had everything done- Jorge. Regardless, everything took an extra day to finish, which gave us a little more time to shop at what seemed to be the world's largest Wal-Mart and for Adam to set the all-you-can-eat rib record at Fajita Banana.
We pulled out before dawn on Sunday and started the trip south. At the roughest point possible, off Cabo Corrientes, Adam hooked up with a fish. He started to bring the line in and realized that something bit through his 150-pound leader line. So he's excited. Ten seconds later, the other line hits. He had a hard time reeling it in, so I brought in the sails and started driving. This fish literally took him around the perimeter of the boat, then zigzagged under it twice. Adam was so excited to get it in and kept trying to guess what it was. It was a 30-pound tuna/jack/something with a yellowish tail, so we decided it was yellowfin tuna. We did the worst filet job on the planet and resolved to eat the fish for dinner. Unfortunately, we didn't get to our destination bay, Chamela, until about 10 PM, so we just went to bed. The next day, we motored around the bay looking for a place to dive. There are little rocks and islands everywhere, so it should have amazing diving. However, we can't find anywhere where we can really see the bottom. So I make the mistake of putting Schooner on my foam surfboard and trying to paddle him ashore for some isolated cove exploration. Schooner don't surf. So my cousin and I had a beer and Pringle picnic in this amazing cove, alternating between watching a blowhole in action and messing with the hermit crabs. As we left and rounded the next point, we saw two whales swimming. Then, the larger of the two started showboating and breaching. Adam got an amazing photo of the whale half out of the water. But it finally did breach completely. We were both howling, and Schooner was stressing out that we had both gone mad.

We then anchored in a small but gorgeous bay, Bahia Careyes, where we were the only boat at anchor in front of what used to be a Club Med. Therefore we dubbed it Club Dead. Amazing homes are built into the cliffs in this area. It is truly a remarkable area. I thought about doing some research to see if anyone bought the Club Dead property, but jackhammers in the morning gave me the idea that someone had. Anyway, we BBQ'ed up yesterday's catch and decided that it definitely was NOT yellowfin. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. Turns out, it was something like a skipjack. Not the best eating, but a great fighting fish.

After that, we set sail for the next bay down, Tenacatita. Still thinking we might dive, we anchored in the rollier part of the bay so we could have an easier time getting to the reef. After we realized there was still no visibility, we got stir crazy and played a big-stakes, trash-talking game of gin rummy, which ended in Kim taking a victory lap around the boat and Adam doing a cannon ball into a field of jellyfish.

The next day we sailed to Barra de Navidad. Jeanne Olenicoff had told me that she loved the place, but I was not prepared for how awesome it really was. First off, the marina is attached to a bitchin' hotel with a pool (and pool bar) with WATERSLIDES. There are also tennis courts, a beach, and other stuff, and a surf break paddling distance from the hotel. Adam and I were not only stoked to get to the dock for a non-rolly night of sleep, but excited to talk to other people beside ourselves and eat food that we didn't make ourselves. There are myriad good restaurants in the small area and lots of live music at the watering holes. We took it easy the first night, but hit Barra pedal to the metal the next day.

I woke up and checked the Garment Guard website to find that I had tons of orders. They had featured the product on the Rachael Ray Show. I couldn't pick her out of a lineup, but she is my new BFF. I tried to get work done, but the surf was calling, so we had to check it out. After about 90 minutes of fun (and stylish dismounts), we had to get beers. Then we decided that it would be more fun to paddle across than to take a water taxi. Then we had to hit the waterslides and play beer pong. Then we had to go into town for dinner, drinks, and dancing (my favorite triple-D combo). We had been hanging out with these other two guys, and Adam decided it was shot time to celebrate the TV mention for Garment Guard. He ordered four Tequila shots of something that was poured from a Don Julio bottle. However, I suspect a little Igor action went on at this establishment because I took half the shot and threw it up within 30 seconds. Then Clown #1 and Clown #2 subsequently did the same thing. Only Adam held it down, and the planter that became the barf-o-rama receptacle thanked him. Adam burned up the dance floor as the only three single girls we've seen all trip went gaga over him. (He went back the next night and was talking to some other girls, saw these three, asked them a question, and got told, angrily, to go ask his new girlfriends!)
The next day we were supposed to leave for Zihuatanejo, but we had postponed a day to golf at this amazing place. However, we got invited to go marlin fishing by some nice guys in the marina. Adam was ecstatic. I was hung over. But we went (and Schooner got to come!) and Adam brought in a Striped Marlin. What a beautiful fish! It was over 2 meters long and had these beautiful iridescent purple colors. I still can't completely understand the hunt and the catch and the release, but I was glad I got to see it, and Adam was beside himself with glee.
Today, we woke up and played golf at THE most amazing course on the planet. The weather was perfect, there was almost no one on the course, and you could not see any other fairway from the fairway you were on. The 9th hole, which I birdied (ahem), is this spectacular par 3, where you tee off into the Pacific Ocean, and the ball drops onto the green (theoretically). Also on the course, we saw wild pig and coati. Driving the cart was a mix of Romancing the Stone and Mad Max, driving through jungle and next to beaches. Honestly, I don't love golf, and eighteen holes are normally ten holes too long, but the eighteen went by so quickly. If it weren't a pocket emptier, I would do it again and again.

All in all, I can't recommend this coastal area enough, especially Barra de Navidad. If you want a nice long weekend, look in to flying down to Manzanillo on Alaska and staying at the Grand Bay Hotel at Isla Navidad. You won't be sorry. Oh yeah, and get ready to waterslide.

HOUSEKEEPING:
1) EMAIL ADDRESS: Please update your records and use kim@thepondinc.com. The Hot Dot won't work much longer and I can only check The Pond email.
2) PHONE: My Mexican cell needs another digit when dialing internationally. Dial: 011 52 1 322 147 4862
3) SKYPE: I signed up for Skype and got a number where you can call, but the name I thought I picked isn't working. I'll have to figure out why I'm a moron at this and get back to you with my Skype name. Or maybe Candice or Maria can post it on this blog?
4) ANYONE?: I need someone to come from Zihuatanejo or Acapulco to Huatulco. I hope to leave Zihuatenejo on the 8th (but I can extend it up to 5 days). It will take 2 days to get to Acapulco, then 3 days to get to Huatulco. I need to be in Huatulco by the 17th. Adam had so much fun, he ended up extending his ticket two days. You won't regret it...