Saturday, March 15, 2014

3/15/ 2014: Acapulco

We've been anchored off the beach in Acapulco for three days. We like the easy access to the beach and town, and security doesn't seem to be an issue; there are tourists on the beach, everyone having a good time.


There is a strong military and police presence that is actually reassuring. 


Now to recap the passage from Zihuatenejo:

Monday, 3/10/2014, we hauled anchor about noon for a short 10 mile trip to Petelan.


We anchored in an open, unprotected bay, knowing it could get rolly, but, just overnight, it shouldn't be bad. Maybe we should try the stern anchor? No, it's not bad..... it got worse. No problem, we left around 9 am for Papanoa.

3/11/2014
 As usual, calm conditions in the morning, so we decided to run the watermaker while underway. running it for two hours gets us 3/4 of a tank, enough for the 3 to 5 day cycle of the filters.
The wind did come up from the northwest around 1pm, and we able to shut off the motor.
We arrived in Papanoa at 3:30, set the hook in the outer harbor, behind the breakwater, and settled in for an early night. Kids were fishing, and the evening was nice and cool.



3/12/2014:
77 miles to Bahia Marques, we woke up at 2:30, and went back to bed until 3:30 to stick with our plan to leave at four. That cost us later. The radar and AIS made our pre-dawn departure less stressful. Once the sun came up, so did the wind, and we were able to sail for several hours. Along the way, we saw more sea turtles than we had seen, mostly with birds resting on their backs.


At one point, I saw two manta rays resting at the surface, I looked to the right and saw a small sea snake. I looked left again and saw a large turtle, then back to the right, and saw a shark; all in two minutes, with no camera.

Eventually the wind came up, but we were motoring into a strong current just barely getting 4 knots; we weren't getting there in daylight. Should of left at 2:30!
We arrived in the dark. The chartplotter is not to be trusted; we've anchored on cliffs according to Garmin! 
Having a near miss with a sunken object, with no light, is scary. We missed it, then, had to divert for a mooring ball, then an unlit derek tied up to the new pier and marina under construction. We finally anchored in 45 ft.
The next morning, seeing the place in the light of day, we decided to try Acapulco.
We motored into the mooring field, which was really tight, and tried to anchor off to the side. We were waved off and directed to a mooring. I tied us off, and a kid swam up, asking for 300 pesos a day. Pay him, not the Port Captain. See ya..... we crossed the bay, and anchored in 25 ft. right off the beach. Jack approves of the beach so we're all content.




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