Barra Navidad

Sandbar in the shallow lagoon

Anchor spot

Occupied house entering the logoon

Barra Navidad lagoon was quite an anchor experience.  There are no markers to enter the lagoon and we ran aground twice on the way in.  Because we went slow, we easily backed off the mud so there was no real problem.  In the lagoon, the bottom is all mud so anchors do not hold well.  Everyone puts out 125 feet of anchor chain in 9 feet of water to help hold the boat in place.  Boats are quite close together for such a large chain so it is a little scary.

Tried a croissant from the famous french baker but was a little disappointed.  Nobody makes them like Paris.

Chamela

Dingy wheels a must for beach landing in the surf

Fun to watch fishermen pull boats on shore

Sailed overnight (best time to leave Banderas bay due to day winds) to Chamela.  Beautiful beach and anchorage.

Yelapa

La Cruz at north end and Yelapa at south

Over Looking the lagoon and mooring

Swimming in the water falls

Finally left La Cruz which had become like a new home.  We sailed across the bay (2 hour trip) to Yelapa just for the afternoon.  Yelapa is a community owned village built on the hillside and is very similar to Italian villages along the coast.  Cute town with a river and water falls to swim in.

Pelican with a broken wing

This pelican lives at the La Cruz marina and is fed by the local fishermen. We do not see other birds picking on him or taking his food. It is a nice Pelican community here.

Powering up Talaria in La Cruz

Snoball helps with wiring

Roberto provided us with 3 deep cell batteries with delivery and haul out of the old batteries. They charge fully and hold the charge better than our 13 year old batteries. The battery bank is the life blood of the boat powering all our 12V and 112V needs. We also found 4 solar panels right here in Bucerias. Rick has spent 4 days mounting the panels and wiring them into the battery bank. After 2 weeks at the marina executing the power up plan, we are now at anchorage again and do not have the power problems we were having before. Talaria is quite self sufficient with small usage of power except for the refrigeration and navigational equipment. This is important as the next 1500 miles of coastline has mostly anchorages without marinas to plug into shore power.

Pelicans that love sardines

A huge school of sardines were in the marina this week. The pelicans were having a great time feeding on them. The sardines were so plentiful that the water looked like a silver carpet you could walk on.
We are in the marina for a few days to replace our batteries which supply power for the refrigerator, lights and water pumps. The existing batteries lasted 13 years which is remarkable for marine batteries. We found a local guy to buy them from, who delivered them to the boat. The big decision to also place solar panels on the boat was made this week and we are lucky to find the panels we needed. Rick is busy installing them. We are learning so much as we power up to be able to sail in areas where there are no marinas we can pop into and plug into electricity. We have all LED lighting for the inside and the navigational lights, but have found the refrigeration takes most of our power. We have 2 small refrigerators and turn one to a low power setting for the fruits and veggies. That saves alot of power, but it is nice to have ice cubes in the other fridge on days it is 80 degrees. We have foot pumps for water that allows us to use salt and fresh water for washing.

Interesting sightings in Bucerias, MX

 The electrical code in Mexico is different from the USA. It appears there is less of an incomberence to building here. We are always amazed at a new view of how to string up electrical wires. Many multiple family unit buildings have protected electrical meters with secure wiring.

                           

Music in La Cruz

Our Friend Liz Chesney plays and sings at Philo's Bar on the Wednesday night 'open mike session'. It is always fun to hear the different musicians and see the fun they have playing together. Rick and I are not musically inclined and provide the hands to clap. There are several restaurants in La Cruz that provide live music and shows almost every night of the week.