Captains Corner

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Next Stop Manzanillo, Mexico

We left Chamela on Thursday the 25th of February without any more so-called events.  It was an 11.5 hour run to Manzanillo, Mexico.  As we approached Manzanillo we literally ran into the Gregory Peck movie “the Birds”.  There were so many birds we thought they were going to fly right through the open windows.  We ran away from the helm screaming.  

You cannot believe how many there were












As we came around the bend into Marina Las Hadas we remembered how beautiful it is here.   There are two bays:   the first one is Santiago Bay and the one outside the marina is called Las Hadas Bay.
 







 
The gorgeous hotel Las Hadas was made famous from the move “10”. Remember the famous beach scene with Bo Derek running down the beach  with her blond braids and bikini, with Dudley Moore running after her?  That’s where we anchored.




 
 As we plotted our departure to Ixtapa, getting fuel was on our to do list.  We were told to go to the other side of the bay (8 miles) to the shipping port for the fuel.  Not knowing just where we were going, some friends said they would go with us.  Once the port captain gave us clearance, we proceeded.  As we entered the port all of the military ships were there as well as the large tankers.


Military - don't know if we should feel safe or scared to death.













See the panga in front to the tanker?

 We arrived at the area were told had a fuel dock.  We figureed these tankers are very large and the fuel dock should at least be visible; right?  Wrong!!  We could not see the fuel dock.  We asked around and someone said it was behind a freighter that was getting fuel.  Wrong.  The freighter was docked there.   HOWEVER there was no fuel.  Evidently we needed to call someone to bring a truck with the fuel.  Then they said we needed to come along side one of the freighters and they would stretch the hose over the other boats until it reached us and we could pump the fuel.   I DON’T THINK SO.  So we went back to Marina Las Hadas to their fuel tank. 

This is the boat they wanted us to sidle up to!!!!!
Here is the deal at this tank.  We have to moor Mediterranean style.  What that means is we begin to back into the dock and drop our anchor and back straight up and toss the lines to the dock guys and they tie us off and we hope the anchor holds and we don’t get too close to the rocks and ruin the boat.
THE FUEL TANK

Don't know how well you can see, but these are Med Moored.
Well we managed to get fuel and get back out to our anchorage without incident.  Safely anchored for our last night we went out to dinner with friends who have convinced us we need to go to El Salvador.  With a new stop added to our adventure list, we headed for Ixtapa-Zihuatenjo.  Written by JC.

4 comments:

  1. Did Aggie run screaming from the birds, too? Or was she a macho pup and bark?

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  2. Jewel honey....it's your turn to run down that hotel beach!!
    Sounds so exciting!
    xo
    Susan

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  3. All this sure beats making powerpoints! Your blog was the first thing that made my heart skip a beat all day!

    JRR

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  4. thanks for clarifying that good ol saying "enjoy the journey" ~ cheers.

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