Acapulco!!

Acapulco is two days away. We found a tiny anchorage described in the guide book at about half way called Punta Papanoa. It said there is a break wall providing protection from the swell there and nothing else. Sounded good enough to us! We just wanted a place to sleep so we could avoid sailing through the night. We left with our golden zarpe ticket at 8:45 and headed out. The breeze came up at 1:30 so we raised the sails and started making water. Along the way, we saw something new. We saw a fever of rays (I had to look that one up) swimming in a diamond formation. Together they looked like one big giant ray. It was fascinating! Sorry I didn’t get a picture. At 5:15 we pulled into the supposedly deserted anchorage only to find that things had changed a whole lot. The harbor was lined with mom and pop day resorts. There were little water slides, restaurants with colorful umbrellas, and music. Families were just winding up their day trying to gather kids that did not want to leave and clearing off tables into coolers. We contemplated staying another day to go in and experience it. It was a hard decision. Waterslides are hard to resist. In the end, we decided to push onward to Acapulco in the morning.

We left the protection of the break wall and entered the Pacific swell at 4:00am. The morning started off very calm and over the course of the day the wind slowly picked up. By noon we were making great time running down the waves and down wind, woohoo!!!! Days like this are amazing! The wind continued to build and by afternoon we were in 20 knots still having a fabulous time but it was time to reef the sails. Bill muscled in 6 wraps on the jib, our big front sail. Then we started bringing down the main sail to a 4 panel (out of 6) reef. Suddenly there was a bang and the sound of metal clatter. Bill sprang to his feet to see what was the matter! (Sorry, writing this at Christmas time) The heavy stainless steel cover to our in boom furler had broken off, hit the deck, and gone overboard. How, why, what!?! Oh boy, one thing fixed anther one broken.

The waves were building now, there were big white caps everywhere. We called them polar bears. Small white caps are bunnies which means easy sailing, maybe even a pink sail day. Medium white caps are sheep which means sporty sailing. Big white caps are polar bears which means hard sailing and get me to the harbor soon please. We were in polar bears and we were worried about how the furler would or wouldn’t work so we kept sailing. The sails we had up were the right size for these conditions and it would have been fun if not for the concern about the broken part. Would the sail come ripping out unexpectedly? Would the furling line unfurl off the mandrel? Was the boom itself OK? Yikes! We entered the bay of Acapulco between two massive headland cliffs and the seas went flat and it felt like someone just turned off the loud music. We sailed down the bay in 17 knots of wind hoping there would be less wind when we turned the corner and got behind the land. There was still 15 knots after our turn. We started the motor, furled the jib, and then carefully furled the rest of the main sail. Everything else looked good. We couldn’t see any internal damage; the boom was straight and the parts inside turned smoothly. Well, that was a relief.

We went to where there was supposed to be a place to anchor according to our chart but it was now all mooring balls. We called the marina to get a ball and they said there were none available. We inquired about a dock slip and they assigned us one. We would need to parallel park into a space only 8 feet longer than our boat in wind that was continuing to build and push us away from the dock. No less than five people came running down the dock to help catch lines. Bill made one pass and aborted because we didn’t realize there was also current flowing pushing us forward. Bill lined up again and we went for it. We missed side swiping a motor cat named L’ Excursion by inches, got the nose of the boat close to the dock, and I started throwing lines to people. They dragged us sideways the rest of the way into the slip. Wow! Where is the beer?

We walked up to the marina office to pay our fees and along the way spoke to the crew of L’Excursion. Bill apologized for coming so close to their boat. They said “What? We didn’t even notice” Ha, ha! Gracious liars! We liked them already. Back at the boat we further analyzed the damage and put a call in to our rigger in Seattle. He would love to see the part so he could basically do an autopsy on it. We were the first sailors to have had this happen. Why was I not surprised? We informed him that it went into the sea. He would order a new cover from Leisure Furl for us and would send it once we knew where we would be. So, for now, we would need to be MacGuyvers. I have a whole collection of stainless steel hardware. It is my passion, collecting stainless steel (LOL). Whenever we walk through a boatyard I watch the ground and pick up anything shiny. Then I wash them and put them in old specimen bottles from the office each labeled with the contents. My labor of love paid off! I found 4 matching bolts of the right length, diameter, and thread count. Tomorrow we would see if we could buy a piece of aluminum to shape into a makeshift furler cap.

April 7th, in the morning over coffee we mapped out hardware stores and tourist attractions hoping to combine work and play. It was not clear how to exit the marina. It was like a fortress. We were surrounded by cliffs and buildings. We decided to try going to the beach and picking up the bike path that we could see from the boat. There was yellow caution tape around the beach, cordoning it off. What a shame! It looked like a beautiful little beach perfect for swimming. We turned and headed for the hotel. We spoke in our broken Spanish to the lady at the front desk asking how to get to the street. She buzzed open the door for us and just like that we were on the street. It felt like going through the door to the other side in Narnia. We went from a sleepy, quiet marina with birds chirping to a noisy, busy sidewalk with automobiles flying by!

We walked down to the bike path that skirted the bay and eventually made a left up into town looking for the first hardware store. It was a dark hole in the wall. We peered in and saw an old man covered in grease surrounded by various discarded metal parts working on some type of engine. Bill hollered and waved. Again in broken Spanish and with the help of Google Translate, we inquired about a piece of aluminum plate. He shook his head, but with confidence sent us to another place. We walked there and with the same confidence they sent us to another place. They didn’t have it either but just as the stores before they were confident the next place would have it. Now we were in a part of Acapulco that no tourist has gone before. Another greasy hole in the wall said no they didn’t have it but they were sure that Carlos would have it. We had already been there. We realized that we had now gone full circle and we would not be finding any kind of metal for the repair. It was also way past lunch and we were starving! We walked quickly and with purpose the couple of miles back to the touristy side of town and picked out an open air restaurant looking over the bay.

Less tired and a little less discouraged after lunch, we hiked around to the other side of the bay determined to have at least a little fun. It was beautiful, definitely the nice side of town. Along the way we ran into L’Excursion and they said there is a place to watch the cliff diving. They had made a reservation for dinner and the show 6pm tonight. We all agreed to go together, fun! We continued up the hill, passing all the statues and plaques talking about all of the celebrities who use to vacation here, checking out the cliffs and overlooks, and building up a sweat! We stopped into a little bar with a giant patio and I tried out the infamous, mysterious beverage called a “Michelada” while Bill stuck to a normal beer. It was ok, but not magical, and we continued up around to the restaurant. It was all inclusive with the diving show, dinner, dessert and two drinks. Sign us up!

It was 5pm now and we had to get back to the boat, shower, change and return. Luckily it was a downhill run, literally, to the boat. We entered the hotel but we were turned away. This is how we came out, why can’t we go through the other way? It turned out they had increased security since the shooting on the beach occurred just three days ago. What?!? Yes, that is why the beach is cordoned off. OMG! I think I am glad I didn’t know that before our exploration of the bad side of town.

Now we were verging on being late and having to walk further. As we finally entered the marina, we ran into L’Excursion exiting. They asked if we were still planning to see the show. Of course! See you there! Ten minutes later, showered and changed, we started the 1.5 mile uphill trek going as fast as possible without dripping with sweat. We checked in at the front desk and were taken to the table with L’Excursion. We stayed for the sunset show and the night show under the lights. The divers were from multiple generations of the same families. The skill was handed down father to son over many years. First they dove into the sea from a 20 foot cliff, then they swam to the other side and climbed the slippery rocks in bare feet to the dive sites. The younger boys dove from the lower cliff about 30 feet high and experienced guys dove from the high cliff which was over a hundred feet high. It took several seconds for the divers to hit the water, crazy and incredible! They repeated the show in the dark and I mean pitch dark with torches! What a fabulous night. New friends, great meal, fantastic show! Bill says I was especially happy to be able to tip the (very fit, very tan) divers directly as they circulated through the restaurant still dripping wet in just their tiny speedos…

April 8, our wonderful electrician from Ixtapa, Alexis, is going to be in town today and a few zincs that we had ordered from the hardware store in Zijuataneho had arrived. He could bring them to us! It was a four hour drive for him. We worked on our broken furler while we waited. We found a good piece of plywood we had in the spare parts bin and decided it would work temporarily, backed up with a thick square of aluminum we also had on hand. Working on the docks is the way to go. Trying to do repairs out on anchor is doable but it makes a mess. Whereas when we work on the on the dock, all of the saw dust is left off the boat. We measured the circle, I made a paper template of where the bolt holes were and Bill cut and drilled. One hole was off a bit, oops. Bill redrilled and perfecto! We had a new wooden cover. Alexis called around 2:00 and was at the wrong marina. Alexis called again and was still at the wrong marina. Third try was the charm! We found each other, thanked him profusely, and apologized for our poor directions. New zinc anodes in hand and our MacGuyver repair was done! It was time to move off the dock or pay for another night. Off we went to the anchorage which was not marked on the chart. We found it by observing other boats our size anchoring there.

April 9, we decided to take advantage of the Walmart basically across the street from the marina and do a provisioning shop. Bags and list in hand, we took the dinghy into the dock, mooring up with L’Excursion. We entered the Walmart and it looked like every other Walmart. We could have been anywhere in the world, there was no difference. Except for the Spanish, of course! It was only about 300 yards back to the marina but it felt like 300 miles. Maybe we could have bought less? I waited at the top of the ramp for Bill while he brought the dinghy around, de-packaging as much as I could quickly into the trash bin. A nice marina worker helped bring the 1,000 bags of goods down to the dinghy. We said good bye to L’Excursion and went slowly and carefully back down the Bay to the boat. We got everything unloaded safely and stowed. It was time to move around to Isla La Roqueta, a small island at the opening of the bay. The guide book described a nice hike to the lighthouse. We were looking forward to doing that in the morning. We had the anchor down at 6:45, ready to enjoy the sunset. The island was deserted and there were just a few pangas in the anchorage with us. So peaceful!

In the morning while we ate breakfast, a few workers arrived by boat and started opening up the restaurants. We kayaked in and asked if we could store our kayak under the stairway while we hiked. No problemo! The hike was fabulous. It wound up the hill and around to the front of the headland with incredible views. The lighthouse was interesting. We didn’t expect a museum and a compound of army guys up there. They said we could walk through to see the light house and we also heard some rude comments in Spanish as we walked by. Whatever! It was really interesting. We hiked back down to the beach. It had been transformed into a beach resort wall to wall with restaurants and people! Our kayak was wedged under the stairs behind it all. We had to move a few tables and chairs to extract it and we had no money to tip the guys. We said we would return for lunch with dinero, which we did and it was quite an experience. We were the only gringos on the beach! Everyone was exceptionally nice and helpful, and we felt better about spending a few bucks since they had let us leave our dinghy in their restaurant.

Back at the boat we relaxed in the cockpit watching people doing what all people in the world like to do; have fun with their family, share a meal, play a game, go for a swim. It is so simple and so wonderful. As the sun started sinking, the pangas arrived to take the tired patrons back to the mainland. The beach was slowly transformed back into a beach. The last round of pangas took the employees home and we were left to ourselves. Peaceful again!