Up until this point Jeff and I have been to a lot of these mainland ports in our many years of Pollak family cruises. We loved the Office in Cabo, Sam got braids in Puerto Vallarta and we remember going to a resort and swimming in the pool in Zihuatenjo. Today would be the first time Jeff and I were heading south to places we have never been before and on our own bottom. We weighed anchor at 8:47a.m. and slowly headed out of the bay in Zihuatenjo. A couple friends radioed us on our way out wishing us safe travels and hoping to see us down the way. The cruise itself was only five and half hours and it was sunny (of course) and we saw lots of sea turtles underway. Sometimes it feel like we are traveling at the same speed. We pulled into the south side of Papanoa due to the swells coming from the north and dropped the hook and soon enough were in the water. Being the only boat here gave us lots of room and a calm peaceful feeling that we didn't get in the big city of Zihua. There were a few houses on shore and we noticed a family walking and swimming a bit but everything was still and quiet and we liked this. From the water the waves looked enormous as they rolled in at eye level and we were just so happy to be swimming off the boat again. It had been awhile. Our program while at anchor is to swim and stay outside until 6pm when we then can come inside, start the gen and crank the a.c. and begin settling in for the night. We like our little routine and when 6o'clock rolls around I'm practically sprinting to fire up the gen and get that cool a.c. going. We made dinner and went to sleep early in preparation for an early departure in the morning.
Papanoa
Sundown at Papanoa
The next day it was up at 0500 and out at 0600 for the long 10 hour day we had ahead to Isla Roqueta Island, a place we just learned from some boaters ahead of us. Isla Roqueta lies just outside Acapulco Bay and is a nice place to stop to break up an overnight passage but many of us were a bit weary of it due to the proximity of Acapulco and all of its 650 boats on the bottom and the sad hurricane struck Acapulco town and people there. Regardless we set out choosing to believe friends ahead of us. The cruise itself was uneventful. It was cloudy with a cool breeze which was much welcomed. We saw turtles and dolphins and while we made our way into the island I stood next to Jeff watching and waiting to see what we would or wouldn't see. We found a nice spot outside of some mooring balls far enough away from the beach that we felt safe and protected. The overall feel of the place was eerie. The beach was quiet and there was obvious noticeable damage and just no boats to be found anywhere. As the night rolled in the eeriness really presented itself when we could tell which buildings had power and which were completely black. Our friend Kurtis told us when it gets dark to take a flashlight outside and shine it on the water which we obediently did and wow what a show. Hundreds of fish flying through the water jumping and swimming and traveling so fast. It was a fantastic scene and one we would never have known about.
Early Morning Departure
Outskirts of Acapulco
Approaching Isla La Roqueta
Anchored In Isla La Roqueta
Isla La Roqueta
View of Acapulco
Freighter in Acapulco
Dilapidated Beach Isla La Roqueta
Sundown
View Across from Isla La Roqueta
When we went to sleep that night I had no idea what was about to hit me. Sometime around 2pm I woke up to Jeff in the bathroom and noticed that my stomach hurt. I didn't think much of it and tried to go back to sleep. I tossed and turned in pain and not able to sleep. Finally it hit me and I made a b-line for the bathroom. Montazooma's revenge. I thought ok good. Now that's done and I can get back to sleep. I wasn't two steps out of the bathroom when I had to turn around lift the seat and throw up. I was in total disbelief. Throwing up? I haven't done that in years and it's usually been alcohol driven. Deliriously I walked back to bed hot and flushed and Jeff was like, "what happened?" I don't know. Puzzled I fell back to sleep just to be woken up and hour later repeating the same sitting to kneeling process. This would happen two more times. What the hell was wrong with me?! I felt weak and exhausted and around 5a.m. after my fourth and final round I told Jeff there was no way I was waking up in an hour to start our overnighter. Baffled he agreed and I spent the entire next day in bed drinking ginger ale and water and sleeping. By the end of the day I felt better and stronger and knew we could carry on the next morning. I'm assuming it's something I ate but don't know definitively what.
At 0737 on January 12th we up-anchored and made our way out of Isla La Roqueta and towards tomorrow's destination Puerto Angel. We began our three hour shifts and eased into the long passage to come. At one point when we were about 20 miles offshore Starlink busted us and then there was no wifi which really threw me off since I love listening to my podcasts and binging Gilmore Girls to help my overnight shifts go by quickly. The zero moonlight wasn't much help either. Nonetheless we carried on. At some point during my 12-3a.m. shift I noticed something on the radar. It wasn't a red dot indicating a boat but a fuzzy image like something you might look at when trying to determine if a mole is cancerous or not - irregular shaped, scalloped edges and about 6 miles out. Jeff fast asleep I didn't want to wake him for some silliness that can easily be explained so I continued to watch while not only one but two of these baffling images appeared on screen. As they got 4 miles out I noticed they were on a course right for us. At three miles out and not being able to determine what it was I decided I had to wake the captain and figure it out. It took me calling his name several times to wake up but disoriented he jumped to attention and began looking at the images with me. Neither of us had any idea what we were looking at. As it approached 2 miles out I noticed the bow flag start to flap and as I stuck my head out the door I noticed there was a stiff breeze forming and the wind meter read 20 knots. Wait!? Is this weather we are looking at on the radar? As it approached one mile and half a mile the wind increased to 24 and the rain began. Oh my god it was a squall that was showing up on radar and another one right behind it. In all of our travels we have never seen a big squall show up on radar. Mystery solved captain went back to bed.
Night turned into day which is always a welcome site on an overnight passage and at 4:28pm we dropped the hook outside the mooring field in Puerto Angel.
Leaving Acapulco
Downtown Acapulco
Passing a Panga
Freighter Underway
Sunset Underway
Sunrise Next Morning
Approaching Puerto Angel
Puerto Angel
Many Pangas Moored in Puerto Angel
Sunset
Cruise Ship Passing By Puerto Angel
The next morning still a little tired and the weather not looking perfect we decided on a second day/night in Puerto Angel. It also happened to be Sunday which is p.j. football playoff day on the Tidings of Joy. We enjoyed a lazy day watching football and recovering from the long passage and took our time.
When we awoke the next morning we felt refreshed and ready to move onto Huatulco. At 0900 we began the weighing anchor procedure and at some point the anchor was pulling super hard and not budging. I told Jeff to stop and he came out to inspect. He thought maybe we wrapped around an old mooring on the bottom and began to spin the boat in one direct then we tried to pull anchor with not luck and then spun the opposite way and still not luck. We were really stuck. Now what? Jeff got on the bow and shouted to a panga captain passing by saying, "Hola hola necessito ayuda!" (Hello hello I need help). A nice young captain stopped and Jeff explained via sign language how our anchor chain was stuck and we needed a diver. The young guy said he could get a diver and would be right back. Stressed out and not knowing weather or not this guy was really coming back or not we sat in the pilot house waiting. Only about 15 minutes later the captain and two other men returned. Two divers who would go down together while the captain maned the boat and the regulator. After not very long both men resurfaced and laughed. They explained to us that we caught a car. There was an entire sunken car just below us and the anchor and the chain were tangled in it. What?! A car! We were totally baffled and very grateful for the speedy efficient work the men had done. Jeff paid them and we thanked them profusely and we were on our way to Huatulco.
Sailboat Anchored Us Down
Hotel Disco on Shore
Heading out of Puerto Angel
No comments:
Post a Comment