Tenacatita Days

12-22-12 – In Route to Bahia de Navidad

After our slog into Tenacatita it was refreshing to find a beautiful anchorage, protected from swells and the weather out on the Pacific Ocean.  Our first hour there was indicative of the days to come.  We had launched the dink to go ashore just to walk around and not be on the boat after our little passage.  Immediately upon landing we were approached by; as we would soon find out, the pseudo “mayor” of Tenacatita; Robert on s/v Harmony.  He and his wife Virginia have been coming to Tenacatita at this time of year for 13 years now earning him the title.  This year they had a few of their children and grandchildren with them for a total of 8 on the boat, affectionately named Hotel Harmony for the week they were all there.  As Mayor of Tenacatita he has taken on the responsibility to welcome the new cruisers, provide information on the area, run the Tenacatita morning VHF net and organize the daily happenings of the anchorage.  With that start you can imagine that our days in Tenacatita were full.

What to do in Tenacatita?  The cruisers guide describes it as the quintessential anchorage, with a beautiful curved beach with a small break ending in a large private resort.  There is one beach palapa for your afternoon cerveza and ceviche needs and not much else.  That’s what makes it so nice.

Day one was dedicated to the self-guided dinghy  jungle tour.  There is a river thru the mangroves that supposedly takes you 2.5 miles around and back to a little lagoon.  Sounded like fun.  On our way in we stopped to say hi to some other cruisers in the anchorage who informed us that most people were getting turned around about half way in by someone on a panga saying that you were entering private property.  Your mind immediately jumps to conclusions on that one.  A guy in a panga, in a swampy narrow channel turns you around because you are on “private” property.  You can go where you wish with that, but it really is the truth.  We decided to try it anyway.  First challenge was crossing the little bar that leads into the estuary.  Not too challenging, but we did manage to surf a wave on the dinghy.  Probably the most exciting part of the day. 

The jungle tour

Driving PK like a professional
panga driver

It may sound like a good time, but you try your best not to surf the waves in your dinghy as even little waves can have a disastrous effect if they catch you wrong.  After that we motored PK thru a narrow channel of mangroves looking at birds, some fish and little red crabs crawling up the roots of the trees; always waiting for the panga man to turn us around.  Eventually the channel closed in and we couldn’t go any further.  Little spiders and crabs were falling into the dinghy and we scraped by tree roots in our inflatable dinghy.  One of the times it makes you wonder why you have a boat that’s filled with air to keep it floating.  The lagoon never appears nor did the panga to turn us around, so I feel like we may have cheated death on that one!  Back to the palapa and a Rollo del Mar for lunch.  Rollo del Mar is similar to the Turducken theory.  You stuff fish with shrimp, wrap it in bacon and smother it in a cream sauce.  With fresh corn tortillas, yummy!  We had been jungle touring and lunching with another couple from s/v Vagabundo who invited us over for sundowners, which we of course accepted.    Whew, that was a full day.

Rollo del Mar is yummy!

View from the beach palapa (AW on the left)

Day two:   Nothing was stirring not even a fish when what did I hear but the sound of bubbles around the hull.  I arose to see what the clatter was and what did I find but six little dolphins playing with the boats (a little Christmas nod there).  We watched as the dolphins played with our boats and did circles around in synchronized swimming moves.  The water was clear to the bottom so you could see them as they passed under the boat and between the bow and the anchor.  A good way to start the day.  Today was the annual Harmony biathlon.  A swim from s/v Harmony to shore, a run down the beach and back and a swim back to the boat.  Armed with some snorkel goggles and board shorts I probably wasn’t going to win the event.  About ten of us partook in the event.  I finished in the middle of the pack, not realizing how poor of a long distance swimmer I was.  I did beat some people; later to find out they were in their mid sixties, which detracted from my excitement.  Back at Harmony there was a crowning ceremony for the winner and juice and plantain chips for snacks.  All participants were given a free pedicure by Coco and Toby the two kids on Harmony.  So that explains the picture from the last post.  The rest of the day consisted of some paddle boarding, snorkeling and me not really surfing in the waves.  A trip to the palapa for some shrimp ceviche and a beer rounded out the afternoon.  Whew, that was a full day.

Almost surfing the SUP

Day three:  I got in my morning Crossfit workout raising the anchor.  Always a good way to work up a sweat in the morning.  We took Autumn Wind three miles across the bay to the little town of La Manzanilla to shop at the local market and get some food.  The town was great and the market was fun.  Most everything there, like in all of Mexico, was “almost free”


AW at anchor off of La Manzanilla

(That’s a little joke for those who have been
here.  It is what seemingly every vendor says to try and rope you in to buying their wares).  The dinghy ride back to AW was a little wet but we made it without embarrassing ourselves, loaded down with pineapples bought from a pickup truck, some eggs in a little baggie, some new wine glasses and the standard groceries.  A nice sail across the bay and we dropped the anchor right back in our original spot. 



Cutting up our fresh pineapples
on the sail back

 Now it was time for the “Mayors raft up”.  This is an event organized by the mayor where all of the boats in the anchorage bring their dinghies out and we all
raft up in a little circle off “good dog beach”  aptly named because it is a good place to get your dog off the boat to go for a run. 

Elizabeth at the Mayors Raft up

Everyone brought a dish to share and we all passed food around the raft up and had a good time.  There was about ten dinghies attending and everyone told their story of where they were from, going to and what the highlight of the year was, since as you know it was the end of the world as we know it.  It was a nice coming together of cruisers and a great way to meet all the people in the anchorage.  Afterwards, many of us retired to good dog beach for an end of days beach fire where the socializing continued.  I helped to save one dinghy that started floating away, but didn’t invoke my salvage rights even though it was much nicer than my dinghy.  Well after dark we all launched into the surf and successfully found our ways back to our respective boats.  Whew, that was a full day.

So we had to leave Tenacatita to get some rest.  Bahia de Navidad here we come for Christmas!  Maybe there we will get some rest.  I hope not.


Statue at Bahia de Navidad