TENACATITA

The day after we came back to the boat from Minnesota, Eitan came for a visit.  It was great to have him on the boat again.  He was only here for five days, but we went out to some local islands for snorkeling, as well as just enjoying being together again on Mintaka.  The day after he left, our friends Deb and Jim Custer, who we met on a street corner in Papeete on our last Pacific crossing, came for a visit.  They had more time, and were keen on sailing, so we went down the coast to an old favorite anchorage, Tenacatita Bay.  Dear friends that we’ve known even longer, Darrell and Rita Moquist on the boat Overheated, had been spending the winter there, so we got to spend some quality time with them, too.

We were in Tenacatita once before, just before we sailed west to French Polynesia eleven years ago.  Robyn flew north for some work while Eitan and I stayed at anchor there for just over a month.  I had fond memories of that time, and was looking forward to being there again, especially with such dear friends.

Leaving the marina here in La Cruz on February 20th, we had a nice beat across the bay towards Cabo Corrientes and the open sea southward, and a special treat from a whale along the way.  Whales are common here.  We’ve hardly ever moved on the bay without seeing at least one, and they often breach or slap their tales or just swim along on the surface inspiring awe.  This one, though, kept slapping his tail over and over again, close enough to our path to make me a little nervous.  Mostly, though, I was enthralled by the performance.

We lost the wind as we doubled the cape into the open sea, and wound up motoring most of the remaining ninety miles to Tenacatita, but no matter.  It’s beautiful out there.  Tenacatita is idyllic:  a protected bay with a secure anchorage, a long white sand beach, a palapa restaurant.  The last time there, I played bocci ball on the beach with other cruisers every day for over thirty days.  I only played once this trip, opting for time with friends, instead, but I thoroughly enjoyed the game.  There were quite a few other boats there, and on most days, a group swims to the beach from one of the boats.  We did that a couple of times — those are pretty long swims —  followed by a long walk down the beach, and a cool drink at the palapa.

Landing the dinghy on the beach there involves timing the surf.  Mostly, the surf was easy to get in and out through, but I picked the wrong moment to row out one day and got quite a wild, wet ride.  Didn’t roll it over, but the breaking wave did fill the dinghy.  Great fun!

The return trip back here to La Cruz was a little disappointing from a sailing point of view (not much wind, so we motored almost all the way), but it was still beautiful.  Motoring on a still, flat sea tends to become a wildlife tour, too, as the stillness allows one to see things that would be missed with more of a sea running.  This time we counted fourteen turtles, besides a half dozen or so rays.

Deb and Jim left us here in La Cruz, moving on to other adventures, and we are now in the final stages of preparing for the “Pacific Puddle Jump”.  We are expecting to depart Mexico for the Marquesas in about a week, a passage that will probably take us three weeks, more or less.  We’ve made some friends here that are doing the same thing, and are enjoying the comraderie that comes with a shared adventure.  I’ll try to write about these preparations before we head off next week