That Is A Crocodile...

Eric and I are sitting at the edge of the Barra Lagoon bickering over who's more computer savvy. I cannot get my computer to connect to the internet. Pfft. There's a strong cool breeze coming from the north (for once) and strange exotic birds chrip in the background. Pangas make periodic stops at the local restaurants before professionally maneuvering their way back around the other pangas and zooming off to yet another calling on their VHF.

Eric just gave me a scrunched up face... he's gotten my computer to connect.

Such is life in Mexico these days. We couldn't wait to get our hands on a good internet connection to say hello to everyone!

We've gotten into the habit of sailing just about everywhere we go. Eric has become a master at our symmetrical spinnaker and we have even become quite competent at anchoring under sail as well. We arrived in Tenecatita exactly that way, with our bright red and white spinnakker flying until we could no longer, and both of us skittered about the boat preparing the anchor...

Tenecatita was fascinating and fun, with all kinds of interesting adventures to fil our memory books.

On our second day there, we decided to attempt the jungle river trip to Revelsito, a four mile trip through narrow twists and turns surrounded (full canopy) by mangroves that find nutrients in the brackish tidal waters. People chuckled at us as we rowed past the anchored boats and headed up the river... as the tide was going out.

The trip up the river was a fun row until we got to the narrow section of the river, where we had to pull up the oars and use them like paddles and row our way through twisted mangroves while exotic birds flew within arms reach of us. Inguanas hung off of branches and the constant reminder that crocodiles made their homes there kept my eyes sharp and my paddle moving quickly (even though Eric's seven-foot oars were so incredibly heavy!).

Nothing could get this kid more excited than a fast-paced river trip careening around corners at wide-open speed...

We spent a short time in Revelsito with our friends from Lazy Days, Ron and Sheryl, and checked out the surf on the outer bay.

After a couple of pokes and prods by Ron, he convinced us that it was a wise decision to get towed out of the mangroves before dark to escape the mosquitos and the four of us did a wide-eyed wide-open dinghy train through the narrow river. I've never seen Eric smile so constantly as we missed trees by a hair, and left a wake that would put a tanker ship to shame!

We took the Fatty Knees on an adventure to find surf, and wound up five miles across the bay in La Manzanilla (a slight detour) and wandered the streets of the VERY gringo town. Aside from the splendid sandwiches we had at a small family-owned restaurant, the highlight was the 10 to 12 foot crocodiles that lined the shores of the mangroves. Those things are huge! Although parts of the fence that protected human from croc was still there, there were big gaps that left people frightened to step much closer to the edge of the pond!

This was as close as I wanted to get to the crocs while Eric held the camera...

Greg and Deb from Lion's Paw finally caught up with us... after a year of not seeing them! We spent two nights with them at the anchorage, and had a hard time catching up with everything that's happened since we last saw them... we giggled well into the nights and promised we would catch up with them, as they departed for Las Hadas.

Our trip to Barra was interesting. Deb had lent me a novel that I have become slightly addicted to, and Eric spent his time watching a several squalls pass over as we headed south. The rain pummelled every amchorage in the area and the wind switched from south, to directly north, which made our sail alot nicer! More on weather later.

Barra de Navidad has been fun so far, but we're certainly looking at our options again. The lagoon is dead flat, which is strange compared to being in an anchorage out on the ocean. Barra is a surf town, and it shows. Eric and I spent the whole afternoon today surfing on a beach break off of the town with our friends from Delos. It was wonderful, after not being able to swim in the lagoon (there are theories that it could be some very, very dirty water!).

We have been mingling with other cruisers in town, and it's never a surprise to bump into someone you know on a regular basis. Eric is getting his fill of cheap tacos at Mexico Lindos, while I am still searching for somewhere with cheap tortilla soup!

We have only a few things to take care of before we head south. We've been getting free water from the fuel docks here, but we haven't gotten potable water in a long time and today we drank our last drop of "safe" water. Time to hit up a tienda!

From here we are planning on heading to Manzanillo and from there, to Zijuatenejo... onwards and downwards!

Take care to everyone, and we wish you all well!

More pictures later...