Tenacatita
to Bara de Navidad (19.12.x 104.41.5 W) 13 miles 2/8/2014
SALACIA and WORKNOT left for Bara at
10 am in calm seas and 2-3 foot seas well spaced. We fished from the edge of the anchorage to
the harbor entrance. Caught a few
Skipjack tuna and turned them loose. A
little bit of excitement when I ran to get a fish and cut my little toe on a “Keela
Keeper”. These are spring loaded rods
placed in our scuppers to keep Keela from being taken overboard by draining
water or worse, sticking her head out to take a peek and getting caught by a
wave.
.JPG)
Hard to believe I caught the edge of the
Keela Keeper but it healed in a couple of weeks. Between my toe and the fish the decks were again awash in blood.
A future project is to replace these
with scupper doors that open outward only.
This will prevent water from entering the scuppers in beam seas but
assure water can drain quickly from a breaking wave. Also serve to keep Keela but she will miss the view from her level when we put the doors on.
The entrance to Bara includes a nice
memorial to the lost fisherman.
The hotel has a private beach and
landing for the water taxis used to get to town and restaurants.
The harbor is very shallow and we saw
several sail boats aground during our visit.
We were warned to be very careful around the fuel dock. Fortunately we don’t plan to buy fuel for
several months. You might be able to see
the sand bar in the center of this shot.
We rounded the corner to the marina to
find half a dozen 100’+ yachts guarding the fairway. The one on the right is sport fishing machine
that ran almost every day
After we got tied up in the assigned slip
next to a new Nordhavn 63 our visit to the harbor office resulted in a quick
move to another slip.
We were neighbors with TRUE BLUE N63 just
long enough to get tied up and set our shore cord. Someone with more clout than us (not hard to
achieve) returned early and we had to vacate our slip. Best not have to sleep and wake up next to a
new N63 anyway. Could encourage me to
go back to work!!!!!
Our next slip assignment confirmed again
the battle of one ups-man-ship in the yacht world is not the game for me. Here we are hanging with the big boys of
Bara. One of these is S.O.C. and connected
to Silver Oak winery from Napa. The yacht
is very understated and tasteful. We
have seen her in Sausalito a few times.
Isla Navidad hotel sits on a steep
hillside across the harbor from Bara de Navidad. 10 stories high, the lobby is on the 9th
floor while the main dining room etc is
on the 1st floor. Opulent
does not do it justice, marble and granite dominates the floors and walls along
with stunning Mexican tile and concrete work.
Checking in requires a visit to the
marina office, 1st floor, trip to the very difficult to find lobby,
9th floor to get internet connection and establish account with
hotel for room service, pool towels etc and then a trip to the Port
Captain. He is located not near the
harbor but a water taxi ride then about a 1.5 mile hike to the farthest edge of
town. The office is located in
residential area and only way I found it was the VHF antenna tower in the back
yard. Wonder who owns the property the Port Captain rents from?
SALACIA N40, TROPICAL BLEND N43, TRUE
BLUE N63 and SEA FOX N55 along with WORKNOT gave a good showing of trawlers in
the marina. Sailboats are still more common
by a factor of at least 5:1 over power boats and the more remote the location
the more sailboats are the norm. TROPICAL
BLEND and her crew, Debbie and Larry, are headed for the Panama Canal and the
Bahamas. Someday we hope to be on the
same trip. At least 5 boats from the FUBAR
are all headed to the canal this year.
Every harbor tries be unique and Bara is
no different. The “French Baker” appears
at dock, fully equipped with fresh French pastries each morning. He is a true Frenchman, been in Bara for over
10 years and has a shop in town. The croissants
are still warm and the rest of the goods are fresh and delightful. When you hear the little bell time to head to
the swim platform and load up. Special
orders can also be placed by VHF radio if you don’t mind everyone else knowing
just how many croissants you consume each day.
Keela needed a haircut and we found a
shop in Bara. We waited for the trimming
on a very warm day and this little girl sort of wandered in and sat next to
us. She just came right up to Mary,
pushed her way between us and sat there for 10 or 15 minutes. Her mom was working at a shop next door and came
to see where she was. When she saw she
was sitting with us she went back to work. No English but just a big eyes and a smile. She was also smart to start with Mary.
We had a number of dinners with friends
and a very special Valentine Day dinner with SALACIA & TROPICAL BLEND. Live band and the chef prepared a special “Surf and Turf”. About
250 Pesos or $20US. Yes that is a lobster tail.
More from Bara on the next posting, we
really had a great visit and more to tell……
NEXT UP BARA 2
No comments:
Post a Comment