Barra de Navidad
Restless Marc
Marc Blaquiere
Sat 22 Dec 2007 17:22
104.41.400 W
Barra de Navidad - Melaque
Barra has proved to be quite a different beast entirely. We are anchored in a
sizeable lagoon, which means… no swell to speak of. We have a local hotel we
can tie up Propeller Head for the day while we wander through town. The town of
barra is much more set up for tourists, locals and gringos. There is no
shortage of places to eat, from the great taco stands to the expensive beach
side restaurants. You can find wireless internet as well as a number of
internet cafés, and surprisingly fast too. There’s a huge and beautifully lit
resort hotel, intact with golf course, tennis courts, private dock and swimming
hole with break water across the way.
We have a French Baker who comes to the lagoon each morning around 9am to
deliver pastries and baguettes to your boat. If you call ahead on channel 22,
he will save whatever you want and deliver it to you. The ham and cheese
croissants are our favorite, but the almond croissants are butteriffic… and
fresh baguettes in Mexico delivered to your boat? Is this a dream?
You can call for a water taxi on channel 23 if you want to avoid the late night
wet dingy ride home. We don’t seem to plan ahead that well. It was great the
one time we took that route.
The one precarious process of discovery is the location of navigable channels.
The lagoon has so many shallow spots that we have run the dingy aground 3 times
in different places. Once we were out in low tide in the daytime… everything
made more sense. We have not killed anything yet, other than that yellow tail
jack, but we did have an altercatin with a fishing net.
Maintenance in Barra by Marc:
o Replaced Anchor light (climbed the mast)
o Rebuilt the head
o Install salt water pump in the sink
o Replaced the engine coil
o Cleaned the sand out of Propeller head’s underwear
We have been here for a week now and are taking off tomorrow on a 2 day sail to
Zihuatenajo.
Malaque
Malaque is a town on the other end of the (half moon shaped) Baia de
Navidad(bay). It’s not too far as the crow flies and is a 2.5 mile beach walk
from Barra. We set out thinking we would have a casual stroll… not taking note
of the soft sand or the intense slope close to the water. We agreed we needed
to walk home just to balance out our muscle groups. It’s a beautiful walk,
especially with the sunset at your side.
Malaque is a bigger town than Barra, but called its poorer cousin. It’s
certainly less developed… but has its own character. It does have the “Super
Hawaii” and an incredible jewelry artist… what more does a town need?
The Cruiser Scene
I was completely unaware of the “Cruiser Scene” until a few days ago. In Barra
it runs thick. A Cruiser is someone cruising, for lack of a better word, in
their boat for a finite or undetermined amount of time. The social scene
includes the cruiser’s net on the radio each morning. They share weather,
emergencies, tides, trades, Christmas pot lucks… the usual. There are a series
of anchorages up and down the coast, so it is not unlikely that you may be
following the same path as a number of other boats. You become familiar with
other boats and you see people in town. I think ultimately, it’s just a chance
to meet other drinking buddies… or like souls, however you want to look at it.
Marc and I do not fit into the usual demographic. Most Cruisers are generally
of retirement age living their dream. We happened upon a musical jam session at
the Sands Hotel, where we tie up Propeller Head. There had to be 40-50 boaters
hanging out drinking talking up a storm. I can imagine finding like minded
boaters to travel with as a super plus. I just think it’s a trippy scene.