Current Position: Bahia Tenacatita.

I had a great sail to Bahia Chamela. The wind stayed out of the SE most of the day. It took roughly 11 hours to beat the 52 miles from Ipala to Chamela. Bahia Chamela is a beautiful bay full of wildlife. Sailing in from the north you notice the bright red cliff of Punta Rivas first. Next the gray cliffs of Isla Passavera. It's between these two landmarks you enter the bay. It's best to enter close to the island due to a reef that extends .5 miles off the point. There are multiple anchorages in the bay, but due to the northern wind and swell I choose to anchor in the northern corner fairly close to shore. I arrived around 5pm and decided I would wait until tomorrow to go in to town.

The next morning, anxious to get into town and look, around I inflated the dingy, said an ancient good luck chant, and pulled the starter on the outboard. Much to my surprise, the beast started with one pull. While I was heading into shore, three dolphins joined the dingy. They came so close I was actually able to reach out and touch one. So excited about the dolphins, I forgot that I was about to land the dingy in the surf. This became very apparent as the dingy was surf down the face of a three foot wave. I shut off the outboard, pulled it up, leaned back and enjoyed the ride. It doesn't handle as well as my 9' 6" but all in all not bad. Given the number of people standing on the beach watching, it's amazing I landed right side up.

I spent a few hours checking out the town then headed back to the boat. I spent the rest of the day cleaning Tramonto. Weighing anchor early in the morning has gotten to be a habit for me. It allows me to take my time and attempt to sail in the extremely light winds of Mexico. This morning I decided to weigh anchor around 4am. I went up on deck and started cranking up the anchor. I don't remember why now, but for some reason I took a flashlight and shined it down in the water towards the chain. Suddenly, something fairly large smacked me on the side of the head. Looking around I discovered a 7" flying fish flapping around the deck. Eyeing the culprit and not really sure what to do, I was suddenly reminded of an article I had read about how good flying fish were to eat. Quite obviously this little guy wasn't going to make much of a meal and I would need at least a few more. I'm normally an advocate for using one's head; however, given the number of fish necessary to make a decent meal I didn't think this would be the most effective (or painless) method. So I went below and consulted the fishing bible. According to the book, if I could find something white, put a flashlight behind it, and hang it above the dingy the fish would jump right in. So I rounded up a few old t-shirts and hung them from Tramonto's lifelines above the dingy. Now as for the flashlight, I'm not a catch and release fisherman. I'm out here fishing for food. Because it seems to be the light that attracts them, bigger must be better. I dug out the 15 million candle spotlight and dangled it behind the t-shirts. Confident in the power of 15 million candles, I went below, started making coffee and gathering ingredients for a flying fish scramble. Not even five minutes pass and I start hearing multiple thuds against the side of the boat. I don my shades and run out to look in the dingy which now has about 15 decent-sized flying fish. Given the overwhelming success of this method, I decide to throw a few back. It wasn't until about 10 am that I finally finished breakfast and headed out.

Because I was so successful fishing this morning, I decided to keep the streak going. As soon as I exited the bay I threw out a silver Rapala and a red and green squid. The wind was still out of the SE and I began my beat south. Lately while underway, I've been practicing my Spanish. This, I believe, is best for all; it spares other people from having to listen to me repeat the same word poorly over and over and over. During my attempt to learn common restaurant phrases I started hearing a squawking noise. I initially ignored this noise. Finally this noise was consistent and fairly loud. Looking aft, I noticed a tern which seemed to be following in our wake. All of a sudden it dawned on me that this poor bird had grabbed the Rapala, mistaking it for a real fish. I pulled the tern aboard and luckily it was quite willing to let me unhook it. He rested aboard for a moment then flew away without issue. You would think that this was an isolated incident, but unfortunately this happened two more times! Not being much of a catch and release fisherman I finally pulled the Rapala in and retired it for the day.

Paul Theroux wrote that "Tourists don't know where they've been. Travelers don't know where they're going." When I left this morning I was en route to Barra de Navidad; by mid-afternoon I had decided that Bahia Tenacatita sounded nice. Obviously I fall into the traveler category. My fishing didn't end up a loss — as I was rounding Punta Hermanos, I hooked a 20 lbs Dorado. I've learned a few things since the last Dorado, and this one proved much easier to subdue and didn't require any cheap rum. I know I say this every time, but this place is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I've anchored in the western part of the bay and currently am the only boat here. Tomorrow I plan on moving over to the east side. Hopefully I will be able to anchor near the entrance to an estuary where they run wildlife boat trips. It supposedly hosts 50 different types of tropical birds and of course Crocodiles. If the beast (outboard motor) is behaving, I plan on motoring up it and checking it out. I've asked around in my best Spanish and I can't be sure but it doesn't seem like any dinghies have ever been bitten by a croc. I will report back soon.