Acapulco, Mexico -April 1, 1999

Position: Acapulco, Mexico -April 1, 1999

March has been the month for visiting Mexico. Major ports of call being Cabo San Lucas, Sea of Cortez, Mazatlan, Manzanillo, Navidad, Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo, and Acalpulco along with many bays for overnight anchoring. Sailing South during these late winter months does not offer great winds for good sailing. Since leaving San Diego most of our travel has been combined sailing and motoring as we were traveling with a light wind and added current carrying us along. This is much different than the Northbound trip, which had the wind, sea, and current against us. SeaQuell has completed 30,000 miles and looking forward to moving west.

The Kirkman family, Tracey, Keith, Jonathan, Jeffrey, and Jenna, all joining us at Mazatlan on Mar 14. The El Cid Marina at Mazatlan was very nice with a lot of activity. We had a nearby golf course where all of the boys enjoyed 18 holes of golf and some tennis. There were 2 warm pools with a waterfall, rock water slides, hot tub and poolside dining. The wide sand beach was filled with tourists, peddlers, kites, and colorful parachutes. Fun for all.

After leaving Mazatlan we stop at the island of Isabella. This is a bird sanctuary for more than 5,000 peregrines, gulls and pelicans-all nesting. The government has a research project studying and recording the bird nesting, hatching, weighing, and egg nests on the open ground and in the scrub trees. An interesting site as we all explored the island dodging angry birds protecting their nests. Jacques Cousteau did one of his films about Isabella.

Our overnight stop was Chacala. A beautiful sand beach lined with grass huts and a few attractive hillside homes and good waves for ocean play. We had excellent sailing as we moved on to Puerto Vallarta arriving early evening with a scenic entry into Marina Vallarta. We enjoyed it here in the midst of a larger tourist area with great family activity. We had nice clean beaches and pools, a water park, and a golf course that we walked to. The Hooper family Rich, Teri, Kaitlyn and Keegan arrived on Mar 20 which gave us a one-day overlap with both families aboard. The five grandkids had a day together and Keith, Rich and John had a day of golf. A small tragedy at the Water Park required a call to the doctor for Kaitlyn to have stitches for a cut in her chin. She now has a Mexican scar. The Kirkman's left us here with our love and many wonderful memories on SeaQuell.

Sailing from Puerto Vallarta to Acapulco was a 400-mile trip. The crew sailed at night allowing us to have our day for pleasure. Great and thoughtful crew!!. Our first stop was Puerto Navidad. This is a new luxury Hotel and Marina only 2 years old with all new, modern and clean facilities. A very exotic setting with pools, exceptional landscaping, beaches, several joining pools with waterfalls and stone slides plus 27 holes of golf. We enjoyed it all! The evening included a Mexican gourmet dining experience at Antoine's. We entered the spacious dining room at a spectacular tequila bar filled with 250 bottles of select tequila. No free sampling however. Their special flaming coffee with ice cream was worth planning a return visit.

After enjoying our Navidad day and evening we set sail at 9am the 24th for Ixtapa; a 24 hour sail to another newly developed area. The government has been developing tourist areas taking advantage of the great beaches that are all along the west coast. Ixtapa has great beaches and several large hotels including a new Westin. It is near the old fishing port of Zihuatanejo, which had a comfortable anchorage where we enjoyed a red sunset dinner before departing on our overnight sail to Acapulco.

Acapulco is a larger vacation area with more development on the beach and crowded residential areas. It is unfortunate that the pollution is so bad that many of the beaches are not swimable. With many new beach areas being developed on the West Coast, Acapulco's attractiveness is diminishing. There is no more room for hotels on good beaches. Before the Hoopers left we attended an entertaining Mexican Fiesta featuring Mexican song and dance talent. Keegan was in awe of the Cliff divers carrying lighted torches into the sea. We have had good time with families and the grandchildren which we may not see again for some time. Tamie and her boys, Jack and Reed, along with Grandma Doc, will be arriving April 2 for another week in Acapulco before we depart for Costa Rica.

If you are ever in Acapulco and need a knowledgable, honest and English-speaking cab driver...we highly recommend Jose Harnc'ndez Jose can be reached at Phone# 66 03 89, and his cab number is #283.

End of March Log

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