We heard on the VHF radio that a Pineapple Express was on its way down the coast approaching our location in San Blas.. a small fishing community halfway between Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. The express is a tropical depression that brings rain and some wind with it, but mostly rain. So when we woke up yesterday, sure enough, it was a dreary day with light rain. (Brenda had punched me in the night to wake me to let me know “it’s raining” which is a codeword for “get up and close all of the hatches.” Well, while doing so the squall subsided, so I closed MOST of the hatches, but left a couple open so we could still get some ventilation. Turns out I should have closed them all, since it started raining again later but since the hatch over our heads was closed, Brenda never woke up again to “re-punch” me. )
Well, the bay we are anchored in is infested with “no-see-ums.” Those are tiny little bugs that love to bite people. So the guidebooks advised anchoring a full MILE offshore so they don’t infest the boat. No problem. But the dinghy ride at 4mph is less fun when it is raining in your face. We beached the dinghy, had a couple of Cervezas in the shelter of the beach bar in the drifting smoke of burning coconut hulls (they keep the no-see-ums from seeing you I guess) and waited for the rain to stop. Brenda had coconut milk from a freshly whacked coconut, and Nancy dared into the extreme by purchasing a desert type item from a women that was selling here specialty (only in Mexico could a person wander through an eating establishment and sell competing food..) We all tried it and laughed… Jeff made a new rule (and he hates rules)…. We can’t all eat the same thing that any street vendor sells!
When the rain cleared, we sloshed through the muddy back lanes to the highway to find a bus to town. A women in a pick-up with Oregon plates offered to give us a ride, so Nancy and Brenda hopped in and Thane and Jeff climbed in the back for the 10 minute high speed drive into town. During it, Brenda and Nancy learned about how fantastic the Jungle Cruise was.. and which guide to use. This boat trip goes 7 miles into the heart of a jungle, winding through mango trees.. and according to the guide book.. ”includes a lunch stop at the crystal-clear waters in the famous swimming hole at Tovara Springs.” Well that sounded like a must see, so plans were laid to stay the night during a beer break downtown. We discovered “Fluffy”… a 19 foot croc that was in the back of a bar on display. He is very alive. He gets ornery at times and bites off someone’s hand…literally. Rumor has it he’s been at the bar for 15 years..
We had a rolly night on the anchorage last night, so no one complained that we had to get up early for our 8am Jungle Tour departure. We left a beautiful sunny morning behind as we puttered to shore exclaiming how much more fun it is to motor a mile without rain. We got to the bus stop and waited.. and was asked by a man near the bus stop if we needed a ride into town. Yep, he had a pick-up truck partially loaded already.. so all four of us sat in the back this time.. and off to town we went.
The Jungle Cruise lived up to expectations and then some. We saw crocodiles galore, all kinds of exotic birds, huge turtles, and plentiful fish. We stopped at a place where they were breeding crocs.. and had several penned in. They are trying to “restock” them in the wild.. and make an occasional purse.
We got to the Tovara Springs swimming hole (which encourages skinny dipping) and it had turned cloudy and cool. In fact, the storm clouds were boiling in. (remember that whole Pineapple thing?)
In the Caribbean, you never leave the boat hatches open since a squall comes through every day and soaks your bedding. But here in the Pacific, we haven’t seen rain for a month ( well, sort of) so the boat had 10 open ports and hatches.. all just inviting it to rain. So with the sky threatening, we declined the lunch stop and sped back the way we came.. thanked our guide, hailed a cab, drove to the beach, walked to the dink and wa-la.. the rain began. Starting slowly, building to a full pour by the time we reached the boat. We got things cleaned up and then it really started to dump.. so really we timed it out about right. But I didn’t get to skinny dip.
We called the marina on the VHF here but they were full. The estuary has a shelf on it that makes it dangerous to cross at low tide. So we are all just sitting here in the bobbing boat while we run the engine in neutral to charge batteries. Brenda and Nancy are reading. Jeff is snoozing. We’ll take off tomorrow for Chacala, an anchorage 20 miles south… once the Pineapple Express moves through.
T
