It is 0330, I think, I am pretty sure we had a time change once we were east of Puerta Vallarta, anyways whatever time it is, I know it is dark, although an almost full moon beams down on us. About an hour ago the wind changed so we now have it on our nose and Wendy (our wind vane) has decided that she likes to handle the boat on this point of sail and she is steering the boat magnificently (you have to lavish her with complements and then she performs much better). I am listening to Stan Rodgers and Great Big Sea and humming away with the sea shanties that they are crooning. It is really warm, probably still over 20 degrees and I am wearing shorts and a very light shirt with my life jacket of course.
We are on our way to Manzanilla which will be our next to last stop before Ziahuatanejo, where we will be spending Christmas. We expect to get to Manzanilla sometime during the day tomorrow. The anchorage sounds quite nice in the cruising guides. You can anchor at one spot and then for $15 per day you can park your dinghy at a resort dock and use their facilities, laundry, showers and pool, I seem to remember some marinas in Oregon that we could hook up at the dock for that price. Slips seem to be quite scare in Mexico, we were told that in one marina if you phoned and asked for a slip the answer would be no way, but if you showed up in person and offered to pay cash there would miraculously be a slip available, such is life!!!
Both boats are looking forward to getting to Z-town and having some serious time in one spot. This starting and stopping and overnight sails plays havoc with your sleep patterns, we just get used to the shifts and then we stop and have a long rest and we find our bodies haven't quite caught up with the lost sleep so we are starting our trip tired, not that I am complaining mind you, just wanted you to know it isn't all fun and games, mostly but not always. To me sailing is about leaving port when you are ready and staying and exploring when you feel like it and I am missing that aspect at the moment, soon we can stop and smell the seaweed!!!
Next morning: We have decided to duck into Bahia Tenacatita today. Our progress over the rest of the night was fairly slow and we found ourselves with a very long day of beating into the wind in order to just barely make it to Manzanilla before dark so opted to change our destination. Steven and Sandi on Mungo were quite a bit ahead of us so could easily make our target. We will meet up with them tomorrow in Manzanilla, weather permitting.