Getting Ready To Leave Barra -

It's hard, but it's time to leave Barra and head south a bit more. We're leaving on Saturday for Manzanillo (Las Hadas) then onto to Zihaut.... We've had an incredible time here and met a lot of other great cruisers - everyone has been great, but it's time to move on.... I went to Barra today on the water taxi to get provisions for the next few days (see the picture above)... There is absolutely no way I could have carried much more!! Rich and Noel (from Ketching Up) went to the port Captain to "Check Out", the boys all went to the FREE Kids Club at the hotel and I went shopping.... We had to soak the onion and potatoes for 30 minutes in and iodine/water mixture first before bringing it aboard... All part of provisioning in Mexico!!! We're really anxious to get going again tomorrow, but don't know exactly when we'll have Internet access again, so stay tuned...

Pot Luck

" A Cappella" organized a great pot luck last night up at the pool here in Barra. There was spaghetti, pasta salad, two types of chili, artichoke dip, fruit bowl, brownies, cinnamon bread, and two key lime pies!! A feast was had by all!!

Tonight, Thursday, is the hosted reception for the marina tenants at the hotel - I'll try to remember to take some pictures this time!!

Pictures from Tenacatita - Finally

Here's the link to our pictures we took in Tenacatita - there are alot since we were there so long.... It's a beautifull place....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/svoasis/sets/72157603996488474/

We'll be leaving here this Saturday or Sunday and heading to the Las Hadas anchorage in Manzanillo. If you're old enough - remember the movie "10" with Bo Derek running down the beach - that's the Las Hadas beach....

Having Fun With Friends

The other day the boys from Ketching Up came and spent the night with us while their parents had a long needed date night. We went swimming, watched surfers and ate nachos, went to watch the movie "Ghost Busters", had a big spaghetti dinner (with garlic bread made from a baguette we got from the French Baker) - then played computer games until bedtime. The next morning, we got 5 chocolate croissants from the French Baker. Twenty-four pancakes later, they were all full!! We had lots of fun with all the boys!!!

Last night we went over to a bar called Pipers. It's pretty much a cruisers hangout. We went so that the boys could play pool - can't argue with free pool and 25 pesos for two beers!! Piper even made the boys a plate of sliced pineapple and marachino cherrys! After pool we went for some pizza.

Cool Name

Now we couldn't resist this place!!! It's actually the name of the swim-up bar here at the Grand Bay Hotel in Barra.

Boat Maintenance in Paradise...

Yep, even in paradise the boat still needs the varnish done every 6 months!!!! This time there were a few places that I had to take the varnish back down to bare wood since we're using the boarding ladder a lot more than we have in the past....

Parents night Out!!!

This past Saturday, Ketching Up took the boys for the night and we got to go out on a date night!! We went to Isadora's for dinner in Barra, then to Piper Lovers for some live music and dancing.
The guy playing the guitar at Piper's made Rich and I feel like we were back at Doc Maynards in Seattle - then we found out why... The guy used to play in a band called the Jr. Cadillacs, which if you're from Seattle, you'll know that they played at Doc's all the time about 20 years ago!!
This is the view from the lobby of the Grand Bay Hotel here in Barra. You can obviously see the marina, and the lagoon is in the back...

Homes of Careyes - BIG BUCKS!!

Just look at these places! The pictures don't do them justice - they are absolutely incredible!!! This is where we where going to anchor on the way toTenacatita, but the "pocket" (really tiny) anchorage was full with three big boats so we just did a drive thru!!!! You have to click on the pictures and make them bigger to really see the "houses"!!!

Chamela

Chamela was the first stop after we left Banderas Bay. We left La Cruz at midnight and rounded Cabo Corrientes around 5am. Shortly after that is when we first saw the southern cross. We spent about 4 nights in Chamela before heading to Tenacatia, via a drive thru in Careyes...


Here's a picture of Rich at the deposito in Chamela - same one Chuck??

This is how the boys all spent the days - on the beach with their boogey boards. The three on the left are the Ketching Up boys and the Oasis boys are on the right...

The French Baker

As with any place we've gone - there are always things we've heard about before we get there. In Barra, it was the French Baker! He comes to the marina and lagoon each morning and you are able to buy fresh croissants (chocolate, plain, ham/cheese, almond) baquettes, fresh bread and lot of other really yummy things! The boys have no problem getting up and dressed in the morning if they know they get to go see the French Baker. He announces himself on the radio as he is entering both the marina and lagoon, and will gladly take orders for future dates...

Oasis is in Barra de Navidad

The boys surfing in Tenacatita...

We arrived here in Barra on Saturday after a short motor trip down the coast. We had a great 3+ weeks in Tenacatita, but it was time to move on. We'll be here in Barra, in the marina, until the end of February. Tonight there is a carnival in town to celebrate "Fat Tuesday" so a bunch of us are taking a water taxi to town to go see the festivities...