We had a great sail from La Cruz to Bahia Chamala. Timing is everything, especially rounding Cabo Corrientes. We had a great weather window that allowed us to sail across the bay and have light wind from behind us as we rounded the cape making for a nice easy transit. Sailing through the night, we arrived and anchored off the town of Perula at 10:30 AM, 22 hours after leaving La Cruz.
There are 2 options for getting ashore in Perula.
Option one is to take the dinghy to the shore. It’s a shorter and quicker trip however, the area is prone to some large swell which translates into curling and breaking waves at the beach. Get the timing right and you can get ashore. Get the timing even slightly off and you will be tossed from your overturning dinghy and rolled up the beach like a wet rag doll. Then spend the next hour collecting all your belongings from the surf.
Option two is to take your dinghy to the left side of the pier and up the small river about a half a mile to the panga docks and walk into town or back to the beach. The river can be shallow at low tide so watch your depths but even if you must get out and push or pull the dinghy through the shallows it’s only your feet and ankles getting wet.
We chose option 2 and had a nice walk through the town, picked up some produce at the market and then walked back via the beach. Later that afternoon we met up with friends on Sabbatical which is also a Lagoon 380. They knew of a palapa restaurant that had a barbque’d fish meal that is not advertised on the menu. We ordered asking for enough for the 4 of us with some nachos and ceviche to start. Shortly after the appetizers arrived, we are presented with this large platter of fish and all the trimmings. Wow looks good. Shortly after this we are presented with another similar platter. Apparently one platter is supposed to be for two people. We split the second platter into take home boxes.
After a couple of days digesting BBQ fish, it was off to Tenacatita. Some spend several weeks here each year. They have “organized” events like beach bocci ball and dinghy raft ups. When we arrived there were sixty boats anchored in the bay. There was still lots of room and the beach is big enough you wouldn’t know how many people are around.
On the way down to Barra de Navidad we decided to check out Cuastecomte. We had heard that the small, seldom visited spot was worth the stop. They weren’t lying. Its a small bay with a really nice beach and surrounded by lots of bars and restaurants. Definitely glad we stopped here.
Next stop Barra de Navidad. We have been here before and its one of our favorite spots. There is a Marina if you are so inclined as well as a large, protected lagoon that provides room for lots of boats to anchor, all be it in shallow (less than 10 feet) water. If you are anchored in the Lagoon you can use the pool at the marina / hotel for $10 US per dinghy load of people.
We had lots of plans for our time here but some things you can’t plan and just have to work around. Its Wednesday evening and Derick starts to get a bit of pain in the lower back, within a couple hours its excruciating pain in the lower right side back and he’s popping pain pills like they are M&M’s. Yup, had it once before would almost guarantee its a kidney stone. No doctor in town on Thursday. Friday morning, we meet with the local doctor. She speaks English well and she too decides its likely a kidney stone. The only way to confirm is with a CT scan which is only available in Manzanillo.
The doctor picks up the phone and calls a Urologist in Manzanillo who makes arrangements at the hospital for me to get a CT scan when we arrive about an hour from now. Doctor gives me a prescription for some pain meds which we fill right there, calls us a taxi and we are off on a little unplanned road trip. We arrive at the diagnostic center for the hospital an hour later and wait 15 minutes to get in for the CT scan. 30 minutes after the scan the Urologist meets us at the clinic to go over the results. Confirmed it is a kidney stone, he is hopeful it will pass on its own, here are some prescriptions for some more medications. Here are your CT scans and a CD with the info as well. We fill the prescriptions and grab a cab for the hour-long ride back to Barra.
Cost
Local Doctor initial visit & Meds $38.18
Urologist consult $51.61
CT Scan $95.61
Round trip taxi fare $103.23
Medications $46.34
TOTAL COST $334.97 Cdn
Until the stone moves again, Derick is pain free and we continue with exploring the surrounding area. We are a mobile pharmacy just in case but while he can move, we will. If nothing passes, will get it checked out again in Puerto Vallarta before we cruise to more remote locations.
We have had a couple of blustery days in the lagoon with winds hitting 30 knots yesterday. Everybody just hangs out on their boats, making sure the anchors don’t drag and tying down anything loose. We even went as far as wrapping our flag and putting an elastic band around it so it would not be shredded in the wind.
It looks like we have a short weather window tomorrow to move north so we better take it. This marks the beginning of the end of the season. We are as far south as we will be going this season and are making the turn to head back up to Puerto Penasco.
