Subj: Nanjo Chronicals 2001 - Relaxin' in Huatulco
Date: 3/21/01 10:28:20 AM Mountain Standard Time
Travels
from March 2 to March 15, 2001:
Ahoy,
The
alarm shocked us awake. It was still
dark. We had to get going, though. We still had a little over 50 miles to go
before dark. We wanted to be anchored in
one of the first coves in the Huatulco area by that evening, giving us a relaxing
Sunday for pancakes and other treats.
The sky
wasn't star-filled. It appeared to be
85 - 90% cloudy. Occasionally a flash
of lightening was evident. We knew we
didn't want to stay in Escondido; could always turn around if the weather
turned out to be nasty. The barometer
had not changed and the Amigo Net weather wouldn't be on for hours.
It was
still dark as I hoisted the anchor chain aboard. Ever since the protein in my diet was increased, raising the
anchor by hand became easier. I wore a
support belt, but still had slight muscle cramps and strains after raising 100
- 130' of chain in San Carlos, Mazatlan and Zihuatanejo. Here I took my time, resting about every
75'. Finally I got to the point where I
had to hoist the anchor straight up, 60' plus a 45# anchor, over 100 lbs. Before I knew it, Max cleared the bow roller
and was on deck. My back felt
fine. I was a little tired, but didn't
feel strained. Nancy's higher-protein
diet sure was working.
Nancy
motored out of the harbor as the eastern sky began to lighten. I kept busy on the foredeck, locking down
Max, rigging the jack line (what we clip our safety belts to) and assuring
things were secure.
As the
day progressed, we saw numerous lines of clouds but none with rain, none with
lightening. The wind would increase as
a line of clouds passed over Nanjo, but it never approached 20 knots. Steve kept us averaging 6 knots, just as
soon as we were out of the harbor and had the sails raised. By midmorning Nanjo slowed to 5 knots, but
still she were making excellent time.
By noon she was back at 6 knots.
We passed Puerto Angel just after lunch, with only 18 more miles to go
to Punta Sacrificios.
Just
after passing outside the cove at Sacrificios (Pub. 153 and Charlie's left us
with the feeling that more dangers were there than we wanted to deal with that
day), we saw a beautiful little cove with a white-sand beach. Nancy turned in. As we proceeded, I stayed on the foredeck to watch for submerged
rocks or reefs. We made note of a reef
just to the east, where we would have tended to pass when we continued on to
Huatulco next week, the tide was low and the wind-driven waves broke on
it. As Nanjo slowly entered the cove,
its beauty and seclusion were like a gift.
Our smiles grew and we knew we would stay here for a while. After setting Max in 25' of sand, I dove to
find he was perfectly set. We thought
we were at Chachacual but a postcard picture eventually corrected our
error. We relaxed and unwound. At least on Sunday we did, if you call
washing clothes and checking the packing gland relaxing.
One day
we rowed into the beach and cut each other's hair. Otherwise we stayed aboard Nanjo. After the first day, the water became cloudy and then it was filled
with jellyfish eggs. On the last day,
we rowed out to some rocks to snorkel.
Still the water was filled with particulate. We quit after a little while.
On
Thursday, we raised anchor and headed for the main harbor of Huatulco in Bahia
Santa Cruz. Check-in was easy because
you just have to get to the Port Captain and the Banamex, a few blocks
away. However, we had been forewarned
and went to API immediately. The Port Captain
doesn't tell you to do it and several cruisers had been charged $1.50 per
person, per trip, for using the dinghy dock, plus harbor fees. We paid 28 pesos at the API building across
the channel from the Port Captain's office.
We said that we would be landing on the beach instead of the dock. The marina area is really a very nice panga
and small powerboat docking area. It
has a covered "waiting room" for tourists to use before getting on
pangas or party boats. Power and water
is available around the perimeter, on the paved sidewalk.
The
beach has no surf. We landed right in
front of the church. There are palapa
restaurants on either side of the church and usually a few dozen people enjoying
the beach. Just back of the beach,
beside the church, trees and sidewalks make for a picturesque setting (see
photo, with Nanjo visible through the trees).
Less than a block away, you can catch a taxi for 13 pesos to where the
shopping and services are located, or you can walk. We took the taxi the first time and walked afterwards.
The
port area, Santa Cruz, has paved streets and sidewalks. There isn't much to the port, but it was improved
in advance of the development of major tourist facilities. Still that is where Banamex is. The town of La Crucecita has everything else. It too is very improved. While there are no large grocery stores,
there are two significant tiendas for canned goods (we even found canned, whole
tomatoes). There are several Internet
cafés (30 pesos per hour), a central Mercado where produce and meat can be purchased
from vendors. They display signs with
their prices, so it is very easy to shop there. There are many other places selling meat and produce but we, as well
as most of the cruisers, used the Mercado.
We bought our pollo at another shop, though. About the only items that were missing were bananas on the green side. All we found were ripe, being easily bruised
and fast to spoil.
The
town has a pretty square, shady and green, with the main cathedral facing
it. The rest of the square is
surrounded by jewelry and souvenir shops.
The town is well organized and zoned.
In one area you can find all the parts, hardware, steel, aluminum,
electrical and repair shops. We found
both of the marine stores on another street.
We bought a new dive mask for me, a new tip for my spear and some
sturdier fish hooks for those big Dorado.
We found a fabric shop with exactly what we were looking for, a wide
variety of nylon so that we can make courtesy flags for the countries we are
about to visit. We located a bakery that
makes what might be the best bread and rolls we've tasted yet.
Not
knowing what medical options were going to be available in El Salvador, we
found the local lab to have our regular testing for amoebas and parasites done. We have been very satisfied with the availability
and quality of the labs throughout Mexico.
And when we have one of the biological problems, they have been mild and
the farmacias sell us the necessary pills to cure our problem. The last test was in San Carlos and we had
no "bugs". The lab was a
little hard to find in La Crucecita, and then it wasn't open when it was
supposed to be. However, finally, on
the day before we were going try out some of the other anchorages in Bahias de
Huatulco, we found the lab open.
Confirming that they could test for the biological pests, we brought
back a stool sample the next morning.
We just do a single sample because if one of us has bugs, we both
do. The test was just 30 pesos. Although the results would be ready the next
day, we said we would be back in a few days.
A few
days later, moving from one anchorage to another, we planned on a quick stop in
Santa Cruz to get the results, any medicine if we needed it and a few food
items. The results indicated that we
had bacteria. We went to a farmacia to
get the necessary medication. They
didn't know what we needed, so we went back to the lab. There we were told that we had to see a
doctor to get a prescription for the necessary medicine. We decided to see a doctor at the hospital,
however we stopped at another farmacia, hoping the doctor associated to it
might be in. He wasn't, but the lady
suggested we go across the street to the clinic. Hey. Why not? We crossed the street and entered the Oaxaca
(O-wah-ka), the Mexican state we're in, health services clinic.
So far,
here in Huatulco, we had been experiencing a greater requirement to communicate
in Spanish only. The clinic was no
different. It slowly became clear that
if we wanted to see a doctor, we had to pay 63 pesos and wait for an hour and a
half. Nancy kept trying to cut through
the procedure by pressing the point that we had the lab results, couldn't the
doctor just write a prescription? The
admin person finally went and talked to someone, possibly the doctor, and when
she came back, she began writing out something. We thought it was the prescription. Then she asked for 63 pesos.
Nancy wanted to know what the money was for. I figured that we still had to pay the doctor if we were going to
get a prescription. No medicine was given
to us. The lady told us to go to the
nurse in the front of the clinic.
It took
a little while before it became clear that we weren't waiting for anything
other than to see a doctor. Nancy had
her weight taken by a nurse, then her blood pressure and then a thermometer was
pulled out of a little cup on the nurses desk.
Nancy was very worried and hesitant.
But then the nurse pointed at her armpit, where the temperature was to
be taken. It was interesting to be
doing all this in Spanish, hearing the description and then the measurement. Soon Nancy's age and vital statistics had
been recorded.
As we
waited, Nancy struck up a relationship with a lady next to her. Actually, the Spanish translator computer
Nancy was using to understand the medical advice and instructions posted on the
walls, captivated the lady. Soon
Nancy's friend was explaining some of the warnings and acting out the symptoms. Nancy's Spanish was growing by the minute; occasionally
the lady would use the computer to aid them.
They talked about cancer, the tendency of Mexican youth to get involved
in drugs and have sexual contact, about medical expenses and so on. Nancy's friend advised us that the lab had
found two problems. Before that, we had
the opinion that there was just one. I
joked with the lady that, (in Spanish) "a gram of prevention was equal to
a kilogram of sickness."
The
waiting room would fill and empty. Once
a group of mothers and their children went into an office for some infant care
and preventative medicine training. The
most interesting part being that the moms with infants were nursing, whether
they were sitting, standing or walking around, and the babies were contented. We only heard one baby cry, and that was back
where the doctors were.
Finally,
after an hour and a half, we were taken into an office by a young female
doctora. In Spanish only, she confirmed
that there were two problems, bacteria and amoeba, but only the amoeba
requiring medication. It was a mild
case. She agreed that we both probably had
the problem and gave us two sets of pills to be taken with breakfast each
morning for the next three days. Like
everyone, she wanted to know where we were from. I mentioned that I have a sister who is a doctora who first
worked in Mexico after medical school.
You know, just regular ol' small talk in Southern Mexico. Never did we have the feeling that she was
in a hurry or needed to rush us. She
answered all Nancy's questions and even wrote in Spanish the instructions for
taking the medication. We were the ones
who finally said goodbye. Then after
saying goodbye to Nancy's friend (the girls exchanged hugs), we walked back to
the port.
The
wind was blowing around 20 knots in the anchorage. After getting back to Nanjo, we began a late lunch. Out the window, it appeared that we were very
close to another boat. Going topside,
we were convinced that we were dragging anchor. With some quick work, we had the outboard off and the dink tied
to Nanjo's stern cleat. Nancy used the
engine to reduce the strain on the anchor and soon I had it on deck.
She
weaved through the anchored boats and, once clear, I furled out the jib for a
quick escape over to the shelter in front of Club Med in Bahia Tangola Tangola.
Just
another day of going with what Paradise dishes out . . .
Crew of
Nanjo