La Cruz to Barra de Navidad

When we last left our intrepid cruisers, that is – us, we were still in La Cruz entertaining the likes of Tannika and Mathieu and, of course, Monte. That was almost a month ago. It came time to bust ass to Barra de Navidad so we could connect with Vanessa and Melannie, who were going to be there for a Sensory Awareness workshop lead by Lee Klinger Lesser. The reason we had to move quickly was because, sadly, almost as soon as Vanessa landed in Manzanillo, her mom landed in the hospital in Iowa with serious health issues; her survival was tenuous. We made it to Barra by way of Paraiso, where we connected with Tom and Barb aboard S/V Ellie for a night, and dropped the hook in the Barra lagoon for what would be a nice long stay in the sweet town of Barra de Navidad.

We managed to eek out just over a week with Vanessa before she, in fact, had to leave for Iowa to help see her mom through her illness (as of this post, her mom is still toughing it out! Go, Mom!). During our time in Barra together, we watched many sunsets; drank a few margaritas; held our own Women’s March on January 21 (there were four of us, not millions); frequented many of the local restaurants; spent time with many of her sensing companions; and went back and forth over whether or not I would actually attend the sensing workshop the following week (I did). But alas, Melannie arrived on the 27th, and the next day Vanessa had to leave. Our time together was wonderful, and we’re so glad we made it down the coast for a visit.

During our stay in Barra and in between workshop sessions, we did a few boat projects (replaced our wind instrument, thanks to Jenn and Jason, who bought and brought the part from La Cruz); took a few side trips to look for whales and make water (Cuastecomates and what we’ve dubbed Commando Cove); goofed around with Tom and Barb; went for long walks; ate Thrifty ice cream almost daily; went on the never-ending search for good wifi; rode the Taxi Aquatico between the lagoon and Barra about a million times; enjoyed buying pastries from the French Baker, who made his way through the marina and anchorage each morning (except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, because, let’s face it, the French need to sleep, too); and reconnected with Jenn and Jason aboard S/V Danika for the Super Bowl and other fun stuff, like pool-poaching at the fancy-schmancy Isla Navidad Resort.

It’s time to move on again. We need to be back to Puerto Vallarta by the beginning of March to meet up with Rand’s bro and sis-in-law, Tobin and Gretchen, respectively. We’re also going to connect with our friend Ryan, who will be sailing down with Thad and Kristin aboard S/V She’s No Lady once T/K return from Canada (FINALLY!!). Apologies for the lack of detail, but we’ll let the photos speak for themselves.