4-Life at Punta Perula

15:00, 5 Dec, 15 - Punta Perula RV Park, Punta Perula, Mexico

We are settled into our site in this lovely little RV Park on the shore on Chamela Bay, a beautiful wide bay facing south and one we have visited several times in the past 8 years while cruising. In fact, our first visit was with Royal Exchange in 2007 when we anchored here for part of the day waiting for a weather window to head north into Banderas Bay. We remember the stop very well. Conditions then were quite different from the beautiful calm conditions we have been experiencing since our arrival. Way back then there were long 13 to18 foot swells rolling under Royal Exchange before cresting and smashing onto the beach in explosions of spray and sand. We had to re-anchor several times that day and eventually left in the late afternoon when the weather window was declared for the trip around Cabo Corrientes.

 

 

Our beach

Today the beach looks quite different with 2-3 ft waves making it pleasant for swimming and boogie-boarding. In the past we anchored for free out there, today we are paying customers, plugged into power and water, buying our drinking water rather than making it, dealing with local merchants daily but, on the positive side, we don’t have to deal with the hazards of beach landings with a dinghy.

Sigh....

 



 

Double sigh....

 

10:30, 28 Dec, 15 – Punta Perula, RV Park

I have been lazy and have left this blog to slide for a few weeks but that will probably be the norm from now on. Actually, I had in mind to stop it altogether but I just got an e-mail from old cruising friends from Comox who have managed to re-connect with us through this blog. Wonder if there are any others out there willing to admit to reading my drivel…..

To coin an old, overused phrase: “another shitty day(s) in paradise”. I am sitting on the park’s patio, banished from the trailer for the next hour while Fran gets her massage, a house call from a local girl and very popular amongst the resident gringos because of her $25/hour rates. I can contest that she isn’t bad as I had one last week, but Dove, she has nothing on you… (Dove is our massage therapist daughter-in-law).

It is a lazy life we lead here, very different from our former sailing lifestyle of constant activity, fixing, painting, conducting maintenance, checking weather, participating in radio nets; so many things to do but it certainly is more relaxing and, I must admit, a bit more boring, but I guess you create your own level of activity. The daily routine is getting up at sometime around 8-9, crafts at 10 for the ladies, occasional work parties for the guys, lunch, dominoes for the ladies in the early PM, sitting under the beach sun shelter reading, swimming off the beach and boogie-boarding if the waves are right, at about 3PM. Every 5 PM we have a get together on the patio for sundowners. Everyone brings an appy and their own drinks and we bullshit for the next hour.  Sunday nights is Texas Hold-em for a $5-6 pot. But, for the masochists among us there is the dreaded 1000 piece puzzle that someone brought and set up on the patio.  I hate that person! I spend more time on that damned puzzle than anyone else. Think I am addicted. We have actually launched and used the kayak, twice now. You would think that we would be using it daily but, even though it is an inflatable, it is quite heavy and awkward to carry. We will be making a small, wheeled towing assist contraption when we get back home, but will we actually use it back home????

Crafty ladies

 

 

Waiting for the wave

 

 

 

My expensive ($12) board after the wave....

 

 

My nemesis

 

Over the past few weeks the work parties have involved with the re-build of the wooden walkway down to the beach, the repair of the fence around the medical clinic that was blown down during the hurricane, Christmas activities and prepping for the New Years Eve bonfire event. Fran is involved in morning crafts, afternoon dominoes and a few volunteer activities. She and Sandra, one of the other RV people, donated a bunch of goodie bags for girls of some of the poorer families in the town. The bags consisted of shampoos, soaps, nail polish, facial creams, hair ornaments, etc. Now they are collecting to provide school uniforms for four children of a single mother here in town. The children were noticed at the school play, a few weeks ago as the only ones not wearing school uniforms. A bit of investigation revealed that the family was hard up and couldn’t afford the common items worn by all the other children. Enter Fran and Sandra.. Tomorrow they will be going to another town nearby to purchase the items. They have managed to canvass/squeeze 2000 pesos from the local gringos.

The population of the park is mostly Canadian with a good representation from BC, oddly, 2 rigs from Sooke. One a retired Oak Bay fire chief and the other, a retired Esquimalt policeman. There are several rigs from Quebec, Ontario, one from Saskatchewan and a few Americans. We see a few transients passing through spending a night or 2 and a group of Mexicans here for the New Years week holiday.

 

 

 

The park

 

 

`The people

There has been a steady progression of boats, mostly sail, entering and leaving the bay. Without the aid of a good pair of binoculars (which we left in storage in Guaymas) it has been difficult to see if we know any, however, last week we met a couple on Sea Boa (Nanaimo) and, just yesterday we recognised another, Gia, both from Gabriel’s yard. Gia, Damon and Desiree’s junk rigged steel boat, boat was easy to ID. We managed to have a quick chat before they continued on to Tenecatita. Today we met a couple with a young family from the southern Island on a boat called Shawnigan.

 

Gia

Fran has been searching the internet for our next boat. She has found likely prospects from BC to Texas and Bathurst, NB to Florida, however she has settled down for a while after learning that one of the couples here from Comox has a boat, a C&C 35 Mk II for sale which might just fill our bill.

Fran’s birthday on the 10^th of December was spent road-tripping to Barra de Navidad and visiting Kirk, an old cruising friend, on his boat, Freedom Kirkland, in the marina at the resort. The following day was shopping in Manzanillo and the long drive back to the park, just in time to experience a fantastic thunder storm. That was the first time since we sold Gosling that we were glad not to be afloat. We have not had any more rain since then and the temps have remained quite high, upper 30s, for the past 3 weeks. Only in the past few days have we felt a minor cooling, particularly at night. Last night was a one fan night rather than the 3 we normally use. The water temps have also been quite high. Initially there was no refreshing feeling when entering the surf but in the past few days we have noticed a definite cooling of a few degrees. Our most prized possession is our little ice-maker. We have it on all day and have ice cold drinks anytime. Such a great investment!

 

Creature comforts

 



1400, 1 January 2016. Same place

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!

We have had a wonderful New Year’s Eve with a visit from Fran’s brother Tom and his wife, Monica. It was really nice to have some family with us to bring in the New Year. They are already on their way back to Puerto Vallarta to their all-inclusive, 5-star resort. Who can blame them for staying only one night in the park’s 1 star (minus) accommodations.  After a meal at a local restaurant we joined the RV crowd on the beach for a bonfire and to bring in the New Year. Also present were a few Mexican families in RVs or the parks rental rooms and a Swiss couple. It made or a very fun evening with everyone participating in the fun, sharing their food and drink and making an effort to communicate in each other’s language. Our contribution was a vat of Moose Milk consisting of milk, ice cream and lots of booze, not to be taken on an empty stomach…. It went over very well.

 

New Year's Eve bonfire

 

Fran, Monica and Tom

The park is steadily filling up. Another French-Canadian couple has just arrived next door and more spaces will be filled up in the next few weeks. By the time we expect to leave, at the end of the month, most of the “regulars” will have arrived. Don’t really know if we are cut out to be on the Winter RV circuit. Rosita Casita is quite small, tiny, when compared to the other RVs in the park. The closest is a truck and camper but they have a toy hauler (large Bombardier 4X4 and lots of extra carrying capacity for items like their outside kitchen setup, their bug-proof dining/living shelter, bicycles, TV dish, etc, etc. We have concluded that Rosita is more of a short term RV and we will probably limit our future trips to places we have been wanting to see on Vancouver Island.  I doubt we will be venturing south again any time soon. If we do buy the boat mentioned above, we will be concentrating more on cruising than RV-ing, so, who knows, Rosita’s days may be numbered. Others in the park with bigger rigs have their commuter vehicle (mostly jeeps or smaller 4X4 vehicles) and a few have towed or carried down their fishing boats. One of the guys from Sooke is an avid fisherman and regularly brings in dorado and sierra mackerels. For the next few days he is participating in a fishing derby. He won both categories of biggest dorado and biggest fish last year. Note: Didn’t happen this year. Although he hooked a large sailfish, it got away and catches were rather slim this tournament.

 

Our nest

Rosie seems to be enjoying her holiday too but the fireworks really bother her so she spends most of her evenings in the trailer sucking up to us. During the day she lies under the trailer where it must be cooler. She loves to play catch on the beach but, when she has had enough she lets us know by taking her ball and heading back to the trailer. Her favourite is to chase a frisbee around while people are playing catch. She never gets tired of that and we have to stop her before she gets too exhausted. She loves the water and will go in up to her chest but no deeper. We have her floatie jacket with us and will take her on the kayak soon. She has been loved by everyone in the park and particularly by Sandra who has insisted on doggie sitting her on a few occasions when we went off in the truck. She tells everyone that she is Rosie’s aunt…..

 

Aunti Sandra

 

Rosie's hideaway