Yesterday we had clear blue sunny skies. How lucky for us since we had arranged for a driver to take us and Karen and Roger from Meridien to the charming town of La Manzanilla, across the bay from the anchorage here in Tenacatita. The surf at La Manzanilla can be challenging -- in fact when we were there years ago we hurriedly ate our lunch when we saw the surf building and hustled out to Jellybean and got soaked while the dinghy was pitching fore and aft -- but did finally get on board and beat it out of there -- whitecaps were throughout the bay. Well, what a nice difference yesterday. We met a charming cab driver who let us off at the town square and promised to pick us up at the same spot at 2:30 p.m. We had a leisurely walk through town, stopping at the many stores to look over their goods, deciding where to stop to pick up groceries after lunch. Lunch at Yolanda's was a real treat -- their menu included Mediterranean, Thai and Mexican cuisine. We sat at a table right on the beach, shaded with an umbrella, and each of us ordered something exotic. In addition to buying a large selection of wonderful, fresh produce, we bought some cheese and meat at a Deli plus a cooked Chicken Asada that included rice, salsa and tortillas. The driver let us off a few feet away from our dinghies which were on the beach at the anchorage. Once again we had to confront the incoming surf with the dinghy loaded with groceries. This time, with Roger and Karen's help, plus kinder seas, we got beyond the break without getting hit in the face by a big wave -- our first successful launch this season! We hope to acquire large dinghy wheels which should enable us to manage our heavy dinghy ourselves. We've appreciated the help we've gotten from friends and even strangers on occasion.
Late afternoon brought the usual flocks of boobies and pelicans around the boats, looking for fish hiding underneath.
