Mexicans at the Beach

Fun on the Beach in Chacala

In the small fishing villages and beach communities that we had visited, there had always been palapa restaurants with many tables, mostly vacant. It was safe to assume that sometime this seating capacity was used, but when? Last weekend, NS was anchored for two nights at Chacala (21 09.823'N, 105 13.639'W), and we finally had the answer. It was a three-day weekend for Mexicans, and they really took the opportunity to celebrate the approach of spring. Large numbers were in the water from dawn to dusk, and in the middle of the day, every table in every restaurant was occupied. There were traffic jams in the narrow street. There were swimmers, surfers and water skiers. There was even a guy offering rides on a thirty foot long inflated sausage that he towed with his panga at high speed. Most interesting was the extent to which many Mexicans seem to love sand enough to bury themselves in it or to plaster themselves with wet handfulls.

NS Anchored Bow and Stern in Chacala

The point at the north end of the bay does not protrude enough to do a very good job of blocking the swell, so it is recommended to set a stern anchor in addition to a bow anchor in order to keep the boat aligned with the swell once the wind dies.  Since several of the boats already anchored had stern anchors deployed, we had no choice but to set ours.  Otherwise we would have swung into them if the wind shifted. We also deployed the flopper stopper. It was still a bit rolly, but not bad.

Another View of the Beach at Chacala

It is not hard to see why Chacala is so popular. The bay is beautiful, with its long sand beach lined with tall palm trees.  Ninety-nine percent of the people we saw there were Mexicans, with the exception of those at a small hotel perched on rocks at the very south end of the beach. As Sally and I walked down the beach, I noticed that there were a lot of women resting and stretching on the lawn.  I remarked that they must be the Sirens, luring mariners onto the rocks. Then we saw a couple perform an acrobatic yogo posture of the sort you only see in books.  We learned that this was Mar de Jade, a yoga and wellness center. Sally swam in the surf in front of the hotel, while I took some photographs and read a book on my kindle.

Monday morning, we left Chacala for Mazatlan. Because we had to retrieve two anchors and a flopper stopper, we did not get away until 10:30.  We arrived at Marina Mazatlan about 4 PM the next afternoon after an uneventful voyage, motoring except for the last few hours.