Culture Shock

La Cruz de Huancaxtle, Nayarit, Mexico

February 28, 2010

Tsunamis, big regattas, El Presidente de Mexico, US/Canada Hockey excitement and we haven’t even back in Banderas Bay for 24 hours.

First off the tsunami wave went under us as we were crossing Banderas Bay.  We wouldn’t have even know anything about it, but we had called our good friends on shore in La Cruz to let them know we were just about to hit town.  The marina actually did have some excitement as they saw the water level quickly raise a couple of feet and then all drain out of the boat basin.  This coupled with the full moon low tide caused some havoc for boats trying to get in and out of the channel (for more on this:Totem's take on the tsunami here).

When we stayed in the marina for a few days in December space was not a problem.  We were told that would still be the case.  However, with a big Mex-ORC regatta starting today and the President of Mexico visiting the site this morning things were really jumping.  For instance, the marina has very few open slips.   We also had three of our very own personal Mexican Marines posted on our dock all day today.  You also would not believe the changes that have taken place since we left La Cruz.  The Mexicans can really put on a show when they know that they are going to be in the spotlight!!!! No wonder the trucks were working on finishing the addition to the breakwater 24-7 when we were here a couple of months ago!

I had a boat full of boys all afternoon so that some of the adults could go into town and watch the big Canadian-American hockey game.  When it is this warm out, it is a little weird to think about watching hockey, but we are truly happy that the Canadian men took the gold.  Our Canadian cruising friends commented that they were not sure what horrors would have been unleashed if it had turned out otherwise.

Meanwhile, we are busy making lists, ordering things and having them sent to whoever is the next person to be coming to the greater Banderas Bay Area, and planning errands around here.  We will also being a bit of general organizing of the boat before we take off the first of April.