50 nm from Ipala to Chamela

A word here about the weather, and, more precisely, about weather forecasting.

We get our weather forecasts on the boat in a variety of ways. We listen to several SSB "nets" (radio programs) every day on which a man named "Don" does a large scale weather prediction for the region. When we have internet access (i.e. wi-fi at a marina) we check the weather sites using that. When there is no internet access, we use our Pactor modem and the ssb to get weather predictions, in the form of GRIB files and/or textual forecasts, via the e-mail.

When we had left PV on Saturday, there was an indication that by Monday or Tuesday, we might be seeing some rain and/or small thunderstorms in the area. Therefore, we wanted to make sure that we were in a secure anchorage when that occurred. So, one reason we didn't stay in Ipala for very long was that we wanted to get to Bahia Chamela (pronounced 'cha-may-la') which was reported to offer better protection. So, we left Ipala at about 6:00 am on Sunday and arrived in Chamela, about 50 nm further south, by 2:00 pm. We motored all the way as there was virtually no wind. Along the way we saw quite a few whales and a number of sea turtles.

We spent Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights there in Bahia Chamela. On Sunday, we stayed on the boat and cooked up the jack in the aforementioned lemon and ginger sauce. On Monday, we did the dinghy drill, and took our trash to shore, stopped and bought some green peppers and various small provisions, took pictures of the small town of Perula, and stopped in a bar and played a few games of pool. After we returned to the boat on Monday, we took the opportunity to do a little snorkeling near the boat. The water was kind of cloudy and the pictures didn't come out great, but you can see them below if you wish. Monday night, we cooked up the Crevalle Jack shish-kabobs and they were quite tasty.

Each morning, as soon as we would get up, I would check the weather with the ssb-pactor-email. And each morning, it seemed that the prediction for rain was moved back a day. And although Chamela was better than Ipala, at night the anchorage was still somewhat rolly, and I was having a bit of a hard time getting a good night's sleep with the boat rolling and making a lot of noise. So, on Tuesday, with the rain not predicted now until Thursday, we made the decision to run to the next port south, Tenacatita, on the following day, Wednesday. We spent most of Tuesday napping and reading on the boat.

Overall, neither Ipala or Chamela felt particularly noteworthy to us. Nice enough places, very pretty and tropical, but I guess we were still spoiled by our experiences in La Cruz. Beautiful tropical surroundings, by themselves, did not seem as interesting as they had before and once again, it was time to move on.


Bahia Chamela Snorkeling Pics