| 06/04/03 After spending most of the morning on Monday, May 12, checking out of Zihuatanejo with immigration and the port captain, we finally pushed off for Acapulco at 4:15 p.m., much latter than planned. Lacking wind, we motored the entire distance to Acapulco, about 115 miles. Although it had been hot in Zihuatanejo, especially during the mid-afternoon hours, that night motoring from Zihuatanejo to Acapulco was the hottest and most humid night we had experienced so far on this cruise. We put down our anchor around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, in front of the Acapulco Marina, located in the southwest corner of the bay near the cruise ship pier. Unfortunately, the docks at the Acapulco Marina were quite damaged in the 1997 hurricane and are still in disrepair. When we arrived, a cruise ship was in port, but it departed early that evening. Being at the end of the tourist season, no other cruise ships came in while we were there. Acapulco is a large bustling city with lots of traffic. As we took the bus into the Old Acapulco Town Square our first evening, the colorfully painted buses and the large number of blue and white �VW Bug� taxicabs were the first thing we noticed. The designs on many of the buses were quite colorful with their different landscapes and themes. For example, one bus was decorated as Spiderman. Another was decorated as Halloween. One had a whole line of stuffed animals hanging from the top of the inside front window. Some had music blaring. At night, many would have neon lights going. As for the VW taxicabs, we have never seen so many VW Bugs congregated in one spot ever. It was a sight to behold! A few were even decorated with lights at night. We certainly had quite a few laughs that first night into town. On Wednesday evening we went to see the cliff divers at La Quebrada and stayed through two performances. Not only did they dive off the cliffs from about 100 feet up into the gorge below; they first climbed up the cliffs at the beginning of the performance. What strength and endurance they exhibited, besides some excellent diving! In Acapulco, we started our water maker going for the first time as we had been unable to obtain potable water since Barra de Navidad. For a big city, it was amazing how clear the water was in Acapulco Bay. We also filled our fuel tanks on Thursday morning. Of the few days that we were in Acapulco, Thursday was the most humid day, being almost unbearable at times. We departed Acapulco on Friday, May 16, at 10:15 a.m. We were heading down the coastline to Huatulco, 238 miles away, where we planned to check out of Mexico. Friday was a beautiful day at sea. We put up our drifter in the early afternoon, catching the afternoon thermals, and sailed on a reach. About 8 to 10 dolphins swam for a short time in front of our boat guiding us on our way. We saw a couple of marine turtles. In the evening it was not humid like it had been in Acapulco, and we were guided by a full moon. By late evening, though, we were once more motoring. About 12 hours later we started sailing again, but this time sailing downwind. We were able to sail until the early hours of Sunday morning, when we once again started our engine. We anchored in Huatulco around 11:30 a.m. that same morning, May 18, in clear green water. |
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| Acapulco Cliff Divers |
| Volkswagon Taxis Are Alive And Well |