Puerto Escondido, Dec. 20-21
These were our first days since leaving San Carlos where we had complete facilities. It was nice to be able to walk around the marina, do our laundry and get some ice! We spent these two days doing laundry, working on small projects and relaxing. The much anticipated hot showers were a disappointment as they were not even tepid. We would find that at rare and random times there was hot water for a short period; we never seemed to catch it however. This is one of several similar marinas along the coast built and run by the government. The architecture is the same at each one with several thousand sq. ft. of retail space and a three story administrative office. They also have a modern fuel dock. The buildings are 80% empty. The marina itself only has space for less than a dozen boats. Not enough to produce a fraction of the revenue needed to support the facilities. More money is generated by charging an anchoring fee of about 25 cents a foot. There are numerous mooring buoys that cost the same.
We were tied up to the tiny dock at the Marina. There were only 4 slips at the dock, and 7 more med-moorings along the pier. Med-moorings are moorings that are perpendicular to the pier. The idea is to allow for more boats in a smaller space, especially large boats. The boat ties up stern-to (stern tied to the land) and the bow is tied to a perpendicular mooring.
There was a dinghy tie up area on the dock. We learned that tying up near the dinghy dock is an invitation to constant conversation. Each new dinghy that arrived asked about the boat, and the introductory stories ensued…names, boat names, where are you from, how long have you been sailing, what kind of boat. By now I have met so many people (by first names only) I can’t tell you how many. Needless to say, we weren’t getting much work done, but everyone was so friendly and interesting.
Up the road from the Escodido Harbor was an RV park with a hotel and restaurant called Tripui. On the way there on the 21st, still waiting out a blow, we took a walk around the marina and saw the new Marina Escondido. It is has many more slips than Fonatur and is located west of the Fonatur Marina down a dredged channel. More expensive than Fonatur, it does offer more protection from hurricanes that have plagued Escondido in recent years. We continued walking up the road out towards Mexico Hwy. 1 to Tripui to have lunch.
There was a dinghy tie up area on the dock. We learned that tying up near the dinghy dock is an invitation to constant conversation. Each new dinghy that arrived asked about the boat, and the introductory stories ensued…names, boat names, where are you from, how long have you been sailing, what kind of boat. By now I have met so many people (by first names only) I can’t tell you how many. Needless to say, we weren’t getting much work done, but everyone was so friendly and interesting.
Up the road from the Escodido Harbor was an RV park with a hotel and restaurant called Tripui. On the way there on the 21st, still waiting out a blow, we took a walk around the marina and saw the new Marina Escondido. It is has many more slips than Fonatur and is located west of the Fonatur Marina down a dredged channel. More expensive than Fonatur, it does offer more protection from hurricanes that have plagued Escondido in recent years. We continued walking up the road out towards Mexico Hwy. 1 to Tripui to have lunch.
It’s a beautiful resort and the food was excellent. When Chris went to pay, we found out they don’t accept charges! We had enough cash to pay for the meal, but not enough for the tip. We were totally embarrassed and promised the waitress we’d bring a tip the next day. She was very gracious and said not to worry.
When we got back to the boat, Chris decided to walk back to the restaurant and give the waitress her tip. She was delighted! We ended the day with more conversations with the boaters who tend to stay in Escondido for the season as they would come in for showers, and supplies and then return to their moored boat.