A Young Entrepreneur, Zihuatanejo

Maria gently places her small hand on the dinghy as she walks alongside, as if she were blessing it.  She doesn’t lift her hand from it as her father hauls it onto the beach.  Some days, she comes to the beach directly from school, still wearing her uniform.  Other days, she’s in shorts.  Always, her hair is disheveled, falling carelessly out of a barrette or ponytail.  Sometimes, she brushes the stray strands away from her face; sometimes, she’s too busy to notice. 

Whether it was out of a need to take care of his family or his entrepreneurial spirit, or perhaps a little of both, her father, Juan, saw a need and filled the gap and at the tender age of six, Maria is helping when she can.  Juan provides a welcome service to cruisers by helping them land their dinghies safely on the beach in Zihautanejo.  Watching from the shade of the palm trees, he wades out to meet them, always with a smile and a polite greeting.  He holds the dinghy steady while the passengers hop out into knee-deep water, the driver shuts off the engine and hops out before pulling it up past the surf line.  Most bays do not have dinghy docks so beach landings are a necessary evil and having shore help is really nice.  After landing, Juan will keep an eye on your dinghy until you return and then he helps you launch, reading the waves and trying to keep everyone dry.  For this roundtrip service, he charges 20 pesos, about US$1.80. Some days, he may help 10 boats.  During a festival there may be 20 or more, but his average daily income rarely exceeds US$20. 

For many of us, Juan embodied the hard-working, entrepreneurial spirit that we encountered throughout Pacific Mexico.  Doing something is better than doing nothing. By filling a niche he found a means to provide modestly for his family. We don’t know his whole story.  He may have other income, he may do some fishing occasionally, but based on the hours that he was on the beach, it’s hard to imagine that there was time for anything else, and he was teaching his young daughter the same principles of hard work. 

Maria is a shy girl of few words.  She mostly just wants to touch the dinghies and walk alongside them.  I usually gave her some small coins for her efforts.  One day, I gave her a coloring book and some crayons.  She smiled and held them tightly.  On another day, I gave her a Barbie sticker book and her eyes lit up.  Next time I see her, I will have some clothes for her.  Sometimes, it's the little things in life that really matter. 

The Mayor's Raft Up, BahiaTenacatita

Tradition has it that all everyone anchored in Bahia Tenacatita on a Friday night is invited to a dinghy raft up hosted by the presiding Mayor of the anchorage.  At promptly 5:00 p.m., the Mayor anchors his dinghy off of Good Dog Beach and all other dinghies tie off to him and each other forming a circle or rectangle or some such form, depending upon the number that motor over.  The purpose of the event is to ‘meet and greet’.  Some cruisers may have been playing bocce ball and/or volleyball on the beach for days or even weeks, while others may have arrived that very afternoon.  Hors d’oeuvres are passed, introductions are made and conversation ensues until dusk when the bugs come out in force and everyone retreats to the safety of their cockpits and mosquito coils. 

 

In our last port, I came across some fresh basil and made pesto.  I decided to use it on a pizza with artichoke hearts, diced tomatoes, sliced olives and freshly shredded parmesan.  I made the dough in the morning, let is rise and placed it in the refrigerator to chill during my afternoon swim.  Upon my return, I stood in the cockpit and counted 38 boats, more than twice the number that were here in early January when we stopped on our way south.  I did the math.  If half came to the raft up there would be 19 dinghies and at least 38 people.  Serving a crowd of that size from one pizza made in my 13” x 17” oven was daunting. 

Then I remembered Patty, on Oogachucka, who fed 400 people with one bag of Costco meatballs.  No kidding.  The Baja Ha-Ha fleet arrived at our first anchorage, Bahia de Tortugas, and our first potluck. There she was standing at the head of the buffet table.  “Would you like a meatball?” she asked producing her hostess smile. If the answer was “yes”, she gently placed one toothpick-speared meatball on the plate. 

“The bounty looks slim”, I said to Ken as I examined the white expanse of my plate not covered by the meatball.  It was not an auspicious beginning.  Just beyond Patty, however, the potluck began in earnest with every appetizer, main course, side dish and dessert imaginable contributed by all 118 boats.  Fresh fish had been caught and was generously shared on the grill.  It was a hearty, fulfilling meal.

To this day, Patty's feeding of 400 is nothing less than a miracle.  Inspired by her, I arranged the ingredients into 45 bite-size pieces on the risen dough and baked it.  Homemade pizza is a treat for cruisers and there was enough for everyone. 

 

Zihuatanejo

In a nutshell, we like everything about this lovely fishing town. 

We anchored off of Playa la Ropa, a beautiful one-half mile long beach dotted with colorful umbrellas and palapa restaurants.  The water is warm and clear, perfect for morning and afternoon swims ashore.  Brightly colored homes and hotels cascade down the lush hillsides.

 

We enjoyed delightful walks along the shaded pedestrian-only streets, good restaurants, easy bus access for errands and field trips, friendly locals, evening cultural programs in the main plaza, an astonishingly large central market where just about anything can be found, and cheerful entrepreneurs who help with dingy landings on the beach for tips.

 

 

The highlight was volunteering for Sailfest and contributing to the non-profit foundation PorLosNinos which provides scholarships, school supplies and meals for indigenous students (www.porlosninos.com). Donations are raised during the weeklong event which includes a sailboat race, a benefit concert, a chili cook off and a sail parade for which we hosted a delightful group of donors aboard Gitane.

 

The following day, we helped keep track of 150 energetic kids on the beach during open swim, games and lunch.  For some kids it was the first time at the beach and it was great fun frolicking in the waves with them. 

 

We vowed to return earlier next winter and to stay longer as it quickly became our favorite winter destination.