Adventures with the Mexican Navy

Dec. 18, 2006 Isla Grande
We are at a little island just around the corner from Ixtapa (of Club Med fame) which is right around the corner from Zihauatanejo, our home for the next week. It will feel good to settle somewhere for a little while. We've been hopping down the coast, staying each night in little anchorages that might hardly be suitable except for the extremely mellow weather. We went from Barra de Navidad to the Bahia de Maruata. And then to the Caleta de Campos, and finally here to Isla Grande. All of these were lovely little spots with jungle ambiance. This afternoon we will motor around to Z-town.
We read in one of the local papers that President Calderon is cracking down on the narcotraficantes in Michoacan due to their recent excesses and murders in turf wars. Well, he certainly has his navy cranked up. They were patrolling up and down the "Gold Coast" with several large ships, smaller launches, and a fleet of helicopters. We got plenty of their attention with 4 visits from launches and 3 visits from helicopters. In one of their first visits, they had us stop and wanted to check our papers. They came alongside and had me bring my book of "ship's documents" over to their launch (sort of a little PT boat). That left Andi alone on our boat for about a half hour while I showed them our papers and signed disclaimers that they had not abused or intimidated us nor damaged our vessel in any way. They were totally courteous and professional (well, except the part about having difficulty finding a working ball-point pen). I'm sure that OUR navy would have had even more forms to fill out! Finally they put me back aboard our boat and we hoisted the sails again.
But even after the personal check, they kept coming by to have a close look at us, perhaps because they couldn't tell what boat we were until they got close. But, we never saw any other boats traveling on this stretch of coast, so I suppose that they were just bored. I felt sorry for the soldiers on board, forced to carry their M-14s at the ready and wearing full jungle army outfits. As hot as it was, a bathing suit would have been plenty.
They were nice enough, but we were glad to be here in Guererro with no visible navy presence.
Last night we went ashore to see if we could get dinner, but Isla Grande's palapas cater to a tourist crowd that is all brought in by boat from mainland hotels. The boats take them all home at dark and the palapas close. So when we got ashore, everything was shut. We were just standing around, watching the sunset, when a guy stacking chairs in one of the palapas offered to cook dinner for us. He was Clemente, a chef, and took us to a restaurants on the hill where he opened the kitchen and prepared to make us a dinner. There is no electricity, so I held a flashlight while he worked. In half an hour, he had made Camarones a la diabla (spicy shrimp, huge ones), guacamole, rice, and tortillas. We sat down for dinner in the dark while Clemente and some friends sat at another table. After we finished, they walked us back to our dinghy. Now THAT is hospitality!