Ship runs aground outside Isla Navidad

I guess aiming straight out to sea was not in their plans. Hard to believe heading directly into the wind would not have avoided this unless they lost power

That's a tight squeeze

What does "dragged" mean ... under tow?

The Mexican cargo ship Los Llanitos is trapped between rock formations after it was dragged and ran aground during Hurricane Patricia near the town of Barra de Navidad, Mexico, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. The Mexican navy had to airlift 27 crewmembers of the ship, whose hull was badly damaged after it hit the rocks. The ship had left the port of Manzanillo to try to minimize the impact of the hurricane. Nobody was injured, according to the Navy.   AP

Big waves everywhere

I saw this on the Facebook Cihuatlan page but there are large waves along the whole west coast of Mexico it seems. La Manzanilla is reporting large waves where they are usually very small. Yesterday in Melaque it looked like some beach tables were in danger.  I'll be in Barra a in few hours to see how the beach is doing.

Puerto Escondido where it's always large

And then there is always

Peaceful but chilly days in Barra

Been getting lots of fog from the cold ocean for the last few weeks. Very cool nights in the low 60's. Not many people in town but it's only a week after Semana Santa when all of Mexico hits the beach.

I was waiting for Pollo Feliz to get some chicken dinner ready yesterday so thought I'd spend some time in Barra. Had my IPhone with me and snapped these quick ones.

We had two earthquakes today located very close to Barra/Melaque. The first was a 4.9 and second a 4.5. These were close enough to hear them and the first sounded like a Semi going by. We hope these small quakes are preventing the "big one".

Hector's Q Corner during Carnaval

This video is of a local corner bar in Barra de Navidad, Mexico. Usually a quiet little corner where locals and tourists take in quantities of beer. It's Carnival week here and things tend to get a little colorful.

Barra de Navidad on "Wanna Go Fishing"

These guys from the ESPN show Wanna Go Fishing came down November 08 to film a show here. As is almost always the case when cameras are running the bite died and I was a nervous nellie, trying to get them a show. They were after a Roosterfish, which we'd been catching days earlier. Of course day one we caught 2 Giant needlefish, nothing else and I was looking pretty lame. However, the fish gods smiled the next day and we bagged a couple of them and got some good footage of chasers. Anyway, the showed aired a few weeks ago and it turned out okay.

Barra de Navidad, Costalegre, Jalisco Mexico

Barra de Navidad Malecon

Is it really as white-hot as it looks - well almost. It was a very warm day and this was just after I'd walked the beach from Melaque. This was first day using this camera and all my exposures were off. A little photo adjusting came up with this and I think it's pretty cool but different

Barra de Navidad, Costalegre, Jalisco, Mexico

400 Años Centenario del Puerto

"The new monolith on the Malecon is the old monolith from the Jardin. It was a gift from I believe our sister city in the Philippines commemorating Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's 1564 voyage from Puerto de la Navidad (now Barra) to the Pilippines."

1564 - All the zone between ports of Navidad and Salagua (Manzanillo) (In line for supply routes to; Autlán, Ameca, Zapotlán, Amula, Tuspa, Tamazula, Guadalajara, Towns of Avalos, etc.) existed from the activities connected with the construction of ships for the trip to the Philippines. On November 21st, 1564, Miguel Lopez Legazpi, with the title of "Adelantado," along with the friar Andrés de Urdaneta, sailed from Puerto de Navidad to colonize an archipelago in the Far East. Legazpi named the archipelago FILIPINAS in honor of Felipe II, then king of Spain. In 1571 he founded Manila as its capital.

Rebuilding

Finished product

View from the jetty

Costalegre Jalisco Mexico

Save this Giant Higuera Tree

Note the Se Vende (for sale) sign
The magnificent tree pictured above is in danger because the two lots that it occupies are listed for sale: it would not be possible to build on either lot without destroying the tree or a large part of it. The locals call the tree higuera, and it is the largest of the four big trees left in Barra de Navidad.

Bill and Maureen Conlen, John Perkins, Linda Knipher, and Jessie and Steve Zanjanc are seeking support to purchase the lots at $20000 each, and to do so this season, as property prices in Barra are rising, and we wish to avoid competition with another bidder.

Realistically, we are not going to be able to do this on the basis of $25 donations; we need 40 pledges of $1000. These pledges will not be collected until we have enough to make an offer. These donors will have ownership interest in the lots should they ever be resold (due to the demise of the tree). We will be very happy to accept smaller contributions, but to minimize bookkeeping, smaller contributions will be treated as nonrefundable donations; if it is not feasible to purchase the lots, we will donate such money to a local charity.

As a related issue, the building housing Beer Bob's Book Exchange has been sold, and the exchange will have to move after this season. We are considering the construction of a small, compatible structure on the tree lots as a permanent home for the exchange.

We welcome your ideas and thank you for you support.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
bconlen@hotmail.com 253-752-1358
linda.knipher@gmail.com
jessieandpenny@hotmail.com

Secret lagoon road

We were out looking at lots the other day and came into Barra on the back road that angles in from near Aguacate. I thought of the secret road out to the lagoon near the high school and we decided to take a look. The road is pretty bad and you really should have a truck. It's a narrow two wheel track and you just hope you don't meet anyone coming the other way. It would make a nice country bike ride. There used to be a large catamaran hull sitting on the beach but a few kids said that they finally hauled it away. It was a real eye sore. A few locals have put up a fence to keep their goats together. There's no problem going thru but just close the gate after you in both directions.

The beach at the end of the road


Goats at the gate


I came across this older sunset foto from Barra

Scenes around Barra de Navidad

Some friends were here for 2 weeks over Christmas that had lived in Barra about 5 years ago. We spent the day walking and eating our way thru town. A couple of hours during the long happy hour around the Hotel Sands pool, driving around the canals with all the fancy homes and checking out all the new shops, bars and restaurants. There is much more competition in Barra than neighboring Melaque to make things fancy and upscale and expensive - but there is a lot to choose from and definately more music and nightlife

The lagoon


The canals


The streets


Seamaster at night

The Beach and Surf in Barra de Navidad

Summer Surf is coming
It's getting warmer and the waves bigger. Very few gringos around but still plenty of Mexican tourists on the weekends. Can't wait until we have some weather move up the coast and see what the surf is like then. Last summer I spent most of my time in the cooler climates of Patzcuaro and Cuernavaca taking Spanish classes.

Umbrellas on the Beach


Statue marking the beginning of the Costalegre


A couple of good surfers out


15 people out in early afternoon

Surfing - Barra de Navidad

Surfing off the Barra de Navidad Jetty
From time to time in the winter the surf is pretty good in Barra but some days there is nothing. This day in Feburary 2006 the surf was some of the best winter surf I've seen there. I can be much larger during the summer season. Go through town to the Malecon that goes out to the jetty and harbor entrance. Easy water entrance from either side of the break. There is a rental shack on the Malecon that also offers lessons. During the summer you'll have to rent a board in town at one of the few shops

Rental Shack on the Malecon


Town of Melaque in the background


Even winter surf can be fun


Pulling up?

Barra de Navidad

Fotos from around Barra de Navidad

Barra de Navidad Beach from the Jetty
 

The town of Barra de Navidad (Christmas Sandbar)with a population of 7000+ is a small farming and fishing community located on the east end of the Bahía de Navidad, 60 km north of Manzanillo. In recent years, the Jalisco state government has promoted Barra as a tourist attraction of the Costalegre. The beachfront fronting the sandbar arks toward Melaque 4.5 kilometers to the west.

Fishing boats and water taxies along the lagoon

The history of "modern" Barra de Navidad dates back to the mid-1500's when the Spanish used it for ship building, repairs and a jumping off point to the Philippines.

Hotel Grand Bay looking across from the jetty

The large lagoon behind Barra de Navidad is criss-crossed by small fishing boats gathering scallops and transporting visitors and locals from Barra to Isla Navidad and the Grand Bay Hotel, recently voted the Number One hotel/resort in Mexico by the Travel Channel. These boats (panga taxies) also carry passengers to and from the small Colima community of Colimilla where restaurants line the shore.

Barra de Naviadad and Isla de Navidad from the air