Panama Posse meets up in Barre Navidad, MX

Before we left home in September 2020 we joined a large group of cruisers called the Panama Posse. There is a website for more information. They turned out hosting over 200 boats with marina and local department store discounts, online chats every Monday, weather info, valuable links with other cruisers... all that jazz!The whole experience of this 2020 / 2021 trip was awesome, we met so many amazing people and sometimes difficult. John and I never failed to work as a team and we have no regrets.

This is what the burgie looked like after finishing the 4925nm cruise in June 2021! But first, back to the Panama Posse meet and greet in Barre Navidad. On November 15th 2020 we left Mazatlan for Puerto Vallarta. That run was 175nm and took us 26hrs. We meet several other boats in the Posse along the way and at the PV Marina. We scheduled some maintenance, managed some provisioning and chandlery shopping, as well as important visits with our friends Ian and Mary on AEgis (N40).

Ian and Mary out for a ride on our dingy. Good times! We visited Paradise Village fles Market and enjoyed catching up with Ian and Mary for a great lunch near by! Puerto Vallarta to Barre Navidad was about a week later, 140nm 18hrs. Got our slip assignment at Isla Barre Navidad, put out some fishing gear and caught a sea gull before our 6:30 sunset. The bird was released and fine while we waited for the full moon rise. The overnight crossing was uneventful. We found our slip on 11/30/21 and received our welcome Panama Posse flag, newsletter with event schedule and swag! Enjoyed BLT's & spinach salad on board, a dog walk and big afternoon nap. Wednesday was consumed with checking in with the Port Captian via the Barre water taxi. I got to work organizing the boat and the housekeeping routine. The Posse events began the next day.

One of my favorite special things about this marina (besides all the other Posse members who are quickly becoming friends) is the morning visit from the French Bakery! He motors past all the slips. You purchase the amazing pastries, baguettes, etc and you can place orders for the following day. Truely awesome!

The first seminar was what to expect... Communication, Weather and Safety. Everyone gathered on the patio upstairs at the Hotel. The kick off party was later that afternoon.

Here's the pictures from the Panama Posse Kickoff Party

The meet and greet was awesome! You can find more information at panamaposse.com. There were 135 vessels on board when we started, rummer has it topped out at over 200! The largest cruising rally in history! "Sail at your own schedule" anywhere between Southern California and Annapolis Maryland via the Panama Canal. We not only cruised the Southern Pacific Coast of Mexico, Central America, Pacific and Western Caribbean waters alongside like-minded cruisers, adventuring and exploring, but made life-long friendships at our own pace.

There was a potluck dinner, pig roast and a medical class by Lucky Chunky and his wife on the last weekend.

Mondays usually mean housekeeping, laundry, topping off water tanks and a "team meeting" at dinner. Team meetings are when we review weather, maps and destinations. We left Barre Navadad for Bahia Tenacatita. We headed out 12/08/20. It was only 14nm and 2 hrs away. At anchor we learned of more generator problems. It seemed the last service was merely a bandaid that didn't hold. We did the power management routine through the night and went back to the marina in Barre the following day. The upside to that was an opportunity to lunch with the girls on Toketee and provisioning at 4 stores the following day.

Before we left Barre, I heard about a yearling turtle release sending the babies out to sea at the beach! A bunch of us boarded the buses to take us to the release. We were not allowed to touch the young ones but handled them in a half of coconut shell. We were told to name them, bless them and release them on the beach! Only a small portion actually survive! I named mine Struggle. We all cheered them out to sea. Struggle made it to the waves! The competeing soccor teams showed up in their uniforms! It was quite a great event!

On 12/17/20 (day 50), We finally made our way from Barre to Bahia Zihuatanejo. That cruise was 211nm and 27hrs. We were at anchor so I was glad to have had the additional provisions. We rested up for a couple days. Genie was still not working right so we got a monsterous loaner generator, which was a nightmare to get onboard. We then traveled to Marina Ixtapa, which was only a 45 minute cruise away. Etc. Etc.