Main Street in Chacala – no paving here yet
Chacala is a small village located on a tiny bay carved out of the jungle-covered hillsides of the Mexican mainland coast. About a two hour drive straight west from Guadalajara (the second largest city in Mexico), Chacala is a popular beach destination for weekends and holidays.
The bay is ringed by a beautiful white sand beach – the sand is so fine it almost feels like dust. Palm trees sprout between the beach and the jungle, and nestled in the shade of the trees is a line of beachfront restaurants.
Afternoons are typically around 86F/30C, so the shade of a palm tree is appreciated!
Calling Chacala a village is not a stretch – there’s no bank, no gas station, and only a couple of small convenience store-sized shops that sell a smattering of produce. But there are some hotels in town, and a new development of beautiful oceanfront homes has started to spread north from town behind a tall security gate.
Since the bay is so small, there’s not much protection from the wind chop and swell generated by the prevailing NW winds. So when we arrived, we decided to set two anchors. Dropping our primary anchor from the bow, just like normal, we let out about twice as much chain as is typical for the depth. We then dropped a second anchor off the stern before sequentially pulling in some of the primary anchor chain while letting out more length on the stern anchor rode.
We missed seeing family over the holidays, but we overcame and still managed to have a Merry Christmas
The stern anchor serves to prevent the boat from swinging around the primary anchor. That means that when the wind dies, the boat still keeps her bow pointed into the waves. The result is less rolling than with a single anchor, and a more comfortable night’s sleep.
Warm sunny days don’t feel much like Christmas, so we were happy to see a group of kids swinging at a Christmas tree-shaped pinata to remind us it’s the holidays
Since we spent Christmas anchored in Chacala, there were a lot of Mexicans enjoying the spectacular beach. The scene was festive – kids bodysurfing in the waves, and beach vendors selling skewers of grilled meat and shrimp, fresh-baked bread, cakes and pies, and even fresh donuts.
