Zihuatanejo SailFest Feb. 9, 2004

Zihua SailFest 2004 Raises Record Funds for Indian School & Local Education

Read "Alaskason in Paradise, May 2004"

ZIHUATANEJO, Mexico - There were fewer boats, but plenty of spirit at this year's Zihua SailFest which in four days of parades, beach parties, races, and music raised over $30,284 USD for the Netzahualcoyotl School for Indigenous Children and other educational projects in Zihuatanejo. And for the 3rd year in a row, Richard and Gloria Bellack of the Bellack Foundation and a new official supporter, Bill Underwood of the Underwood Family Foundation, helped match the $15,142 raised by the cruisers. Last year's SailFest ended up with more than $23,000 for the Indian school.

Click here for Alaskason in Paradise, May 2004 Click here for the Sailfest 2004 Photo Gallery Click here for articles written by some of the kids who were on boats participating in the 2004 Sailfest...

"You did it again," Richard Bellack said at the final barbeque and beach party at Owens Point on Las Gatas Beach, a favorite of cruisers who make their way down the coast to Zihuatanejo - or "Zihua" as cruisers affectionately call it. "The energy of the boaters and the camaraderie they've built with the land community and the school is nothing less than impressive," said Bellack. "My wife Gloria and I, and our friends and supporters are pleased to be a part of this annual event."

This year's SailFest, the third in as many years, had 46 boats participating, ranging from the McGregor 65-foot Northern Dancer owned by Russell and Joanne to Mario Durnas' 21 foot trailerable sailboat, El Pacifico. Land-based cruisers and landlubbers in Zihuatanejo jumped in to help, too, with seven 'virtual' cruisers working on the committees and events. Keeping in touch on the daily 8:30 am morning cruisers radio 'net on channel 22 is key to team-building and planning.

SailFest had a new committee this year who followed the template of last years SailFest, again leading the events to great success: Dennis and Susan Ross of Two Can Play, Mike Clark and Kimberly Eko of Pacific Jade, David Smith and Jane Sanderson of Dream On, David and Mollie Spaulding of Tumbleweed, Bob and Judy Zemore of Katie Rose, Mike and Jill Gottlieb of Bright Angel, J.P. and Linda and Jordon Mase of Genesis, Michael Fitzgerald of Sabbatical, Jerry and Sandy Zaslow of Romanc'n the Zea, Kurt and Nancy Bischoff of Gumbo Ya-Ya, and of course Rick and Heike of Rick's Bar serving as operation headquarters and community coordinator.

Even before the festivities began, the cruisers helped build packets of school supplies contributed from folks from all over the world including a crowd of the Bellack's friends and family from England. All 327 kids at the Indian school received their bag of supplies.

This year the kids from several cruisers' boats were active participants, too, in the various events and parties, and also in visiting the school and handing out school supplies bags to the children. Indian school kids and gringo kids enjoyed time together at the beach games day and on the sail parade, too. (see Articles by the Kids)

In a series of visits to the Indian school, cruisers and international visitors donated school supplies and performed several impressive "work days" fixing electrical, installing fans, cleaning, landscaping, and installing basketball backboards. "Getting on land, into the community, and participating in the school project is an important component of cruising life" noted Rotarian and long-time school advocate Lisa Martin of Gloucester, Mass., who returns each year to help with SailFest and community relations. "Everyone who visits the school can see our progress and feel proud of the support tourism can give to local causes."

This year's SailFest started with the traditional kickoff party Wednesday night at Rick's Bar, a local watering hole that cruisers have adopted as home away from home when in Zihua. Rick's has an internet connection, a loaner library, showers, and a washer-dryer for cruisers to use, and music six nights a week. Netza School Director Marina Sanchez Hernandez; Zihua Mayor "Presidente" Amador Campos; Director of Tourism Raul Chavez Marino; and Miriam Cordova of the Ixtapa-Zihua Office of Conventions & Visitors were all on hand to officially kick-off the SailFest 2004 and help cement the water-to-land participation and support.

This year, Rick donated the use of his bar as headquarters to SailFest, made major contributions, and was knee-deep in the planning. Rick's wife Heike, bought at least $100 worth of raffle tickets herself for prizes donated by local merchants. "They gave away all kinds of great items, like a dinner for two - with wine - at the posh Coconuts, three nights at Krystal Resort in Ixtapa and a boat bottom cleaning." Rick said. "There were also raffle donations of skydiving, a swim with dolphins and a year of laundry service donated by Mayor Campos." More than 125 local businesses donated more than $10,000 in prizes. "The Zihua community just opened up for the event this year," Jill Gottlieb of Bright Angel said.

Thursday featured a 9 a.m. seminar for 'northbound' cruisers heading to the Sea of Cortez or planning or doing the 'bash.' SailFest was high tech enough to hand out CDs full of cruiser information - for a small donation, of course, that went to benefit the school. The seminars were put on by Bob and Judy Zemore of the S/V Katie Rose. "We had lots of great people ready for the Sea of Cortez," Bob said.

But Thursday afternoon most of the cruisers took to the La Ropa ("clothes") Beach for an afternoon of all the silly beach games that make cruisers wish video cameras had never been invented. Ten children from the Indian School came to the festivities and had a good time with the cruiser kids, some of whom are learning Spanish. One highlight was the sand castle building competition, which must have had a lot of California entrants because most built too close to the incoming tide line, forcing the judges to rush their score cards. Water Balloon Toss, Pass the Sand, and Coconut Toss were popular with kids of all ages, and everyone got a prize for their efforts. One casualty of the Fabulous Flipper Race was Christine on S/V Kula who threw her hip out floundering down the course. "I didn't win, but it sure was fun."

As the sun set after the beach games, a dozen dinghies headed out into the middle of the bay to shoot off expired flares. The people who manufacture Solas flares should snap up any videotape of that event. The standard small flares that most people carry for emergencies looked pathetic compared to the Solas units that went up hundreds of feet high, lighting the sky. The flare shootout was approved in advance by the port captain, but early in the shoot-out three dark-hulled drug enforcement boats roared out from shore to ask what was going on. It seems they were standing by waiting for a boat drug deal to go down and wondered if the flares - even as sad as they were - was a signal. Later in the night several cruisers said they were sure they smelled marijuana smoke coming from the beach where it was reportedly burned by the feds to destroy it after the bust. Z-rumor has it that Susan and Dennis of Two Can Play said they told the local police they were in charge and later, given the drug bust, wondered if that was truly a smart idea.

On Friday a fleet of 11 boats broke anchor for a race around Roca Negra, a stark outcropping two miles from Zihua's La Ropa beach. Unfortunately it was probably the most windless day the bay had seen in a month. After a drifting start, the wind slowly picked up enough for six boats to meet at Roca Negra where 'Ace' a Passport 42 from San Francisco captained by Lou Dietz, almost tangled a spinnaker pole into the rigging of 'Pegasus' ,a Cheoy Lee Offshore 41 skippered by Greg Stephens of Seattle. Quick maneuvering by Dustin Fox on the spinnaker line averted a disaster in the 'fun' race.

"Our goal was to beat Pegasus and we had the pleasure - and excitement - of passing them twice. Unfortunately, they passed when it counted, before the finish," Dietz said.
The leg back in provided more wind, with Wilderness, an Aerodyne 38 skippered by Jeff Rothermull taking first, Edelweiss, Pete Boyes' Sabre 42 came in second, and Pegasus third.

Wilderness came into the bay that morning and registered to join the race. They won and left shortly afterwards! The lack of wind didn't dampen cruisers fun at all, but at the 4 p.m. dinghy raft-up, everyone began to wonder if they were really in Zihuatanejo when a rainstorm came through - but at least the rain was warm and 10 cases of donated beer was cold. It was amazing how a simple afternoon of cocktail snacks passed from dinghy to dinghy can turn into a major buffet - complete with hot food. Ron and Cheryl Roberts of Lazy Days provided the mooring for 36 dinghys in the raftup.

Saturday SailFest included two events: a morning 'poker chase' with twelve dinghies and one kayak, followed by an afternoon chili cook-off and street fair. David and Mollie Spaulding of Tumbleweeds organized the poker chase with participants zipping all over the three-mile wide Zihua bay to pick up poker cards. The highest and lowest hands won. This year the clues weren't as obscure (this year the people with clues didn't hide) as last year and the chase was over a little quicker.

But the high point of the day was the street fair, organized by Dawn Rehbock of Alaskason, where more than a dozen cruisers and others served up chili with exotic names like "Pauline's Poole Chili," made by sponsor Gloria Bellack's sister Pauline Padley of England. Also hailing from the continent was Graham Borne, offering "Her Majesty's Olde English Recipe." And, of course, more than a few entrants tried to sway the judges with free tequila shots and other gimmicks. Local Zihua singer Josie Kuhn took top honors by conserving her portions and staying until the last. When she's not crooning at Rick's, Josie lives in Nashville where she has a successful career as a folk singer.

The kids got into the act, too, with Jordan Masse from Genesis cooking up his own special 'Dark Ale Chili' that was nearly as popular as Josie's. The festive street fair gave local people, tourists and cruisers a chance to gather together. Vendors, local organizations and tour outfits set up tables - along with families of the school children showing their traditional Indian crafts.

Sunday the annual SailFest Parade of Sail drew 27 cruising boats plus some local boats that saw the parade and fell in line. And the wind came up enough that most of participants said it was the best sailing they had seen in years. "We sailed more in the sail parade than we did all the way from Victoria, British Columbia," J.P. Masse from Genesis said. "It was the highlight of the event for us." The fleet even was visited by several southbound gray whales one of which surfaced right behind the dinghy of a photographer taking video of the parade. Parade boats said they saw a mother and calf also right on the parade route. At the half way point, a planeload of skydivers floated down to greet the arrival of the parade in Ixtapa.

This year, most of the participants took on passengers - over 150 in all - who paid a $25 USD donation as payment for the ride. Marian and Stanely Schzudera from Minnesota were among the many landlubbers who were thrilled to get on the bay for a good cause, at a great price. Nineteen boats and a local charter sailboat, Voltava, offered their vessels for the cause.
Sonrisa, a Hunter Passage 450 from Long Beach owned by Greg and Debra Claesson said their guests all had a great time. Captain Greg said "At the end of the day, one of my passengers, 84-year-old Dr. John told me 'When I'm in the nursing home, I will look back and remember this day'." Dr. John, it turns out, took a trick at the wheel and loved it.

By Sunday's 4 p.m. wrap-up barbecue at Las Gatas, most of the participants were wondering if they could stand any more fun, but over 200 folks rallied for a festive two hours of great food by four local vendors, awards for the racing, parade, and other events, and the eventual balancing of the books to see how much was raised. Even at the final party, the SailFest organizers were still selling raffle tickets and passing the hat, raking in extra hundreds of bucks at the party alone.
"We had a good time and it's for a great cause," said Avon Dawson, hailing from Poole in Dorset, England. Dawson sang "Love is Everything" to raise a few extra dollars and capture the spirit of the entire week of events. Twelve children from the Indian school sang the classic "Celito Lindo" in Nahuatl, their native language

"We had a superb time and it's for a great cause" said Mike Clark and wife Kimberly Eko of Pacific Jade who were very involved as donation co-chair on the organizing committee. "It was wonderful that the activities went as smoothly as they did said Susan Ross of Two Can Play, "considering that Pacific Jade and Dennis and I began organizing the committees only 3 weeks before the event.

And next year's SailFest is already on the calendar set for February 2-5, 2005. For complete photos, contacts, and info see zihua-ixtapa.com/zihua/sailfest. For info on the Indian School and educational causes helped by SailFest see zihua-ixtapa.com/zihua/netza.

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