Notes for Boaters

  • Anchored at 19°35.055′ N, 105°07.784′ W. 30′ of water with 165′ chain.
  • There were only 2 other boats when we arrived, tons of room for more. No matter where you anchor, pangas will come flying by mid-morning through sunset giving tours of the islands.
  • There’s a dinghy dock up the river. WHen navigating upriver, stay close to the town side of the river to avoid touching the bottom. Pangas come blasting in and out – not all, but enough – that you should be very aware and ready to yell to make sure they see you.

Our Time in Pérula

We visited Pérula before – calling it Chamela because that’s what the chart called it, but correcting ourselves this time because that is what the town is called!

When we got to anchor, we tested our starboard water tank as well, and the sediment had fully shaken loose there as well. So we had to clean both tanks fully before getting under way.

We were really hoping to get our water issue resolved within a day to catch a weather window.  Unfortunately, it took us 2 days to clean the tanks, and by that time we were stuck.

It was a painstaking process for each tank, one at a time. Opening inspection ports, flushing 50-70 gallons of water, then using a pressure sprayer (hand-pumped) + wet vac + scrubber + rags, literally rinse and repeat. Cleaning each tank to where it no longer had any sediment took 4-6 hours, on our knees, in the heat & humidity.

Finally, by the end of the second day, we were ready to go pick up some water. We took the dinghy to shore with our two 6 gallon tanks and started looking for the best way to get water to the boat. We considered getting it delivered, but that was expensive, and since the weather prognosis was bad for at least 3 days we had plenty of time to haul it ourselves. The water-filling store in town charged a lot of money to buy/rent a garrafone, but we found a tiendita that let us take 8 of theirs (paying for the water inside them), and hold onto them for a few days while we hauled water. They were really nice, and even gave us a ride to the dock on the first day in the back of their truck.

Each trip to shore meant we could bring back 52 gallons of water, so we expected 3 trips. We would bring the empties and walk them to the fill store, then their water delivery guy would drop us back at the docks (about a 3 minute ride). Then back to Ayala, fill, and repeat. We did 1 trip on one day, then 2 trips the following day.

Each trip to shore meant we could bring back 52 gallons of water, so we expected 3 trips. We would bring the empties and walk them to the fill store, then their water delivery guy would drop us back at the docks (about a 3 minute ride). Then back to Ayala, fill, and repeat. We did 1 trip on one day, then 2 trips the following day. Once the water was truly running clear, sans-sand, we got the tanks filled and the interior put back together. From there, it was just waiting for weather. The predictions had us expecting 10 days, but we checked the weather thrice daily to keep our progress.

In the meantime, the only thing to do was enjoy Pérula! It’s a small town, only one road partially paved. It’s got a gorgeous beach, with a recently-added malecón & pier. Between our last visit and now, they added a beautiful shade structure/art installation!

Otherwise, there is a big beautiful beach, some palapa restaurants, a few small restaurants in town, and that’s about the sum of activities. We took some nice long walks, ate at every restaurant in town that sold sopes to find the best ones (some pastor sopes at Cenaduria Mexicana took the prize!), and visited a local artisan who sold small pottery to get some gifts for friends at home.