Yelapa

January 21-23

Oil change pit for the panga

One nice aspect of Bandaras Bay so far has been the sea breeze in the afternoon. It cools us down and provides a reach to places we want to sail. Kind of like Buzzard’s Bay but usually under 12 knots. Sometimes we lazily pull out the jib and motorsail as we did this cloudy Sunday afternoon. I didn’t want to have my hopes too high for Yelapa, formerly known for a very simple style of life along a beautiful beach. Electricity came to this village about ten years ago but cars are still unable to reach it. However we’d heard that the panga traffic was constant and tours from PV visit regularly.

Our first experiences were somewhat inauspicious. First we were greeted, practically lassoed, by an enterprising pangaman named Romeo whose eyes must have been on us for quite a while. He commandeered our fleet of two to take us to his moorings. Anchoring would be just about impossible as the panga moorings occupied all the areas shallow enough for us. We felt a bit trapped, but had to laugh as things developed. Upon dingying ashore, our surf landing was assisted by a lovely man who pulled us out of the waves. He, like Romeo, was part of the large family that operate the palapa restaurant opposite our boat. Of course he suggested we sit down with a beer!

 

At night Ian radioed us for help with an attacking panga. Charlie went out with him to tie it to another. Later the sloop moored next to him came within collision distance. Ian, poor guy had to motor out of the way and stand anchor watch the rest of the night. 


The next day the town revealed its charms. At first view Yelapa appears to be divided into two parts, the beach and the village, but in fact, it’s more like all Gaul. The third part is the trails and back country. A couple lead to waterfalls and rental houses in the hills.  We took a delightful path along the south shore where numerous secluded and artsy residences take shelter from the heavily trafficked areas. Ian noticed these 3 tiny lizards on a rock. After our walk we lunched under what we thought was a grapefruit tree! At the end of the hotel beach we met an artist from Saltspring Island who in winter conducts her business from here and lives an hour's walk from the beach. It really is a lovely place to visit.