Mazatlan to La Cruz

Today is Tuesday January 26, 2010

We are currently anchored in La Cruz, located in the largest bay on the west coast of Mexico, indenting the coast more than 15 miles and having an opening to the Pacific Ocean over 20 miles wide. We are approximately 8 miles north of Puerto Vallarta.
It was an uneventful trip south from Mazatlan. The first over night trip was a motorsail with quiet seas (a nice start for a cruising season). We motored most of the way, with the help of main sail and at times the head sail. I did my usual 0100 to 0500 shift of duty of the boat. It works out ok for us because I can go to sleep early in the evening and get a good rest before the start of my shift. And, I get the treat of watching the sun come up at sea. This is always such a special time as the water is beautiful and shimmery and not usually a boat or land to be seen!! Terry had a little more activity during his shift before 0100 as there is some sort of “shelf” at about 10 miles offshore- apparently a good fishing spot, because we had to make our way thru the fishing boats and this is a little more complex at night. Of course we rely on our radar, but, the distances seem so different in the dark. Everything seems much closer then it truly is!!

The first night of rest for the two of us was at the small village of Chacala. The surf was huge and the anchorage was rolly, we therefore decided not to go ashore. We had the entire anchorage to ourselves. Enjoyed a beautiful sunset and got a good nights sleep. As we headed south the seas were calm and the wind was coming out of the south-Not so good for sailing. We motored with the use of our mainsail most of the distance. The exception was the entrance to Banderas Bay, the wind picked up, we turned off the motor and enjoyed the peace of sailing! And, a group of whales came near. My delight in hearing the loud noise of their spouting! I am a little more anxious about them getting as close as I heard of a sailboat that was hit by a whale and SANK! The people onboard were rescued!

It as been an adjustment back to the boat life! As I have always said, “when it is good it is SOOO GOOD and when it is bad it is SOOO BAD! An example is the constant rocking- ok when you are getting from A to B, but, gets a little frustrating when you are at anchor and everything in the boat is rocking back and forth. Some cruisers spend a lot of time in marinas and I really do see why. It is nice to step on a dock when leaving the boat. We each take a line and release our dinghy “our car at sea” from the davits on the back of the boat. We then climb down and balance as the waves are crashing onto us. It takes some getting used to always being splashed with salt water . Not one of the more glamorous aspects of cruising.

Anyway, we are enjoying meeting up with friends of last year. Today we had lunch with friends who sailed with us the last two years. They now own a condo in Punta Mita and they have the luxury of having a car (the real thing) after a great lunch, they drove us to the Mega market in Bucerius where we were able to provision with the treat of walking to a car and being driven right back to our dinghy.

We plan to leave here tomorrow morning with destination SOUTH! Probably staying the first night at the small anchorage of Ipala, Chamela , Tenacatita and Barra de Navidad. I am looking forward to the fun in the water. Swimming, kayaking and snorkeling.
Thinking of all of you! Take Care to everyone!