Wednesday, January 27, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Arrival and departure Mazatlan
Hi Friends and Family!
Yes, we miss you! We arrived in Mazatlan 8 days ago and are preparing Tenacity for the sail south. The weather here has been perfect. 80 degree day temperatures and down to 60's at night. We have been having a great time with meeting up with our cruising buddies- Many good meals and of course grande margaritas.
Terry has worked on Tenacity projects and we have listed her for sale with Vallarta Yachts. We are looking forward to pulling the docking lines and sailing south to La Cruz anchorage with a few stops between.
We would love to hear from you. We have heard of stormy weather in Northern California. Take care! Stay warm and dry!
Yes, we miss you! We arrived in Mazatlan 8 days ago and are preparing Tenacity for the sail south. The weather here has been perfect. 80 degree day temperatures and down to 60's at night. We have been having a great time with meeting up with our cruising buddies- Many good meals and of course grande margaritas.
Terry has worked on Tenacity projects and we have listed her for sale with Vallarta Yachts. We are looking forward to pulling the docking lines and sailing south to La Cruz anchorage with a few stops between.
We would love to hear from you. We have heard of stormy weather in Northern California. Take care! Stay warm and dry!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Tenacity is For Sale!!!
After preparing Tenacity for the summer- she will spend hurricane season safely attached in Marina Mazatlan. We have returned home to Northern California and have decided to advertise Tenacity for sale. This has been a difficult decision, as we have enjoyed two years of cruising the beautiful waters of mainland Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. The boat has been everything and MORE then we had expected. She has been a flawless cruising boat and all of Terry's hard work of preparing her for the trip certainly made our cruising experience a successful adventure. However, we have decided that this dream has been fullfilled and we are now ready to venture into yet other adventures. So many places to see and places to go!!!!!!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Puerto Escondito
Hola friends and family!!!
I have a little catching up to do! Since the last posting in January, we have sailed the boat back to Mazatlan and traveled back to northern Cal for the month of
February. Between snow storms, Terry burned slash and down trees and I went to work! We headed back to Mazatlan via pick-up the first of March. Enjoyed the company of Barb one week and and Pat Carol the next in Mazatlan. A couple of great day sails to Stone Island.
We are currently anchored out (actually on a mooring) at Puerto Escondito. We made the crossing from Mazatlan to Muertos on the baja on March 15. We were fortunate to have Patrick as crew for the trip! He just left today and we will miss his constant enthusiasm.
The weather here has actually been quite cool as well as the water temp of about 70 degrees. A little too cold for snorkeling!! I am so looking forward to warming of water temp. The sea of cortez is just as beautiful as we remember, and, we are reminded once again of the quick changes of wind and wave condtions. This really dominates our destinations and activities! I have never even heard of the terms "souther or norther", but, find that they are very meaningful here in the sea of cortez. And, if not constantly aware of these weather condtions, it really makes for a bad day or a sleepless night.
We have met up with our friends Bill and Karen on the boat "Miela". Looking forward to hikes and dinners together.
We will be traveling North- leaving tomorrow morning. And, plan on going as far north as Santa Rosalia. Visiting several islands and beautiful anchorages before heading south to La Paz in Mid May.
Best wishes to ALL!
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