Cruise of the Confidence 02-Feb-2014

02-Feb-2014

Sunday was Super Bowl 

02-Feb-2014 Super Bowl Sunday and as a result decided to stay at the marina for one more day. We got together with people we have met along the way and went to a pub. 7 people in our group and 5 of us were from Victoria. The game was a blow out but we were all happy that Seattle won. Judy and Mike were able to join us and I have to say that it was sad saying goodbye to them as we are not sure when we will hook up again. We have enjoyed the times that we have spent together and plan to keep in touch.

03-Feb-2014 

Left the marina in PV at 1245. Winds were on our nose coming out of Bandaras Bay. So we had to motor for the first couple of hours. Lunch was cold turkey sandwiches - my favorite!

Eventually the wind backed into the west and we able to put the sails up. We were motor sailing as the winds were still light.

1900: abeam of Punta Corrientes or Cape Currents. It is the southern most point of Banderas Bay and has quite a reputation of being a fast and exciting ride. But Mother Nature was on our side and our rounding of the point was uneventful.

What to do for dinner? I had cooked the other half of the turkey and had lots of left overs but the seas were really rolling so I did not want to have 3 pots on the stove to heat every thing up. Time to be innovative. People make Shepard's pie out of left over roast beef so why not with turkey? So I diced up a couple of carrots, opened a can of corn and mixed that in with the diced turkey and the gravy. Then I layered the garlic mashed potatoes on top and stuck the whole thing in the oven for a half hour or so at 300F. I put a large spoonful of cranberries in the bottom of each bowl and spooned the "pie" on top. I am telling you - that was the best left over turkey dinner I ever made. The best is that it made enough for two meals so the next time when I do not feel like cooking it will just have to be reheated. If I would have made dressing I would have put a small layer of that also - maybe next time

Motor was off and we were able to sail at 6 knots. Enjoyed our dinner and another beautiful sunset.

1900: gibed and then BA went down below to catch a little sleep in preparation for a night sail. I just got into bed and David yelled at me to come on deck - like right now. So donned in my underwire and my heart beating I got outside not knowing what to expect. Then he pointed out the two humpback whales about 50 feet away from the boat. His heart was beating also as the first sighting had them even closer.  It is unusual to have them that close as they usually go deep as soon as they hear your motor. They came up for one more sighting and then they were gone. Then I went back to bed.

2130: motor off and I took over the helm. Moon was at 26%. Winds were directly behind us and we were maintaining 5 knots. Otto needs some looking into as this should be the most comfortable setting for him to be maintaining a course. But I found that I was constantly having to help him - just like when we crossed the Sea of Cortez. But the night was still pleasant. It has been several weeks since we had done a night sail and I have to say that I missed it.

David took over the watch about midnight. Winds slowed down a bit but he was still able to sail. The lower speed would allow us to reach our destination in daylight.

0400 I relieved the captain but had to take the genoa down and motor sail.  The sun rise was beautiful and we came around Punta Rivas and into Bahia Chamela at 0900.

 

Anchored in 26 feet of water with a sand bottom, had a quick breakfast and then we both laid down to catch up on some sleep. I slept in the cockpit under the awning and David went down below. 

Bahia Chamela is a beautiful anchorage surrounded by many small islands that are actually national parks and miles of perfect sand beaches. The water temperature was in the high 20's and I was able to swim from the boat to shore. David got to practice his surf landing - and provided justification for the purchase of those dinghy wheels in San Diego. So we met up on shore at the town of Perula and went exploring. There are a few tiendas (stores) and a few restaurants. One particular place looked promising for breakfast the next day.

So what exactly is a dinghy surf landing you ask? More importantly one should ask what happens if you do not do it right?  If you are not patient and obtain a speed faster than the breaking waves then you and the dinghy and it's contents, passengers and gear, end up in the break and the dinghy gets flipped. The same can happen if you are going too slow. This is where patience is a virtue. If you watch the waves you can get a feel for the pattern and time your approach accordingly. When you find the right wave you want to ride the back of it into the beach, keeping your speed equal to that of the wave. And when you leave you do the same thing in reverse. But you must have the motor in neutral, the bow pointed out and when the time is right jump into the dinghy and ride over the next wave. And always have the kill switch lanyard (strap) on your wrist so if you dump, the motor will shut off.

David and I did a couple successfully. But then we were not really tested as the surf was pretty minimal. Even then a wave crashed into the dinghy but we did not capsize. Thank goodness I bought those waterproof bags!

05-Feb-2014 we had not heard from our friends Al and Sandy for a while so David decided to give them a call. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out that they were heading back up the coast to PV and would be in Chamela Bay in about 2 hours. We had not seen them since Cabo. So we went over and had a wonderful dinner, shared our experiences from the last couple of months and made some tentative plans. Al has a house in La Manzanilla and will be driving back there in a couple of days so we will try to reconnect at that time.

06-February-2014

We went ashore for breakfast with Al and Sandy and I chose to swim back to the boat. Good thing as the dinghy surf departure did not go so well. It might have had to do with the fact that there were 3 people trying to get back into the dinghy. Needless to say Sandy was unsuccessful at making the quick entrance back into the dinghy and went for a dump! Sandy is a little apprehensive about the entire dinghy surfing thing as she had had a previous bad experience so I do not think that this will help her confidence.

1230: Marova headed north and we pulled up anchor and head out out to the National Park islands. 

19*33N 105* 6.4 W

We found a nice place to anchor between Isla Novilla and Isla Cocinas. It is a popular place for snorkeling and there were a lot of dinghies on the beach so we opted to wait till the crowd dispersed. Then I swam into the beach and David followed along in the dinghy. Swimming back was a bit of a challenge as the current was quite strong - my reason for having David follow beside me in the dinghy.

 

1530: one of the couples stopped by to say hello. They were also from Vancouver Island. We invited them on board and shared some stories. We have seen them off and on during our voyage but had never actually talked to them. Margaret and Dave, on Heart and Soul are actually from Parksville. Once the two David's started talking they discovered that they knew a lot of the same people. It is a small world!

 

 

 

07-Feb-2014 Dave and Margaret came by to invite us for drinks and apps later on in the day. They were going over to another beach on the south side of Cocinas so we agreed to meet them over there. 

There are two things that will be memorable about this place. First of all it is the prettiest place we have been to so far. The water is a beautiful color and the beach is glorious. We did some snorkeling and walking around. It was so pretty I did not want to leave

 

The second thing is running into someone from Sook, or I should say Tugwell Creek who knows our friends Dave and Liz really well. They have a place about 5 cabins east of theirs. What was I saying earlier about it being a small world?They come down to Mexico in their Motor Home every year and this is one of their favorite spots.

The coincidences continued as we visited with Margaret and Dave for happy hour. 

08-Feb-2014 

1000: anchor up and heading south

Cruise of the Confidence 31-Jan-2014 Bandaras Bay

20-Jan-2014 Chacala to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle20*44.85N 105*22.25W

0900: set the main and pulled up anchor. Winds were light again and just off the nose so we mostly motor sailed. But the sky was clear and the seas were relatively calm. We only had 46 nm to go so we decided to dawdle. 

We hugged the shore and went into Bahia de Jaltemba to check things out.

 There is something that I was not expecting from the coast of Mexico once you got away from the baja and that is the beauty of this entire coastline. The beaches are numerous and the mountains beautiful.

But before I go any further I think it is time for a history and geography lesson. Get out your atlas and follow along. Bahia de Banderas, which means "Bay of Flags" was named when Francisco Cortez arrived here in 1525 and was greeted by many natives carrying banners. Well at least that is the way the legend goes. It is the largest bay on the west coast of mainland Mexico, stretching 23 nm from Punta de Mita on the north and Cabo Corrientes to the south.

Banderas is a beautiful bay with miles and miles of beaches, impressive Sierra Madre Occidental mountains, quaint coastal towns and tropical vegetation. The main towns that are popular with tourists are Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. It is also a popular place for cruisers as their are wonderful marinas, near perfect day sailing conditions and protected waters for anchoring.

1300: we came around Punta Mita and entered the bay. Our original plan was to anchor just inside the point but we were a little turned off by all of the high rises and development on the point. It also has a history of being quite rolling as the swells tend to wrap around the point. We had made such good time getting here that we decided to continue on to La Cruz.

1500: anchor was dropped amongst many other boats. It is a busy anchorage with a lot of room for everyone. 

La Cruz is really the shortened name for the town - La Cruz de Huanacaxtle - and is named for the Huanacaxtle shade tree that is common in the area.

 It is a lovely town and is very popular with Canadians. One can see the high rises and big hotels from Puerto Vallarta but the town itself has managed to stay small and unobtrusive. We had considered moving into the marina after a few days but changed our mind as we did not get a very welcoming feeling from the marina. If we brought our dinghy into town the marina charged us to keep it there. There are marinas that do that but that usually includes use of the showers and laundry. The marina wanted $4.00 to dock the dinghy and another  $10.00 to have a shower. For that we might as well stay at the dock.

We took the bus into Bucerias which is the next town as you go south around the bay. We actually went there to provision at the Mega - a superstore type grocery store. Then we walked around the town and down along the beach. Canadians were everywhere. We found a great coffee roasting place and checked out the outside market stalls. David seemed to be really taken with the muscicians - I think he just liked their outfits, especially the hat with the pompoms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then back to the boat where David set up my new reading room!

 

So after a few days of touring around and visiting with Mike and Judy and Gunner (their sea dog) we decided to head over to Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta where, for the same amount of money, we were able to take full advantage of the resort. The winds were quite calm that day so we motored over. Our timing was perfect, however, as we were able to take part in a bit of the parade of panga's that were going over to Bucerias for the annual blessing of the fleet. You can see how some of the panga's went all out to decorate their boats.

 

The Paradise Village marina is situated at Nuevo Vallarta, around the picturesque canals of the estuary.

 The area is very well protected so it was nice to be at a dock and away from the swell. The resort is rated 5 stars and the marina is rated as the best in Mexico and one of the top 100 in the world. We were expecting it to be a bit pretentious but it really wasn't. We would recommend it to anyone coming by sea or air. But it definitely is not Mexican. As I write this blog I am sitting at a Starbucks drinking a latte and surrounded by Gringo's and Canadian's. I found out Gringo's only refers to Americans. It is a little bizarre to say the least but it is also kinda nice to feel like I am back home - minus the palm trees and 28C temperature. And as I look up I see a couple from Victoria that we had met back in Morro Bay. How bizarre is that!

Some of the pluses from a boater's perspective was the potable water at the dock, secured moorage, pump out facilities, propane fill ups and great showers. David really appreciated not having to schlep water to the boat!

And of course I loved the pools - especially the lap pool - where I managed to work up to a mile a day. There are two other pools closer to the beach, one with lots of activities, especially for kids, and a second quieter pool more for adults and poolside service. But I still liked my lap pool.

We could take the bus into PV which was only 7 km away. There was nothing about PV that was familiar to either of us. And if this was my option as a place to fly into I think I would still choose Mazatlan! But the city is very neat and there is tons of shopping and eating establishments. But when you walk along the malecon (sea walk) all you see are gringos. You hardly even hear any Spanish.

So after a couple of hours of that we headed back to the boat and went for a pleasant dinghy ride through the canals to cool off. We did not see and crocodiles but we saw lots of iguanas.

 

We stayed for a couple more days to provision. David did an oil change on the outboard.  David did a real thorough cleaning of the boat including the stainless. And I went to the lap pool. Laundry was being done at the laviandira so one could say that I basically goofed off all week - except for the workouts at the pool and making dinners! I can not help it if David does not like swimming! So I have to swim for both of us.

And of course more beautiful romanitic sunsets.

I was going to wait and finish the entire visit at Puerto Vallarta and the rest of the bay before posting but decided to post this now. So part two will come next week.

See you then!