La Cruz to the Baja

Fish for lunch; a pompano jack (we think)



Frigate Bird, Isla Isabella


Full Quiver race Crew


2100, Thursday, 25 Mar, 2010, At anchor, Isla Isabella
We are at anchor at the eastern anchorage at Isla Isabella, some 48 miles from San Blas. We are on our way to the Baja side and this is our usual intermediary spot on that route. It is a bumpy anchorage tonight with a moderate wind blowing between the 2 islands protecting the anchorage. We are protected from the southwesterly swell which we can hear pounding the shore on the opposite side of the point to the west. We’ll be here for at least one night and maybe 2.
Our trip from La Cruz north was uneventful. We had very little wind so we had to power most of the way to Mantanchen Bay just outside of San Blas, midge country, and I don’t use that term loosely. This place is renowned for its flying pest problem. Most visitors come away from San Blas with welts over most of their exposed bodies. We are prepared with bug sprays and fine screening to keep the tiny bugs from getting into the cabin. We soon discover that the lotions we have are not as effective as we hoped but our screens work.
We stayed one night in the Bay and followed our friends Bill and Linda (Tanque de Tiburon) into the estuary the following morning. We were joined outside the entrance to the channel by SV Last Resort who writes articles for a sailing magazine. None of us was prepared for the conditions at the bar entrance. San Blas is not known for its adverse bar conditions so we weren’t anticipating anything unusual but it soon became apparent that the SW swell and the outgoing current was producing quite the swell at the entrance to the channel. To make a long story short, Fran screamed, we surfed and Last resort got it all on video, all, that is except the part where they almost rolled over. So see the video go to You Tube and search for Knock Down at San Blas. Gosling is the dark hull boat next in line.
We were welcomed, as usual, by Norm Goldie, the unofficial greeter and self-proclaimed senior gringo of San Blas. He has lived here for some 40+ years and lately has begun to get quite cantankerous and nasty to cruisers, particularly those who have offered assistance to their counterparts to navigate the channel to the marina or the anchorage sites in the estuary. He still considers himself to be the sole source of assistance and, until this year was cajoling cruisers for a $20 “donation” for his services. He still holds court in the town square every evening offering his assistance to all who ask. There is a very good letter published in the march issue of Latitude 38 (may be online also) on the subject.
We spent 2 nights at anchor in the estuary and commuted back and forth to the Singlar marina where Bill and Linda were tied up. We took advantage of the free showers, laundry and internet as their “guests”. We also met another interesting couple, Russ and Jodie on Smok-N-Blues, aluminum Peterson 44 that used to be owned by Dennis Connors of America’s Cup fame. They are on the hard there getting the boat stripped down to bare metal. Looks like Dennis used a lot of fairing compound...
Our outbound crossing of the bar wasn’t as exciting as the entry. We left under similar tide conditions but the swell was considerably lower than the 8-10 ft we experienced on the way in. Our passage to Isabella started off smooth with a close reach but the wind soon increased and backed to the WNW, our course for Isabella. In order to make it before dark we powered the rest of the way.
Wind conditions should be good over the next few days for us to continue on our way to Muertos and La Paz.
Monday, 29 Mar10, Anchored in the old harbour, Mazatlan
We weren’t planning on diverting to Mazatlan but a predicted 30-35 kt blow down the middle of the Sea convinced us that Mazatlan was a better destination. We departed in company with Tanque de Tiburon on the morning of the 26th into a light northerly breeze that increased to 25-20 by the afternoon. The seas generated by the wind were quite uncomfortable to pound into but we made good time. Our initial ETA was about 2300 but Tanque was delayed by another broken belt a few hours out and, just 3 miles outside the harbour, their engine quit. We decided to stay with them until daybreak and towed them into the anchorage the following morning. Thankfully, the wind had died but seas were running 4-5 ft on the beam all the way in.
The wind picked up considerably that afternoon and we were quite comfortable to be in a nice sheltered anchorage. Last night Tanque thanked us for the tow by taking us out to dinner at Fat Fish, our favourite rib place.
The weather gurus are saying that the winds are diminishing over the next few days so all those bound for the Baja will be leaving soon. We have decided to depart this afternoon while there is some wind left. Now that we are further north we will have a better wind angle towards La Paz. We’ll have to leave Tanque behind so that they can get their engine repaired but we will be in good company with Optical Illusion expecting to start their crossing tomorrow morning.
2000, Wednesday, 31 Mar 10; Alongside Marina Palmyra La Paz
We arrived in La Paz at about 1000 this morning after a 2 day crossing from Mazatlan. We are tied up at Marina Palmyra where we stayed last year. There are several other boats here that we know and others are arriving in the next few days. With Bayfest next weekend and the Latitude 38 Sailfest this weekend marina accommodations are at a premium. Because of our tight schedule, we have decided to stay only a few days and we will miss both events.
We departed Maz in mid-afternoon on Sunday followed by Tanque de Tiburon. Their engine problem turned out to be a minor one so they were ready to depart with us.
The weather guru had been predicting that the northerly winds would abate that night so we wanted to get a head start. The first 10 hours were quite uncomfortable with 15-18 kt headwinds and 5-8 ft seas but by early morning the wind abated and the seas began to flatten out. The rest of the trip was a diesel powered cruise on flat seas with little or no wind. Flying fish were seen everywhere and also the odd dolphin. On passages like this we are able to chat amongst ourselves and keep up-to-date with local conditions by VHF radio. During the long night watches this becomes a welcomed distraction. Another factor that made the night passages so enjoyable was the full moon.
Tomorrow we will be going out to the Magote to swim with the whale sharks. Monday we will see about swimming with the sea lions at Los Islotes. This will be a big thing for Fran; thank goodness whale sharks only eat plankton.

Banderas Bay Race Week and bad news arrived today

1825, Sunday, 21 Mar 2010, Alongside Marina Nayarit, La Cruz
It has already been a week since we arrived, seems like yesterday. Our passage up from Tenecatita was good and, for the most part, quite smooth. We had to power most of the way but we did manage a few hours under sail. We made it in just under 24 hours arriving at dawn after rounding a calm Cabo Corrietes. The weatherman got it right this time.....
We arrived at the marina with the boat show in full swing and preparations for the Banderas Bay Sailing Race week in high gear. Many friends were here or arrived within a few days. Kirk (Freedom Kirkland) and Bill and Linda (Tanque de Tiburon) were already here and it was nice to meet up with them again after so long. It was amazing to see the changes to the marina forecourt after just a few weeks away. The entire boat show site, that had been a quagmire of mud with heavy machinery working day and night to fill in, is now a solid surface. The boat show wasn’t very elaborate and consisted mainly of power boats, engines and outboards (all Mercury products), condo developments and a few local marine oriented companies exhibiting their wares, however, the local government found it important enough to shell out some serious money to beautify the streets to the marina and the marina property itself, not to mention the great expense of the filled in forecourt. They even had the Mexican navy exhibiting their stuff, providing security and the usual power, stewards, food, drink, etc for a “by invitation only” cocktail party on the last night. We didn’t have our cocktail regalia so watched it all from the dock.
Race Week was a blast. J-G volunteered to crew on Full Quiver (40 ft, Beneteau First) with Steve and Linda (Warren Peace) and John (Naida). Steve’s (Full Quiver) brother and sister-in-law also participated. After a few days of practice we raced for 3 days eking out a 3rd place out of 9 boats. After day 2 we were in a 3-way tie for 2nd place with a Columbia-Tripp 43 and a J-80 driven by a hot crew. On the last day the J-80 smoked us but the Columbia that had pressed very hard on previous days, fell back early and stayed out of the running.
1900: We just got an e-mail informing us that our good friend Vicki has succumbed to cancer. We had such a great time earlier this month with her and her husband Bert on board . We will surely miss her but we are also fortunate for the quality time we had on board with both of them.
We will be leaving here tomorrow morning and heading north to San Blas to stage for a crossing to the Sea of Cortez. We will try to make it directly to Isla Partida or Isla San Fransico and get some quality “Sea” time before heading to Mazatlan where Fran will leave to return to Vancouver to look after our daughter-in-law after her surgery. She plans on being away only 10 days so we hope to be able to make it back to the Baja side in time for the Loreto Fest, an event we have managed to miss for the past 3 years.

Waiting for a weather window in Tenecatita

We only stayed overnight in Barra this time and left the following afternoon after refuelling and taking water. Our departure from the fuelling dock was really slick with J-G using the dinghy as a tug to swing the bow around into the wind. We crossed over to Maleque and had a lovely afternoon with Bert and Vicky. After a rocky night in the anchorage we departed for another of our favourite anchorages, Cuestacomate, (the secret anchorage) where we enjoyed another excellent ceviche at the palapa restaurant that we have dined each time we have passed by. The following morning we headed to Tenecatita, about 12 miles up the coast.
We have been at anchor here in Tenecatita for the past five days amongst a large group of boats, 22 at last count but that number changes daily with vessels departing and arriving. Most of the vessels are starting to head north towards Banderas Bay, many to attend the racing series beginning on the 16th, some to assemble with other cruisers heading for the Marqusas while others are beginning their migration to northern ports where they will store their boats for the summer.
This year's group is quite different from last year when we had a "mayor" and lots of organised events on the water and ashore. There are many kid boats here this year and we seem to be in the midst of that group. Yesterday the water around us was alive with children (3-9) swimming, diving off boats and being ferried in to play with those aboard the boats around us. An ex-pat Canadian on a catamaran called Watchagonnado seems to be the nucleus of the activity. It is nice to hear the giggling and shrieks of joy as they dive off the boats and swim back to the boarding ladders.
This is an ideal anchorage for relaxation and the enjoyment of the cruising life. The long beach is bordered by the estuary at our end and the village of La Manzanilla about 5 miles away. There is only one hotel on the beach and it is relatively quiet with very few occupants this year. There is a small daytime restaurant on the beach but it is open only on weekends when campers set up on the beach adjacent the estuary. There are very few lights ashore so nights are dark and stars are bright. The fresh water from the estuary brings a lot of material down from the lagoon so biological activity in the bay is enhanced with many species of birds, fish, and night-time phosphorescence.
It has been a relaxing few days. Rosie has had her daily runs on the beach, a rare treat this year, and Fran and J-G have been able to snorkel every day. Steve and Linda (Warren Peace) arrived a few days ago to wait out, with us, the strong winds around Cabo Corrientes. According to Don, the weather guru, things should calm down by the weekend so there will undoubtedly be a mass exodus come Saturday.
We are also waiting for Steve and Pam (Full Quiver) to arrive from Barra. They should be here tomorrow. J-G and Steve (Warren Peace) will be crewing on Full Quiver for the race series. Following that we will carry on up to the Sea of Cortez for a few weeks until Fran has to fly back to Vancouver to attend to our daughter in law who will be undergoing a serious operation. Hopefully recovery will be quick and Fran will be back in time for a few final weeks before putting Gosling away for the summer. We intend to make for Mazatlan for the period she is away. J-G will have the boat to himself and will be able to get a lot of projects accomplished in that while Fran is away.
We should be away from here by Friday or Saturday and we hope to make the transit to La Cruz non-stop, weather permitting.

Heading North

1930, Monday, 01 March 2010: Barra de Navidad
We are back at anchor at Barra de Navidad for a few days after departing Las Hadas this morning. We had Bert and Vicky Blattman aboard for the past few days, good friends from Victoria, who are holidaying in the town of Melaque. They joined us last Friday and left us after we anchored this afternoon. It was great seeing friends from home. Vicky and Bert had been aboard last year for a day-sail. This time they got to experience a few nights at sea, well, at anchor, at sea.... As we left the bay we were all treated to the sight of a mother and calf fin whale cavorting a few hundred feet for the boat.
On Saturday we had another of those strange phenomena that is making this season a memorable one. During the SSB morning net we learnt of the earthquake in Chile and the tsunami warning that had been issued as a result. The next few hours were spent informing all the other boats and ensuring that they were away from shallow water by the time the tsunami wave reached our location. Although it wasn’t expected to cause any problems no one wanted to tempt fate so all boats weighed anchor and headed for deep water. The predicted time of arrival of the wave was 1106. We got word at 1111 that the wave had passed us by and was only 0.2 of a foot, measured by one of the Mexican weather buoys offshore. When we got back to the anchorage it was more obvious that something had occurred. People ashore reported a period of low water (1-2 ft) and a small rise when it arrived but unusual currents were observed for several hours in the marina harbour. Another box to tick off on the boater’s list....
We weren’t able to see much of the Winter Olympics during the past 2 weeks but we were determined to see the last day’s events and closing ceremonies. We were fortunate to get access to a large screen TV with coverage in Spanish at a local restaurant. It wasn’t quite the same as the hockey play by play we are used to back home but the excitement was the same and with a good representation of both US and Canadian supporters we applauded the winners and raved at the success Canada earned overall. What a show the closing ceremonies were! It made us proud to be Canadians even though the beer was Corona.
We finished our 4th and last lesson in Spanish on Thursday. We’d like to think we have improved but only time and practice will tell. If nothing else these lessons made us realize a lot of bad habits and misuses of words and expressions.
While here we have taken the opportunity to revisit Colima, the state capital, and Comala close to the volcano. Four years ago we had done this on our own; this time we went with a tour guide (actually, the ex-husband of our Spanish teacher who is a taxi driver). It was well worth the extra few dollars. We saw many extras including an exotic fruit farm, brick factory, Mayan ruins and a very nice museum dedicated to the Mexican Artist, Hidalgo. While in Colima we saw the annual horse parade, a real treat, with dancing horses and every kind of livery.
The remainder of our time at Las Hadas was spent in an idyllic haze. We had full use of the resort’s superb pool and grounds, all for a paltry $30/week docking fee. We spent our time relaxing, swimming, chatting with newfound and old friends and wondering what we would do next week when this was all behind us. It was hard to bid farewell to the “gang”: Steve and Linda (Warren Peace, Whiterock) who have been there for the past month and plan on remaining for another few weeks, Pam and Steve (Full Quiver, San Francisco) arrived just a few days ago, Kristen and Ned (Bristol Blue, Seattle), who were with us previously in Barra, Hal and Cathy (Airborne, Vancouver) and many others too numerous to mention.
While there we also bid farewell to Christy and John (Indian Summer) who were headed South, We heard from them on the net this morning that they were departing Zihuatanejo for Huatuco in the next day or so.

Adios.
Las Hadas with Vicky and Bert


The Colima volcano and Mayan ruins

Relaxing at Las Hadas

Las Hadas, Manzanillo Bay, 2200, Thursday, 18 Feb 2010
We have been anchored off the beach resort of Las Hadas in Manzalillo Bay for the past 5 days, where we have had a quite the mix of weather. We had light rain most of last night and all day yesterday after suffering through a few days of sweltering temperatures. This evening there was another “wind event” that peaked at about 30 kts here in the anchorage. There was lots of chatter on VHF about boats dragging anchor in Santiago. We’ll find out tomorrow how boats fared in other locations that were more exposed.
Manzanillo is a large industrial, centre with one of the most important commercial ports on the west coast of Mexico. The port and city centre is on the south side of the bay. The town of Santiago is on the north side and features most of the resorts and tourist havens. It also has the most sheltered anchorages for cruisers with Las Hadas and Santiago bay. Cruisers tend to spend a lot of time here because of the excellent local facilities, shopping and warm clear waters. It is also a convenient stop-over for vessels heading north or south. This is a favourite haunt for Linda and Steve (Warren Peace) who have been here a few weeks already and have seen many cruisers come and go.
Today there are 8 boats enjoying this location. 300 pesos (about $26 Cdn) buys access to the dinghy dock and the pool and beach at the resort. With the heat we are having we are taking full advantage of it. There are very few guests at the resort, about 80 (capacity for 500+) so they don’t mind us boaters. Unfortunately they don’t receive the TV feed for any station covering the Olympics so we have to contend ourselves to see the daily reports on the news web pages. Before leaving Barra on Monday we were able to see the opening ceremonies at the Grand Bay Resort a large complex across the bay from the town of Barra. One big advantage of this location (Las Hadas) is access to free WIFI provided by one of the restaurants bordering the Bay. We support it by having the odd meal or attending their happy hours.
When we arrived Gil and Lexie (Sunday) were here with their guests. They left the following morning for Zijuatanejo and their way south. After our close association for most of this and past 2 seasons it was a tearful farewell. We hope we will cross paths again in the near future.
We have begun Spanish lessons with Linda and Steve. Twice weekly we taxi or bus to Santiago for lessons with Theresa, a Canadian who has lived here for the better part of 20 years. Yesterday we met several of the boats in the anchorage at Santiago at a get-together at Stan’s place. Stan was a cruiser for many years but sold his boat and moved ashore when he arrived in Santiago. He has been an invaluable asset to the cruiser community for the past few years with his SSB and online weather information.
We will stay here for another week or 2. We are expecting Bert and Vicky from Victoria to arrive in a few weeks for their spring holiday in Maleque. We have arranged to have them meet us here and we will take them for a few days sailing up to Maleque before we start our trek northwards back to the Sea of Cortez. There is a lot to do and see. On Saturday we are planning a trip to Colima where there will be a horse parade at noon and then we will continue to Comala to see the volcano again (we saw it 3 years ago when we were here in Royal Exchange). This time we will be on a private tour with Steve and Linda. Ned and Kristen (Bristol Blue) have volunteered to dog-sit Rosie for the day.
Rosie seems to be getting the hang of life aboard, as long as we are at anchor or alongside. While at anchor she needs her daily walk so it is J-G’s task to dinghy her ashore for a 30+ minute walk each day. She gets a lot of attention from passers-by and is a very good and mostly obedient pet. She still isn’t comfortable while at sea but we are hopeful that she will adapt.
TTFN

Lazing in Barra de Navidad

1300, 2 Feb 10, Anchored in the Barra de Navidad Lagoon
What an idyllic spot to be! Although it is a muddy shallow bottom and a 10-12 minute boat ride to the town it is a wonderful anchorage, well protected and not too hot, thanks to the land and sea breezes we have every day without fail. There are also a lot of our cruising mates here. Bill and Janet (Optical Illusion) arrived from Santiago Bay soon after we did as did Don and Lynn (Prairie Seashell) who we hadn’t seen in 2 years. To our relief Sunday arrived a few days ago. We hadn’t heard from them in a few weeks and we knew they had had to weather out the gales in the Sea of Cortez that had delayed us on our way down.
We have also met more boats from Victoria and Vancouver Island (Angus and Rolande – Periclees), Goff and Linda (Curare), Joe and Deb (Pacific Jade) and (Deb and Lynn - Dolphin Tales, who we had met aboard Sea Turtle IV in Victoria just before they left). Out of 20 boats in the lagoon almost half are Canadian.
It has been raining on and off most of the day, a very rare occasion and the first rain we have experienced this far south at this time of year. It caught us by surprise in the middle of the night having lightly doused Fran’s side f the bed (she is closest to the hatch). We are looking forward to another day of rain. It certainly is different to be hunkered down with nothing else to do but read, watch movies, play card games with the neighbours or doing some indoor projects. It was also quite surprising to see the number of boats that wanted a visit from the French Baker who sells his wares by skiff from boat to boat. Everyone, it seemed, wanted a pastry of some kind today (comfort food?); strange phenomenon. Unfortunately for Fran he was sold out of chocolate croissants but her disappointment was short-lived. She bounced back, declared this a soup day and her creative brain went into overdrive in making a superb pumpkin soup.
Nothing much has changed here in Barra over the past 3 years. The Sands Hotel still provides the cruisers with a dinghy landing, a convenient bar, WIFI and a pool to use with your 20 peso daily fee. Market day is still on Wednesday and the same gadget stands and tourist treasure dealers still offer the same junk for sale year after year. The DVD sellers always do a brisk business at 20 pesos each or 3 for 50 pesos. Avatar is already on the stands here. Fran’s hairdresser is still there but only provided a pedicure this year for both of us. Yes, even J-G got one. It was long overdue with all of the calluses formed over the past few months of wearing sandals. Our lavanderia is still there and still does our week’s laundry for less than $10.
The morning net covers most of the anchorage areas along this part of the coast including Tenecatita, Malque, Barra (lagoon and the marina) and anyone who can hear the net in Santiago Bay and Las Hadas in Mazanillo bay. It is always very informative and we have shared in the net controller duties on various occasions
On the weekend we helped Phil (Mannasea) prep the local school in Colimilla for painting. Phil has taken this as a project this year and we had promised to help him out. Although we are a month late we will be able to get the outside of the school done this year. The interior will be next season’s task. While the boys were scrapping Fran was painting the figures on the boys and girls washrooms. This weekend she will fancy up the kindergarten’s outhouse with painted flowers.
The solar panels have been a bit of a letdown. Although they put out 4-5 amps during the day they have just been maintaining what the boat draws during the day. At night the batteries drain slowly requiring an alternative charging method to bring them back to normal and today, with a cloudy day, they aren’t much use. Fortunately we brought down a 2000w generator this year and we have been running it a few hours a day charging the batteries back to full charge. Last year we had to run the main engine a more expensive proposition than the small amount of gas we now burn. We are still hampered by the lack of a suitable water-maker to satisfy our domestic water requirements. We can average 7-10 days on the 120 gallons in the tanks we have on board and then we have to drive to a water source for a refill or dinghy in jugs of water from ashore. By Thursday we will have to go to the fuel dock for a refill. The water-maker we have is only capable of producing 1.7 gals/hr so we only use it to make our drinking water and that is done outside the anchorages where the quality of the raw sea water is not suitable.
Thursday, 4 Feb 2010
WOW!!!! We have just lived through the wettest and wildest few days of our entire time in Mexico. We have had over 6 inches of rain over the past few days, winds to hurricane force, albeit a very short burst, and very unsettled weather.
It started 2 nights ago as we were playing cards on Sunday. We have only seen a thunderstorm on 2 other occasions; one was in Mazatlan only a few weeks ago and the other many years ago when we were in a timeshare. This one lasted the better part of 4 hours with a superb (and scary) show of lightning. We got back aboard by about 10 with the storm in full swing, lightning all around but none close to the anchorage. Fran went to bed but J-G stayed up just in case things got worse – and they certainly did. At about 23:30 a violent gust of wind which peaked at about 70 kts hit the anchorage with full force. The boat heeled over about 30 degrees and the air was white with a spray. Thank God the anchor held. We may have dragged a bit but everyone did, some more than others. Several boats were moving after everything settled down, having dragged enough that they needed to re-anchor. By 2 AM the wind had abated completely but it continued to rain for the next 24 hours. We have had over 6 inches of rain. Today we are back to nice sunny weather but all the boats look like Chinese laundries with all of their wet things hanging out to dry.
This is an El Nino year and things can be expected to be very different. Hopefully we won’t see any more of this type of weather.
We plan to be here for another few days and do some painting at the school over the weekend then head south to Manzanillo.

0910, 18 Jan 2010: Enroute to Jaltemba
We have just departed Mantenchen (correct spelling this time) Bay, San Blas enroute to Jaltemba. It is a short ride of about 30 miles and we should be in by early afternoon. We had a quiet night in calm conditions with hardly any motion. It is definitely warmer 500 miles south of Guaymas and we had to keep the fan on all night to remain comfortable in the aft cabin. Also in the anchorage was Relax (Bob and Gisele) and Alobar (Joel, Dave and Robby). Both vessels had left from Guaymas and Alobar had been in the yard with us a week before we left. The reputation of this bay being “midge heaven” didn’t pan out, however, we did use the hatch netting that Fran has made and Dave. The guys on Alobar were covered with nasty looking bite marks this morning.
The remainder of our ride into Mazatlan was uneventful. We arrived at the El Cid marina mid-morning, a few hours after high tide. There is always a surge in this marina as it is located a few hundred yards from the harbour mouth but we didn’t expect the current. This was Fran’s first experience with a cross current and our alongside wasn’t pretty but no damage occurred to Gosling or the large cruiser we brushed against…. and, with the help of Dave (Star Dancer) and George (Shamrock) we were secured alongside in short order. Lots of fenders, extra lines and a tight tie kept us from moving too badly in the slip but the noise from the lines sliding in and out of the fairleads was always present. We wrapped old t-shirts at the friction points and that helped somewhat.
Except for the surge problem the marina was very nice, with all the resort services available to the visiting cruisers. At $1.00 (US)/ft it is a good thing we hadn’t planned a long stay but it was cheaper than marina Mazatlan by 10 cents/ft. We didn’t check out the Singlar dock but it appeared quite full when we passed by the following day in the dinghy. We had quite a light show the first night with a rare thunderstorm which resulted from the storm track further north. We later found out that the same system generated very high winds in San Carlos, causing 7 boats to go ashore in the bay and a waterspout to form in Banderas Bay just off the marina in La CruzRepairs were the order of the day for the 2-day stay. I procured another piece of stainless for the wind vane from Rick Cummings (Mazatlan Marine services) and with the help from Dave& Robby (Alobar) we had it repaired in no time flat. I tried to get a tech to look at the radio but all were too busy so I decided to tackle a few last possibilities myself. Inspecting the connection to the backstay antenna I found a lot of corrosion. A good cleaning of the backstay under the connection, a slathering of di-electric grease (thanks Trish) and a new section of stripped wire made a world of difference. I then tackled the software and discovered a discrepancy in the port assignment. I was amazed to find that everything worked perfectly afterwards. Sometimes I really surprise myself!!!!
Fran contacted her friend Dianne (a fellow line-dancer from Victoria) and with her husband we all went out for dinner at Fat Fish. The spareribs and the guitarist were just as great as 3 years ago.
Saturday morning was the local swap meet, a big event in Mazatlan. In getting the dinghy and outboard ready I found another problem. The hose from the tank to the motor and the bulb were rock hard and one of the connections at the bulb snapped when I tried to straighten them out. Furthermore, someone has decided that they needed my dead-man switch key more than I did. Luckily there was an outboard motor shop just down the street and I was able to get all the parts I needed. How many more “issues” will I find? The swap meet was quite fun and we got rid of a few items and picked up a few treasures, including an older copy of the Nobletech Navigation Suite. I later found out that the copy should have included a dongle so, at present, it is just a nice box containing pretty disks….
We departed later that morning, this time fully aware of the current and using it to our advantage. Fran did a phenomenal job of leaving the dock and her approach to the fuel dock was perfect. The boat preceding us, a 60 ft with bow thrusters, had lots of problems..... Too bad they weren’t there to see our manoeuvres.
We powered down the beaches and made sail when we were out of the shelter of the offshore islands and sailed all night down the coast with a following wind and sea, dodging fishing boats all night. By morning the wind petered out and we powered the remainder of the way, some 20 miles.
During Fran’s watch she heard the bilge pump running quite often; too often! We discovered yet another loose hose clamp on the fresh water supply line, this time at the engine room bulkhead. By that time we had lost most of the domestic water supply. Luckily we are only a few days from La Cruz. We should have enough to last until then. The splashing of the water onto the hot engine also caused the propane alarm to go off. It is refreshing to know that the detector can sense almost any vaporized agent, steam in this case. A few weeks earlier it detected the propellant from the spray paint I used in the engine room. I rather expected more leaks to occur with the new, higher pressure pump. I think a re-plumbing job is in the offing to remove most of the extra joins that have been added over the years.
1830, 23 Jan 2010, Slip 9B16 Marina Nayarit, La Cruz
We have been alongside for the past 3 days, enjoying the relative calm of this new marina. There are a lot of boats here that we have met along the way; Indian Summer, Full Quiver, Alobar and Freedom Kirkland to mention a few. We are waiting out a high wind and high swell event before we proceed south. The swell is the result of the terrible weather that has plagued the Pacific coast over the past week. When we arrived we were shown the photos taken by Steve (Full Quiver) of the waterspout mentioned above.


After our departure from Mantenchen Bay we made it to Jaltemba without incident, having to power all the way in light winds. We spent most of the afternoon and evening with Bruce and Marg Walton, Victoria friends who spend a few months in a condo in Rincon de Guyabitos.
The following morning we weighed anchor and continued south, again in calm conditions, around Punta Mita and into Banderas Bay to Marina Riviera Nayarit a relatively new marina where we had stayed last spring for a few days and at half the price of the El Cid it is more affordable. An hour out of Jaltemba we caught our first Dorado of the season.

Life alongside is sometimes busier than at sea with projects to accomplish and supplies to get. Without a vehicle we have to rely on others or, more commonly, on local transport which turns an hour errand into a half-day event. Luckily we were able to share a vehicle with the crew of Alobar the other day and got our Sam’s Club shopping done in short order. Today we went to the swap meet at Marina Nuevo Vallarta where we met up with Lin and Lee (Royal Exchange) and caught up with their news of the past year. An odd swap meet for JG; he sold an item and didn’t buy anything!!!
We have been out every night since we got here, playing Mexican Train with friends and listening to jazz and rock bands at some of the local establishments. Tonight, for a change we are eating onboard (Dorado) and enjoying a movie night on Gosling (with popcorn). We expect to be on our way south by Tuesday.