Snug Harbor at Grand Bay Hotel Marina in Barra de Navidad

My friends Dave and Anneke Dury arrived Friday afternoon and I joined them for cocktails on their boat, Paramour, and then dinner  in town.  Unfortunately, the friends that were going to visit them for the next week also cancelled at the last minute.  Something about one of them just got a job.

Water Taxi Headed for Barra de Navidad from Grand Bay Hotel

Saturday morning I was able to repair the macerater with the spare I had. Then Joe McCann, who I worked with for many years and now lives in Barra, came for a visit and we hooked up with the Duries and dinghied over to a restaurant in the lagoon for lunch. Stu and Julie Conway showed up mid-afternoon and we decided to do a provisioning run so that we could push off early Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we headed for Cuastecomate, which is also referred to as the Secret Anchorage as it is quite small and you cannot see it as you transit the coast.  We entered waypoints from my cruising guide into the chartplotter, which showed the anchorage to be on dry land.  We motored to the general area of the coast and took a kind of spiral shaped course in.   Eventually the little town and anchorage emerged right where the cruising guide indicated.  There were only a couple boats there so we anchored.

When we settled into Cuastecomate I imagined I was Marlon Perkins coming on location to shoot an episode for Wild Kingdom on sea birds in Mexico.  The quantity of birds, particularly pelicans, swimming, making racket, and repeatedly swooping past Snug Harbor on dive bombing runs was pretty cool. We also saw frigate birds, flocks of birds that looked like small egrets and other flocks of birds that with white heads that looked like a prettier version of a sea gull.  The sea gull like birds all stayed close together and were constantly bleating in a way that reminded me of a cat complaining.  All this was nonstop into the evening.

Cuastecomate Waterfront Activity, both Human and Avian

Pelican taking Off at Cuastecomate

On Monday morning we upped anchor for the 11 mile trip to Bahia Tenacatita.  We made it by lunch and then launched the kayaks and Stu and Julie paddled into shore, thru the surf and then up the river and mangrove swamp that is  referred to as the jungle cruise. They teamed up with two other couples that were also in kayaks and got about 3 miles up the mangrove swamp, almost to the end, but the end had been allowed to become overgrown (by the owners at the other end to block access) and they turned around. They came back pretty tired to Snug Harbor having seen lots of birds and some iguanas.  They were also pretty wet after paddling out thru the surf.

Stu and Julie Conway Prepare for the Jungle Kayak Tour

Tuesday morning we headed for Chemala, 29 miles to the northwest. We started out sailing with the morning breeze but that petered out and we turned on the diesel. We passed Punta Farralon (Point Farallon) where there is a lighthouse and an unusual bowl shaped monument. The monument is called La Copa del Sol (The Cup of the Sun).

La Copa del Sol Monument at Punta Farallon

When we got about half way to Chemala,  we checked the weather forecast for the next few days and saw that it was projected to blow down the coast at 20 knots the following evening.  This was when we had planned to make the last 100 mile leg to Banderas Bay. Motoring into a 20 knot breeze in the open ocean is no fun as the waves build quickly and the boat slows way down as it bucks thru the waves.  It also has a tendency to turn you green. So we decided to skip Chemela and keep motoring on thru the night to get back to Banderas Bay before the wind and waves got too big.  It was a good decision as the wind never got over 14 knots and we were able to drop anchor at La Cruz the following morning at 5:30 AM without taking too much of a beating.

Later Wednesday morning we took a slip in the La Cruz Marina so that it would be easier to visit the town.

Stu and Julie Conway in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

We took a walking tour of the town and were hailed down by a friendly restaurant owner who tried to entice us to have lunch.  We succumbed and feasted on ceviche, coconut shrimp and avocado halves stuffed with shrimp.

Lunch in La Cruz

Julie headed back to the boat to relax for a while and Stu and Charley set out to find Bill and Julie on the Catalina 470 Voyager.  Bill and Julie have been cruising in Mexico since they left San Francisco in the fall of 2010.  They were enjoying themselves and had open ended plans to continue cruising in Mexico.  After leaving Voyager, we wandered the docks a bit, talked to a variety of cruisers and learned that many of the restaurants in La Cruz have pretty good music at night to attract patrons.  There are a variety of venues featuring Jazz, Flamenco, Rock and other genres.

On Thursday we headed back to Paradise Village.  The marina was full so they somewhat apologetically put us on a side tie right at the entrance to the harbor.  It is a little bouncy from all the boats coming and going, but it has a great breeze blowing in the channel and you can see everything going on.  I think it is a great location and hope they will leave me here until I depart in April.

On Friday Stu and Julie took the bus into Puerto Vallarta to do some sightseeing and Charley went to the local clinic to see about a knee that had been bothering him for a couple weeks and was swelling up.  I went to the ER that is located in Paradise Village. It looked much like an ER in the US except not too crowded.  It took about a half hour to get seen.  I was examining by a young doctor and taken for x-rays.  The young doctor wanted me to see a specialist, and called an orthopedic surgeon , Dr. Robles, who showed up within a half hour.  I got a more thorough examination and the conclusion was that I had cellulitis, basically a infection in the tissue of my leg.  I was given a shot and a regimen of antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and blood thinners to take and told to come back Monday for a follow up appointment with Dr. Robles, even though it was a national holiday.  It took about two hours in total, all with friendly caring folks that spoke English.  I was impressed!

On Saturday morning Stu and Julie Conway headed back to New Jersey.  Gail and Paul Wesling will be joining me next Wed and Mitzie on Thursday.  Until then I plan to rest the leg, enjoy Paradise Village, continue my Spanish lessons on Rosetta Stone, and knock off a few books.  I am currently working on the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, which I highly recommend.

First my chartplotter started acting very weird, telling me I was going in one direction, when I knew I was going in another direction.  For you non-sailers the chartplotter is the basic map I use to find my way around, to not run into things (like land) and find places  to anchor and tie up.  It is a bit disconcerting when it starts acting up as you really need to be sure you know where you are.   Fortunately, I have a back up system I can run on my laptop that seemed to be behaving better.  My chartplotter has an automatic function that defines magnetic variation (the difference between magnetic north and true north) for the chartplotter.  It is automatic because the adjustment it makes changes based on the date and where you are. All this is criticla to the direction you point the boat.  Apparaently this function went berserk and loaded some crazy numbers without my knowing it.  Hopefully I can straighten it out with a day at the dock scratching my head and comparing the two systems.

While this was going on I decided to pump the holding tanks while I was offshore.  There is a device called a macerator that sucks all the honey out of the holding tank, chews it up, and then pumps it overboard.  It usually makes a high pitched whine.  To my horror the high pitched whine came to an abrupt stop and and the circuit breaker blew. The macerator was toast!  The good news is I have a spare macerator.  The bad news is that I will need to spend tomorrow replacing it and dealling with the related plumbing.Ycchh!

When I got to the marina my VHF started acting up when I called to find where my berth would be.  I could transmit, but I could not hear the harbor responding to me.  It all worked out in the end, but yours truly  had a big smile when Snug Harbor finally got settled into a slip.

My friends Dave and Anneke Dury showed up from the US in the afternoon.   That had me over for a cocktail  on their boat, Paramour, and then we took the water taxi into town for dinner.  This was my first company in two weeks so it was nice to see that I was still able to carry on a conversation.   I had fish tacos and a margarita for a total of $10.  Barra de Navidad was hit by a hurricane earlier this year and the waterfront businesses suffered some significant destruction.  It was impressive to see how clean the town was now and how the business owners had figured out to get back up and running, in many cases using the half of the building that was left.  Perhaps not OSHA compliant, but we should send some of our politicians to Mexico to learn some entreprenourship skills.

Tomorrow I tackle the macerator and welcome my friends the Conways to Snug Harbor..

After I finished wiping down the boat I saw an enormous number of 8’-10” long fish feeding at just below the surface of the water.  They were all over the harbor and all around the boat and it was like being in an aquarium.  Just mind boggling.

Fish Swimming Around Snug Harbor

I stared at the fish for a while, and every so often would see a four or five foot yellowtail tuna zip by about 10 feet below.  Yes, the water is that clear.  Many of the little guys also had yellow tails, so I wondered if they were just little  yellowtail tuna.  One of the smaller fish I saw had had a good hunk of his back chewed away but still semed to be doing OK.  As soon as a bird would fly overhead, the entire school of fish would dive in unison.

Frigate Bird

With all the fish  there were lots of pelicans and frigate birds flying around looking for a quick meal.  Later in the afternoon, when I was on the beach, there was a feeding frenzy with a 100 -200  pelicans all dive bombing the water at the same time.  Exciting to watch.  It reminded me of the old movie Tora-Tora-Tora.

Pelican Heading Out for Some Fishing

Mitzie did some research on the bird that dive bombed my fishing lure yesterday and figured out it was a young boobie.

The cruisers in Tenacatita maintain a daily VHF radio net in the morning, which is a good way to get acquainted and find out what is going on.  Today’s activity was group swim to the beach at 1:30, followed by bocce ball on the beach, a beer at the local beach restaurant, and then a swim back to the boats.  As I was anchored a quarter mile off shore, I had second thoughts, but when one of the cruisers came by and asked me to join in I jumped in and made for the beach.  My swim fins made the difference between a pleasant swim and a suicidal one.  As we approached the beach I was told to shuffle my feet thru the sand when I touched bottom.  This is because there are sand colored skates swimming all over the place that you do not want to step on.  If you do, they have a razor sharp serrated spine on their tail that they will drive into the top of your foot scorpion style.  The aftermath scores 10 on the pain scale.  I was grateful for the warning, as we saw a number of skates as we were both coming and going from the beach.

I played some bocce ball, was really bad at it (can’t throw straight or  get close to the right distance), and it reminded me why I don’t play golf.  The best part was every time someone got up to toss the ball, a booster would say their name – so it was easier to get to know folks.  The only downside to the day was I forgot to take off my Casio before the big swim and it was DOA by the time I hit the beach.  It said good to 50 meters on it, but maybe that was just marketing hype.  I guess I will have to upgrade to a $30 watch from my $20 watch.

Tomorrow I set sail for Barra de Navidad where I plan to see Dave and Anneke Dury on their powerboat, Paramour, check in with my old friend Joe and his wife Linda, who live in Barra, and meet my crew for the return trip to Puerto Vallarta, Stu and Julie Conway.  It will be nice to have some regular conversation after going solo for a week.

Chemela Beach Restaurant

Today I sailed further down the coast to Bahia Tenacatita.  Since it was only 22 miles and I had all day I decided to see if I could sail the whole way. The winds were light, 4 to 6 knots, so it took about 6 hours of ghosting downwind.  It was a beautiful sunny day with calm seas to match the light winds and an easy sail.

I got out a fishing rod to see if I could catch dinner as I drifted along. The fish were not interested but one bird was.  He dove on my lure and missed.  I quickly pulled my gear in till he flew away and then let it out and went back to fishing.  The last thing you want it to hook a bird on your line. Shortly after that he came back for another pass and I had to pull the lure in again until he was gone for good.

Other than the bird I had no bites, even when I approached Tenacatita and there were fish jumping out of the water all around me.  I think I will try a different lure next time.

The  coast between Chemala and Tenacatita has some of the nicest seafront vacation homes you can imagine.  They architecturally very interesting with all kinds of wild shapes and colors.  They are really big and sited on spectacular cliffs overlooking the ocean with lots of land around them.  President Obama would be really upset if he saw these homes. The following example was taken from two miles offshore, so please forgive the picture quality. 

I dropped anchor in Bahia Tenacatita  at 3 pm.  Tenacatita  is a large bay, with the most popular anchorage tucked away in the well protected northernmost corner.  There are about a dozen boats in the anchorage, mostly cruisers who often spend extended periods of time here. At the head of the anchorage is the entry to the famous jungle cruise through a mangrove swamp.  To take it you bring your dinghy in thru the surf where it meets the river/swamp entrance.  You then motor up the river which turns into a three mile long narrow  passage (just enough room for two dinghies to pass) thru an overhanging mangrove swamp and eventually pop out close to the entrance of Bahia Tenacatita. You see lots of great wildlife, particularly the pangas loaded with tourists that come screaming down the the narrow passage at high speed.  There used to be a lot of beach restaurants at the other end, but some well connected Mexican dude took them all out last year with a bulldozer and seized the land.

Towards the end of the day two young guys came in on an old Catalina 25 and anchored.  These guys, who are in their early twenties, won the award this year for the cheapest boat in the Baja Ha Ha. They bought the boat for $2,000 shortly before the start of the Ha Ha and set off for a winter in Mexico on a micro budget.  My hat is off to them.

Yelapa from my mooring.

After a pleasant afternoon at anchor in Yelapa, I turned in early to get some rest before rising at 1:30 am to head for Bahia Chamela (and be sure to get there during daylight). Unfortunately a northerly breeze came up in the evening which made the anchorage choppy and rolly – not too good for sleeping – the best laid plans….. With the lack of sleep, and sailing in the dark,  I was concentrating hard to stay alert and really looking forward to the sun coming up.  Come up it did in a brilliant ball, which lifted my spirits and reenergized me.

Sunrise

The winds were light for the entire passage so I stayed 2-3 miles offshore and motored the entire 90 miles. With the exception of two trawlers I did not see any boats for the entire passage. The trawlers have long outriggers on both sides of the boat from which they attach a large net and drag it to capture fish. After they get a load they pull the net in at the stern and collect the fish. Looks like hard work to me.

Mexican Trawler

I saw lots and lots of sea turtles. At a distance they look like coconuts floating in the water, but when I got close I could see they were 2-3 foot long turtles. My friend Joe tells me that this stretch of the coast is like a turtle highway.

Sea Turtle

I also saw another whale and had dolphins greet me again as I neared Chamela. I got the anchor down in Bahia Chemela at 1:30 pm.  Bahia Chemala is a well protected bay that can hold lots of boats. The gorgeous anchorage is in front of a long sandy beach populated with a number of restaurants and brightly colored beach side homes. There is also a nice little town a couple blocks back from the beach. Like everywhere else I have been in Mexico this year it seems much more deserted than prior years. Only a few cruising boats at anchor and the beachside restaurants looked pretty empty. The media seems to have done a good job convincing everyone that Mexico is a dangerous place they should stay away from. My experience is just the opposite – not the least bit scary and just about everyone you meet is friendly and helpful. My plan is to spend Tuesday day at Chemala and then head for Tenacatita Bay on Wed.

Charley and Mitzie did the above the first week of January, then headed home for a week. Charley returned on Jan 15 to do some boat projects and then take a week to sail with crew to Barra de Navidad, about 150 miles south, where crew will change over for the week to cruise back north. Unfortunately the first set of crew had to cancel at the last minute and of the half dozen or so willing replacements I found, all had an unbreakable prior commitment. As a result the captain shoved off today singlehanded to pilot Snug Harbor down 150 miles of some of the choicest cruising grounds in Mexico, the Costalegre Coast (often mistakenly referred to at the Mexican Gold Coast).

The first stop on my voyage is the remote town of Yelapa, a beach resort tucked away in a small cove on the southern side of Banderas Bay. It took two hours to make the 14 mile passage, but I still saw a whale spouting, a flying fish and enjoyed the company of a dolphin escort when I neared Yelapa. Yelapa can only be reached by boat as there are no roads that will get you there. The harbor at Yelapa is really deep and it is very difficult, if not impossible to anchor. However, some of the enterprising fisherman have set out moorings which can be rented. I hoped that one would be available when I got there. I was ready with the correct spanish: Necesito el muerto de amarre por la noche? (I need a mooring for the night.) To my relief, as I entered the harbor Ricardo came screaming out to me on his launch (the “El Bully”), escorted me to his mooring and handed me the mooring line. 200 pesos ($14 US) was the fee. When I arrived I was only the second sailboat in the anchorage. By the end of the day there were 5 sailboats on moorings. I noticed lots of schools of fish in the harbor periodically going nuts and churning up the water. This would go on all around me until a pelican would come by and scoop a few up, which put an end to the surface action. The other excitement was from the water taxis loaded up with tourists that came and go at full speed thru the anchorage, while often using Snug Harbor as a turning mark.

The next day of my voyage, to Bahia Chemala, will be the longest at 88 miles, which will take about 12 hours. I plan to leave in the wee hours of the morning so that I arrive mid day tomorrow and have plenty of light left while I anchor.

Courtyard of Gary and Dorothy's $50/night hotel

After dropping bags off in the room we  wandered down to the Malecon which was a block away.  The Malecon  is a pedestrian area that runs along the seawall and is a favorite place for strolling for both Mexicans and touristas. It had recently undergone significant improvements by converting what had been streets for cars into pedestrian areas.  Lots of flower beds and and palm trees were also added which complement the whimsical statues and artwork that were already there.  I will let pictures do the talking for our Malecon stroll.

Gary, Dorothy and Joe on the Puerto Vallarta Malecon

Charley and Malecon Statue

Gary and Malecon Statue

Dorothy with malecon Statue

Joe and Malecon Statue

Joe and Gary under observation by Malecon statues

Weirder than average Malecon statue

Another Weird Malecon Statue

We also saw an example of typical labor intensive, but not too safety conscious, Mexican construction techniques:

Mexican Conveyor Belt for Bricks

You also saw a typical Gringo bar:

Gringo Bar on the Malecon

We finished our tour of the Malecon and went to a beach bar for a dinner of tacos and margaritas for dinner.  Not nearly so good as our prior dinners and a bit more pricey.

Gary, Joe and Charley having dinner on the Malecon

We said our goodbyes, Dorothy and Gary set off for their hotel and Joe and Charley took a taxi back to Nuevo Vallarta and Snug Harbor.

It was an interesting taxi ride as it semed the driver was unaware we were in the car.  He was very into his music which he played very loud thru the speakers in the back of the car.  He smoked.  We also noticed that he was driving very slow and eventually pulled over and started whistling at a woman across the street.  It turned out the woman was his wife, and he was driving slow so that he could pick her up after work.  Wife climbed into the cab, starting chattering and our cabbie’s driving was now transformed into his best rendition of an Indy 500 driver working the gearbox and weaving in and out of slow traffic.  In any event, we made it back to the boat and retired for the evening.

Buenas Noches!

Snug Harbor's Slip at Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Puerto Vallarta

Captain and crew at Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta

We met some old friends as soon as we pulled into our new slip: Lous and Laura from the Beneteau 42 Cirque, who used to be in the slip next to us in Alameda, and Roger and Diana Frizelle, who also own a Catalina 470 and worked at the broker in Alameda where I bought Snug Harbor.  We have also run into some folks we met on the Baja Ha Ha.  Everyone is very friendly and eager to meet other cruisers.

The marina operations at Paradise are impressive as they have figured out how to meet all the needs of their tenants.  Need work done on your boat? Call Jorge.  Need your holding tanks pumped? Let the office know and they will pump the tanks every Thursday.  Need propane? Bring your bottle by the office and they will get it filled.  Need to do clear in or out with the port captain?  Show up at the marina office at 0930 any morning and they will give you a ride to the Port Captain’s office. Need to meet some folks? Go to the mixer on Sunday where they have free drinks and food. Need to cool off?  Go to the hotel and take a swim.

It has been pretty steamy since we got here.  Temperature in the 80′s with pretty high humidity.  Fortunately our slip is close to the harbor entrance and we get pretty good breezes all day.  Joe tells us the temperature will be about the same as we get deeper into winter, but that the humidity will drop and it will be more comfortable.  There is a canvas maker in town so I think I will go visit her and see if I can get some sun shades made for the boat.

We went to the pool in the afternoon to cool off and then out to dinner at Fajita Republic.  It was at least a mile hike to the restaurant and by the time we got there the cooling effects of our earlier swim were lost.  Dinner was great, again.  Charley had combo fajitas, a couple of margaritas and a flan which came to $25 US including tip.

Dinner at Fajita Republic, Nuevo Vallarta - Yumm!

Thursday morning the harbor drove us over to the Port Capitan’s office to get Snug Harbor cleared into the Banderas Bay Area.  The official’s were friendly and efficient – they stamped our documents and the whole process took about a minute.

Visitors to Snug Harbor

Thursday was bit cooler, quite pleasant in fact and  are all heading into Puerto Vallarta this afternoon to wander around a bit and have dinner.

Buenas Tardes!

Typical La Cruz street

La Cruz Park

La Cruz is a small  town with dirt and cobblestone roads.  Everyone is friendly and the economy appears to be based on fishing and catering to visitors to the new marina and yachties that live in Mexico.

La Cruz Marina

The marina is nice and has room for lots of large yachts and megayachts.  It was pretty empty as we are still early in the season and the marina was finished right around the time the economy tanked.  We walked out to the La Cruz Yacht Club which sits on the spit of land between the harbor between the harbor and Banderas Bay.  The yacht club is an upscale restaurant/bar that caters to the yachts in the marina, particularly the megayachts.

Dorothy and Gary Wood at the La Cruz yacht Club

We had a beer and then hiked back into town to find a place to have dinner.  We settled on the Huanacaxtle Restaurant.

Huanacaxtle restaurant in La Cruz Huanacaxtle

So where did they get the name Huanacaxtle? It turns out the name of La Cruz is really La Cruz Huanacaxtle, but everyone shortens it to La Cruz.  This restaurant caters to yachties and featured TV’s with american football, Eric Clapton for music and a huge picture of Michael Jackson when he was only half weird.  Our waiter spoke perfect english.  It turned out he moved to Reno when he was six and had lived there until a few months ago, when he returned to his hometown of La Cruz for the season. He planned to return to Reno in the spring.  Our appetizer was jicama cubes and carrot sticks drenched in lime juice with a little chill powder and we ate tacos con pescados (fish tacos) for our main course.  All very tasty.! With a round of margaritas thrown in the bill came to $22 US for the four of us.  I plan to bring back future Snug Harbor crew.

We headed back to the marina and our dinghy and walked past another cruiser hangout, Anna Bananas.

Anna Bananas Cruiser Hangout

Anna Bananas was closed for the evening as it’s owners had gone to a wake for a departed friend.  One of the features of Anna Bananas is that all the cruisers write the name of their boat on on wall with magic marker.  We will  be sure to come back some time this winter to get that taken care of.

We dinghied back to the boat around 1900 hours and noticed that the red tide was gone.  We sat in the cockpit and enjoyed the  breeze and more conversation.    As a cruiser we tend to be driven by daylight hours with the sun coming up at 0800 and going down at 2000 hours. The crew was in the sack by 2100 hours, which is commonly refered to as cruiser’s midnight.

Buenas noches senors e senoras!