9 April 2006 (late Sunday night)
We departed Punta de Mita this morning before dawn (7:15 AM Puerto Vallarta time which I think is 5:15 PDT). It was tough getting up in the dark for the first time in ages. Normally we wake up when it starts getting light out or just before sunrise, so having to use the alarm was painful.
Had an uneventful day motoring until 2:30 PM, sailing until 8:30 PM, and now motoring again. It was actually very nice to be the only boat out there with just the gentle swells, turtles, and sea birds to keep us company. We passed closer to the Tres Marias islands than to the mainland, but kept it mostly up the middle. At least one of these islands is a prison and you are required to keep clear of them. They don't keep the prisoners locked up since they are on an island out in the middle of the ocean. I was a bit concerned when I spotted a fishing panga and saw that the two fishermen were wearing orange jumpsuits (panga fishermen usually wear regular clothes and maybe a black garbage bag with head and arm holes cut out in the bottom to keep them warm and dry at night). I monitored them through the binoculars but they didn't wave for help or approach us so maybe they were out on a day pass.
We're almost half way there now, so we should arrive in Mazatlan by late tomorrow. We'll spend a few days there before looking for a weather window to cross over to La Paz. John may crew for Air Power again in the La Paz Regatta which is sometime around April 20-23.
Linda and John