La Cruz

We spent our first week in Banderas Bay at Punta Mita. We like anchoring there very much but during this visit we weren't able to pickup Wi-Fi to the boat and the Wi-Fi at our favorite lunch stop by the dinghy landing (El Coral) wasn't working properly. We ended up making two bus trips into La Cruz, combining internet with breakfast at La Ya Ya cafe, a visit to the Sunday market in the marina, and even a trip to the movies with friends. A movie ticket (27 pesos) cost less than the round trip bus fare (40 pesos), for a brand new theater where they asked us to select our seats from a computer display!
We moved into the La Cruz anchorage to have easier access to shore side amenities, and to spend time with Roy and Marlene on Damiana before they head into the Sea for the summer. Except for afternoon wind chop from fetch coming across the huge bay (which can be quite severe at times), we are living very comfortably. Damiana toured us through the produce mart where there's a good selection of fresh fruits and vegetables delivered every Tuesday and Friday at 5 PM. I contacted our old friends Dan and Lee on Afroessa to "sign up" for Lee's gentle yoga workout. There's no formal instruction but she doesn't charge a thing for people to join what would otherwise be her personal yoga sessions Monday through Saturday at 8 AM. It's great incentive for us to get off the boat early, and out doing other things once we're on shore for the morning. Not to mention it's a great workout for me! John sometimes goes for a walk and we meet up at Ya Ya for internet and breakfast.
We had quite an interesting evening for the opening night of the Tianguis Turistico Mexico 2012. As stages were being built on an empty gravel lot between the marina docks and the breakwater we speculated about what it could all be for. It turned out to be an international convention for tourism in Mexico and we were allowed to spectate on the sidelines. As it happened, our group of cruisers ended up standing right in the line of the hors d'oeuvres trays making their way from the catering tents to the crowd. A few very kind waiters took pity on us and we were offered first dibs from trays of three kinds of ceviche, lamb ribs, shrimp balls, two kinds of mini tortas (meat sandwiches), and my personal favorite, an avocado and sweet roasted pepper appetizer that was mouth-watering. We saw stilt walkers dressed in elaborate futuristic insect-like costumes, acrobatics in the style of Cirque du Soleil, a mariachi band of over 40 instruments, and traditional dancing. We watched from the boat as a long fireworks finale capped off an already entertaining evening.
A couple of nights later we were out at a benefit concert for a local good works organization. Several of the musicians who play regular gigs at area restaurants performed and we enjoyed getting a taste of their music without the normal entry fee of an expensive meal. This was held in a small amphitheater built out on the marina breakwater which made for an intimate venue.
I joined Damiana for a bus outing to Sayulita. I was looking forward to getting another taste of the "Pioneer" pancakes at Rollie's and we weren't disappointed. Rollie makes people feel right at home and Jeanne bends over backward to ensure that you order what you want and more. The food is delicious and there's plenty of it in every selection. We had to walk around afterwards for some shopping to work off our satisfied stomachs. The only downside to this visit was the huge street improvement project going on around the main square making for lots of jack hammering and torn up sidewalks. But the town should be even better once that's finished.
We sold a few things at the Saturday swap meet to help lighten the boat and pay for some of the socializing we've been doing with friends in the marina. It's been very nice to have another dinghy dock for access to all the fun on shore and this one is at a much more reasonable price!
Linda
{GMST}20|44.896|N|105|22.332|W|Anchorage|La Cruz{GEND}

Chamela to Punta Mita

We had an uneventful motor trip overnight. We left Chamela at 5:45 PM and arrived Punta Mita at 10:30 AM. The seas were a little choppy, making for a bouncy ride, until 11 PM when the breeze completely died and things smoothed out a bit more. The water is a very chilly 71 degrees in the anchorage here (down from 80 in Chamela!), so we may decide to go on to La Cruz soon where (for a fee) we can dinghy into the marina and take showers ashore.

Ziggy is very happy that the noisy engine has finally stopped.

Linda

{GMST}20|46.009|N|105|31.039|W|Back in Banderas Bay|Punta Mita{GEND}

Las Hadas to Chamela

This past week we prepared to leave our lovely winter base to take Nakia north for hurricane season. John made two trips by dinghy to the marina docks with our five empty jerry jugs to top our water tanks. We had a load of laundry done and stocked up on perishables to last us to Banderas Bay. I made brownies for the Las Hadas resort guards and, while my Spanish explanation of our impending departure was probably not terribly clear, I think they were happy to receive an unexpected treat. We were invited to a farewell roast beast dinner at Joe and Pam's condo, and we made one final lunch date for the season with Stan and MJ at the new Cabo Grill.

We woke to an alarm clock Wednesday morning, raised the dinghy on deck, and went to start the engine. There was a small hiccup when it coughed and died, but John quickly ascertained that it wasn't primed. Off came the companionway steps, out came the tool box, and he bled the air out and got it running again.

We were underway at 0640 and had an easy day. An otherwise boring trip was punctuated by "wow" moments like a humpback whale jumping straight out of the ocean, and regular sightings of turtles, Tropic birds, and spotted dolphins. I remember during the trip south I could stand in the shade and actually get a chill on a bright sunny day. But things are warming up now and, while it was a relief to get out of the direct sun, we were still hot sitting in the shade. John caught a Jack Crevalle and had a hard time getting the barbed hooks out of its jaw to release it. I thought it was crab food by the time he freed it, but the fish shot down into the depths with one powerful stroke of its tail. John worked on the hook to take the barbs off for the next fish, but he was out of luck. The next strike startled us by breaking the swivel and ripping both ends of the shock tubing to take John's favorite Tahitian lure and the entire length of hand line with it. Bummer!

Conditions were calm and a favorable current pushed us north encouraging us to pass up an overnight stop at Tenacatita. We dropped the hook off of the tiny town of Punta Perula in Bahia Chamela where over a dozen cruising boats had arrived before us. People are taking advantage of a few days of forecasted calm weather to migrate north during the transition from winter to summer. A half dozen boats went on around Cabo Corrientes last night and reported an easy motor trip. We'll leave at sunset with another group to make that trip tonight before the weather window closes this weekend. We expect to be in Punta Mita sometime late Saturday afternoon.

Linda (and John and Ziggy too)

{GMST}19|35.002|N|105|07.918|W|Rest Stop|Chamela{GEND}

Las Hadas Wrap Up

It's finally time for us to say goodbye to Las Hadas for this season. After years of refusing to check it out even for one overnight, thinking it was an over-priced resort stop, we have come to appreciate the attraction. As we make Manzanillo bay our home base for 2-3 months of our Mexico winters, the Las Hadas anchorage is a much more centrally located place for us to live out of than La Boquita (better known by cruisers as the Santiago anchorage). Yes, there are the drawbacks of late night music from the all-inclusive Barcelo Karmina resort, and those pesky water toys like jet skis, ski boats pulling wake boarders, and banana boats. But water toys invade every desirable anchorage, and we learned to sleep through the music. We were happy to trade a little additional resort activity on the weekends for a dry landing at a secure dinghy dock with friendly and accommodating guard staff whom we came to know by name. Even the staff on restaurant row in the marina greeted us as we passed through their outdoor seating area every evening to take our showers. The bathrooms were rundown but provided a blast of cold, fresh water that I far preferred to our usual (and very public) salt water baths off of Nakia.

We routinely topped our water tanks from dock water jerry jugged out to Nakia by dinghy, and paid one of the friendly restaurant owners to swap out our two jugs of purified drinking water as they emptied. It's an easy walk with a small gas can to a local Pemex (the national fuel stations), and a six peso (about 50 cents) bus ride back to Las Hadas. By the way we would not recommend taking on diesel fuel in the marina as it is not a Pemex fuel dock and sees very little traffic (making for potentially old/dirty fuel).

Although you can walk five minutes up a steep hill to the resort entrance and catch a bus out to the highway, we preferred the very pleasant half hour walk in front of neighboring condos and through the back of Karmina. In the mornings this is mostly shady and when you reach the highway you are directly across the street from a lavanderia; a block from the Salahua jardin (main square); and another 5-10 minutes from major supermarkets. Or you can hop on a six peso bus to Manzanillo or Santiago. We would usually walk out to do our errands and then ride back on a bus with our purchases. Or, for a large shop, a taxi was a very reasonable 40-50 pesos ($4-5). I can't tell you how nice it was to get back to the dinghy with groceries or clean laundry, knowing that we weren't going to have to brave the surf to get back out to Nakia. The dinghy dock also gave John and me the flexibility to come and go separately, without the ordeal of a beach landing. And I loved wearing tennis shoes and socks, which are much easier on my feet than sandals when walking on cobblestone roads.

For whatever reason we did not meet many new cruisers this season. We noticed that first year boats tended to stick together, and most did not approach Nakia to introduce themselves or ask for local assistance. Granted neither did we self-appoint ourselves "mayor" of Las Hadas. We pretty much watched boats come and go while we made play dates with our local land dwelling friends. It really came to feel more like we were "wintering over" in Mexico as opposed to cruising. We just happen to be living on a boat and not in a condo or a house.

It's nice to stay in one place long enough to do non-cruiser types of things. Thanks to a birthday gift certificate from Stan and MJ I attended twice weekly water aerobics classes in a small condominium pool. I hate exercising and grumbled my way there by bus in the mornings, but talk about gym class in paradise. Marlene (www.manzimassagefit.com) motivated our small class (5-10 people at a time) and did a great job making sure we had perfect form. Her "Chins up!" reminders got me gazing at butterflies, palm trees, and even an iguana who watched our class from the peak of the tiled pool palapa roof. I also managed to snag a short dog-sitting job for a snow bird which happened to fall during an unusual period of rainy weather. But keeping up with muddy paw prints on the tile floor and playing fetch in between showers was a nice change from being on the boat. John made a point of inviting many of our local acquaintances out to tour Nakia, most of whom had never been on a sailboat before. They were happy to get a taste of how we live and to sit back with a beer and admire the view. We got to know a few people from the condos overlooking the anchorage, who also enjoyed seeing our view of them for a change.

It's been a cooler winter than we remember, but now the days are getting noticeably longer and we're on a north bound track again. We'll be updating our progress in our new, improved blog and sending occasional project updates over the summer. One of the new features of the blog is that you can sign up to receive our updates by email. I'd like to take this opportunity to let anyone drop off the direct email list who is so inclined. So drop us a line only if you want to REMAIN on the old email loop. Otherwise you can sign up directly through the blog.

Linda (and John and Ziggy too)

No Puddle Jump for 2012

Yes folks, we've made the difficult decision to spend another year in Mexico. John came to the conclusion that the easiest and best place to do the next round of projects on Nakia is in Marina Mazatlan. There is some delamination in the support structure for the bowsprit, a few chainplates need replacing, and, of course, a hundred other projects. It helps tremendously that he has a house sitting opportunity there from 5/19 to 9/1 which is a nice chunk of time to be able to live off the boat while he works on it (especially without having Ziggy underfoot, or trying to escape to the dock). Eric and Sherrell (S/V Sarana) have even offered to throw in their portable A/C unit for Nakia in exchange for keeping an eye on their boat while they are RVing in the States over the summer (we sold the one John used last summer and he'll need another one for the interior varnish work he plans to do).

Because my tourist visa expires on 4/18, we were thinking of staying in Las Hadas until the end of March. The PATA 5-day free spay/neuter clinic is 3/22-26 and we wanted to volunteer for that again (http://www.patamanzanillo.com/). But logistically it makes more sense for me to fly out on April 11, the same day as my good friend, MJ, with whom I'll be living in Bothell again. John will look for a weather window in mid-March to depart Manzanillo so I can help him move Nakia north past Cabo Corrientes to Banderas Bay. That will give us time to stock up on cat litter at Costco (very important!), and then I'll fly out of Puerto Vallarta to meet MJ's later flight out of Manzanillo in Seattle. John will get pick-up crew to help him with the rest of the trip to Mazatlan.

It's almost too much to think about, especially with John's requirement of putting our condo rental up for sale this summer. (Anyone interested in a nice 1BR/1B/Plus Den across from the Bainbridge Island, WA ferry terminal?!). I think it would have been much simpler and easier to load theboat up with food and supplies and sail across the ocean to French Polynesia! But I'm sure everything will work out fine and it will be fun to spend more time with my Norte Americano friends and family, and hopefully make a little money pet sitting again.

Linda

Still Las Hadas

The sunrise over Manzanillo was especially nice this morning. High broken clouds soaked up pinks and oranges and a big moon set behind Las Hadas. It looks like it's going to be another exceptionally clear day after a long stretch of nothing but hazy ones. Yesterday the humidity plummeted to 42% and we finally looked out on a crisp horizon of green hills and water. We're not sure what's caused the change because the wind still blows cool temps offshore at night (one boat reported a low of 68 degrees in the cabin), and there's been no morning dew for a boat wash since we arrived in Manzanillo.

New Year's eve fireworks lived up to their reputation and the view from Las Hadas was perfect. John went for a walk during the day and discovered mortars set up on the beach directly opposite from Nakia. We did the prudent thing and reanchored much farther away from shore to avoid any fallout. We also raised a mesh sun awning to protect the more valuable canvas sail covers. It turned out we had more to fear from mortar-loaded pangas in the anchorage. We watched one shell fall from the sky, land 40' from Nakia, and burn (underwater!) for several seconds more. We had a fire extinguisher at the ready but never needed to use it which made it a perfect night for us.

Land-based fireworks were fired off from resorts ringing the bay and from pangas and barges floating in the bay. We had a hard time choosing which direction to look since we were surrounded by color, light, and noise. We were most captivated by an effect we'd never seen before. People on shore where launching "hot air balloons." These appeared to be (paper?) sacks perhaps 2-3' tall with an open flame held in place at the base. It took two people to launch one balloon and they lifted off and rose up into the air until the evening breeze caught and carried them out to sea. Even after watching through binoculars we couldn't figure out how they kept from burning up with the flame flaring so wildly in the wind. While not exactly safe or sane we'd love to know where to get one of these!

The next day someone left a few sailing magazines in our dinghy and that's how we had the pleasure of meeting Andres. Originally from Guadalajara and now working in Los Angeles he's been coming to this part of the bay with his family since before there was even a Las Hadas hotel. After describing it to us, he graciously walked me to the end of the sea wall to make sure I could find a shady lane next to the Barcelo hotel which leads out to the highway. This is an easy way to walk to the super markets and makes our stay here all the better. He also offered to carry mail back to the U.S. for posting. We wish we could have spent more time talking to Andres and his family but his holiday ended the day we left for Colima.

Stan and MJ needed to make a run to Sam's Club so we joined them for a day trip to Colima. They added some culture to the mix and our first stop was a museum at the University of Fine Arts. The museum had displays of popular hand crafts like festival masks and costumes, baskets, pottery, textiles, leather goods, toys, and art, all from the various states in Mexico. Culture makes us hungry and it's not a good idea to shop on an empty stomach. We had lunch at La Puerta Negra (a block from Walmart) where the carnitas ("menos grasa") was perfecto and the staff went out of their way to help us understand what we were ordering. Then it was on to Sam's where John and I did not buy the very poor quality "Sportsman's Choice" house brand of cat litter. With five housecats Stan & MJ had no other option, but John and I are holding out hope that Costco in Guadalajara will carry a better brand. Home Depot was next on the to do list and then we made one last stop at a Kiosko (like an AM/PM mini-mart) to buy frappuccinos for the road. An hour and a half later we were back in Manzanillo.

On Friday we herded a group of five other boats to La K'Melia, a botanero one block from the Las Hadas turn off on the highway in Salahua. Stan & MJ joined us from Santiago for cubetas (buckets of iced beer), botanas (a variety of mostly fried snacks), and a two hour set of loud music and singing from the very entertaining (muy dramatico) house band. The first timers seemed to enjoy themselves and it's one of those things that's fun to do once a season.

John and I hope to make an overnight trip to Guadalajara with Stan and MJ next week. Our primary goal is a visit to Costco for cat litter, but MJ will make sure we see as many cultural and fun sights as possible too!

Linda

Las Hadas, Manzanillo

We're living the high life at the formerly isolated resort made (in)famous by Bo Derek's debut in the 1979 movie, "10." It's now surrounded by condos, luxury homes, and more hotels but it's still very beautiful, even if it's not as posh as I imagined it. We joined friends for dinner at an Italian restaurant overlooking the Las Hadas marina and I felt overdressed in a very simple frock and sandals. Maybe the hotel guests are ordering room service and the restaurant was filled with people who had driven in from other, more casual, resorts.

The Tuesday after Christmas we pried ourselves out of the Barra lagoon mud to motorsail to the Manzanillo bay area. Our first stop was a small bay called El Carazol just inside the northern point where you turn in to enter the larger bay. Although it's not very well protected from the ocean swell this has always been a favorite spot of ours. There is nothing onshore making it secluded and quiet - no crashing surf (or at least not the rumbles of thunder we could hear outside the Barra lagoon), no barking dogs, no roosters crowing, and no yells from panga fishermen netting bait fish at dawn. There are one or two pangas which quietly set nets on the reef at sunset and pull them in at first light. And there are snorkeling pangas and day trippers in small boats who come in to snorkel the same reef which is being fished overnight. But it's mostly peaceful and we had a nice, if greenish, snorkel ourselves one afternoon.

On Thursday we motored a few miles across the bay for our first ever visit to Las Hadas. We've been put off by the exorbitant dinghy dock fees in the past, but we decided to pay the price for the convenience of staying dry and having easier access for provisioning. Currently the daily fee is 200 pesos (something less than $20) or 800 pesos for a week. This includes access to the hotel pools, beach, gym, and discounts for several of the restaurants and bars. The best part is that you tell the dock master the number of people you want on the "pool pass" which she issues to you. So we said we wanted ours to be good for a total of six people and now we can invite our local friends to visit us here. We're not normally pool rats but we'll take advantage of swimming in clear water, lounging on chaises with nice big hotel towels, and ordering drinks from the pool bar now and then.

We're looking forward to having a good view of fireworks around the bay from the anchorage tonight. It'll be a miserable night for Ziggy but I'm sure he'll find a deep dark place in which to hide until it's over. It will probably be well past midnight until the music and fire crackers taper off so we plan on having a quiet New Year's day!

Linda

{GMST}19|06.110|N|104|20.708|W|Las Hadas|Las Hadas{GEND}

Barra de Navidad

The number of anchored boats here in the Barra lagoon has doubled from the dozen that were here when we arrived two weeks ago. Over the past few days they've been scooting in the narrow channel and picking their way carefully through shallow water (literally 8-12' - or less, if a boat strays out of bounds) to attend the annual Christmas cruiser's potluck dinner at the Sands Hotel. For a per person cost of 50 pesos we will have deep-fried turkeys served up in a tropical outdoor seating area accompanied by delicious treats pulled from the depths of hard to reach lockers, or searched for high and low in Mexican stores. Yes, you can find canned pumpkin, yams, and cranberry sauce - if you look hard enough.

With Ziggy and Nakia once again under the watchful eyes of Barb and Gary on S/V Hoorah, we took an hour bus ride to spend a long weekend in Bahia Santiago for a Posada party at SolCasa. It was a sleep deprived "lost" weekend full of good things like homemade lasagna, my first "Cubano" torta (a grilled sandwich chock full of just about everything - including hot dogs - which threatened to fall apart in my hands), and reunions with the wonderful people we met at the 4-day PATA spay/neuter clinic last March. The Posada is an annual Christmas party and get-together for all the volunteers who work tirelessly to provide free spay/neuter clinics for dogs and cats throughout neighborhoods in the greater Manzanillo area (http://www.patamanzanillo.com - a donation would make a great gift for that animal lover in your life!). Stan and MJ provide the venue and drinks and everyone else brings food for about 35 people. An interesting cultural divide is when the American and Canadian ex-pats arrive at 7 PM bearing desserts and appetizers, and the Mexican locals arrive at 9:30 with the main courses. Then all of the former have left by midnight and the last of the latter have to be told, "It's 4:30 AM; party's over!" before they'll call it a night.

Oh, and pinatas (sorry, I can't type the cedilla that should go under that "n"). One of the locals donated five pinatas and John and I offered to fill them as our contribution to the party. MJ and I grabbed our backpacks and walked to the nearest dulceria (candy and party supply shop). Assuming there would be few if any kids at the party, I figured that the pinatas were mostly just for show and a little adult hilarity, and that there would be tons of candy left over that we would be forced to polish off. So I chose mostly fruit and caramel flavored hard candies, deliberately avoiding all of the "enchilada" (spicy) flavored ones. John and I inadvertently tried some of the those our first year in Mexico (think mango enchilada) and have never acquired a taste for them. MJ tried to tell me that the locals would sweep up all the candy and would really prefer the enchilada variety but I didn't her take her seriously (are you kidding?). John insisted that small toys should go in the pinatas so we bought a few of those as well. Well, someone should just hand the locals the money and let them choose the candy because those pinatas were all for them and we heard later that no one ever puts toys or so many fruit candies in them! They were doing full body sprawls on the floor to get as much candy as they could sweep up (for their nieces and nephews...). It was all in fun and everyone was grateful to Stan and MJ for holding the party under the thatched palapa roof of the beautiful new addition to SolCasa.

Other than our brief road trip we've been enjoying the peace and tranquility of life in the lagoon. Sunrises here are some of my favorite in all of Mexico because they are filled with birds! Huge flocks of white Great Egrets fly out of their nighttime roosts somewhere in among the western mangroves, and then over the lagoon - and the anchored boats - to perch in the northern mangroves, warming up in the rising sun before feeding on the muddy flats surrounding the lagoon at low tide. They are joined by smaller flocks of Snowy Egrets, both White and White-Faced Ibis (the former all white with black wing tips and the latter a solid dark brownish color), and the usual Great Blue Heron, Cormorant, Tern, Magnificent Frigatebird, Pelican, and (later in the day) Black Vulture. There are Black Skimmers, Osprey, a few American Oystercatchers, and we even had a Kingfisher land on our wind indicator. There are Roseate Spoonbills whose bright color I can just make out through the binoculars on the far reaches of the lagoon. The only thing we haven't seen yet this year is the Mexican Eagle which was usually also looking for fish on the sand flats of the canals. Unfortunately Ziggy has managed to catch two swallows which made the mistake of landing on Nakia. I've put red Christmas garland on the bow pulpit and forward lifelines in an attempt to discourage them from their favorite roosting area (as well as to help Nakia look festive over the holidays!).

The small beach resort town of Barra is full of souvenir shops and restaurants, as well as Canadian and U.S. license plates. It and the larger neighboring town of Melaque are favorites of the snowbirds, and many beautiful second homes abound here. There was some damage to ocean view restaurants on the narrow bay-front peninsula from hurricane Jova, but we're told that much of it was from large ocean swells rolling in and washing away the spit before then. We appreciate conveniences here such as water delivery by panga from Maria's tienda, and the Taxi Aquatico panga service which, for 25 pesos per person round trip, saves us from having to use our dinghy when the NW winds blast through the lagoon in the afternoons. Yesterday was our first big blow since we arrived (a high of 20 knots was recorded by a boat in the very protected marina, so we imagine it was even higher out here in the lagoon) and by some miracle none of the newly arrived boats dragged anchor. Going aground and/or dragging anchor are time honored traditions of the Barra lagoon although, knock on wood, Nakia has yet to experience either.

We wish everyone Feliz Navidad and Prospero Nuevo Ano, and thank those of you who have emailed us holiday updates of your own!

Linda (and John and Ziggy too)

{GMST}19|11.514|N|104|40.468|W|Barra de Navidad|Barra de Navidad{GEND}

Punta Perula, Bahia Chamela

Along with Punta Mita, Punta Perula is now one of our favorite anchorages. It too is a small beach resort (even smaller than Mita) at the end of a road far from the main highway. There are a few hotels including the Playa Dorada at the eastern end of the beach. Anchored out in front of the hotel their internet reaches Nakia for a very reasonable 50 pesos/day or 75 pesos/week. Normally we would be tucked into the western edge of the beach for protection form the swell but conditions were calm enough to stay the night here last night.

We actually arrived at Isla Passavera on Sunday after an overnight sail from Mita, and we came the two miles to Perula on Monday to do some shopping. We looked like rookies when we blew a surf landing and ended up with wet butts and a dinghy full of saltwater. It was simply impatience and bad timing, but we were experienced enough to have all our belongings in a dry bag. We drained the dinghy and walked into town to see what was new since our last visit. We noticed a few houses, RV parks, and the Playa Dorada which we didn't remember from the '07/'08 season. There's a tsunami warning siren in the town square. Our favorite tiendas were open but a number of shops had their doors closed. There's a nice new cafe and dive shop on the corner of what we always referred to as the "nursing home." A Frenchman and his Mexican wife are running the business, both speak excellent English, and they offer Wi-Fi at the cafe.

M/V Lazy Days told us about road access to town from a protected cove with a small sand beach if we wanted to avoid doing another surf landing. We had made it off the beach just fine with our shopping and John had even done a solo round trip without incident on Wednesday. But yesterday we decided to check out the road for hiking opportunities. The cove is a bit rocky but we found a narrow clear approach into the beach and pulled the dinghy high up off the sand. We set off past a ramshackle abandoned house to a single track, dirt lane leading to a large warehouse type structure from which came sounds of sawing, hammering, and a loud radio. We walked away from the warehouse towards town and I finally got a closer look at the RV palapa visible from the anchorage. I've admired this for years as it's a pretty little clearing halfway up the hillside with a nice view of the beach. On it sits a full sized RV under a thatched "car port" surrounded by close-cropped green grass, shrubs and flowers, and a barbed-wire fence. We've never seen lights on at night or people there, but it's obviously well tended.

From there we followed a fork in the road that ended up taking us all the way out to the open palapa visible by boat as you round the point to enter the bay from the north. This was very intriguing because the workmanship was lovely with rounded edges and river rock detailing on the concrete foundation, and a built-in concrete double bed under the round thatched roof. It's completely open-air and the "yard" surrounding it has been cleared. There's nice rock wall along one side of the "driveway" with newly planted bougainvillea and (already dying) trees. It has gorgeous views of the ocean with beach access to a lovely cove from the rough road leading to the point. The major drawbacks are the distance from a paved road, no water, no electricity, no sewage, etc. - but it is breathtaking!

We were thrilled to be able to walk the entire length of this road without the usual "Propiedad Privada" or "Prohibido" signs preventing us from going farther. Things are still very green with flowers and butterflies to entertain us along the way. We never found the cows that left their pies for us to step around, but we did catch a glimpse of two coatimundis scurrying off into the dense underbrush. Their tracks were everywhere on the dusty road, but even so we were surprised to have actually seen any.

One of the crews we met on the Blast arrived late Wednesday and left before we got back from our hike, but we should see them again in Barra. Mazatlan shrimpers have been anchoring for the day and leaving before sunset. A small Navy boat appears to be taking a break here. John suggested I bake a cake for them so we took that over yesterday morning and thanked them for their service. We were very aware of the fact that we were two foreigners coming alongside a military vessel, unannounced, in a small boat, bearing foil wrapped objects as we approached. Never would have happened in the U.S.

Except for the green ocean water full of organic stringy stuff (not conducive to swimming) we are loving Mexico again!

Linda

{GMST}19|35.152|N|105|07.608|W|Punta Perula|Bahia Chamela{GEND}

Banderas Bay Blast (11/30-12/2, 2011)

We were starting to have thoughts about lunch last Wednesday when we noticed a 65' catamaran moving through the anchorage at Punta de Mita. As long time fans of the San Francisco sailing rag, Latitude 38, we immediately recognized it as "Profligate" belonging to Richard Spindler, the magazine's founder and Grand Poobah. Richard drove the big cat up next to Nakia and asked us if we were interested in sailing with them to La Cruz for the first of three days of the Banderas Bay Blast. (The Blast is a charity event benefiting local area children who might not otherwise be able to attend school.) We said "Sure!" and scrambled to get ourselves ready while he waited for his partner, Donna, and the rest of the paying guests to be delivered by panga. Fifteen minutes later we got in our dinghy which was trailing behind Nakia. Richard backed the now enormous looking cat (with something like a 25' beam) towards us until we could hop onto the steps of one of the hulls. And so began three days of sailing on Banderas Bay.

Being so spontaneous, the first day held the most excitement for us. We met the rest of the volunteer crew for that day, most of whom turned out to be non-sailors out for an adventure. We also had our first introduction to the boat and how to help sail it. Richard was in charge of the helm and called out directions for whatever sail trim was needed, even as he shot photos of other boats for the magazine. Donna patiently showed us where things were and what to do for each maneuver. As the more experienced crew for that particular day we stayed on our toes for the downwind sail to La Cruz marina. John mostly raised sails and trimmed spinnaker, while I assisted with the main sheet and traveler, and generally went to wherever I was needed.

Richard had reminded us to bring bus fare for the trip back to Mita after the finish. We also had in the back of our minds the question of how we would get from shore to Nakia. I told John that's what made it an adventure and he reminded me that an adventure is nothing but poor planning. We knew that the last resort was a swim out to Nakia but we hoped for a ride from a fishing panga going out for the night. It was after dark by the time we arrived at the fishermen's harbor where we found a panga off-loading charter guests. The driver agreed to take us out to our boat. This is where we made the classic mistake of not negotiating a price before stepping into the vehicle. And maybe we shouldn't even have asked at all, but just jumped off onto Nakia and waved our thanks, because the guy wanted 200 pesos (about 15 USD). Considering Nakia was anchored right outside the harbor entrance this was outrageous. We gave him 100 and told him that was all we had as we stepped off the panga. He then moved a couple of boat lengths forward of Nakia, cut his engines, and proceeded to clean the day's catch. Even 100 pesos seemed steep for a trip he would have made without us aboard!

After we had made the recommended donation to the charity event on our first day, we were free to join the boat for the next two days of racing. Those days were a blur of new names and faces amid light air sailing tactics. We never got to see Profligate's full potential as our speed remained well below 10 knots. But John loves sailing on boats bigger and faster than Nakia and, even though the "racing" was all in fun, he enjoys the challenge and tactics of out-maneuvering another boat. On the legs from La Cruz back to Punta Mita and then Mita to Nuevo Vallarta we exchanged email addresses with new friends, some of whom we might be seeing again in anchorages farther south.

We'd like to thank Richard for inviting us aboard and especially Donna for making us feel so useful. I commented that it must get tiresome to have to go over everything with each new batch of crew, but she graciously replied that we had been lots of help and had made her job easier. It was great fun and we appreciated the opportunity to sail with them.

For pictures and more detailed reports about the Blast on 'Lectronic Latitude, start at this link and work forwards or backwards by date from there:

http://www.latitude38.com/lectronic/lectronicday.lasso?date=2011-12-02

Linda

Day Sail out of Punta Mita

Tuesday morning we prepared the boat for an overnight trip south to Chamela. When the breeze came up at 1 PM we scrambled to get underway and were soon sailing along on a gentle swell and a barely riffled ocean surface. It was perfect whale watching weather and we sighted five unique animals, two of which made repeated and relatively close-up appearances. I also particularly enjoy slow sailing on flat water because I can see very small things like jelly fish in the 2-3 feet of the water's surface. Yesterday's jellies were 4-inch strings of small beads which we call "string of pearls" even though we don't know for sure if they are the stinging variety.

The breeze felt a little cool standing in the shade of the main sail. We've had a variety of weather conditions over the past few days (or at least, what we call "weather" in Mexico where there is no weather to speak of during the winter!). One night we had a heavy dew fall and I was able to do a poor man's boat wash, wiping the boat down with a rag and wringing out dirt and saltwater with the fresh water provided by Nature. The next day was so cloudy and windy that I got cold sitting in the cockpit listening to John play his ukulele at sunset. The day after that was clear and sunny with no breeze at all, and noticeably warmer water when we jumped in for our late afternoon "swim" (aka bath). Tuesday's hourly recorded water temps in the log out on the bay ranged from 78.4 to 80.1 degrees.

As the wind slowly died John made popcorn for a late afternoon snack. By the time we finished eating Nakia was barely making 2.5 knots and there was no wind in sight. John got on the phone to Hoorah and learned that they had motored the entire way to Chamela the night before. Then he called Stan for a forecast, who confirmed windless conditions for that stretch of coastline for the next few days. We fired up the engine and, deciding that 2.5 hours of motoring back to Mita would cost less than the 20 hours it would take to continue motoring south, we turned Nakia around to head back across the bay.

All in all we felt it had been a pleasurable outing and we had no regrets about "wasting" a day going nowhere. So when we started passing small groups of dolphins I was over the moon with excitement because the day just kept getting better and better. The first few were busy feeding and didn't stick around to bow ride for long. But they were beautiful spotted dolphins, covered in white freckles and small in size. While we were watching for more dolphins a butterfly passed us and this time I could clearly see that it was a Monarch. Every evening before sunset we watch butterflies of all colors and sizes fly through the anchorage headed to shore. But until we were actually motoring at 5 knots alongside one I hadn't been able to confirm John's feeling that the bigger ones were Monarchs. I couldn't believe that something so small (as John said, "with a 2-inch waterline") was so easily passing us.

Another dolphin was headed for our bow and we raced up to see if it would stay longer than the others had. This was a big bottlenose which was joined by two more swimming right up against Nakia's bow just below the surface. As we watched them watching us and barrel rolling in our bow wave, we were fascinated to see that two of the dolphins had remoras attached to them. The interesting thing was how the remora would appear to lose hold but was actually sliding around the dolphin's body as it rolled through the water. We were surprised that the remoras managed to keep a hold of the fast swimming dolphins. One by one our visitors eventually peeled off until the last one surfaced to take a big breath (splashing my leg a little in the process), and then disappeared with the others.

The sun was setting, we had one more good look at a big, black, glistening humpback's dorsal fin and then its tail fluke, and panga fishermen were out with flashing lights in the water. It wasn't long after dark before we were threading our way through the anchor lights of other sailboats to tuck into one of our favorite anchorages again.

Linda

{GMST}20|46.026|N|105|30.980|W|Punta Mita|Punta Mita{GEND}

Sayulita

You may be asking, why did John have to take Nakia out to Punta de Mita on November 18, and why was Linda in such a hurry to take the bus out there the next morning? The answer is we had another social engagement on our calendar involving a casita in Sayulita, about 10 miles NE of Punta de Mita's northern flank. The rental house is owned by cruising friends who had invited us to be their guests if we ever wanted to take a break from Nakia. So John organized a get together with Eric and Sherrell (S/V Sarana), who would drive their Toyota Dolphin camper down from Mazatlan, and Stan and MJ (SolCasa), who would drive up from Santiago Bay and give us a ride. We were leaving Nakia anchored at Punta de Mita so that Gary and Barb (S/V Hoorah) could feed Ziggy for us while we were away. They have two cats of their own and have watched Z. for us before.

After I got home Saturday morning I repacked my things for a four night get away, and Hoorah came over for a refresher briefing on the care and feeding of the beast. John ferried me and all of our vacation stuff (ukulele, computer, novel, snorkel gear, playing cards, freshly ground coffee, Tahitian rum, and Mexican snacks - salty dried peas, chickpeas, and fava beans) to shore where I settled in at El Coral restaurant. He returned to Nakia to raise the dinghy out of the water, and called Hoorah to hitch a ride to shore with them. We bought lunch for our cat sitters and were soon joined by Stan and MJ, who were happy to take a lunch break themselves before hitting the road again.

Yay, road trip! Well, for John and me it was only a 15 minute drive to a town we had sailed past exactly one week earlier. Sayulita is known as an artsy surf town full of tourists and it lived up to that reputation and then some. It may have been even busier that usual because we had inadvertently scheduled our stay over a holiday weekend celebrating the 1910 Dia de Revolucion. There was a local parade Sunday morning with kids shouting "Viva Zapata," "Viva Pancho Villa," "Viva La Revolucion," and "Viva Mexico!" They even staged mock battles complete with cannon fire, gun shots, and wounded revolutionaries being carried off by stretcher bearers.

We ate and drank ourselves silly with the following high (and low) lights. Buddha Mar, where we had a long wait for an average meal. Apparently they had recently changed the menu/kitchen from sushi to basic Mexican, and we were the only ones seated in the large dining area. As we waited patiently for our food to arrive, the very young, very blonde waitress periodically checked to make sure we were doing okay, punctuating every sentence she uttered with, "Awesome!" We were never offered chips and salsa or anything to make up for the delay. Choco Banana was always packed for breakfast but our food arrived lukewarm, was nothing special, and we had to ask for tortillas to replace the non-descript white bread which was served with the meal. Rollie's on the other hand served up a substantial and piping hot breakfast, and Rollie himself threw in a free pancake plate to share for "dessert." Everyone else thought Rollie's gringo shtick was a little over the top, but I thought the thin custardy pancakes were well worth a return visit. Panino's provided us with the most beautiful, heavy loaves of fresh bread I've seen anywhere in Latin America, and they didn't last long when we devoured them with Sherrell's homemade humus. MJ made a green salad and cooked up a pot of spaghetti for a dinner at home, which turned into two when we ate leftovers on our last night. We ate gorditas in the street at Yeikame where they served up a simple meal with unusual twists. The gorditas were made with blue corn meal and each sealed maize pocket held a choice of unique ingredients. I can't remember the extensive list but there were lots of vegetarian options like spinach and mushrooms along with the more common beans and cheese, potatoes, and meats. This was also the only place we ate where we actually had to heed the waitress's warning about the picante salsas. Finally, we were in Mexico!

Besides eating, our activities included walks through town and lots of card playing. We dedicated one day to the traditional beach resort pastime of lounging in chairs under umbrellas provided by the beach restaurant we patronized. We chose Pablo's El Capitan where all we had to do was eat and drink to pay for the luxury of digging our toes into the sand and repeating "No, gracias" to every beach vendor that walked by. The next day we worked off all the beach beers and ceviche with a nice long hike out the north end of town and through the woods paralleling the beach. We saw enormous spiders and a weird quad-winged dragonfly that flew like a helicopter. We were lucky that each translucent wing tip was dotted with yellow, or we probably wouldn't have been able to see it. As it hovered from spider web to spider web we weren't sure if it was plucking out spiders or bugs caught in the webs for its snacks. Our quiet walk was also rewarded with bird sightings! John and I are rarely able to spot any birds at all when we're out walking, but this time we saw orioles, a group of four black-throated magpie jays (big birds with crested heads and long, long tails), and something resembling a Trogon. Eric even managed to get a good zoom lens shot of the latter sitting in a tree. We were exulting over our good fortune as we returned to the main road. Our excitement turned to dismay as we silently passed a tour guide about to lead a gringo family on four ATV quads over the same track we had just exited. But as Stan gently pointed out to me, they were there to get a noisy, bumpy thrill ride, not to look at bugs and birds.

This is already way too long, but I can't close without relating the highlight of our mini-vacation which was - a baby iguana in our toilet! Yes, Sunday morning in the casita John lifted the toilet seat and lid up together and began shouting that we had to come see for ourselves or we would never believe him. We took pictures and then someone reached in to try and grab him. To our complete surprise the iguana turned tail and shot back into the bowels of the toilet. OMG! Needless to say for the next 24 hours John and I very gingerly lifted the lid up and made a point of turning on the bathroom light at night. On Monday we told the housekeeper about our uninvited guest and showed her our pictures so she wouldn't think we were pulling her leg. While we were out, her solution was to drape a hand towel into the bowl and over the rim to give the iguana a surface on which to climb out. Then she cornered it in the shower and caught it in a towel to release it with its bigger brothers in the iguana tree outside the house. Of course she had her own pictures to show us that it came out alive and well!

Finally I'll close with a big thank you to Susan and Elba for their gift to us of a stay in their lovely Sayulita casita. Not only was it a nice break from life aboard Nakia, but it was a great place for a reunion of good friends from afar!

Linda

Mills Birthday Week

What has Nakia been up to, you may be asking? Well, it's been a busy November, but it's time to get the blog caught up.

On November 12 we left Chacala for the mostly motoring, 44 nautical mile, nine hour trip to La Cruz de Huanacaxtle in Banderas Bay (near Puerto Vallarta). At the same time, Mills College friends, Amy and Carole, were winging their way from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta for a week's vacation at the Melia resort in Marina Vallarta. It was a special trip to celebrate Carole's 49th birthday and Amy's 50th this month.

Almost a year ago they sent me a message telling me about their plans and asking us if we could be there to help celebrate their milestone birthdays. We were in Hawaii and had already been thinking long and hard about returning to Mexico to visit Stan and MJ and to see if we still felt as strongly about Mexico as we did when we left there in 2008 (we loved it). Amy and her daughter flew to Mazatlan to surprise me for my 50th birthday in 2007 (wow, was it really that long ago?!), so this news clinched our decision to sail to Mexico from Hawaii.

34 days of sailing across the Pacific and almost nine months later Nakia was in Puerto Vallarta. And the next day Wendy arrived from SF to make it even more of an event. I hadn't seen Carole or Wendy since before John and I left California in 2004, and we all had to keep pinching ourselves to believe that we had managed to regroup in PV of all places.

In between the important activities of shopping, eating, and relaxing in the warm air, we spent the next week catching up on news of each other's families, work, and life aboard Nakia. We also shared some really memorable events, the first of which was Carole's birthday dinner at La Palapa on the 13th. What a beautiful setting in which to enjoy a gourmet meal.

On Monday we were off to Punta de Mita where Jose, aka "Picudo," took us out to Las Marietas in his panga for snorkeling and a view of the blue-footed boobies nesting on the islands (we even saw a couple of fluffy white babies). After our morning boat trip we were hungry for the pescado especial at El Dorado beach restaurant at Punta de Mita. Well, only I ordered that heart attack, but it was muy delicioso. After lunch Amy decided to go for one last little dip. As she was picking her way through the rocky shallow water she stepped on a stingray which leaped clear out of the water. Wendy was the only one of us on shore to witness the ray jumping. The rest of us were relieved to hear squeals of shock and not pain, as Amy had dodged a huge bullet and not been stung. John can attest to the fact that a ray sting is incredibly painful and we're glad Amy was spared that vacation souvenir.

We then took a local bus back to La Cruz where John made two dinghy trips to load everyone on board Nakia for a sail to Marina Vallarta. Amy had warned us that she can get deathly seasick (but not on power boats), and I was almost sick worrying about her on slow poke Nakia! But everyone enjoyed the first couple of hours of fast (for us) sailing. When the late afternoon breeze began to die, and Amy was looking a little pensive, John fired up the motor to smooth out the motion and she bounced right back. We entered the marina just after sunset and tied up in our reserved slip for the next four nights.

The next morning was filled with massages and pool lounging for the vacationers while I got some much needed boat chores done. Later we all got together (minus John) for some girl shopping on the newly renovated Malecon which is now a beautiful pedestrian mall. On Wednesday they took a Los Arcos boat tour while John and I got to work on a boat project. He spent a few hours at the top of the mast and I fetched tools and pulled and released lines as needed.

Wendy had an afternoon return flight home on Thursday, and we all went shopping on Isla Cuale. John gave advice for price negotiating and helped fend off over eager vendors. Carole and Wendy returned to the condo for lunch before her flight, but Amy stayed with us to find an authentic Mexican restaurant. On the advice of a friendly dulceria (sweets) shop keeper, John found a comida corrida right in front of the Our Lady of Guadalupe church. This is a little place with a set lunch menu from which you choose a main course. It's pretty basic, but is what the locals eat. Amy even had the authentic experience of a waiter spilling soup on her leg as he tried to impress her with how many bowls and plates he could carry!

Friday was our last day together and we three remaining girls had a reservation with Vallarta Adventures for their "Outdoor Adventure." But first we had to say goodbye to John and Ziggy as he was moving Nakia from Marina Vallarta out to Punta de Mita that morning. I had my overnight things and would be spending that night in luxury at the Melia.

We joined our afternoon tour at La Maritima, the cruise ship pier. We boarded a huge zodiac boat with about two dozen passengers for the fast smooth ride across the bay to Boca de Tomatlan. Before we boarded the huge Mercedes Benz expedition trucks for the climb into the jungle, we were surprised to see a 30ish foot sailboat with its port side buried in the sand on the beach. It didn't look like it had been there long and we wondered if it could be salvaged. Always a sobering sight, especially for anyone who's boat is their home.

The truck ride was bumpy but we were never airborne off our seats so it wasn't that bad. When we arrived at the base camp we were fitted out with the zip line gear and led to mules for a 20 minute ride up a steep dirt road into the jungle. At the top of this road we met our guides and were given a briefing for how to ride the zip lines. After hearing all about how not to do it, I was getting pretty nervous. Carole and Amy had both done zip lines before, but not like these where you had the option of braking with one heavily gloved hand. The problem was in knowing how much to brake. Too much and you would stop yourself midway across. Too little and you would go flying into the landing platform. (As it turned out you never really needed to brake at all because the guide on the platform controlled a rope to help stop you.)

This was truly an adventure and we three had a phenomenal time on each and every leg of the course. There were long flying rides over small canyons, a vertical rappel alongside a waterfall, a full dunking drop into a fresh water pool, a free fall vertical rappel, and a couple of fun "bridges" where we could mug for the professional photographer. Back at base camp we bought the photo CDs and ate and drank before loading up into the trucks for the descent. But wait - there was one last surprise stop at a tequila distillery where we learned how to drink small shots of silver, gold, anejo, kahlua, and almond tequila (yes, one of each!). Carole liked it so much that she bought three bottles as souvenirs.

It was late when we finally returned to the Melia for showers and a one-week-early 50th birthday dinner for Amy. I hadn't brought suitable attire for the reservations only restaurant so the girls dressed me like a doll in a fuchsia dress with matching sandals of Carole's and a pretty sweater of Amy's for our last evening together.

The next morning we said goodbye before breakfast as I had to take a bus to return to Nakia early. It was the end of a memorable week spent with my best friends from college, and one I will always treasure. I'm so happy we were able to be in the right place at the right time - not always an easy feat for a cruising sailboat!

{GMST}20|39.100|N|105|15.000|W|Mills Birthday Week|Entrance to Puerto Vallarta Harbor{GEND}

San Blas to Chacala

We ran out of our good streak of sailing wind yesterday and mostly motored the 24 nautical miles to Chacala. Motor trips are usually pretty tedious but this time we were rewarded with our first sea turtle and whale sightings of the season. One lazy sea turtle didn't even move until the auto pilot had taken us right alongside him and he didn't scoot away until we had him amidships. Vertical whale spouts were clearly visible along the coastline and we patiently watched one slowly coming closer to the boat. Finally we had two good looks at the top of its back as it came up for a few breaths about a quarter of a mile away from us. Spouts are a common sight and don't always result in an animal sighting, so they're interesting but often disappointing as they disappear on the horizon. But it's still always a thrill to get a clear look at any part of these magnificent creatures as they make their way through the ocean around us.

We were also passed by a few fishing boats, most of which were out of Mazatlan. One came up so close behind us that I got the camera out as a gentle warning that I was recording the encounter. To my surprise as they passed us I could see that they were taking our picture and flashing the peace sign and waving for my camera. I always feel guilty for letting tales of fishing boats ramming sailboats outweigh the far more prevalent accounts of aid and brotherhood among boats of all nations. It never occurred to me that they would find us picturesque enough to divert to, especially when we weren't even properly sailing!

Five hours after leaving San Blas we tucked into the north corner of the beach and set both a bow and a stern anchor to keep our bow pointed into the swell. [Note to 2012 Puddle Jumpers: This is a good place to practice your stern anchoring technique for your stay in Taiohae, Nuku Hiva.] Chacala is a quiet little vacation spot with brightly painted, lovely homes and a small sandy beach lined with thatched palapa restaurants. We fondly remember our previous short stay years ago when we were anchored much farther out from the protection of the northern point. Since we will not be likely to get such a perfect anchoring spot later in the season when there will be many more boats here, we have decided to stay an extra night so that we can go ashore for a visit today.

Linda

{GMST}21|09.828|N|105|13.634|W|Chacala|Mexico{GEND}

Isabela to San Blas

We're anchored in the river estuary of San Blas for the first time ever. We've always avoided this stop because it's known for terrible no-see-ums, but we were low on provisions and decided to brave it anyway. We departed Isla Isabela at sunrise Tuesday and had a very gentle downwind sail all the way here. I guess I should mention that we covered 41 nautical miles in nine and a half hours. Our previous trip from Mazatlan to Isabela was 89 nm in 18 hours, which includes the hour and a half that we drifted waiting for the sun to rise.

We enjoyed our stay at Isabela and after a morning nap we took advantage of some of the clearest water in Mexico to go for a snorkel. We swam over to the area in between two striking rock formations which jut out of the water and found good numbers of all the usual suspects. The most notable aspect of the snorkel was how much bigger than normal the fish were. Even the Moorish Idols were good-sized.

Above water the bird life was fantastic. The island was covered in a dense thicket of some kind of sturdy leafy bush on which birds perched. Blue-footed boobies took cover in the shade of the thicket at the top of the beach. But most of the birds soared overhead, probably keeping cool in the thermals since they didn't appear to be doing any fishing. A couple of male frigates had inflated their red pouches and I saw a juvenile practice plucking a nesting stick from the water's surface. But I think we were too early for the actual nesting season.

Our stay was made more comfortable by the deployment of our rocker stopper and by the knowledge that our anchor was firmly buried in a sandy part of the bottom. It's a forbidding looking anchorage with waves breaking on rocks to either side and the alternative anchorage, while calmer, has an even rockier bottom which has been known to "swallow" anchors. Two boats arrived later in the afternoon but after taking a look at both anchorages they elected to continue on their separate ways, one to Mazatlan and one to San Blas. We're happy that we decided to give it a try since it turned out to be much nicer than its initial imposing impression.

Unfortunately I don't think we can say the same about San Blas. Thanks to coordinates from another boat we had a safe crossing of the bar entrance and are anchored in a shallow river across from the marina. But the mangroves are host to no-see-ums which bite day and night whether you are imprisoned below in your heavily screened boat, or sitting in the town square. Panga fishermen roar up and down the river all day and all night, so it isn't what you could call peaceful. We will spend another night here to make our exit on a high tide tomorrow morning, bound for Chacala, about 20 miles away.

John has been fishing on our passages but has only come up with black skipjack in the very warm waters (around 85 degrees). He often has them up to the boat and off the hook before Ziggy has a chance to get out to the cockpit to see what's going on. Poor Z is then left sniffing the air, wondering what happened to his dinner.

Linda

{GMST}21|32.566|N|105|17.721|W|San Blas|San Blas{GEND}

Isla Isabela

We departed Stone Island in Mazatlan at 12:45 PM on Sunday and we had such a good sail that we had to heave to at 0400 this morning to wait for it to get light enough to approach the island and anchor. It's a bit rolly, but we're anchored in a patch of sand on the SE side of the island. The beach landing looks steep and rough so we'll probably just rest up on the boat and hope we don't take too many guano hits during our stay. Did I forget to mention that the island is a bird rookery and the skies are black with frigates and booby birds? Ziggy is going to have an interesting time!

Linda

{GMST}21|50.876|N|105|52.756|W|Isla Isabela|Isla Isabela{GEND}

Stone Island, Mazatlan

Well, let's see if I remember how to do this! We have actually departed Marina Mazatlan and are on the hook at the little anchorage just outside the Port of Mazatlan. We decided to come here rather than anchor in the Old Harbor, thinking that it might be quieter. But we don't have Wi-Fi here, so please send any email to our Sailmail address and not our gmail or yahoo accounts.

The two hour motor trip this morning was rolly (from beam to beam) so poor Ziggy threw up his breakfast after we passed Deer Island. Fortunately I saw the signs of imminent upchuck, and I managed to catch most of it in a rag in my hand. He drank some water after we dropped anchor and is now well into his afternoon nap. I can't wait to see his reaction when he wakes up later today and realizes we're not tied up to the dock anymore.

Unfortunately John is wishing we'd stayed in the marina because he has taken a turn for the worse with his head cold, and it's now migrated to his chest. In the slip he'd have plenty of electricity to watch movies and TV, not to mention plenty of fresh water for showers, and an air conditioned cruiser's lounge for surfing the web. There's a south wind blowing today and we are back to hot and humid temperatures, but we're pointed into the breeze and the water temperature is down to 83 degrees.

Life is good hanging on the hook for free!

Linda

paint done!

It's been a couple long weeks of work but the teak is finally covered with four coats of varnish, one coat of paint primer and three coats of paint top coat. I'll be happy not to have to spend the next couple days on my knees (though I have at least one more day of knee killer to go just to remove the adhesive residue from the tape).

Projects

It's been a long time since our last post. NAKIA is still in Mazatlan, with John and Ziggy on board. Linda is still in Seattle getting colder by the day. Here is a brief video of the latest project. Don't get too excited, I'm going to paint over all this varnish.

Last nights Thunder Storm

Last night a pretty violent thunderstorm came through the marina. I couldn't sleep for all the lightening so I got up to take a short video.
I've saved it to our Picasa page:

https://picasaweb.google.com/svnakia/Jul172011#5630390697015866706