Paradise Village to Tenacatita January 2009

We spent New Years eve w Spike and Carol, Judy’s friends from Michigan, at their hotel in the romantic zone in PV, on the hill just above Ondela’s and Los Arcos. We all had fun watching fire works, drinking some beer, hanging out, watching the people, ringing in 2009, etc. I must have had a lot to drink because I remember walking up to Ondela's donkey and smacking it really hard on the ass as it stood there on outside on the sidewalk, thinking (drunkenly) that it was a wooden donkey. I was so surprised when I felt warm donkey flesh. To its credit, it didn't kick me or even acknowledge that I'd smacked it hard enough to bruise it.

Next day we hung around the boat getting it ready to check out of the Marina. I took Gina at the Paradise Village marina office up on the marina's deal that if you leave for a month or so your slip cost is reduced to $10 per day while you are gone and you get the same slip back. We loaded up with water and groceries. Gina reminded me that we were supposed to ‘check out’ of PV with the Port Capitan as we were going to another Port Captained city, but by then Vilma’s Documentation Services was closed and the Port Capitan was also closed, so I emailed Vilma all of my documents and asked her via email if she could do it while I was gone and email me the ‘check out’ document.

Anyhow, we left Paradise Village and sailed over to La Cruz with S and C. Saw whales, of course, and lots of dolphins. Anchored out, went to shore to eat and explore. Spike and Judy and Carol are very old friends – Spike and Judy in particular are birds of a feather when it comes to partying – every night all night wouldn’t be too much for either. Carol likes to stay home and go to bed early. Same as me. Thanks to Spike and Judy prodding us we had some fun! Spent the night on the hook, and did shore again the next day. We left the anchorage around 1 pm or so on the 3rd and set sail for Tenacatita, about 120 miles south.

Cabo Corrientes was relatively calm when we rounded it. This was Judy’s first overnight sail, and it was a rousing one. We had 17 to 19 knots of wind on our tail all day and all night, until maybe 4 or 5 am when it dropped to 10. The swells were not huge, maybe 5 or 6 feet, but they were coming from astern, too, and pitching the stern around, throwing us off course. Due to the wind angle we had to run on the edge of gibing. I rigged a preventer, but it was still touch and go as we were sailing right on the edge of gibing with the coastal wind dead astern. The helmsperson had to be on their toes. I heard one big crash while I was dozing in the cockpit and Judy was steering, but no harm, the sail crashed right back to the proper side without breaking anything. I wound up steering most of the night, because we continued on the edge of gibing, too close to let the autopilot steer. S and C slept through the night, as did Judy for the most part. The stars were really really amazing after the moon went down. The sky was clear and of course there are no lights on this part of the coast. I think the Southern Cross was out, but I need to see a photo of it to be sure as to whether or not this was it. We are still about 20 degrees North, maybe too far up to see it.

We kept going the next day, with me at the helm steering because of the following seas/gibing situation and because I was the only one that was comfortable steering. We got into Tenacatita around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I don’t remember exactly as was pretty groggy by then. We anchored and I went right to sleep after being at the helm for 26 hours straight.

I love Tenacatitia. It is a wonderful beautiful anchorage, well protected except from the odd and unusual south wind/wave pattern. Good holding, sand, and a nice hill blocking the prevailing northerlies. Not much on shore, one palapa restaurant/bar that serves the auto campground there, but which is only open from 8 to 5 or so. A two mile dingy ride up the jungle river takes you to the town of Tenacatita, which is really tiny. It has maybe 12 beach front palapa restaurant/bars and a little tiny grocery store. There might be more to the town, but if so it is over the hill and a long hike. We spent the night anchored there and then the next day, after doing the jungle ride in a panga because the outboard wouldn’t start, we upped anchor and headed down the coast 15 miles to Barra de Navidad.

Las Tres Marietas, etc.

My son Mike and his GF Rhi, and Duncan, another son, all left yesterday. Duncan has been here living on the boat since early October. Mike and Rhi came down for a week. Judy is up north, in Carnation, WA, for xmas with her kids, returns here on the 29th. I am home alone on the boat. This actually is the first time I have been here alone, since buying the boat a year and a half ago!

Duncan had a really good time here. He met a nice Mexican college girl and they really hit it off. She showed him all around this region, really introduced him to Mexican Mexico. Got him interested in improving his Spanish! He says she is the nicest smartest girl he has ever met! She was sending him flowers and stuff.......

We were out sailing a couple of days ago, heading out to Las Tres Marietas, a group of islands just outside of Banderas Bay, about 5 miles southwest from the Punta de Mita anchorage. They are a federally protected ecological preserve. On the way out, it got sorta dark but there was still some light. Mike and I were up on the bow, on the windward side, and what to our wondering eyes should appear but a huge Humpback whale swimming right under the boat, only about 10 feet down. It was half turned on its side, looking up at us. Then half an hour later, a huge school of dolphin started swimming along in the bow wave. They were chasing a school of fish, and you could see the dolphins snapping up the little guys. All were glowing and leaving phosphorescent wakes. Spell binding.

The sailing guidebooks, in perhaps an overabundance of caution, recommend not anchoring in the Marietas overnight. On the south side of Isla Marieta, though, there is a little nook or cove that is the best anchorage in the group of islas. There is a big tour boat floating mooring ball, too. The bottom is about 25 to 40 feet, sand and a few rocks. I took a chance and moored to the ball, not fully trusting it but guessing that on this calm night of all nights it wasn't going to break and cast me up onto the rocks that were only 100 feet away. As it was so late in the day, I was pretty sure the tour boats wouldn't show up and kick me off their mooring ball. There probably is more chance of it breaking during the day with a big tour boat tied to it and the afternoon winds hitting 15 to 20 knots on a normal day. Those winds hit the other side of the island first, so this is the daytime lee side, but they still blow pretty strongly in here during the day. Overnight a 5ish knot wind was coming from the north east, from the shore, but we had some protection from the eastern most island. The danger in anchoring here is that if the wind switches to come out of some southerly direction you are on a lee shore only feet away from some really super gnarly rocks......

The stars were as clear and bright as I have ever seen in my life, anyplace or anywhere, just incredible, laying like dust across the sky, except brightly glowing and beautifully colored dust. They were 3 dimensional, it looked like some were closer than others, you could see the depth of the sky....... The Milky Way was so very dense, and immense, stretching clear across the night sky.

Next day we snorkeled and swam and cleaned the bottom of the boat and did a beach landing in surf with the dingy, hiked around on Isla Marieta, and generally had a great time. These islas are uninhabited, except by millions of seabirds. Snorkling around made me want to dive, but my tank was back at the dock. We saw eels, rays, lots and lots of beautifully colored tropical fish. Probably octopus live here, but didn't see any. I've heard that you are supposed to have a governmental permit to land on the islas, but we didn't have one and I'm not really sure if you do need one.

Coming back from the Marietas we had from 23 to 25 knots of wind on a beam reach. Really nice sailing, the boat comes alive at those wind speeds and goes 7 + knots so Mike and Rhi and Duncan really got the feel of active sailing. We held 8 knots for awhile. At some point we caught a little 3 pound Pacific Bonito, can't remember now if it was on the way out or on the way back in. It was good pan fried in olive oil and butter and wrapped up in harina tortillas with the usually fajita trimmings. And icy cold Pacifico.

We spent a couple of days anchored out at La Cruz. The new marina is very modern, very secure and quite attractive. It is less than half full, after being open for a year+. Rafael has taken over as the marina manager. He was previously the manager of the Vallarta Yacht Club. He is a great guy and says he is looking forward to lowering the moorage prices in the Marina Riviera Nayarit and getting it filled up.

The anchorage just outside the marina and just off the La Cruz beach is generally the best in the Bay, in terms of being the least rolley, best protected, etc. It is the live aboard anchorage for the entire bay. 15 to 30 feet deep, good holding sand, no weeds. La Cruz is a fun little Mexican town that is changing rapidly under the pressure of the money coming into town thanks to the new marina. Lots of real estate is changing hands and being spruced up. Philo's is the cruiser bar.......

We saw a lot of whales, putting on all sorts of whale shows. Leaping, tail thumping, fin slapping, spouting, breathing, tail wagging. They were everywhere.

From La Cruz anchorage we sailed every day, looking for whales and dolphins, fishing a little, just enjoying some father/son catch up bonding time.....

My son Mike's photos from this time are here: http://www.nubinski.com/DecemberWinds/index.html