December to May 98/99

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On December 16th after a few fun days with Janet and Sparky in La Paz, we headed out to sail across the Sea Cortez to the Mainland. Janet and Sparky flew down to crew with us. Our original plan was to sail south to Bahia de los Muertos and meet with Jeannie and Paul Miller on “Zeus”, who just had sailed down from LA as well. About 12 miles out of La Paz we heard them on the radio and that they were underway to Isla Partida. At this point we were more then half way out of the channel and had to make a decision whether to head for Muertos, Mazatlan or Partida. We could not head on and miss meeting with Zeus and headed for Partida as well and waited for their arrival. It was a happy reunion, beside the angle of sailing across to Mazatlan is better from Partida then from Muertos. Since we all new each other we had a great time and exchanged a lot of tips on what to expect in the Sea of Cortez.
The next morning around 11 a.m. we departed Partida for the 235 mile sail across to the mainland. Going through the Channel towards Isla Ceralvo, we caught a sierra and a nice yellow fin tuna and while Sid was cleaning the tuna I was sitting up on deck with Wasabi and Soya sauce already and Jeanette was drooling in the cockpit, waiting for the Sashimi. So far we didn’t’ have any wind and used the motor, past Ceralvo the wind finally started to pick up a bit and we hoisted sails and gave the engine a rest. Not just did the wind pick up, the swells started growing bigger as well and before we knew it, we started to get tossed around and it got worse and worse. By sunset we were in a heavy cloud cover and the condition worsened. It was a pretty bumpy night, felt like being in a washing machine in the washing cycle. What made it worse what not being able to see any stars to navigate by, it was pitch dark and we couldn’t take our eyes of the compass. The seas were at least 6-foot and the wind of 25 knots. We still had the influence of the Sea of Cortez, the waves were as high as they were apart, 4 x 4s again. By sunrise still no change in the weather conditions and it didn’t seem to get any better either. The weather forecast was said to be 15 knots light and variable, I wonder where, but definitely not where we were! Poor Janet was sick for the whole entire trip. I was a happy camper that I had all the meals prepared in advance, I could have never cooked in these conditions without getting seasick myself. By sundown on the second day the seas rose to 10 feet and the wind picked up 30 to 35 .The auto pilot couldn’t handle it either and we had to manually steer the boat. It was very uncomfortable but despite that I actually had a good time on the helm. I enjoyed it so much, that Sid with sever back pain could sleep for 7-hour sleep and rest his sore back. Sparky got some Zs as well. It was a very clear night and I could actually steer by the stars, which made it a whole bunch easier. Around four o’clock in the morning I eventually got my two hours of sleep as well, but was on the helm again by six and I enjoyed a most delightful sunrise, surrounded by dolphins. For the last 30 miles the seas calmed down and even Janet popped her head out and had some color again in her face.

MAZATLAN: On arrival in Mazatlan we entered the commercial harbor and started to look for our marina we would spend the next month in. We weren’t too impressed the water was filthy and had a foul odor, which had us worried about staying here. As we couldn’t find the marina we figured out pretty fast that we had entered the wrong harbor and gladly headed back out. Our destination was about 5 miles north of the commercial harbor. While we sailed up the coats I prepared breakfast and with a bottle of champagne we celebrated out arrival in Mazatlan. Looking at the entrance of Marina Mazatlan, one can just hope that no other boat is heading the opposite direction, it was quite narrow.
The marina was very nice and in a rather awkward area, in the middle of a field, away from the ocean and all by itself and very quiet. It felt like being in the country side, the only thing missing was the barn.
On arrival Sid noticed that we had a problem with the steering. The steering box had come apart because of the constant pressure on the rudder. It was put together with wooden cleats and working back and fourth caused it to become weak. Sparky and Janet stayed for a couple of days and helped us explore Mazatlan. Of course the guys wanted to watch some football and so we headed over to the El Cid Marina Bar to watch Monday night football. Tying the dinghy on the dock we met a very nice couple Lyn and Norm (Wandering Roo) and started talking with them. Didn’t take long for Sparky and Norm to realize that they both work for the same company and actually that Norm’s son worked with Sparky and so Lyn, Norm and we became very good friends for years to come.
We pulled a little joke on Sparky. As Sparky was staying with us in St. Rosalia he mentioned that he had been awaken by an alarm in the middle of the night. We knew that we had an old wristwatch of Sid’s in the V-Berth, but didn’t know where exactly it was and since we never heard it we didn’t bother finding it. In La Paz as I was preparing the V-Berth for them I found the watch, but thought what the heck and left it. Sure enough the first morning, Janet mentioned the alarm and that she couldn’t find it, but she thought it was on Sparky’s side. So we moved it. The next morning she clamed it was on her side, so we moved it again. Then we woke up in the middle of the night the watch this time woke us up and we were the ones who couldn’t find it this time. OK, lets really have fun now. The very last night they spent with us, I borrowed several alarm clocks from other cruisers and hid them all in the V-Birth, each one of course going off at a different time. Yeah, we’re mean, but it gets better yet! One day after they left my girlfriend Sue came for a visit and when she left we handed her the watch to plant in Janet’s bedroom. She did that a few days later and when Sparky heard the alarm, he went to check his sea bag first, thinking that we had placed it there before they left. It took him three days to finally find the watch under his mattress. Guess somewhere down the line it’ll find its way back to us!
When Sparky returned to the States, he immediately put our friend Peterson to work and he made us some stainless steel plates to fix the steering box. Sue brought them down with her. I tell you we have the best friends, sure saved our bacon. Unfortunately Sue could only stay for four days, but we made the best out of it and wore her out. At the same time Padre Timo (Tim Tunks on Scallywag, also a PMYC member) was at the same marina with Audrey (PMYC visiting) so we were a big happy family. We had a most delightful New Years Eve dinner with them. I prepared us a wonderful Fondue Bourgignonne by candle light on the dock. For dessert we joined other cruisers to some guitar and harmonica music, fireworks and champagne for the New Years toast.
Mazatlan is a very enjoyable City, the shopping is great, the bus rides are fun (only 25 cents each trip, even the Taxis are dirt cheap), and the restaurants wonderful. Our favorite was “Pancho’s”, they served a seafood platter for two, which easily could feed 6, consisting of lobster, shrimp cooked three different ways, octopus, a whole red snapper, different other fish and frog legs. Another favorite dish was the bacon wrapped cheese filled shrimp. On Sundays we made it a tradition of going to the champagne brunch at the El Cid Marina with Norm and Lyn. We got to know the waiters very well and every time we showed up, they would have a table ready for us and made us feel very special. During the entire ordeal, which usually lasted from 10 until 3 they waited hand and foot on us and our champagne glasses never were empty or even half full, it was wonderful. We felt like a million bucks with all the attention we received. These waiters were just so wonderful that Lyn and Norm invited them and us for a fishing trip. We had a great time, didn’t catch any fish, but we saw lots and lots of Marlin, one jumped at least 10 times out of the water. We kept trying to catch, even circled many of them, but without any luck, they just weren’t hungry. Juaquin and Jesus made an incredible shrimp ceviche and till to this day I still make it, it’s the best there is. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that many shrimp, it was wonderful.
Marina Mazatlan organized a day trip to Cordovia and Copala inland to which 80 cruisers attended. It was a great trip and we had the chance to see some cultural things of the inland of Mexico. Copala especially was interesting as they had hot springs where all the women meet for laundry and give a bath to the kids.
Another trip the Marina organized was to go aboard the USS Constellation. That was pretty amazing. Imagine, per day, the water maker produces 400 000 Gallons, the galley serves 18 000+ meal, there are 5500+ sailors on board, 5 dentists, etc. Most of the visitors were very disappointed, all they showed us was the top deck and nothing else. As we stood in line again for the ride back ashore, I asked one of the officers when the galley tour started. He looked at me a little funny and asked, if I really wanted to see the galley. I said, of course, that was my reason for coming here, well that was a little bit of a lie, but I did want to see the galley. Sure enough he took us on a private tour through the boat. We were not the slightest bit disappointed.
Three days before we left Mazatlan the computer broke beyond repair, we didn’t let that ruin our trip to Puerto Vallarta and headed on. We learned early in cruising that you can’t be on a schedule and that travel plans change. The broken computer will definitely change some of the plans. We had some other issues to evaluate, whether to stay another season in Mexico or to head south to Panama, but also realized that if we headed to Panama at this time we would have to rush. We decided the best thing to do was to spend hurricane season in Puerto Vallarta which would give us a chance to explore the Mainland of Mexico a bit and would have a head start in November to head south to Panama, so cruising plans changed.
On January 25th, we left Marina Mazatlan and headed to the anchorage by the harbor entrance anchorage to spend a fair well dinner with Jim and Nancy on Laughing Buddha before they headed for the South Pacific. We couldn’t believe that as soon as we reached the first Island between the marinas and harbor, a thick wall of fog rolled in and around us, thank goodness for radar. Just as fast as it appeared it disappeared once we headed into the harbor entrance. We had a wonderful time and a great dinner aboard Paradise and then the sad part again saying goodbye, not knowing when we’ll run into them again. When we left Marina del Ray, we didn’t realize that from now on it was saying goodbyes over and over again. You meet so many cruisers out there, make friends and then head into different directions.
ISLA ISABELA: The 86 mile trip to Isla Isabella turned into an incredible sail. We sailed so well and fast we had to take sails down, so we didn’t approach the island in the middle of the night. Go figure, we finally had the perfect sailing condition and had to take sails down. Our original ETA was 8 am but as fast as we sailed it changed it to 3 am. Since there was a hidden rock in the anchorage and nobody ever took a way point of it, we didn’t want to be the first ones to find it. Just to be on the safe side we always plan on arriving in daylight unless we know the anchorage. The island was easy to recognize, with huge flocks of sea birds constantly circling the island. Approaching, there was a whitish rock resembling a gigantic turtle, which separates into two large-guano-covered stacks as we approached closer. We arrive at 7 am and were greeted by Nancy and Jim on “Windance”. All the other boaters waved at us too, some screamed trying to tell us that we shouldn’t anchor where we were because of the rock, not knowing that we had forward seeking sonar and had found the rock already. Where everybody suspected the rock to be was a perfect anchor spot and of course we took it. A few hours later we joined Windance for a little excursion on the island. Isla Isabela is a remarkable island, uninhabited and a magnificent Bird Sanctuary. Seasonal shark fishermen frequent the area and their camps line the beach. Actually I’ve never seen so many fisherman in any fish camp. We walked through the camp and followed a small path into the woods. I must mention how filthy and disgusting these fisherman are. They do have at least 10 portable toilettes in the area, but no they have to do the business next to the path. Really lovely walking on “Camino the Kaka”! A little past the camp it got better and we were totally enclosed in brush and shrubs. After about 20 minutes hiking through the trees and banana plants we reached the Crater Lake. Numerous frigate birds nest in the trees surrounding the lake, sometimes they were just a foot away from us and we even saw the baby birds sticking their heads out underneath mama’s belly. One fell out of the nest and was wandering around, looking for it’s parents. We looked for an empty nest, which might be the one of the little fuzzy bird, but no luck. After a nice picnic and a bottle of red wine we headed back to the boat, again awing over all the baby birds in the nests. The anchorage was a bit rolly, but tolerable and we had an incredible view of the cliffs on the east side, where the water was crashing against them with a roaring thunder.
Two days later we left and headed 56 miles south east to Chacala. For the first 30 miles we had light and variable 15 knots of wind and swells anywhere from 3 to 5 feet. Then the wind died down and the engine took over. We saw lots of whales completely breaching out of the water and pods of hundreds of mantas all endlessly jumping out of the water, thirty or more at a time, which looked rather funny. We had a very entertaining trip.
CHACALA: Entering the Chacala anchorage was spectacular; the sun was setting behind us and a full moon rising over the palm trees of Chacala. It was the most picture perfect view and the first place with a white sandy beach, palm trees and jungle overgrown hills. After seeing the Mexican desert this was an incredible sight, finally the tropics. We were told that from here on south it was all going to be tropical. 17 boats were already in the anchorage, which wasn’t really what we were looking for, but we knew most of them and some we hadn’t seen in month. We’ve been trying to catch up with MacNab, but again they just left the day prior our arrival.
This cove had a beautiful short beach with palapa restaurants (palm leave roofed huts) lining the shore in front of the towering coconut palms. What a pleasant evening this was being gently rocked by the swells and smelling the wonderful air of greenery. Another Super Ball Sunday were Sid thought he would miss, but the last palapa on the beach had a TV and was showing it. Didn’t talk us long to join Nancy and Jim on Windance and sat under the palapa for hours watching the game. Sid was a happy camper, who would have thought of watching Super Ball Sunday under a canopy of palms. We were there for 5 hours, drank plenty of cervezas, ate several appetizers, then shrimp and fish and the bill was a whole $ 18 for the 4 of us, can’t get any better. After the game we decided to join the rest of the boaters who decided to have a potluck instead on the neighboring Chacalilla Beach. We didn’t quite know where the path to that beach was, but we found the gate which was locked. With the help of an old lady we found another path which led us down to the beach. The older lady was funny, all she could say was: “oh, happy hour”! I’m sure she thought that we were crazy, to go walking on that wild jungle path in the dark. It turned out that we walked through a very narrow path through the jungle and mangroves, couldn’t see anything it was so dark and we were wearing flip flops and beach attire. At one point we thought that we had completely lost the trail, but after about 30 minutes we heard our friends on the beach. And just as we got out of the bushes we stumbled on to the road that leads back into the village. How could we have missed that?!
The following day Windance and Paradise decided to go on another adventure, hiking to the top of the volcano. And an adventure it was! First we followed the wrong road leading out of town. Finally we found the small path to the volcano which led up a steep hill through jungle. Jim read that there was a path from the volcano to Playa Cuervo a great snorkel beach with underwater caves, so we schlepped our snorkel gear with us. The view from the volcano over the beautiful anchorage was breathtaking. Sid found the path down and was leading us through the shrubs down the hill towards the beach. Well, we didn’t go far, the small trail, probably just a cow trail, disappeared and we had to hike back up hill. It was a very unpleasant path a little nasty plant grew all over and clung to our skin with miniature hooks and made us itch like hell. The girls of course wanted to return to the boat and do the smart thing, take the dingy around to the snorkel beach. The macho guy of course felt they had to keep going, can’t just give up and so the girls tagged along. The hike from the volcano to the beach was supposed to be about an hour long. By the time we finally arrived it was 3 hours later. Every time we came to a road crossing one of us would choose which way to go and each time we had to turn back because we wondered off into the wrong direction. It was worth the hike and we had a blast and the beach was just gorgeous. We were exhausted though and even more so thinking about having to hike all the back up that steep hill. A local family drove there with a pick-up-truck and right away I asked them how long they were staying and if we could get a ride back up to the top of the hill when leaving. We couldn’t wait to get into the water and explore the underwater caves. Unfortunately the water was so murky we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our masks. We decided to have lunch instead and relaxed on the beach. A couple of hours later we hoped onto the Truck and drove back up the hill. Even the tuff guys admitted, that they needed the ride back. From here the hike was easy back to the beach, but oh boy, where our legs wobbly when we got there. We sure deserved an ice-cold margarita, but non of the restaurants seemed to have any, so we ended up on Bar Windance for two pitchers of wonderful margaritas. I don’t think I have to add, that the next day, non of us moved much! Two days later we went for another little hike. This time we knew where we were going, although had know idea what the trail looked like, since we walked it in the dark. We were really curious to see it and were absolutely amazed that nobody had stumbled over the many rocks and roots in the path, and how we missed all the holes, just unbelievable. We explored the whole peninsula and saw the most beautiful butterflies, black wings with fiery red oval dots and the tip of the wings in a bright yellow, also some in just black and yellow, striped like a zebra.
The locals seemed to have control over the mosquito and no-see-um plague, every evening just before sundown they started fires to keep them away and it actually worked.

JALTEMBA is just 8 miles south of Chacala, a small and beautiful tourist village, with 60 hotels. We anchored of the beach, headed ashore for some phone calls, lunch and some ice-cold margaritas, then headed across to ISLA EL CANGREJO, where we spent a very calm night. Chacala was a bit more exposed and a constant rolling swell ran through the anchorage.
After a restful night we headed 28 miles further south and anchored in PUNTA DE MITA, which marks the northern end of Bahia de Banderas, the bay of Puerto Vallarta. We spent a very relaxing week and only left the boat twice. On one of our beach trips we met Debby and Bill on TABASCO, and didn’t take long to find out that we had friends in common, they knew our best friend Kathy King. So we sat with them and many margaritas later……..
Also, we finally met up with MacNab. Ever since we left Mazatlan we kept missing them by one day at any anchorage finally we ended up in the same one. We met Alan and Dona about 6 years prior when we camped 6 weeks in Bahia de los Muertos. Little John then was just a couple of months old, John now is 5 and has a little sister Ana 3. I was always amazed by them, they used to live in the woods in Durango, making furniture out of collected wood, selling the furniture and using the money to spend winter months camping in Mexico. Now they’re sailing, in a 28 foot boat.
LA CRUZ, 8 miles from Punta the Mita and 6 from Nuevo Vallarta was our next anchorage. One of the rare moments, we sailed for most of the trip, even when the wind gave up, we moved with only 1.2 to 1.8 knots. Banderas Bay is full of sea life and birds everywhere you look from jumping dolphins, tail waging whales, giant mantas and all kind of other fish occasionally jumping out of the water. The anchorages on the mainland are a bit more rolly and flopper stoppers are almost a must, but still pretty comfortable.
Valentines Day rolled around and we decided we’ve got to know La Cruz well enough to head on to Nuevo Vallarto to our new home for the next two months at PARADISE VILLAGE, a 5 star resort with marina. The marina was fairly new with only 50 slips (by now they have expanded to several hundred slips). The facility featured two large pools with waterfall and water slides, two Jacuzzis, which one was in a cave. A lap pool, tennis courts, basketball court, a mini zoo with two tigers, three ostriches, spider monkeys, deer, parrots, crocodile, flamingos, owl, toucans, different exotic birds, peacocks, black swans, bob cat, coatimundi and Manico the seal. One of my favorite is Perroquito, a talking parrot. There was water aerobics every day. Also free Tennis lessons and lots and lots of entertainment. The marina was still under construction, and didn’t have running water and electricity yet, which didn’t bother us, especially not since the rate was at half price (19 cents a foot per day).
Aunt Alice arrived the same day we did and we all liked Paradise Village so much that she extended her stay from 7 to 10 days and we decided definitely to spend hurricane season here. We had a wonderful time with Alice and kept her busy for the first three days. Unfortunately she brought a nasty cold with her, which I caught on 3rd day and two days later Sid got it as well. It was a 24 hour bug with fever up to 103 F and the cough stuck around for over a month. So we laid low for about 4 days, poor Alice. During her stay, we rented a car for the day and also went to a Bull Fight! Never again on my part. After the first bull got killed, I had to fight tears back and thought, it’ll be OK with the second one. No way, but at least the bull got the matador on his horns. I’m sure his balls were hurting for days. I actually cheered for the bull on that one. As he got killed too, I had to leave, I couldn’t handle it anymore went outside, where I met a Paramedic who was as upset as I was. I really didn’t think much of it, when we decided to go to a Bull fight. I didn’t really think that they would kill them, or at least not that brutally, but I know it is their culture. We had more fun later at the Mexican Fiesta at the hotel. A big all you can eat buffet and all you can drink. Included was Mexican music and a show with native Indians. When I say all you can drink, I mean all you can drink. We asked for one more shot of Tequila, and they came back with an 8 ounce cup filled to the rim. The food was excellent as well.
On Alice’s last night, we enjoyed a most delightful sunset dinner at the beach front seafood restaurant. (Poor Sid was in bed with that terrible cold and fever.) We noticed two really bright stars towards the western horizon. There was no other stars to see. Later that evening we found out that it was Jupiter and Venus and that this was the closest together we’ll ever see them. A hotel guest even had a telescope on the beach and let us view the two planets. We actually could see the moons of Jupiter. After dinner, we strolled back to the boat. The water in there, which was brackish was incredibly phosphorescence in the dark, but it wasn’t the usual green color, rather an almost neon blue. I spit into the water to show Alice the phosphorescence and before we new it, we both were spitting into the water. Two adults spitting into the water and giggling like little girls. Alice is not the only one we got involved in the spitting. We had a great time with Alice, but as always, time goes by too fast. She liked it so much though she booked another flight to come down in September for another visit.
February 24th, the first of the Los Angeles to Puerto Vallarta Race Parties was held, of course we couldn’t miss that. We went to the PV Marina to the Western Regina Hotel, where the Race committee was. Immediately we ran into Sue Gee, then Keefe and Julie Dawson, Sandy and Terry Vaughn, all members of PMYC. As we walked down to the pools to have a cocktail with them, my best friend Sue Janollari came around the corner, I had no idea she was going to be here as well. You should have heard the two of us scream. Sue came down to originally surprise but didn’t expect to run into us at her hotel, so the surprise was for both of us. She was just on her way to Paradise Marina to find us. We had a great 4 days with all our friends and the race parties were great. We ran into so many people we knew, it was just wonderful. Scott Mac Donald from Doyle Sails, even tried to get Sid on one of the boats, for the following MEXORC Regatta, with no luck. Sid wanted to race on one of the boats so bad, that every morning of a race, he would go to the PV marina and try to get on a boat. Wouldn’t find one, then come home and watch the start from the 8th floor of the hotel. I felt so bad for him, he’s such a good racing crew, but nobody had room for him. I suggested that we should stay for the Banderas Bay Races, so that he can get his racing fix. He didn’t mind that idea at all and so we stayed a few more weeks. Lynn and Pat on “Cricket” (Cal 43), took Sid on as crew, but on the first race a shroud started unraveling, which put them out of the race. Then John and Linda on Hawkeye (Serina 38) offered him a spot, which he gladly took. His job was tactics and he got them on the second race from second down to first place. And then the third and last race they came in first as well and won the class.
During that time we heard another Paradise on the radio. Until now, we were the only Paradise in the boating community, who could it be. The only other boat we know was a sailboat in Marina Del Rey and no way, could this one be here. On the 3rd of March, a knock on the hull and there was Jim Alberts introducing himself as the other Paradise owner. Not just that, he is the one from Marina del Rey and better yet, had joined our Yacht Club as well and had many greetings for us. Again small world seems to get smaller and smaller.

I told you already about my favorite parrot. During our stay I spent a lot of time with him daily and talked to him. I still had a terrible cough and on one Saturday morning, Sid walked by him and heard me cough, he looked around but no Manuela at the same time an elderly lady was talking to the bird, looking at Sid saying: “poor bird has a cold”. That’s when Sid realized that Perroquito learned my cough.
On March 16th we finally met “Calliope” or what we call the “Bennanie Boat” with Annie and Ben on board. She’s our sister ship. What a very nice couple these two are, we had so much fun with them and of course we had to explore each others boats. Amazing, it’s the same boat, but so different on the inside. They tried to talk us into going back up into the Sea of Cortez, and we tried to talk them into meeting up with us in Zihuatanejo and buddy boat to Costa Rica. We’ll se what happens.
March 17th, HAM TEST! I signed up for the ham test just 10 days prior to the test.. I met Jane on “Etak” at the pool and she was talking to a guy, who told her that he had all the questions and answers for the test, and he swore that they will come up on the test. He gave her his book, which she showed to me and I thought, why not sign up and study the 235 questions, instead of all the question which are a good 500, or in other words cheat the test. If they don’t come up, they don’t come up. So I studied for ten days on the questions and also learned the Morse codes. Of course non of the questions came up, but I did pass the Morse code. Guess I have to really study now for the test in June.
One day Sid and I decided to go boogie boarding and as we were at the counter to sign up for a board, the guy looks at Sid and says: “Ah, Hulk Hogan, right!” I almost died, should have asked him, if he’d been arrested by Sid on Venice Beach.
We took the bus into town for dinner one night to meet Tim and Linda and guests on “Linda Lee” and Tim and Susan on “Unbuttoned” for dinner. We had a great meal, lots of fun and of course mucho margaritas, I mean MUCHO!!! Well, we left the restaurant at 9 PM, which at that time we missed our bus back to Paradise Village. Since the taxis in PV are expensive and we needed two for the 8 of us, we decided to take the bus to Marina Vallarta and a taxi from there on. The first bus that stopped, we asked if he’s driving to the Marina, yes, he nodded, so we all jumped on. We should have gotten a clew then, because there were no gringos in that bus. So off he drove and the usual 20 minute drive turned into 45 minutes. He didn’t drive the route we’re used to, he drove through the whole PV suburbs, but he did drive to the marina. We had fun and I think we entertained the locals quiet a bit. As we approached the marina I had a stupid idea, went forward to the driver and asked him if he would like to drive us all the way to Paradise Village, we would pay him 100 pesos. Everybody else looked at me like I was nuts, when I told him about my idea. I didn’t think myself that he would go for it, but guess what, he drove us all the way home, it was his last run. We had a blast and so did the driver. We ended up giving him two bucks each, which probably made a weeks pay.
Every Monday night Dos Felipes Restaurant in La Cruz held a “Jam Session”. It always was a lot of fun but on one particular Monday it was by far the best ever. Several guitar players, a trio with Irish music, a spoon player, a professional piano player, a flamenco dancer, kids singing, a washboard player and I helped with my harmonica. You should have seen that washboard, it had a bell, a horn, whistle and other fun sounding things attached to it and just the way he played that thing was fun to watch. Earlier that week we found out that a friend of ours Rolf Gunther on “Califa” was in town and on his way to the South Pacific, so we finally caught up with him and his wife Anna for the Jam Session.
April fools day, we headed 48 miles south to Ipala. But first we had to go around Cabo Corrientes, which acts much the same as Cabo Falso in Baja and Point Conception in California. Projecting out into the prevailing winds, local winds are accelerated causing turbulence, Disturbed seas and creating strong currents. Knowing this and having heard about some boaters adventures, we decided to leave early in the morning, so we would round the point around nine in the morning. This gave us enough time to be as far away from it as possible, before the daily prevailing wind started. We didn’t experience too much turbulence, but the sea did look pretty confused. All in all we had a good trip to Ipala. Cabo Corrientes also seems to roughly mark the beginning of truly tropical weather. Though the further south we went the colder it seemed to get.
PUNTA IPALA (click on map to enlarge) a relatively small anchorage, with a sandy beach and a little village. The anchorage is usually calm though a heavy swell offshore can affect the cove, which was the case when we were there. We had huge rollers coming through the anchorage and bouncing off the cliffs, it was almost like being in a washing machine on a gentle cycle. The beach was crowded with Mexican families, which build tents along the whole beach. This is Easter week and all the families are getting together for camping. Unfortunately with the camping, came the big truck with four giant speakers and loud UMPAPA music running from early until early, in other words, I think they stopped it from 4 AM until 8 AM. Needless to say we left the next morning and headed to Bahia de Chamela, 52. The coast between is steep-to, interspersed with sandy beaches. Tree-covered hills rise behind the shores rising to mountain ranges in the distance.
BAHIA DE CHAMELA is a beautiful, large bay which provides several good anchorage’s. When approaching from the north the colorful red cliffs of Punta Rivas and the white cliffs of Isla Passavera mark the entrance of the bay. A number of island are scattered along its central and southern part, sheltering this otherwise more open bay. The surf is strong along most of the beaches and it is at times quite tricky to get safe and dry ashore by dingy. We decided to row a shore and leave the engine safe on the boat. We had no problems getting a shore or getting back out, we timed it right. We waited until Monday morning to go a shore, all the beaches in Mexico are too crowded on Easter. Monday was just perfect. We were the only boat in the anchorage and the only gringos on the beach, that felt pretty good. We ate at one of the Palapa restaurants and shared a fried red snapper and one cold beer each. The bill was only $ 4.20; it just amazes me over and over again.
On Monday we motored to the 2 mile distant Isla Passavera, which is the breading ground for yellow footed boobies. The anchorage is absolutely gorgeous, with a view to the neighboring island Colorado and some rocks and reefs in between. The west-end of Isla Colorado is very rugged looking with an arch, similar to the lands end in Cabo San Lucas. We went for a hike on the island, which was really neat, walking just inches by the boobies. Since the anchorage was rather on the rolling side, we decided to go back to the Chamela for another night. Even thought the anchorage was calmer in Chamela, we still needed to use the flopper- stoppers.
April 7th we headed to BAHIA CAREYES, 12 miles further south. Leaving the bay of Chamela leads along a Rocky shore. Beaches interspersed by rocky bluffs continue until the long beach of Playa Teopa is passed where the land curves westward again to end in a long, low, point, Punta Farrallon. This coastal section is the resort area of Costa Careyes. A small triple-lobed bay with several island before it. Each of the three lobes of the bay has its own hotel or condominium develop, while the high cliffs that extend from the west side of the bay have several larger villas, I mean VILLAS. Entering Bahia Careyes seems like entering Disneyland’s Toon Town with each and every villa or condo complex in a different pastel color, really neat. Actually, looking at them closer, each part of the lobe has a different style of houses as well, which reminded us more of “It’s a small world after all!” Shouldn’t have said that, now I’m going to hum that song for ever. You have to see it, to believe it. There is not one white house to see, they all are in bright pink, yellow, orange, red blue, turquoise, green. It really looked very neat. I couldn’t get the binoculars of my eyes, hard to believe how rich some people really are! To top it off, this mega bucks Yacht drove in too. The owner, we later found out was a business man from LA and he had a whole bunch of kids on board, all the same age. He took his son’s class including teachers on a cruise!
I fell in love with this place! We handled two days of the rich and famous living. I started developing some funny rings around my eyes from the binoculars, so Sid decided that we better leave, before I ruin the binos.
Guess we hit the red tide season for everywhere we went the water had this yucky dirty red color. Sitting in an anchorage, one minute the water was normal color, the next second it was ugly brown red. While arriving at Carayes and seeing the mega-bucks homes, we tried to believe, that they rolled the red carpet out for us! Yeah, right!
One of our favorites BAHIA TENECATITA is one of the most beautiful and tranquil anchorage’s in this part of the coast. The rocky bulk of Punta Chubasco divides the bay into two anchorage areas. The most popular anchorage is in the inner bay, behind the bluff at Punta Chubasco. The anchorage is next to a reef, the entrance to lagoon, and a long sandy beach. At the end of the long beach is a large hotel with multistory condominiums beyond. On the east side of the bay is a small village, but other then that it’s very remote, and very calm at that. The shore around the anchorage, reminds me of Lake Tahoe or any mountain lake, but across the other side is this long and beautiful sandy beach with palm trees in the back ground. And this is the first calm anchorage, ever since we left PV. After setting the anchor, the first thing I did was standing on one leg, my arms apart, saying: Sid look, I can stand on one leg!!! “Amazing Grace” was here as well, we hadn’t seen them since St. Rosalia, Bob and Judy (remember the cemetery story in St. Rosalia with the grave of a120 year old man, that was with Judy). They gave us all the scoop on the area from here to Manzanillo, always good to know!!! Also, Jim and Nancy on “Windance” where here, wondering what kind of adventure we’ll get into with them this time.
The very next day Jim and Nancy, along with Todd and Kathy on “Ki-Kimmer”, Jeff and Debbie on “Emmely” and Amazing Grace, went on the jungle tour. What fun that was. Since this was our first time, they let us lead through the mangroves. The trip is about 3 miles long and leads through a big mangrove, at times we were totally enclosed. On the other side is a big Lagoon, where we pulled the dingies out on dry land and walked to the very close restaurant. That’s when we realized that we were at the other anchorage. We had lunch in one of the many Restaurants. Since this area is known for its famous “Rollos del Mar”, we ordered them. No wonder they are famous, they were absolutely scrumptious. Fish fillet stuffed with shrimp, celery and onions, wrapped in bacon and topped with an almond, brandy and cream sauce, just to die for. I also tried “Raisilla”, the Mexican Moonshine. It’s actually quite tasty a little more smoky then Sauza.
After lunch we had a dingy race back through the mangroves, which felt like being in an Indiana Jones movie. The mangrove trail is very narrow, at times just wide enough for a dingy and a half to pass through. Back at the begin of the mangrove, we stopped for some more brewski at the palapa restaurant on the beach and had some 6 peso beers and fresh oysters (two dozen for 3 bucks!) As we walked to the French Restaurant, which is where the movie “Mc Hale’s Navy” was filmed, a Mexican started to speak in French to us. So I answered him back and before we knew it, our language skills went from French, Italian, to Japanese and together we sang the La Paloma song, him in Spanish and me in German. You should have seen Judy, she couldn’t believe that two people would know so many languages. Then, as we entered the restaurant, there was this cute girl behind the counter. I knew of her already and that she was from Liechtenstein, so immediately I started to speak Swiss German to her. Judy by now, couldn’t handle it anymore, she just wouldn’t believe how many languages she’s heard in such a short time. (She still tells everybody about it!) Going back to the dingy, the multi linguistic Mexican introduced us to his whole family and then gave us his address and invited us to come and visit them in Guatalajara.
On the night of the 15th, we experienced a 4.3 Earthquake! Three years ago this area was hit by a big earthquake, which followed by a Tsunami. Almost wiped the whole place out. You can still see the rubble of a huge hotel on the long and beautiful beach and in La Manzanilla they are still rebuilding. We heard that the Tsunami actually drained the bay three times.
La Manzanilla lays about 3 mile across the bay from the anchorage and is a very small and lively little village. It has all the necessary provisioning, which makes for a pleasant early morning dingy ride into town, have a two buck breakfast with fresh squeezed OJ, do some email and return to the boat by 10 AM.
One after noon, sitting in the cockpit doing nothing and sipping on a delicious cocktail, we heard this loud squawking of birds. Grabbing the binos we looked in the direction of the noise and saw beautiful green parrots flying around. There also was an Osprey and of course all the usual cormorants, pelicans and frigate birds as well. At night we could see the southern cross from the anchorage.
One of our daily routine was cocktail hour at 4, but for some reason, Sid decided to install the ground plane for the Single Side Band. He never starts any projects at this sacred hour of the day! Well, he did and as he opened the hatch to the bilge he found it filled with water, almost up to the floor board. Sure glad he decided to start that project. He discovered that the bilge hose was disconnected from the pump. It took us all of the next day, to clean out of the bilge and install the ground plane at the same time. Now we can listen to SSB and Ham.
I guess we turned the Palapa restaurant into another “Palapa of Knowledge”, like the one in St. Rosalia. Well, the beers are only 6 pesos a piece, which is actually cheaper then buying your own in the store and it was more fun, especially meeting with all the other cruisers in the anchorage. Depending on the swell, it sometimes gets a little challenging coming to, or leaving the beach. On the Wandering Roo’s first beaching, they hit the rock with the prop on the way in (brand new engine too). Then on their way out, they left just a bit too early and just as they got out of the river mouth, these giant (3 to 4 feet) rollers came in. As the first one broke, just in front of them, the Roo’s engine quit. Quickly he started it again, but now an even bigger breaker approached him, he gave some gas, but started heading for the rock again, the one he hit earlier. The breaking wave picked him up and tossed him over the rock, without touching it. Unfortunately he headed almost parallel along side the beach, getting in to the area, where the breakers are really high and strong. We all were still under the palapa, all of us standing with hands in front of our faces screaming: “OH MY GOD”, “OH NOO”, “WOW, GOT THAT ONE”!….(brief silence)…” OH NOO”, “NOOOO”, “UFF”, “THEY GOT LUCKY ON THAT ONE”!…(again silence)…”OH NOOOOOO”, “NOT ANOTHER ONE”, OHHHHHHHHH SHHHHHHIT”!!!! The last of the breakers must have been about 6 feet high and broke just in front of them, tossing the dingy way out in the air. The dingy was completely airborne, including the prop. All we saw was , the dingy vertical in the air, Lyn hanging down from the bow and holding on for dear life. Our adrenaline was flowing, can you imagine theirs? Wow, we thought, they’ll flip backwards, thank God they made it. Norm never left his seat. That’s one way to break a new dingy engine in, good one Norm!!!!! And of course we gave them a standing ovation, they sure deserved it. We’re teasing them with, let’s go and do the LYN! It really gave us all the willies Poor Lyn was scared from then on to beach the dingy but brave enough to head in again the next day for another jungle trip, which we all enjoyed to no end. This is an easy place to get stuck.
By the way, we watched several dingys doing the “TURTLE”, which means, the dingy flipped over and they ended up in the water. So far we’ve been lucky and haven’t joined the Turtle Club yet.
April 19th, Judy’s Birthday! I organized an “Horse d’oeufre” get together. I told Judy it was because Windance and others were leaving and we should have a little get together and bought it. Wouldn’t you know, one of the boaters who left that day, had to call her on the VHF, to wish her a Happy BD and to tell her, sorry we can’t make it to your party!!! Why do some people not realize that it isn’t a surprise party anymore, if you tell them!!! Oh, well, I guess poop happens and we had fun anyway.
We left Tenecatita on the 28th. It took only two hours to go around the point to BARRA DE NAVIDAD. The coast from Tenecatita to Navidad is a series of rocky bluffs backed by wooded hills. Tall, cone-shaped rocks followed by pinnacle rocks and numerous smaller rocks, lie scattered along the coast. In the Barra bay, there is two places, Melaque, and Barra de Navidad. Melaque is in the northern bite of the bay with Hotels and restaurants lining the shore and a sandy beach which covers the whole bay to the entrance to the Lagoon of Barra Navidad, which is in the southern end of the bay.
To get to the lagoon we had to enter a very narrow and shallow channel. You have to be very careful not to run onto a sandbar. The depths is no deeper then 10 to 12 feet. The channel takes you to a smaller lagoon first, then through a narrower part to a unbelievably huge lagoon. The water is very shallow and very murky, so you have to guess, where the canal is to get to the anchorage. To the right of the narrow part is the incredible Grand Bay Hotel and Marina. Brass cleats?!!! So, that’s where all the MEGA BUCKS YACHTS are hiding.
Dick on IRIE, met as at the entrance and lead us in to the lagoon. The lagoon is much bigger then we anticipated and there was just the three of us, “Irie”, “Wandering Roo” and “Paradise”. Pretty much after we had set anchor and settled the wind started to blow. We hadn’t seen Dick and Karen since Mazatlan and they immediately boarded us with lots of ice-cold beer. How did they know that we were out?! About an hour and several beers and stories later, the wind was now up to 20 plus knots. Sid looked around and said: “did we move?” We all looked around and, no we didn’t move. Not even fifteen minutes later we saw Irie with the two German Shepherds staring at us drifting by. They couldn’t get into their dinghy fast enough to rescue her and the dogs. As they re-anchored, the Roo took off as well, being a powerboat with more windage they took off like a rocket. Sid jumped into the Dinghy and raced over to help them. Paradise was settled nicely and didn’t move an inch.
30 minutes later IRIE came back with more beer and more stories and we had a wonderful time. The wind didn’t die down at all, it picked up even more. We had gusts up to 35 knots plus. Although we were in a Lagoon with no swells, we started to see a 1 foot chop, running by the boat. Later that evening, listening to the San Blas Net, we heard that they had Gail warnings out, just a little north from us and to expect high seas and swells. Guess we made it here on time!
The next morning after checking in with the Port Captain, Karen, Lyn and I took the bus to Melaque what else for? a shopping spree! What a lovely and clean Town Barra de Navidad is, it doesn’t look like any of the places we’ve seen so far in Mexico. The bus ride was only two pesos each way.
When we returned to the Lagoon, the wind was howling again and as we arrived at the boats, it was blowing a steady 30 to 35 knots, gusting up to 40. We originally had planned to have dinner on Paradise, but much to their relief I postponed it for the next day. I didn’t think that our guests would be at ease to have their boats unattended in this kind of wind..
The next day the wind still was blowing like snot, a steady 35 gusting up to 42 knots. By then we were starting to get used to it and we had dinner aboard Paradise anyway. The wind got to us all and on the fourth day we all moved into the marina. Since they changed the rate that day from 80 cents a foot to 30 it was an invitation for us. Who wants to pay 80 cents per foot per day anyway! After at least an hour moving in and done with all the paperwork the assistant harbor master approached Irie and told them that there had been a mistake, that the slip is 80 cents. I just happened to run into the conversation. He never approached us or the Roo about it, so we believed that it was because of the two German Shepard Irie had on board. Of course I didn’t’ want to run into a big surprise with our bill and took Norm with me to the office. The harbormaster then claimed that it was only 30 cents per foot if we stayed for a whole month or longer, which they never mentioned to us when they gave us the 30 cent rate. I was furious and fought him all the way. The funny part was I had to tell him that his marina was completely empty and that it would be foolish not to keep us here and make at least a little money instead of none. He finally agreed and gave us the slip for 7 days max.
You should see this place, if you think Paradise Village is wonderful, this place turns Paradise Village into a Motel. It’s very elegant and rather on the expensive side. A hamburger at the pool costs 8 bucks, a sandwich 9 and Ceviche 10 bucks, I can just imagine the drink prices. Although it wasn’t as lively and friendly as Paradise, it was rather sterile and cold.
The Wandering ROO decided to take the boat down to Manzanillo to fuel up, since the diesel price there was the lowest. They took us along for a two day trip. We Med tied at the Las Haddas Hotel. Wow, that Med tie deal is pretty tricky! We rented a Jeep and drove all the way to the Colima Volcano. Wow!!!!! Very impressive, I’ve never seen an active Volcano before, really neat! Looked just like the ones I used to draw as a kid. The area was beautiful as well. The City of Colima is the capital of the Colima State and is by far one of the cleanest and nicest Cites I’ve seen, especially here in Mexico. The most we were impressed was, that they build the roads around trees, rather then cutting them down. Just outside of Colima, on the way to the Volcano is Camala, an interesting little place. Around the town square are several restaurants, which seem to have some kind of competition between each other. The minute you order your drink, they put plates after plates, full of food on the table. From ceviche to floutas, taquitos, tacos, birria, chuletas de puerco, quesadillas, rollos, etc. etc. and they only charge for the drinks. In the town square are numerous mariaches waiting for a turn to play for the guests at the restaurant. It’s an incredible atmosphere, except for the one singer, who couldn’t carry a tune. They serve a special drink called “punche”, which is made of pomegranates and alcohol, a little sweet, but not bad tasting at all. On our way out of town, I sighted a store selling punche. We parked the car and had a look. Well it was punch, all right, with alcohol. All kind of different and yummy flavors, from coffee, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachio, pomegranates, hibiscus, and black berry. We tasted them all and bought several bottles of that good stuff for 2 to 3 bucks a piece.
Returning to Barra, we planned on leaving the next day, but Sid threw his back out again, by lifting gas jugs, so we stayed an extra day for him to recuperate. Poor Sid!
May 9th we headed around the point back to Tenecatita. What a treat, to be the only boat in the anchorage for several days, how wonderful. I think we are the last few boats down here anyway, everybody else is either tucked in, in PV or Mazatlan or they headed up into the Sea of Cortez for the hurricane season.
Judith, the waitress at the Palapa restaurant, had her Birthday on May 6th, so I made her a cake and together with the Roo and Carmen (the Liechtenstein girl), we surprised her for her Birthday, although we were six days late. A couple on horse back came by and we asked how the horse ride was and they asked how the beer was, both good. Not even twenty minutes later, they came back to join us, they were the only gringos at their hotel and the only English speaking ones too. They were so happy to have found some Gringos and not just Mexicans. Carmen had a great idea, to have a dinner at the French Restaurant. Even though they closed down for the season already, she insisted that they owed her. So the next day turned into a very busy but fun day for me. Sid’s back was still bothering him, so he stayed home and rested. I went a shore, picked up Carmen, took her across the bay to La Manzanilla, then back, where Bargenvie and Jerry, the honeymoon couple we met, waited for us. I took them all on the river trip. We had a fun lunch at one of the restaurants. Drove back and Carmen’s boss, he drove us to her friends house, which is above the cliffs overlooking the whole bay. Wow, what a view!!! I’ve never seen a more beautiful tropical area then this. The house was pretty amazing as well, not to mention the pool, right on the cliff, where I had a refreshing swim. Later at 5 we all met at the French Restaurant, they opened just for us and we had a choice of either Tournedeaux au poivre (pepper steak fillet) or Huachinango (red snapper). It was delicious. The tables were set very nicely, the food was excellent and after dinner the owner spoiled us with a big tray of different cheeses, including some wonderful Chevre (Goat cheese), which is hard to come by. Then some of his home made liquors, We had just a wonderful time. The only bad thing was, we had to break the party up before nightfall, since it was rather tricky to get in and out to the anchorage, due to heavy surf. While we were there, four boats turtled, so we left by daylight to be able to judge the perfect set of waves to leave the beach and get back to the boat dry and in one piece.
On May 17th we left beautiful Tenecatita and headed 20 miles north to PARAISO. The trip was relative calm and uneventful, except for the one turtle we saw. Paraiso is a beautiful little cove, tucked behind two islands. Since it is facing to the north, this anchorage wouldn’t be suited for a northerly wind. The southerlies have already started, it would be safe now to stay there and if a northerly should pop up, it’s only a few miles to Chamela.
What a lovely anchorage, with a very pretty white sand beach with lots of coconut trees. Although we did get some swells in from the north, but with the flopper stoppers out, no problem at all. We had the anchorage for two days all to our self before the Roo joined us. They missed Carayes to celebrate my 39th Birthday, thanks Lyn and Norm, it was a good one.
Then I remembered that our very good friends Irma and Erwin were going to be in Puerto Vallarta from the 22 - 29th of May. There is no way we can miss them and so we left Paraiso a little sooner as expected. We had a good trip back from Paraiso to Nuevo on the 22nd. 100 plus miles to go and 17 hours underway, no wind and flat seas. I’m sure glad they invented engines for sailboats! These two months have gone by far to quick, but we’ll always have fond memories of it. We especially like the company of our dear friends and boating buddy’s Lyn and Norm.
This is a very pretty part of Mexico and we were again and again very impressed how very friendly the locals have been. I haven’t met anybody NOT smiling. They don’t just smile at you, but they do start to talk to you and are very interested in what we’re doing and are also sharing their life with us. I think this is what I like best about Mexico, the friendliness of the people. The weather has been great, although with a lot of humidity. The water was unfortunately too murky, too cold and now full of jelly fish. And by sundown we have to fight the no-see-ums and mosquitoes, guess there is no such thing as Paradise! No matter where you go, there is something to deal with. No problem on our side, I think I’m starting to get used to those biting insects.
Now it was time to hunker down for the “hurricane season”. The hurricane on the West coast of Mexico lasts from begin of June until the end of October. Puerto Vallarta is considered a “hurricane hole”, and is protected by a long mountain range, which either pushes the hurricanes out to sea or across the mainland before it even gets to PV. We’ll be busy during the five months, enjoying the great hotel facility, traveling or working on the boat, which there are a lot of projects.
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