May 14, 2012, Monday Manzannillo
Monday morning we arrived at Manzanillo Bay. The bay is dotted with rocks and something was wrong with the depth gauge so that it suddenly started reading 2-3 fathoms a mile off of the coast. I know it could not be right but Alan got out the hand held gauge just to make me feel better. It was over 20 fathoms. We made our way into the bay and anchored in front of a lovely resort called La Hada across the bay from the old town. There were only 4 other boats in the bay. 2 looked as though they had not moved in months, one left just as we came in and the other was a little day sailor. Once we were settled we took the dingy in to check in with the port captain and to look around . It is obviously the off season. The shops are closed, the restaurant deserted and the port captain’s office closed. Just a handful of people in the hotel swimming pool. As seems to be the pattern in Mexico, the resort is way out of town. In this case, I could not even find the main road where the buses to town run. And once again the concrete was crumbling, the wiring unfinished and the paint pealing when we looked behind the lovely facade. We returned to the boat for an early dinner and to catch up on our sleep.
Next morning we headed into shore again to see if we could find the port captain and check in and also to see if anyone knew of a sailmaker and to be sure the gas dock was open. There was a little more activity this morning. The ship chandlery was open along with a couple of other shops but no one knew of a sailmaker. The port captain was finally located and happily stamped and photocopied papers to show that we had arrived. He also informed us that there was a $20/day fee to use the dingy dock. We tried telling him that we were just going right back out to the boat but since we were obviously already tied up we had to pay the $20. Of course once we paid, it seemed like we should get our money’s worth so we spent the rest of the afternoon at the pool. But tomorrow we are going to get gas and sail across the bay to the old town while we figure out what to do about the sail.
There is one other cruising boat here, Adamansour. On board are a lovely young couple from England. They are on a voyage around the world and she is 6 months pregnant. They are heading for Puerto Vallarta where they will stay until after the baby is born. They have it all worked out. and apparently have met several other cruising couples who are pregnant or have very young children. They are going to Guadalajara where there is a natural birth center. Once the baby is born, they will fly home to England to show off the new one to the family before coming back to continue their circumnavigation.
Our main order of business is to mend the torn sail. The rip was held together with sail tape and was not too bad. I broke out my sewing kit and added stitches to the tape to hold it all together. We had put the word out via email and radio to see if there was a sailmaker either here in Manzanillo or on south in Acapulco. All the responses that came in said that we needed to go back to PV Sails in La Cruz, 100+ miles in the wrong direction. We really did not want to sail north again. We were already really late to be going south. And in fact the first named storm of the season was building to the west of us. Since we have some extra pieces of sail cloth, I could hand sew a patch onto it, but we would rather have it done professionally if possible. Finally we got word that there used to be a guy Barra that made sails although no one knew if he was still in business or not. Barra de Navidad is only 25 miles north. We could sail up overnight, be there in the morning.and hopefully be on our way south again in just a few days. Eventually someone came up with a phone number and Alan gave him a call. He was still in business and would be happy to patch our sail.
That settled, we spent the afternoon exploring the town of Manzanillo and ended up having dinner at a Chinese restaurant overlooking the harbor. 1:00 in the morning we set out for Barra de Navidad.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Adventures with the AIS, or Mysterious Doings in the Night.
It is dark, no moon. We are sailing south along the coast of Mexico just off the port of Manzanillo dodging container ships. One ship in particular off the port bow is brightly lit and seems to be heading our way. When I come on for my watch, Alan has been watching it for an hour or two and cannot seem to pass it. When I check the AIS I realize that it is not moving. It is just sitting there. However, there is another boat moving up behind it. Coming from the south at 20 knots, it is listed as a 60 foot pleasure ship. It looks like it is headed straight for the cargo ship and straight for us after that. I watch the screen fascinated waiting for the explosion. Who will blink first. On the screen it looks like they pass within a hair’s breath of each other. Then, the cargo ship suddenly starts to move. It is listed as heading for Manzanillo, but it turns and heads south, away from the port, gradually picking up steam. What just happened? Did I just see a drug drop? Surely drug runners would not use ships that were all lit up and broadcasting their position. The pleasure boat has disappeared off the screen while the cargo ship keeps on south, speed up to 15 knots now. This puts it back on a parallel course to us, just when I was hoping to pass it. After another hour, it slows again and begins another slow turn. OK, maybe it is just stalling for time until dawn. I guess I will never know. All very mysterious and good for keeping me awake during the long night watch.
It is dark, no moon. We are sailing south along the coast of Mexico just off the port of Manzanillo dodging container ships. One ship in particular off the port bow is brightly lit and seems to be heading our way. When I come on for my watch, Alan has been watching it for an hour or two and cannot seem to pass it. When I check the AIS I realize that it is not moving. It is just sitting there. However, there is another boat moving up behind it. Coming from the south at 20 knots, it is listed as a 60 foot pleasure ship. It looks like it is headed straight for the cargo ship and straight for us after that. I watch the screen fascinated waiting for the explosion. Who will blink first. On the screen it looks like they pass within a hair’s breath of each other. Then, the cargo ship suddenly starts to move. It is listed as heading for Manzanillo, but it turns and heads south, away from the port, gradually picking up steam. What just happened? Did I just see a drug drop? Surely drug runners would not use ships that were all lit up and broadcasting their position. The pleasure boat has disappeared off the screen while the cargo ship keeps on south, speed up to 15 knots now. This puts it back on a parallel course to us, just when I was hoping to pass it. After another hour, it slows again and begins another slow turn. OK, maybe it is just stalling for time until dawn. I guess I will never know. All very mysterious and good for keeping me awake during the long night watch.
May 12,-13 2013, Sunday, Mothers Day, Yelapa to Manzanillo
After the anchor entanglement, we headed straight out to sea. Word was that Cabo Corrientes could be dreadfully windy and it was best to round it in the morning before the winds came up. Well, that plan was shot, it was already noon. However, the wind was only about 7-8 knots so it looked like we would be OK. In fact, the wind never did come up and we cruised along at 3-4 knots all afternoon, getting back into the routine of passage sailing after so long in port. It is good to be sailing again. It is my watch most of the afternoon and an easy sail. We finally rounded the point about sunset and set a new course We decided that I wold take the midnight to dawn watch so Alan can get some sleep so I went to bed right after dinner.
When I get up at midnight to take over, the engine was on and the auto pilot was steering the boat. Typically, the wind had died. The night is dark with no moon and the ocean sparkles with phosphorescence all around us. Off in the distance is a glow from Puerto Vallarta and to the south another glow that we assume is Manzanillo. It is amazing how far the city lights shine, even from a fairly small town. We are fairly close to shore and there could easily be fishing boats around us. Since the fishing boats seldom have lights on we would not be able to see them in the dark. Knowing this has the effect of keeping me very alert all night. I am up walking around the deck and peering off into the darkness every 15-20 minutes. Alan has turned on the radar and it is showing a lot of mysterious blips but I cannot see any actual boats. There is a light of a large ship off in the distance for about an hour, slowly moving past us but nothing else. I finish up the murder mystery that I have been reading. Alan shows up to relieve me about 4am, having actually slept a solid 4 hours. My turn to tumble into bed.
When I get up next, Alan has activated the AIS, our newest toy. This is an electronic box that picks up signals from other ships and displays them on the iPad. All of the big cargo ships now have to have an AIS system that broadcasts their position, name, course, speed, name, etc. A lot of cruisers also are installing the system on their boats. There are two versions, one is broadcast and receive and the other is receive only, which is what we have. It shows our position and the position of any ships within a particular distance. It can be set for 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, etc. mile incraments. Clicking on the icon gives the ship’s name, speed, position, distance away, size and a lot of other info. Now that Alan has it all synced up and working, we can see that there are a lot of cargo ships all around us.
The wind has picked up and we can turn off the engine. It is not a very pretty day, sort of hazy/overcast.Our intention on this leg of the trip was to stop at several harbors along the coast, Chamela, Tenecatita, Barra de Navidad. This section of the Mexican coast is called Costa Alegre and is supposed to be very lovely. The problem was that the timing was off and we would either be trying to enter in the dark or hanging out for hours waiting for dawn. We decide that we have seen enough small mexican beach towns anyway, so we just keep going. We are enjoying sailing and anxious to get south of the hurricane belt as soon as possible.
It has been overcast all day and as the day grows later the sky is looking darker and darker, wind is building and there are whitecaps. Finally even a few rain sprinkles. We have been discussing the fact that we are now in the rainy season and the further south we get the more likely we will get rain squalls. The problem is not so much the rain as the fact that they come up very quickly with a LOT of wind. On the theory “better safe than sorry” Alan decided to take down our big light wind jib and replace it with a small staysail and reef (shorten) the main. Usually I man the helm while Alan does the sails, but I decided that this was my turn. I need the practice and the wind is not to strong yet. I brought the jib in, rolled it up, unhanked it from the forestay and got it stowed below in about 15 minutes, and then got the small jib hoisted easily. Little by little I am getting more confident at this. Reefing the main is harder and takes both of us. We got the sail lowered and hooked by the mast easily but for some reason Alan could not seem to get the other end of the sail secured. Meanwhile I was trying to tie down the lines while the wind kept catching the sail and the boat tossed around on the waves. Suddenly there was a “rip” and the sail tore in my hands, a 10” tear right at the reef point. My fault. I had been trying to tie the sail to the boom instead of just tying it to itself. We got out some sail tape and managed to tape the tear together. Not a pretty patch but enough to keep it from ripping any more. We finished up tying it down and settled in for another night of sailing through the dark. Luckily the wind did not get any stronger.
As we sail on through the night, I experiment with the AIS app. It is installed on both iPads which is a good thing because we are having trouble getting them to charge. We have a 12 volt charging station set up in the cabin which has worked fine for months. Now they only charge for about 15 minutes and then stop charging. We plug and unplug them, change cords and chargers. Nothing works, so we have to keep switching them back and forth. Charge one as much as we can and then use it while the other is charging. Up until now I had only turned on the iPad once an hour to log our position, maybe once in between if we were coming up on a waypoint, so battery life was not a big issue. But now we are in the shipping lanes and we have the new app so I need to leave it on a lot more to keep an eye on all of the big container ships coming and gong around us.
The AIS shows ships up to 20 or 30 miles away and more but visibility is only about 6 miles. It is really scary to know that there is a giant cargo ship heading straight for you at 15-20 knots and not be able to see it. I am not sure if I like this or not. Usually it is clear that they will pass with no problem and a couple of times I figure out evasive action. But there are at least two occasions when I cannot figure out what to do and end up waking Alan to help. This means that he is not getting the sleep that he needs, so I decide to let him sleep past the end of my watch. Now the watch schedule is all messed up and I am really tired too. Luckily we arrive at Manzanillo in the morning and can sleep.
After the anchor entanglement, we headed straight out to sea. Word was that Cabo Corrientes could be dreadfully windy and it was best to round it in the morning before the winds came up. Well, that plan was shot, it was already noon. However, the wind was only about 7-8 knots so it looked like we would be OK. In fact, the wind never did come up and we cruised along at 3-4 knots all afternoon, getting back into the routine of passage sailing after so long in port. It is good to be sailing again. It is my watch most of the afternoon and an easy sail. We finally rounded the point about sunset and set a new course We decided that I wold take the midnight to dawn watch so Alan can get some sleep so I went to bed right after dinner.
When I get up at midnight to take over, the engine was on and the auto pilot was steering the boat. Typically, the wind had died. The night is dark with no moon and the ocean sparkles with phosphorescence all around us. Off in the distance is a glow from Puerto Vallarta and to the south another glow that we assume is Manzanillo. It is amazing how far the city lights shine, even from a fairly small town. We are fairly close to shore and there could easily be fishing boats around us. Since the fishing boats seldom have lights on we would not be able to see them in the dark. Knowing this has the effect of keeping me very alert all night. I am up walking around the deck and peering off into the darkness every 15-20 minutes. Alan has turned on the radar and it is showing a lot of mysterious blips but I cannot see any actual boats. There is a light of a large ship off in the distance for about an hour, slowly moving past us but nothing else. I finish up the murder mystery that I have been reading. Alan shows up to relieve me about 4am, having actually slept a solid 4 hours. My turn to tumble into bed.
When I get up next, Alan has activated the AIS, our newest toy. This is an electronic box that picks up signals from other ships and displays them on the iPad. All of the big cargo ships now have to have an AIS system that broadcasts their position, name, course, speed, name, etc. A lot of cruisers also are installing the system on their boats. There are two versions, one is broadcast and receive and the other is receive only, which is what we have. It shows our position and the position of any ships within a particular distance. It can be set for 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, etc. mile incraments. Clicking on the icon gives the ship’s name, speed, position, distance away, size and a lot of other info. Now that Alan has it all synced up and working, we can see that there are a lot of cargo ships all around us.
The wind has picked up and we can turn off the engine. It is not a very pretty day, sort of hazy/overcast.Our intention on this leg of the trip was to stop at several harbors along the coast, Chamela, Tenecatita, Barra de Navidad. This section of the Mexican coast is called Costa Alegre and is supposed to be very lovely. The problem was that the timing was off and we would either be trying to enter in the dark or hanging out for hours waiting for dawn. We decide that we have seen enough small mexican beach towns anyway, so we just keep going. We are enjoying sailing and anxious to get south of the hurricane belt as soon as possible.
It has been overcast all day and as the day grows later the sky is looking darker and darker, wind is building and there are whitecaps. Finally even a few rain sprinkles. We have been discussing the fact that we are now in the rainy season and the further south we get the more likely we will get rain squalls. The problem is not so much the rain as the fact that they come up very quickly with a LOT of wind. On the theory “better safe than sorry” Alan decided to take down our big light wind jib and replace it with a small staysail and reef (shorten) the main. Usually I man the helm while Alan does the sails, but I decided that this was my turn. I need the practice and the wind is not to strong yet. I brought the jib in, rolled it up, unhanked it from the forestay and got it stowed below in about 15 minutes, and then got the small jib hoisted easily. Little by little I am getting more confident at this. Reefing the main is harder and takes both of us. We got the sail lowered and hooked by the mast easily but for some reason Alan could not seem to get the other end of the sail secured. Meanwhile I was trying to tie down the lines while the wind kept catching the sail and the boat tossed around on the waves. Suddenly there was a “rip” and the sail tore in my hands, a 10” tear right at the reef point. My fault. I had been trying to tie the sail to the boom instead of just tying it to itself. We got out some sail tape and managed to tape the tear together. Not a pretty patch but enough to keep it from ripping any more. We finished up tying it down and settled in for another night of sailing through the dark. Luckily the wind did not get any stronger.
As we sail on through the night, I experiment with the AIS app. It is installed on both iPads which is a good thing because we are having trouble getting them to charge. We have a 12 volt charging station set up in the cabin which has worked fine for months. Now they only charge for about 15 minutes and then stop charging. We plug and unplug them, change cords and chargers. Nothing works, so we have to keep switching them back and forth. Charge one as much as we can and then use it while the other is charging. Up until now I had only turned on the iPad once an hour to log our position, maybe once in between if we were coming up on a waypoint, so battery life was not a big issue. But now we are in the shipping lanes and we have the new app so I need to leave it on a lot more to keep an eye on all of the big container ships coming and gong around us.
The AIS shows ships up to 20 or 30 miles away and more but visibility is only about 6 miles. It is really scary to know that there is a giant cargo ship heading straight for you at 15-20 knots and not be able to see it. I am not sure if I like this or not. Usually it is clear that they will pass with no problem and a couple of times I figure out evasive action. But there are at least two occasions when I cannot figure out what to do and end up waking Alan to help. This means that he is not getting the sleep that he needs, so I decide to let him sleep past the end of my watch. Now the watch schedule is all messed up and I am really tired too. Luckily we arrive at Manzanillo in the morning and can sleep.
May 12, 2013, Sunday Leaving Yelapa for Manzanillo, Mexico
Today is the last day of the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. We were told that the fireworks would start at 5am and that the blessing of the fleet would be soon after. Well the booms of the firecrackers did indeed start at 5 when it was still dark but nothing much else happened. More fireworks at 6:30 and more at 7. Finally at about 8 we could see everyone gathering at the pier and getting into the boats. Eventually they set off in procession around the bay with about 10 boats, the priest in the first boat and everyone singing.
Meanwhile, we are up, fed and ready to cast off. We untied the mooring and were headed slowly out of the bay when suddenly there was a horrible racket from the stern and the tiller jerked out of my hands. I had carefully avoided our mooring line but managed to tangle in another one that I had not seen. Quickly shut off the engine. Alan immediately dropped the anchor so we would not drift while we figured out what to do. The bay is not very big, but deep, about 150 feet and there are lots of other boats. Unfortunately since we had been moored not anchored, he did not have the windlass turned on to let the chain out slowly. Once he let it go, it raced out, to the end of the chain and half of the extra rope he had added. That is 275 feet of chain and 100+ feet of rope!
Now that we were sure that we would not drift onto another boat or the shore, Alan went overboard to check out the situation while I got on the radio to Rafael, who owned the mooring. Turned out the damage was not really very bad. The mooring line was indeed wrapped around the propeller but there was no other damage. Rafael showed up in his Ponga, concerned about his mooring. He was quick to let us know that if we have cut the line or damaged the mooring it will cost us $400. Luckily Alan was able to free the line after diving down several times. Time to hoist the anchor and leave, again.
This is actually a good test of the new anchor line that Alan added. The windlass will not pull the rope. It just slips. So it takes both of us to pull it up and feed it back down into the chain locker. Eventually we get the job done. The rope is up and we have come to the chain. Now we can wrap it around the windlass and it should pull up easily and we will be on our way again. Except that it doesn’t. It slips and pulls and chews up the pulley. We get about 50 feet up but it is obviously stuck on something. We have 20 feet of chain our in 150 feet of water and it won’t budge. Time to call Rafael again to see if he can find a diver to go down and see what the problem is.
Of course everyone is all involved with the Blessing of the Fleet and the Mass and other festivities. Eventually Rafael shows up again and after some discussion goes off to find a diver. Turns out they are across the bay working on the other moorings. Here they are. 3 guys in an open skiff with a compressor bolted to the seat and not a word of English among them. The next 2 hours are great discussions. Diver down to check. More discussions. Ropes hooked and pulled in various directions. Diver down again. More ropes and pulling. Several tries with the windlass until the deck is black with the dust from the rubber pulley and rivulets of brown that look like blood but are sawdust from where the chain is rubbing on the wood of the pulpit and the shaft is down to bare metal. While this is going on we are also drifting closer and closer to the shore. We are almost into the surf line. I am on the tiller and finally cannot stand it any more. I put the engine into gear and move slowly forward until we are away from the shore again. And the process continues. Suddenly everyone realizes that the chain is actually starting to come up. Slowly, slowly and then more quickly. It is free of whatever it was hooked on. A great cheer and sigh of relief. We are free and did not loose our anchor. Last minute negotiations with the divers and we can leave. It had cost $150 for 3 divers for 2 hours. Not too bad.
Later on Alan figures out that the anchor was not stuck at all. The water was so deep that the anchor never even got to the bottom. The weight of the anchor and all of that chain was just too much for the windlass. Each time the divers had pulled it at an angle it created enough slack to pull it up a little bit more. Finally enough weight was off that the windlass was able to pull it.
Today is the last day of the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe. We were told that the fireworks would start at 5am and that the blessing of the fleet would be soon after. Well the booms of the firecrackers did indeed start at 5 when it was still dark but nothing much else happened. More fireworks at 6:30 and more at 7. Finally at about 8 we could see everyone gathering at the pier and getting into the boats. Eventually they set off in procession around the bay with about 10 boats, the priest in the first boat and everyone singing.
Meanwhile, we are up, fed and ready to cast off. We untied the mooring and were headed slowly out of the bay when suddenly there was a horrible racket from the stern and the tiller jerked out of my hands. I had carefully avoided our mooring line but managed to tangle in another one that I had not seen. Quickly shut off the engine. Alan immediately dropped the anchor so we would not drift while we figured out what to do. The bay is not very big, but deep, about 150 feet and there are lots of other boats. Unfortunately since we had been moored not anchored, he did not have the windlass turned on to let the chain out slowly. Once he let it go, it raced out, to the end of the chain and half of the extra rope he had added. That is 275 feet of chain and 100+ feet of rope!
Now that we were sure that we would not drift onto another boat or the shore, Alan went overboard to check out the situation while I got on the radio to Rafael, who owned the mooring. Turned out the damage was not really very bad. The mooring line was indeed wrapped around the propeller but there was no other damage. Rafael showed up in his Ponga, concerned about his mooring. He was quick to let us know that if we have cut the line or damaged the mooring it will cost us $400. Luckily Alan was able to free the line after diving down several times. Time to hoist the anchor and leave, again.
This is actually a good test of the new anchor line that Alan added. The windlass will not pull the rope. It just slips. So it takes both of us to pull it up and feed it back down into the chain locker. Eventually we get the job done. The rope is up and we have come to the chain. Now we can wrap it around the windlass and it should pull up easily and we will be on our way again. Except that it doesn’t. It slips and pulls and chews up the pulley. We get about 50 feet up but it is obviously stuck on something. We have 20 feet of chain our in 150 feet of water and it won’t budge. Time to call Rafael again to see if he can find a diver to go down and see what the problem is.
Of course everyone is all involved with the Blessing of the Fleet and the Mass and other festivities. Eventually Rafael shows up again and after some discussion goes off to find a diver. Turns out they are across the bay working on the other moorings. Here they are. 3 guys in an open skiff with a compressor bolted to the seat and not a word of English among them. The next 2 hours are great discussions. Diver down to check. More discussions. Ropes hooked and pulled in various directions. Diver down again. More ropes and pulling. Several tries with the windlass until the deck is black with the dust from the rubber pulley and rivulets of brown that look like blood but are sawdust from where the chain is rubbing on the wood of the pulpit and the shaft is down to bare metal. While this is going on we are also drifting closer and closer to the shore. We are almost into the surf line. I am on the tiller and finally cannot stand it any more. I put the engine into gear and move slowly forward until we are away from the shore again. And the process continues. Suddenly everyone realizes that the chain is actually starting to come up. Slowly, slowly and then more quickly. It is free of whatever it was hooked on. A great cheer and sigh of relief. We are free and did not loose our anchor. Last minute negotiations with the divers and we can leave. It had cost $150 for 3 divers for 2 hours. Not too bad.
Later on Alan figures out that the anchor was not stuck at all. The water was so deep that the anchor never even got to the bottom. The weight of the anchor and all of that chain was just too much for the windlass. Each time the divers had pulled it at an angle it created enough slack to pull it up a little bit more. Finally enough weight was off that the windlass was able to pull it.
May 10-11, Friday and Saturday 2013 Yelapa
Never set sail on a Friday and don’t ever have bananas on board. Two of the many sailor superstitions that we don’t really pay any attention to in this modern era. We have bananas. We like bananas. As for Friday, it does not count if you are just going across the bay, just if you are actually setting out on a long voyage.
Friday morning we set out from Paradise Village across the bay to Yelapa. It is only 20 miles away, not even as far as Long Beach to Catalina. We go meticulously through the casting off checklist, not skipping over anything. This will be an easy short sail to get back in the sailing mode after being in port for so long. It is a lovely day for a brisk sail across the bay. Banderas Bay is a deep, wide harbor. The towns and hotels are clustered along the north and east sides where the land is flatter. Along the south coast the cliffs come straight down into the sea. There are small villages wherever a river comes tumbling into the sea. The road stops just outside of Puerto Vallarta and from there on the only access if by boat or walking through the forest. The bays are deep, over 100 feet even close to shore with just a few yards of shallow water around the edge, making it difficult if not impossible to anchor. Yelapa is the furthest west of these small villages. According to our cruising guides we should not even think about anchoring but take advantage of the moorings offered by the villagers. Sure enough, as we enter the bay a ponga races out to meet us. In it is Rafael who escorts us in, sells us a mooring and points out all of the best places to eat, especially the palapa owned by his family. He speaks excellent English which he says he has learned from tourists and has lived all of his life in Yelapa. Once we are moored and have paid he speeds off on another errand.
Yelapa is really two parts. What I had thought was lovely native thatched roofed houses to the left side of the bay as we entered turned out to be the hotel. Still lovely and blending so naturally into the landscape, but not where the people live. To the right is the pueblo where the locals live, not lovely thatched roof houses but the typical concrete and rebar cubes of Mexico climbing up the steep hillside one on top of the other. The path from the beach winds under and between houses and up the side of the hill. It reminds me a lot of the hillside towns in southern Italy.
We decide to head for the town to see if we can find Abuelos Restaurant, which has been recommended by an ex-pat who cane paddling by on a kayak. We wander happily, up and down and around a maze of paths. Past groups of people sitting in the shade. A chain of pack horses is being unloaded by a small store. Looks like bags of grain. A couple of young men go past with cages of glossy roosters. Look like fighting cocks to me. When I ask, they say that IF there were cock fights they certainly would not be here. They would be up the road in the forest somewhere. We go on past the “casino”, actually just a large open meeting hall where some kind of party is about to begin. Finally we find the restaurant. It is closed! Actually we discover that all of the restaurants are closed. It is Mother’s Day and the women of the town are not about to work on their day. It is their turn to be wined and dined. That is what the party at the casino was about.
So we make our way back down to the beach and push the dingy back out into the water to row across to the palapas that line the beach on the tourist side of the bay. Even here almost everything is closed. Finally we find one place that is open and settle down at a table on the sand. There are a few other diners, including a couple at a table next to us who are just opening a bottle of Moet y Chadon. When we smile and wish them Happy Birthday, they have the waiter bring us each a glass. So there we are on the beach in Yelapa at sunset with glasses of wonderful champagne to go with our ceviche and fish tacos.
Next day we walked up a path through the forest to a lovely waterfall. This is end of the dry season. The summer rains have not started yet and everything is very dry. The hills remind me of Southern California in fire season, so dry. The stream is just a trickle but the waterfall is still lovely. The air smells wonderful. When I ask, a man says it is sapote flowers on the trees. Back at the beach again, we settle down for a swim and nap on the beach. As always, there are numerous peddlers walking the beach offering their wares but here they offer weed and pipes along with the usual bracelets and sarongs. It really has a flavor of a place left over from the 60s. We also meet a number of ex-pats who came here in the 60s and never left, including one woman from Topanga.
Eventually we make our way back up to Abuelas. The Mothers Day fiesta last night had gone on until 3am so service was a bit slow but the food was definitely worth waiting for. On our way back to the beach we passed the casino again where, surprise, surprise, there were cock fights taking place. Just as we reach the path leading down to the beach, we hear music and fireworks and a religious procession comes up the road. This is the next to last day f the Festival of Guadalupe. There is a procession every night with a different group leading each night. Tonight is young peoples night. The girls all have on white blouses but the US influence is strong. The blouses are sheer and stylish and work with tight designer jeans. No traditional native costumes here. Back at the church, the mass begins with a rocking hymn accompanied by guitar, piano and drums. The priest is not only young and handsome but has a lovely singing voice. I predict trouble in paradise.
We hang out for a while but Alan has an aversion to anything religious so we head back to the boat after a few minutes. Tomorrow we leave, heading south. Trying to get below 10 degrees before hurricane season starts June 1.
Never set sail on a Friday and don’t ever have bananas on board. Two of the many sailor superstitions that we don’t really pay any attention to in this modern era. We have bananas. We like bananas. As for Friday, it does not count if you are just going across the bay, just if you are actually setting out on a long voyage.
Friday morning we set out from Paradise Village across the bay to Yelapa. It is only 20 miles away, not even as far as Long Beach to Catalina. We go meticulously through the casting off checklist, not skipping over anything. This will be an easy short sail to get back in the sailing mode after being in port for so long. It is a lovely day for a brisk sail across the bay. Banderas Bay is a deep, wide harbor. The towns and hotels are clustered along the north and east sides where the land is flatter. Along the south coast the cliffs come straight down into the sea. There are small villages wherever a river comes tumbling into the sea. The road stops just outside of Puerto Vallarta and from there on the only access if by boat or walking through the forest. The bays are deep, over 100 feet even close to shore with just a few yards of shallow water around the edge, making it difficult if not impossible to anchor. Yelapa is the furthest west of these small villages. According to our cruising guides we should not even think about anchoring but take advantage of the moorings offered by the villagers. Sure enough, as we enter the bay a ponga races out to meet us. In it is Rafael who escorts us in, sells us a mooring and points out all of the best places to eat, especially the palapa owned by his family. He speaks excellent English which he says he has learned from tourists and has lived all of his life in Yelapa. Once we are moored and have paid he speeds off on another errand.
Yelapa is really two parts. What I had thought was lovely native thatched roofed houses to the left side of the bay as we entered turned out to be the hotel. Still lovely and blending so naturally into the landscape, but not where the people live. To the right is the pueblo where the locals live, not lovely thatched roof houses but the typical concrete and rebar cubes of Mexico climbing up the steep hillside one on top of the other. The path from the beach winds under and between houses and up the side of the hill. It reminds me a lot of the hillside towns in southern Italy.
We decide to head for the town to see if we can find Abuelos Restaurant, which has been recommended by an ex-pat who cane paddling by on a kayak. We wander happily, up and down and around a maze of paths. Past groups of people sitting in the shade. A chain of pack horses is being unloaded by a small store. Looks like bags of grain. A couple of young men go past with cages of glossy roosters. Look like fighting cocks to me. When I ask, they say that IF there were cock fights they certainly would not be here. They would be up the road in the forest somewhere. We go on past the “casino”, actually just a large open meeting hall where some kind of party is about to begin. Finally we find the restaurant. It is closed! Actually we discover that all of the restaurants are closed. It is Mother’s Day and the women of the town are not about to work on their day. It is their turn to be wined and dined. That is what the party at the casino was about.
So we make our way back down to the beach and push the dingy back out into the water to row across to the palapas that line the beach on the tourist side of the bay. Even here almost everything is closed. Finally we find one place that is open and settle down at a table on the sand. There are a few other diners, including a couple at a table next to us who are just opening a bottle of Moet y Chadon. When we smile and wish them Happy Birthday, they have the waiter bring us each a glass. So there we are on the beach in Yelapa at sunset with glasses of wonderful champagne to go with our ceviche and fish tacos.
Next day we walked up a path through the forest to a lovely waterfall. This is end of the dry season. The summer rains have not started yet and everything is very dry. The hills remind me of Southern California in fire season, so dry. The stream is just a trickle but the waterfall is still lovely. The air smells wonderful. When I ask, a man says it is sapote flowers on the trees. Back at the beach again, we settle down for a swim and nap on the beach. As always, there are numerous peddlers walking the beach offering their wares but here they offer weed and pipes along with the usual bracelets and sarongs. It really has a flavor of a place left over from the 60s. We also meet a number of ex-pats who came here in the 60s and never left, including one woman from Topanga.
Eventually we make our way back up to Abuelas. The Mothers Day fiesta last night had gone on until 3am so service was a bit slow but the food was definitely worth waiting for. On our way back to the beach we passed the casino again where, surprise, surprise, there were cock fights taking place. Just as we reach the path leading down to the beach, we hear music and fireworks and a religious procession comes up the road. This is the next to last day f the Festival of Guadalupe. There is a procession every night with a different group leading each night. Tonight is young peoples night. The girls all have on white blouses but the US influence is strong. The blouses are sheer and stylish and work with tight designer jeans. No traditional native costumes here. Back at the church, the mass begins with a rocking hymn accompanied by guitar, piano and drums. The priest is not only young and handsome but has a lovely singing voice. I predict trouble in paradise.
We hang out for a while but Alan has an aversion to anything religious so we head back to the boat after a few minutes. Tomorrow we leave, heading south. Trying to get below 10 degrees before hurricane season starts June 1.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
May 1-9, 2013, Paradise Village Marina, Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico
I made my way from the airport to the hotel. Identified myself to the marina office and got a key. Let myself onto Rhapsody. It is really nice to be home again. I am surprised that it now feels like home, but it does. Peaceful. Alan has left it all clean for me. I mix myself a margarita and sit out on the back deck in the dusk.
Paradise Village is part of a huge hotel, condo complex complete with lush landscaping, several restaurants, shops, 3 swimming pools, a spa, There is a shopping plaza just up the street and a market. This is a far cry from La Cruz with its dusty streets and local produce sold out of the back of trucks. We are miles from the city surrounded by other hotels and apartment complexes. It could be any hotel anywhere. It certainly does not seem like we are in Mexico. The pool has a full schedule of “activities” with very cheerful and energetic young staff members to encourage everyone to participate. Luckily the marina is on the other side of the hotel where it is much quieter.
I have 5 days until Alan gets back, actually 4 because he will be back on the 5th and I know that he wants to leave as soon as possible after he gets back. One day is spent on a bus ride to one of the giant supermarkets to stock up on provisions. One day is spent getting everything put away again. One day is devoted to the spa, steam, jacuzzi, shower, sauna, repeat. No charge for “members” which I apparently am. I am not sure what I am a member of since they never asked me for any ID but I am not objecting.
Two days I work on painting the boat. There are still some bits of the white trim that I never finished but the big project is the deck. It has a thick layer of some kind of non-skid paint which is coming off in great chunks. Besides looking awful, it is becoming a safety hazard because it is very slippery where it has come off. I know Alan has some non-skid paint because he used it on the hatch covers. I am not sure how much is left. It is very expensive and has to be ordered from New Zealand or somewhere. But it does need to be done and this is as good a time as any. When I find the can, it is not really paint but some kind of thick plastic goop. The directions say to put it on with a spatula and then roll it out. Once I get the hang of it, it is not too hard although it is not as thick as what was there before you it does not really hide the bald spots. I had planned to just do a small section but once I get started I just keep going. By the time I am finished I have used up the whole can and painted the entire back deck and most of the foredeck. It looks lovely. All of the chips and stains and holes are gone. I wish I had another can. so I could finish the job. but like I said, it has to be ordered from New Zealand.
Alan arrives with 3 enormous bags of stuff. It takes several days, but finally everything is stowed. One last trip to the spa and we are ready to go. We have checked the weather, plotted a course, said good-bye to friends. We are heading south. Another boat, Emerald Lady, was going to join us but ran into engine problems and will not be ready to leave for at least another month so we are on our own.
I made my way from the airport to the hotel. Identified myself to the marina office and got a key. Let myself onto Rhapsody. It is really nice to be home again. I am surprised that it now feels like home, but it does. Peaceful. Alan has left it all clean for me. I mix myself a margarita and sit out on the back deck in the dusk.
Paradise Village is part of a huge hotel, condo complex complete with lush landscaping, several restaurants, shops, 3 swimming pools, a spa, There is a shopping plaza just up the street and a market. This is a far cry from La Cruz with its dusty streets and local produce sold out of the back of trucks. We are miles from the city surrounded by other hotels and apartment complexes. It could be any hotel anywhere. It certainly does not seem like we are in Mexico. The pool has a full schedule of “activities” with very cheerful and energetic young staff members to encourage everyone to participate. Luckily the marina is on the other side of the hotel where it is much quieter.
I have 5 days until Alan gets back, actually 4 because he will be back on the 5th and I know that he wants to leave as soon as possible after he gets back. One day is spent on a bus ride to one of the giant supermarkets to stock up on provisions. One day is spent getting everything put away again. One day is devoted to the spa, steam, jacuzzi, shower, sauna, repeat. No charge for “members” which I apparently am. I am not sure what I am a member of since they never asked me for any ID but I am not objecting.
Two days I work on painting the boat. There are still some bits of the white trim that I never finished but the big project is the deck. It has a thick layer of some kind of non-skid paint which is coming off in great chunks. Besides looking awful, it is becoming a safety hazard because it is very slippery where it has come off. I know Alan has some non-skid paint because he used it on the hatch covers. I am not sure how much is left. It is very expensive and has to be ordered from New Zealand or somewhere. But it does need to be done and this is as good a time as any. When I find the can, it is not really paint but some kind of thick plastic goop. The directions say to put it on with a spatula and then roll it out. Once I get the hang of it, it is not too hard although it is not as thick as what was there before you it does not really hide the bald spots. I had planned to just do a small section but once I get started I just keep going. By the time I am finished I have used up the whole can and painted the entire back deck and most of the foredeck. It looks lovely. All of the chips and stains and holes are gone. I wish I had another can. so I could finish the job. but like I said, it has to be ordered from New Zealand.
Alan arrives with 3 enormous bags of stuff. It takes several days, but finally everything is stowed. One last trip to the spa and we are ready to go. We have checked the weather, plotted a course, said good-bye to friends. We are heading south. Another boat, Emerald Lady, was going to join us but ran into engine problems and will not be ready to leave for at least another month so we are on our own.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
April 17-30,2013 home and back
The whole trip home became very complicated. Alan’s visa expires May 10 and he needs to leave Mexico for at least 24 hours. Originally we thought we would be in the South Pacific by then. Even after our plan changed, we thought we would be south of Mexico. However, by the time we left Mazatlan it was becoming obvious that we were not going to make it and he was going to have to take a bus or plane to some other country. At first we looked for buses to the US, or possibly the ferry to La Paz and a bus from there. Then we considered a plane to Tijuana and a bus across the border. Every option we looked at was complicated and expensive and gets more expensive as we get further south. He does not want to spend the money and does not want to be away from the boat more than a day or two. And he does not want to stay in Mazatlan any longer. It is time to move on. Finally in frustration I got on the Alaska Airlines website and got him a cheap ticket round trip from Puerto Vallarta to LA at the end of April. This allows plenty of time to get to PV and find a marina to leave me and the boat. (My visa is good until July.) He can pick up all of the stuff we have ordered, see the kids and grandkids, deal with paperwork and be back in a week. Done.
Except not. No sooner were the tickets purchased than he found a dozen reasons to change it. He wanted to go sooner, later, not at all. We could still sail non-stop and be out of Mexico by mid May. I could go home and pick up al the stuff and he would stay with the boat. On top of all this, he began to have pains in his hip whenever he walked more than a mile. He knew he should see a doctor while he was home but thanks to all of the medical conventions he has done, he managed to convince himself that he would need a total hip replacement. One more reason not to go home, so he would not have to face this.
Meanwhile, it was starting to look like I should go home too. Not because of the visa but because I needed a follow-up MRI from the radiation treatments back in December. PV has good airline connections to LA and we don’t really know what the situation will be as we get farther south. Of course I could not get on the same flight that he was going to be on and anyway, it would be better if we were not both gone at once. So the upshot was, he put me on a plane first. Then moved the boat into the luxurious Paradise Village Marina. We were home together for a few days and then I flew back, found my way to the marina and had several days on Rhapsody by myself before he got back.
I got my MRI and everything is fine. He saw the doctor and was told he had tendonitis in his hip and not to worry about it. We hung out with the grand-boys and saw old friends. We packed 3 large bags of stuff to come back and finally finished clearing out all of our stuff from the house. Everything that Chris and Molly don’t want to use is packed away in the attic. We took care of income tax, banking, social security and other tedious paperwork. I said hello and good-bye to the garden and the cats. This time it really seems like good-bye. Our new home is on Rhapsody, wherever the wind takes up. I have no idea when we will be back.
The whole trip home became very complicated. Alan’s visa expires May 10 and he needs to leave Mexico for at least 24 hours. Originally we thought we would be in the South Pacific by then. Even after our plan changed, we thought we would be south of Mexico. However, by the time we left Mazatlan it was becoming obvious that we were not going to make it and he was going to have to take a bus or plane to some other country. At first we looked for buses to the US, or possibly the ferry to La Paz and a bus from there. Then we considered a plane to Tijuana and a bus across the border. Every option we looked at was complicated and expensive and gets more expensive as we get further south. He does not want to spend the money and does not want to be away from the boat more than a day or two. And he does not want to stay in Mazatlan any longer. It is time to move on. Finally in frustration I got on the Alaska Airlines website and got him a cheap ticket round trip from Puerto Vallarta to LA at the end of April. This allows plenty of time to get to PV and find a marina to leave me and the boat. (My visa is good until July.) He can pick up all of the stuff we have ordered, see the kids and grandkids, deal with paperwork and be back in a week. Done.
Except not. No sooner were the tickets purchased than he found a dozen reasons to change it. He wanted to go sooner, later, not at all. We could still sail non-stop and be out of Mexico by mid May. I could go home and pick up al the stuff and he would stay with the boat. On top of all this, he began to have pains in his hip whenever he walked more than a mile. He knew he should see a doctor while he was home but thanks to all of the medical conventions he has done, he managed to convince himself that he would need a total hip replacement. One more reason not to go home, so he would not have to face this.
Meanwhile, it was starting to look like I should go home too. Not because of the visa but because I needed a follow-up MRI from the radiation treatments back in December. PV has good airline connections to LA and we don’t really know what the situation will be as we get farther south. Of course I could not get on the same flight that he was going to be on and anyway, it would be better if we were not both gone at once. So the upshot was, he put me on a plane first. Then moved the boat into the luxurious Paradise Village Marina. We were home together for a few days and then I flew back, found my way to the marina and had several days on Rhapsody by myself before he got back.
I got my MRI and everything is fine. He saw the doctor and was told he had tendonitis in his hip and not to worry about it. We hung out with the grand-boys and saw old friends. We packed 3 large bags of stuff to come back and finally finished clearing out all of our stuff from the house. Everything that Chris and Molly don’t want to use is packed away in the attic. We took care of income tax, banking, social security and other tedious paperwork. I said hello and good-bye to the garden and the cats. This time it really seems like good-bye. Our new home is on Rhapsody, wherever the wind takes up. I have no idea when we will be back.
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