Adios Mazatlan
12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
Gathering weather info in preparation for departure
The itch to start moving further south commenced in the beginning of December. Nights started to cool down. Thanksgiving in Mazatlan was spent under cloudy skies and a cool rain thanks to a Pineapple Express weather front from Hawaii. Cruisers from Oregon and Washington seemed to be adapting just fine, but we longed for more sunshine and warmth.
Deciding when to leave is becoming even more interesting as we develop friendships at each destination. The prospect of leaving good friends and many great cruiser conveniences behind in Mazatlan results in some folks never leaving. This phenomenon appears to be true in several ports in Mexico. Needing to experience more of Mexico along with the desire for tropical weather motivated us to plan our escape and plot a course southward. Furthermore, we wanted to get in to the Paradise Village Marina in Puerto Vallarta, but we waited too long to try to get a reservation. Getting closer to the marina might help us schmooze our way into getting a slip.
As always, waiting for the right weather impacts the decision on when to leave. Planning the departure from Mazatlan also required us to take in to account the tides and the dredge schedule. Marina Mazatlan is located in a estuary heavily impacted by tides. Estimated speed and distance suggested an afternoon arrival at Punta de Mita the next day if we left Mazatlan at 6 am. An early morning departure should allow us to make it there with only one overnight. However, high tide at Mazatlan's marina entrance occurred about noon. This meant that we might spend an additional night at sea or arrive in Punta de Mita at night. The channel to the estuary is extremely narrow and shallow. To keep the channel navigable, a dredge works daily to remove silt, sand and mud from the channel. When the dredge is working, other boats cannot get in or out of the channel. Even with the efforts of the dredge, the channel gets to about 6 feet of depth. Whisper's draft is 6 feet 7 inches.
The forecast on Monday morning suited our criteria. We finished preparing the boat for departure. Then, the wind in the marina picked up to the point we wondered what was going on outside the marina. Richard and Marianne from s/v MR Destiny walked with us to the entrance of the estuary to check out the conditions of the ocean. White caps and even more wind than in the marina greeted us. Occassionally, waves broke near the entrance channel. Hmmmm, maybe today is not the right day to leave. After munching on quesadillas at the El Cid pool restuarant, we walked to the marina. While walking back, the wind seemed to die down. The prospect of waiting to leave until Tuesday versus leaving on today was balanced with the information that a Norther, heavy winds from the north and steep/choppy waves resulting from Santa Ana conditions in southern California, was predicted to start on Wednesday morning. After a few bouts of wishy-washiness, we decided to take our chances and leave at 4 pm.
During our stay at the marina, we observed several boats struggle with exiting their slips on departure. The fairway is very narrow, the currents are tricky and the wind seems to work against every boat trying to leave. Hoping to avoid the embarassment and stress of a botched slip departure, Duncan decided we would back down the fairway since the wind and Whisper's prop walk tended to want to go that direction. Duncan flawlessly backed us down the fairway. Thankfully, it was not our turn to be embarassed.
Slowly, we crept through the channel with Robin's eyes on the depth sounder and Duncan's eyes looking for dredges and land. Having made it through the shallow part of the channel, the attention focused on the surf breaking at the entrance. With proper timing to avoid the sets of large waves, Whisper plowed out of the channel into the ocean.
Passage from Mazatlan to Banderas Bay
In order to avoid the islands just off shore near Mazatlan, we set a course almost due west for about 5 miles. For a couple of hours, we sailed into some fairly uncomfortable seas before we fell off to head south and downwind. The upside was windspeed around 15 knots. Whisper clipped along at around 7 knots of boat speed.
The first few hours were a bit uncomfortable. Some of this was because we violated our rule of "no partying" the night before we leave on any passage. Dinner the night before at La Costa Marinara restaurant with a large and surprisingly expensive ($15 US each) call margaritas. Prior to departure, we each popped one quarter of a Bonine pill (seasickness medication) given the last three weeks at a marina left us feeling like landlubbers. Slogging into the 2-3 ft. chop and 4-6 ft. swell left Duncan feeling less than 100%.
Once we turned downwind, the sun set, the moon rose, and the winds calmed but a nasty 6-8 foot southwest swell prevented us from sailing comfortably in the light 3-8 knot winds. We started the engine, centered the main and motorsailed the rest of the night. This worked to our benefit for slowing down Whisper as well. During the day, our progress was better than expected. Originally, we planned on arriving just off shore from Banderas Bay at around 4 am the following morning. Now, our planned arrival was midnight the following morning.
We also "swapped watches" that night to see how we liked the other person's watch. Duncan switched to the 11 to 3am "dog watch". Inevitably, cruise ships and freighters appear on Robin's watch. Her hope in switching watches was to encounter fewer big scary ships. In general, we both enjoyed the other's watch so we may keep trying them that way for our next few passages. The cruise ships and freighters still appeared on Robin's watches. Oh well.
Let the night watches begin!
Eyes plays tricks on us at night. When a cruise ship is over 20 miles away, an eerie glow appears on the dark horizon. Something is out there, but you cannot see it on the radar and you cannot tell what direction it is heading. Cruise ships are easily distinguishable due to the number of lights on the ship, but you cannot easily tell the direction they are heading. Freighters are more difficult to spot. They display very few lights and move very fast.
During Robin's 7 pm to 11 pm watch, a very bright light appeared off Whisper's port side. In trying to figure out the source of the light, Robin scrutinized the radar screen and peered through the binoculars. The light was high enough in the sky to look like a light on a very tall sailboat mast. The light occasionally appeared to have a green glow. Tracking the light for 20 minutes, Robin became concerned that a large sailboat was approaching Whisper even though nothing appeared on the radar. "Dunc, willl you come up here and check out this light?" Duncan looked at the light for a few minutes and agreed the light was on a large sailboat due to the green glow. Duncan called on the VHF to the sailing vessel near our position. No answer. We stared at the light for 15 more minutes as the light appeared closer yet higher in the sky. The light kept getting further and further up from the horizon. Ah yes, the light was the dangerous "planet ship" rising in the sky.
See the prison colony on the islands? Nope! That's 'cuz we did not want to get very close.
The next morning brought light winds with minimal swell. Perfect. We were not in a hurry and we were comfortable. We sailed between the island Isla Isabella and the 4 islands called Islas Tres Marias. Isla Isabella is home to a bird sanctuary that was featured on a National Geographic special and a Jacques Costeau television program. Frigates and boobies make the island their nesting ground. Apparently, you can walk right up to the baby boobies. Conversely, the Isla Tres Marias are home to a prison colony. We can only assume that no nesting is allowed. The Mexican navy patrols a boundary of 20 miles around the islands. We stayed well away from the 20 miles boundary. A gorgeous day and night of sailing brought us to the outside of Banderas Bay at midnight where we waited until sunrise to head in to the bay.
Where and What is Banderas Bay?
Sunrise approaching Punta de Mita.
Banderas Bay is a large (30x40 nautical mile) indent in the middle of the western coast of Mexico. The north end of the Bay is marked by Punta de Mita and the southern promontory is Cabo Corrientes.
Inside the bay lie major destination towns of Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta. Smaller villages on the northern coast of the bay include Punta de Mita, La Cruz (La Cruz de Huanacaxtle), and Bucerias. Nuevo Vallarta, the airport, and Puerto Vallarta are on the central coast of the inner bay. Mismaloya and Yelapa are destinations on the southern coast of the inner bay. Mismaloya was the sight of the filming of The Night of the Iguana and the beginning of Puerto Vallarta's fame as the tourist destination of the 1950's. The entire bay is surrounded by several large ranges of jungle covered mountains (2000 to 7300 ft.) which dramatically hug the lowland towns and sandy coastline.
All ashore that's going ashore
By 9 am, we sat comfortably at anchor in Punta de Mita. While Robin cleaned up the boat, Duncan dove on the propeller to check the zinc. Robin discovered the last remaining bottle of California champagne, so we decided to celebrate being back at anchor. After staying in a marina in Mazatlan for 3 weeks, it felt good to be back "hanging on the hook". Of course, our next objective was to get in to a marina in Puerto Vallarta to make it easier to see Duncan's sister and kids while they visited during Christmas.
The next morning we contacted Paradise Village Marina on the VHF to inquire about the chance of getting in to the marina. Dick Markie, the harbormaster, gave us hope that we may be able to get in sometime in the next few days. We kept our fingers crossed. In the mean time, we wanted to explore Punta de Mita. Rather than inflate our dinghy, Shout, we decided to try to get a panga to take us ashore. In no time, we stepped off Whisper into a fishing panga. Robin promptly stepped on the bloody fish the fisherman was taking back to shore. Oops.
One of the many household tributes to the Virgin of Guadalupe
Punta de Mita is a sleepy fishing village and palapa filled beach area. October's Hurricane Kenna damaged some of the beach area and blew away the roofs of many beach front palapas. After wading through the flotilla of moored fishing pangas, we meandered thru the town. Preparations were under way for a variety of celebrations. The morning radio net informed us that today was the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mexico's patron is Nuesta Senora de Guadalupe or Virgin of Guadalupe. According to the Mexico Lonely Planet, "The Guadalupe Virgin became the crucial link between the Catholic and indigenous spirituality, and as Mexico grew into a mezosito society she became the most potent symbol of Mexican Catholicism." From large, week long celebrations with huge fireworks displays in Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta to the smaller commenorations in towns such as Punta de Mita, Mexicans everywhere celebrate this relgious holiday. Homes throughout Punta de Mita set up tributes to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Children dressed in costume filled the streets. Mexicans definitely know how to celebrate holidays.
Lunch?
Late lunch at a palapa on the beach introduced us to the many beach vendors. Beach vendors outnumbered the tourist by ten to one. As we enjoyed a delicious meal of mahi-mahi, we watched the rebuilding of palapas and painting of furniture. The effects of the hurricane would be gone in no time as tourism is very important to Punta de Mita. Around 4 pm, we decided to start looking for a ride home. We arrived back at the fishing panga beach where we arrived. Fishermen unloaded the daily catch in to the back of pick up trucks. Shock registered quickly as we inquired about the cost of getting a ride back to Whisper. 300 pesos! That is $30 US. Uh Oh! It did not occur to us until this price quote that getting to the beach would be cheap, but getting back to the boat would be expensive. Duh. Rather than fight a losing battle with the fishermen, we headed back to the beach where we had lunch. The first inquiry for a ride resulted in a price quote of 300 pesos. After shrewd negotiation with a panga driver and the "capitan" who was mid-siesta in a restaurant, Duncan bartered the price down to 100 pesos. Deal.
La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
Conversations with Paradise Village Marina continued as we crossed our fingers in hopes of getting in to the marina. We decided to move a little closer to the marina by moving to an anchorage near the town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Friends Don and Donna of La Mouette greeted us as we arrived at the anchorage and they were departing for the marina. They informed us of a charity dinner for a senior citizens center the following night at a restaurant named Philos located in La Cruz. La Cruz proved to be a very comfortable anchorage. The next day Shout, our dinghy, hit the water and we cruised in to town. No more expensive pangas for us. Our objective for today focused a bus ride to Paradise Village Marina to check out the marina and meet the harbormaster.
Colorful, traditional Mexican dancers entertained the crowd at Philos.
Then, we returned to La Cruz to attend the charity dinner. Ladies from the town of La Cruz prepared delicious entrees and musicians entertained us. Luckily, we ended up sitting we a few local gringos who gave us lots of great information about the area as well as the charity. Local performers treated us to traditional Mexican music and dances. Raffle tickets were sold for a 50-50 raffle. 50% of the raffle proceeds go to the senior citizens center and the other 50% goes to the randomly drawn winner. Duncan's raffle ticket was drawn as the winner! He donated the proceeds back to the senior citizens center. The next week he was written up in the local newspaper. As unemployed cruisers, the $175 (1750 pesos) was momentarily enticing, but we felt much better about giving it back to the community.
Julio and Mary, new friends and table mates at the Philo's fund raiser.
Don and Sandy, our table mates at the fund raiser.
Margo Wood (Charlie's Charts) and "North Sails Mike".
The evening concluded with wacky music from the band "Bubba and the Bottomfeeders". Songs such as "Makin' Guacamole All Night Long", "Jesus' brother Bob" and "I'm Just an **shole From Vallarta" made us laugh. We resisted dancing until we saw Margo Wood of Charlie's Charts fame up on the dance floor. If a 70 year old women was dancing, we figured it was time for us to get up to dance along with our new friends. Our new friend Don informed us that we could see more of Bubba and the Bottomfeeders tomorrow at a restaurant in Bucerias called Meson Bay. Everything about the evening was a blast -- from the outstanding food to the local performers to Duncan winning the raffle to the wacky music to meeting Margo Wood. With such fun, how could we resist heading to Meson bay in Bucerias to hear more from Bubba and the Bottomfeeders.
Bucerias
The church on the square in downtown Bucerias.
Palapa restaurant along the beach in Bucerias.
The next day we hopped on a bus to the town of Bucerias. Bucerias is a beautiful town with lots of good restaurants and fun shops. There is even a coffee shop with lattes! We wandered through the town eventually making our way along the beach to the restaurant Meson Bay. Several cruising friends joined us for a fun afternoon of more wacky music, food and cerveza. Our new friend from Bucerias, Don, also joined us. Afterwards, we wandered through the town checking out potential restaurants for future meals. Yet another enjoyable evening concluded with a bus ride and dinghy ride back to Whisper. Tomorrow, we hope to get in to the marina. Keep your fingers crossed.
The Bottomfeeders perform for packed house at Meson Bay.
Casey, Cindy, and Mike from Sobre El Mar.
Casey and Kelsey hand jive their way through a song.
Larry and Danice from Ladara Star with Robin.
Gorgeous blue sky and mountains greeted us as we awoke on Monday morning. As instructed, we contacted Dick Markie after the morning VHF cruisers net. Woo Hoo! He has a slip for us. Now we need to move quickly to get in to the marina before low tide. Paradise Village is yet another marina with a shallow entrance. With Robin at the helm and Duncan at the bow, we prepared to hoist up the anchor. Proof that there is never a dull moment, the windlass decided to stop working. See the following Systems Update for more details. Once Duncan retrieved the chain and anchor manually, we sped at 7 knots toward the marina to get in before low tide. Paradise awaits!
Systems Update
The genset conked out again, but after further analysis, we realized it was an overheating problem, not an electrical or RF interference problem. Closer inspection of the raw cooling water strainer found it clogged with black gunk, which easily cleaned out. The genset is humming along fine for now, but we still need to watch it carefully. At some point, we will figure out why it is producing so much black soot in the exhaust, but that is another day's project.
In La Cruz, we began to pull up the anchor with the Lewmar Ocean windlass. Clink, clink, clink. Silence. With a whopping 5 feet of chain pulled up, the windlass stopped. Duncan quickly inspected the other three switching mechanisms (none of which worked), their fuses, and the main windlass circuit breaker (still on, not tripped). At this point, Duncan believed the windlass or solenoid had a fairly serious electrical problem. After hauling in 150 feet of 3/8" chain and a 60 pound CQR anchor up from a depth of 25 feet - by hand, we headed off to the marina for a closer inspection. Who needs a gym with this kind of workout available on the boat. Duncan decided that getting the windlass working is a high priority.
While inspecting the main circuit breaker, the problem became clear - the electrical wire attachment bolt "post" had broken off the back of the breaker. After searching Puerto Vallarta marine stores for a replacement to no avail, Kyle at Desperado Marine suggested the "Southern Engineering" solution. Duncan gathered up aluminum foil, vise-grips, electrical solder, metal epoxy, and a crème brùlée torch and went to work. MacGiver (whoops, Duncan) wrapped the circuit breaker plastic housing entirely in layers of aluminum foil, used the needle-nose vise-grips as a heat-sink, and soldered the old post back in place with the solder and torch. Once fastened, he gooped the bases of both bolt posts with generous quantities of epoxy where the posts attached to the breaker. After 10 minutes, he hooked it all back up -- and "wah-laah" -- it worked. We are going to get some spare circuit breakers from the States because Duncan is not one for kludges or getting that stressful of a workout.