After an early start from San Blas on Saturday, February 18, we spent the night anchored off the beautiful beach at Chacala. We set both bow and stern anchors in order to keep the boat pointed in the direction of the incoming swell, thus minimizing her tendency to roll. We did not go ashore. In the morning, we continued on to Banderas Bay, arriving at Marina La Cruz just before sunset on Sunday, the 19th. As we walked up into town to find some dinner, we were disappointed to discover that Claudia's little restaurant has closed. We learned that she and her family have moved to Guadalajara. We ended up eating in a new restaurant in a new building on the small traffic circle on Langosta avenue, called Tortuga Bay. Very good seafood and wine, but they could improve their meals a lot by including vegetables.
In all, we spent six nights at La Cruz, which we really like. The marina is excellent. They seem to have solved the wifi Internet problems they had last year. The town with its many restaurants and its music scene is as vibrant as ever. There is a fine path along the seawall, perfect for jogging. There is a beach nearby where Sally went swimming in the surf several times. We ate dinner and danced at Philo's and had drinks and danced at Anna Banana's.
We took the bus into Puerto Vallarta and walked the malecon and had fine meal at the Vitea Waterfront Bistro. I love the statues along that seawall for their whimsy. They share that with those on the La Paz malecon. Those in Mazatlan tend to be a bit too heroic and pretentious.
On Saturday, February 25, we left La Cruz mid-afternoon and headed for Cabo Corrientes, rounding that cape in the early morning hours, when the seas tend to be the calmest. We continued on throughout the day, arriving at Bahia de Tenacatita just before sunset on the 26th. There is an active cruiser community in that beautiful bay and every morning on the VHF cruisers' net there is some activity or other proposed. That particular Monday, a round of Mexican Train, a card game, was on the agenda, scheduled for the palapa restaurant on the beach. At 2 PM, Darrel from SV Over-Heated came by in his dinghy, ferried Sally over to his boat where she jumped in the water and was joined by Rita from Over-Heated and Patricia from Paloma for a swim to shore. Meanwhile, I completed a few chores, pumped up our inflatable dinghy, and rowed in to observe Sally and the other Mexican Train players in action. When I rowed back to the boat, I accompanied Sally, not because there was the slightest possibility that she could not swim the distance, but to reduce the risk of her being run over by a panga.
Last year, our dinghy was swamped when we tried to motor to shore in the Tenacatita surf, requiring a couple of hours of work to get the salt water out of the outboard. To avoid a recurrence, I left the motor off of the dinghy this time, carried my possessions in a water-proof bag and was prepared to go into the water if necessary. As it turned out, I only got my back a little wet on the way out.
After a second night in Tenacatita, we left for Barra, arriving in the Marina Puerto Navidad in the late afternoon of February 28. We got a slip right next to our friends from last year, Ron and Pam on Shadowfax, and just a few slips away from Neil and Kristen on OutRider. We immediately took the water taxi into Barra to meet Marie and Steve from Saben, whom we had met in San Blas and who were heading for points south in the morning. We had a great meal at Los Arcos. Just like last year, we watched the tail end of the Carnival parade from that restaurant. The next evening we had dinner with Ron and Pam at Fortinos, a restaurant on the lagoon in Colimilla, a short walk from the marina. They told us about their trip last spring to Panama on friend's boat. Last night we ate with Neil at Poco Loco, a pizza place in Barra, and learned about his trip to Japan after the tsunami last year, as part of the relief effort.
We head north tomorrow morning and plan to spend the night anchored in Tenacatita again.
Our current location is N 19 11.736, W 104 40.975.
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