Yesterday we checked out of the La Cruz marina. It cost us about $30 per day for moorage, $2 total for water – which we only used to wash the boat – and $60 total for electric power. We had run the air conditioner a lot, so the electric charge makes sense, but I was surprised at how high it was. If one wanted to economize, it would be easy enough to moor outside the yacht basin. There is a good dingy dock with some security available.
The day dawned cooler and crisp after the prior day’s rain. We left La Cruz under clear skies, but with a goodly lump. I had hoped that we would only go an hour or so to the Marietas, a couple of little islands on the north edge of Banderas Bay. I had visions of anchoring there, snorkeling and whale watching. The swell was too big, so we continued north to a little community called Chacala, about 35 miles north from La Cruz. Along the way, we did see whales, one of which was fishing 20 yards in front of the boat, and Earl did a little fishing a caught a dorado.
The charts down here are awful. The two major problems are that they are not true as far as GPS is concerned and that they have very little detail. In addition, we were spoiled in the Sea of Cortez by having an excellent cruising guide. Down here we only have Pat Raine’s book on Mexico, which is better than nothing, but we definitely feel a lack of data. We tried to buy a more detailed chart for this area at Zaragoza’s Marine, but they did not have anything really satisfactory. Maybe it does not exist. Having just said bad things about Pat Raine’s book, I have to admit that we would have been hurting without the GPS points that she had for Chacala. We input them in the plotter and that was what we steered to.
Chacala is a little village with some high end homes and a lovely beach. It is apparently mobbed Easter week and during the summer with surfers. It was pretty quiet yesterday, although we did have some steel drum music accompaniment for dinner. I hoped we would spend the day, but it is not to be. Last night the wind shifted and Earl was bothered by the smell of burning trash – I slept through it. So we are off. I think our destination is San Blas where the jejenes (local noseemums) are reputed to be fierce. In the meantime, it is good going. Earl caught a bonito which was not very large, but gave him a good fight. More exciting, from my perspective, was watching a whale, or maybe whales, breaching. It or they came completely out of the water repeatedly. It is unbelievable to see something that size fly.
2 comments:
The chart inaccuracies have to be a bit disconcerting. Of all the cruising books/guides you have with you, which is the best? Did you get "Charlie’s Charts"? The Seattle Boat Show is in two weeks and I might buy a Mexico book or two and would appreciate any recommendations you have.
Hi Steve,
The very best, by many orders of magnitude, is the Sea of Cortez by Shawn Breeding and Heather Bansmer. As one of our friends said, "It has made all other guides obsolete". Unfortunately, it only covers the Sea of Cortez. The good news is that this young couple is currently working on a guide for the southern coast of Mexico. The only other guide that we have been using is the Mexico Boating Guide by Pat Rains. It has the merit of covering all of the Pacific Coast and the Sea of Cortez, and it is way better than nothing. I have not looked at Charlie's Charts. Frankly, if it doesn't have GPS references, I am not sure I would buy it. We are in San Blas and loving it.
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