Tuesday, January 11, 2011 -Bahia Chamela

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 – Underway to Isla Isabella
We left Muertos at 3:30 am. It was a little lumpy, but the wind had mostly abated and it proved to be a good day to travel. We had thought to have company crossing, but the El Tiburon had problems with his mast and apparently chose to head to Cabo for repairs. Earl thought there was a mast light ahead of us, but it turned out to be a bright planet rising.
By evening, the water and air were already becoming warmer. Clark and Joan took the early watch, but Earl could not sleep, so we took over at around 10. As usual, the payoff for giving up a night in the bunk is the beauty of the night sky and stars here. I can never get enough of it. Around midnight we were joined by a bunch of dolphins. There was enough luminescence in the water that we could see them streaking all around us. Earl used a flood light to try to see what they were feeding on. The light illuminated bright red things that may have been eyes. This morning we had small squid on the deck so that was probably what they were feeding on.
So far today, aside from seeing a turtle, the big excitement has been marlin. Earl had seen one swimming on the surface and we circled it, hoping it would bite, which it did not. About 10 minutes later Earl had one on, probably 6 feet or so. It was on long enough to get the adrenaline flowing, for Earl to yell conflicting instructions to all of us and for Clark to see it jump, but then it went away.
We should reach Isla Isabella in early evening. It is a quarter of two and we have 28 miles to go. It is a rookery which we visited last year. Our plan is to spend a couple of hours on land tomorrow morning and then head for San Blas which we enjoyed last year.
Friday, January 7, 2011 – Leaving San Blas
We anchored on the south east side of Isla Isabela, tucked in behind the Monas. After a peaceful evening, we were all looking forward to a good night’s sleep after our crossing. It was not to be. By 2 am Earl and I were tired of hearing the water slamming against the hull and of rocking back and forth in our bed. Up came the anchor and we headed for San Blas. The planet which we had seen the prior night rose again around 3:30. Clark had told us that if it looked red, it would be Mars. It may have been just our imaginations, but we decided that indeed it was red. Joan and Clark said the sleeping was great once we got underway and the stabilizers kicked in. We had the stars to admire and pretty smooth going. I went down and napped and Earl talked to a couple of sail boaters going our way.
We arrived at San Blas around 9 am, pretty close to high tide, and had an easy crossing of the bar. We had decided to tie up at the marina rather than anchoring in the river as we had done last year, thinking that it would be nice to have the Wi-Fi etc. The marina personnel, as always, were lovely, but it was the marina where nothing worked. The Wi-Fi was out, the water was questionable, the electrical power was weak and erratic and our neighbors had been waiting for most of the week for the boat lift to work. But nothing could spoil San Blas.
I was struck again by how charming this little town is. It is truly a Mexican town, with very few tourists. Joan, Clark and I went into town to get some fruit and vegetables at the public market and then made our way to the panadaria to get some bread. I wish I had taken the camera. The panadaria, the owner assured us, made the best bread in town – because, as she laughingly added, it was the only bakery in town. She had quite an assortment of sweets on the shelves and quite a number of bees enjoying the sugar. There was a particular sweet that looked like slices of a jelly roll that the bees loved – it was covered with them. We left them alone and they were perfectly happy to ignore us. To our delight, we found the baked goods to be the best we had found in Mexico.
Tied up two boats down from us was the Molly J, a Cal 2-46, the same boat as Clark and Joan have. Like theirs it is 35 to 40 years old. Jon and Lisa Hansen invited us on to tour it and see the modifications that they had made. Jon has spent 7 years and a fair amount of money on the boat which is now their home. He has made every modification he could to make life on board and sailing more comfortable. Some of the things he has added are electric sail handling winches which are spiffy, in-the-boom roller furling, a washer dryer, a little stove, a furnace, air conditioning, and a water maker etc. They hope to eventually cruise around the world.
The next day, Clark and Joan took the boat trip up the jungle to see the birds and crocs. We had been last year and opted to meet them for lunch at McDonalds. Before we are accused of being ugly Americans, McDonalds has nothing in common with the chain in the US of the same name. The tables are covered in Mexican tiles and the food matches. Very yummy.
Today, being the sixth of January is the feast of Epiphany which the Mexicans take quite seriously. All around the zocolo there were tables set up, and the baker we had met yesterday was busy putting together the traditional bread of the three kings which would stretch most of the way around the square. At around 6 pm the fiesta would start and there would be bread for all.
That evening our neighbors on the Albatross, a 32 foot Island Packet out of Texas, came over for drinks. Kevin, from Boston, Lisa from Toronto and their two sons, Teagan aged 10 and Mick aged 9, are a lovely family. They came down on the 2009 Baha Haha and had met our friends on the Black Dragon. Last year Lisa home schooled the boys. She found it much harder than she had expected, especially since she found that, despite having good grades in school, her younger son seemed to know very little arithmetic. In addition, she and Kevin decided that the boys must have agreed each morning which of them was going to be the bad student for the day. They had hoped that the kids would learn Spanish, but of course all the cruisers speak English so that had not happened. This year they have a slip in La Cruz and are sending the boys to a Mexican private school where they are among the 10 or so non Mexicans in a school of 300. The kids love it and are rapidly learning Spanish and improving their soccer. The school costs about $300 per month for the two children. Since the parents need to provide transportation, Kevin drove their car down from California last summer.
This morning we left at about 7:30 for the 8 hour run to La Cruz. The weather forecast was not at all good, but it is beautiful out here. There is a long gentle swell and no wind to speak of and we have seen lots of whales and jumping rays. The air and water at 10 am are both in the mid 70’s and it does not get any better than this.
Friday, January 7, 2011 - Approaching La Cruz, Banderas Bay
What a lovely day we have had. The swells were long and rolling and the sea calm. I think we have seen everything. First we saw multiple groups of the mobula (small rays) jumping and flipping. Clark then complained that we had seen no porpoise. Well, the gods heard that and sent us an enormous bunch, made up of at least two different types of porpoise – spotted pan tropical and some other type. Off in the background there were whales flipping around on the surface. Soon after, a couple of smaller whales came right by the boat. We saw turtles floating by every once in a while, whales breaching and tons of sea birds all day.
Sunday January 9, 2011 – La Cruz Marina
La Cruz is so pleasant, we decided to spend an extra day. Yesterday Joan, Clark and I went to the Mega and bought two large grocery carts full of stuff, most significantly a large bag of dog food. We were almost out. In the afternoon we watched a children’s sailboat race. The kids ranged from 6 to 10 and were in little boats, one to a boat. They looked like a flock of little ducks among the larger sailboats in the bay. In the evening we had dinner in the courtyard of a charming little combination restaurant gallery. In the background was wonderful Huichol art work, and overhead little lanterns lit up the tree branches. Today we had a good time at a local craft fair and then had lunch in a darling little taco place that was obviously favored by the locals. It is only open on Sunday. We returned to our boat to find that we had front row seats for sailboat races featuring remote control boats about 2 feet long, with rather older sailors then yesterday. The little boats from time to time go astray and we just had to dislodge two that had gotten stuck together and ended up against our boat.
Except for weak WI-FI, life is good! Tomorrow we are off south.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011 – Bahia Chamela
We left San Blas shortly after 6, about an hour and a half before dawn. Earl threaded his way through the fleet of sail boats anchored outside the marina and we were off for a long day of traveling. There is little reliable anchoring between Banderas Bay and Bahia Chamela, 100 miles south of La Cruz. In between we passed Cabo Corrientes which, like all headlands, can be nasty. It was not. There was little wind and we made our way south cruising past a seemingly endless sandy beach. We saw few boats. One was Nord Star #1, a Nordhavn motor sailor. He was going north and, curiously for a sailboat, appeared concerned about the winds ahead on the cape. In comparison to our trip to La Cruz, we saw little sea life except for a few whales way off in the distance.
Around 10 pm we finally made it into Bahia Chamela and anchored in 35 feet of water. There was a gentle swell which did not stop me from sleeping. This morning we got up after the sun and were able to see this pretty place. There are about 12 other boats anchored here, mostly sailboats. We are at the north end of the Bay and there is a little town on shore and a small resort. It is a surf beach and, if I were to guess, we will not put the dingy down and go explore the shore. The Bay is huge and there are other anchorages to explore which we will probably do later today.