Barra was the southern terminus of our cruise in Mexico and it’s time to head back north to Puerta Vallarta. We did have grand plans, or should I say “intentions”, to head all the way down to Costa Rica before making our Pacific crossing.
Nope Nothing To See Here
After much deliberation Erin and I decided to depart Mexico from Puerto Vallarta instead of our beloved Gold Coast. It will make the logistics of provisioning, boat projects, and crew arrivals just a little bit easier.
9:00AM, any day of the week, VHF channel 22:
“GOOD MORNING! Welcome to the Gold Coast Cruisers’ Net serving Tenacatita, Barra de Navidad, and Manzanillo. This is Hermi on the sailing vessel Iwa. It’s Wednesday, no Tuesday…. Actually—sorry!—I lost track. I’m pretty sure it’s February. Does anyone know what day it is?
We woke up early this morning to the news of the earthquake in Chile and the Pacific Tsunami warning issued by NOAA. As a precaution all boats in our anchorage headed out to sea and deeper water.
I’m sitting at one of the eight tables that form a circle around the bar at The Sands Hotel, overlooking the pool. A cool breeze pushes aside the palm fronds behind me and hits my back, sending a shiver down my spine as beads of sweat evaporate.
If the answer truly is blowin’ in the wind, then we should be genius by now. Last night there was quite a gale: 45 knots of wind in Barra de Navidad (some boats are reporting they saw 56 knots). North of here, in Banderas Bay, they saw 75 knots.
A few months before we left Seattle, Stephan, the previous owner of our boat who sailed it nearly around the world, drove down from Bellingham to help us with a few boat projects.
Hi, I am Rebecca Fabos. Alan and I (Erin’s stepdad and mom) just returned from a much too short visit with Erin and Brian on Delos. Brian said, “Brady wrote a blog piece so I think all of our guests ought to write one.”
This area of Mexico is known as the Gold Coast. Our latitude is just a tad over 19 degrees, putting us at exactly the same latitude as the big island of Hawaii which is 2900NM west of us.
After our relaxing Christmas Vacation in Paradise village we cast off the dock lines and headed back to the anchorage at La Cruz.
Since my brother Brian and Erin’s wedding in August I have been slowly preparing for this trip to Mexico.
Lewis Carroll once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” And that has been my maxim for the last four years, when Brian and I began to whisper to each other that one day we wanted to sail away on our own boat.
For the first time since entering Mexico Delos is tied up to a dock with unlimited power, water, and even trash pickup. We’re currently at the Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta, known in the cruising community as “Little America”.
We arrived in La Cruz yesterday afternoon after a 7 hour sail south. We motored for the first few hours and had a great sail when we reached the bay, pointing straight at the anchorage on a comfortable beam reach in 15 knots of breeze.
Who Ya Gonna Call? GHOSTBUSTERS! was the song stuck in my head all afternoon. The Mexican bars sure love their American music. In La Paz 1 of only 3 radio stations was dedicated to American classics from Air Supply to Sting, mostly from the 80’s and 90’s.
After 2 days crossing the Sea of Cortez we decided to make a stop in San Blas,a few miles north of our original goal of Chacala. We read about a jungle river tour and quaint non-touristy town that sounded too good to pass up.
Neptune is certainly smiling upon us today! We’re on a nice beam reach in 15-20 knots of breeze. I’ve seen the speed over ground top 9 knots a few times. The sea is a little lumpy but nothing the autopilot can’t handle. Delos is sailing beautifully taking the seas in stride.
When I visit somewhere for the first time, it rarely happens that the pictures I’ve held in my mind match the reality of the place.