Nuevo Vallarta, Nayarit, MX to Melaque, Jalisco, MX (Days 88 through 96)

We finally left Banderas Bay after twenty-eight days. However, many other boats were arriving for the upcoming Banderas Bay Regatta. This is an annual sail boat race around this large bay where the wind is always blowing in the afternoons. It is said that Banderas Bay creates it’s own wind because of the contour of the shoreline. We certainly found that to be the case during our stay there. While we were anchored in La Cruz the water got pretty choppy as the winds picked up. While this can be uncomfortable while at anchor, it makes for perfect sailing conditions. For this reason alone, Banderas Bay is one of the premier cruising destinations.

It was time for us to explore some of the places south of the bay, though. The trip south requires going around Cabo Corrientas which is the southern point of the bay. It is not uncommon for winds to gust up to thirty knots or more. This can be a very uncomfortable trip if you have wind waves and/or large swells in addition to the wind. The strong winds in and of themselves are cause for some concern. When you add the other factors it can add up to a pretty wild and wolly ride. Fortunately, we have only gotten a small dose of those type of conditions when we were sailing around the point at Cabo San Lucas which is the cape of Baja California (Cabo means cape in Spanish). Any time you have a point or a cape the winds have their own unique direction and intensity. If you are already under sail and hit those conditions you just have to deal with them as best you can (such was the case coming around the cape in Baja). However, when you are preparing to leave Banderas Bay you have the advantage of checking weather conditions prior to setting out. In our case, we had to wait several days for a good weather window.

Our trip around Cabo Corrientas was in calm seas with light and variable winds. This doesn’t make for an exhilerating sail, but I’d rather have these conditions than the alternative at the other end of the scale! As a matter of fact, the winds were too light to sail so we motor-sailed the entire fifty miles to Ipala which is the next anchorage going south. The trip was a little disappointing. After nearly a month either at anchor or in a marina we were looking forward to getting some sailing in. Not only did we not sail, but we did not see any marine life either. The trip was pretty uneventful.

The anchorage at Ipala is tiny and exposed to swells from the south. Fortunately, the swells were not from the south on this day so we were very comfortable there for our one night stay. We owe part of our comfort to the flopper-stopper we bought from another cruiser. We’ve been singing the praises of this little "wonder" ever since. For those of you unfamiliar with the cruising world, let me explain. Many times at anchor your boat will pitch from side to side because of swells rolling into the side of the boat. This can be extremely uncomfortable depending on the size and time-interval between swells (even to the point of getting seasick!). Well, a flopper-stopper is designed to lessen this side to side pitching. You rig a heavy pole to hang about six feet or so off the side of the boat somewhere around the mid-section. You then attach about a fifteen-foot cable from the tip of the pole to the flopper-stopper, which you position at least fix feet beneath the surface of the water. The FS itself can be configured in various ways. Ours is a three-foot square metal frame with heavy plastic in the center with a giant X shape cut into it. The FS creates drag that keeps the boat more steady. It is amazing how well it works!
Our next leg was from Ipala to another anchorage in Bahia de Chamela. We had light and variable winds again, so again we motor-sailed the entire nine hours. The air temperature was so cool that I actually wore sweats. Right in step with much of the rest of the world, Mexico is experiencing some unseasonable weather. The last month has been much cooler than usual, hardly ever topping eighty degrees. The water temperatures are in the high sixtes which is about ten degrees cooler than normal, also. Consequently, we haven’t done any swimming in the ocean to date. We’ve gotten plenty wet landing our dingy through the surf, but I’ll save those stories for later!
Between Ipala and Chamela we passed dozens of sea turtles lazing on the surface of the water. As far as the eye could see, there were little "bumps" all over the ocean. Some cruisers refer to them as "speed bumps of the sea". It is quite common for boats to hit a snoozing turtle, especially if the engine is not running. Most of them, however, manage to get out of the way despite their reputation for being slow moving! I was on the foredeck and bow for quite awhile enjoying a relaxing cruise and taking pictures while Barry was at the wheel. That’s his favorite place! You can just see the enjoyment on his face when he has the helm, especially when we are under sail without the engine. I used to accuse him of being a helm hog, but he’s gotten much better about letting me experience that same pleasure. I think I enjoy it as much as he does! Anyway, I spotted a turtle directly ahead of us. I was worried that we’d hit it if we didn’t change course or if it didn’t move. Thinking that I might be able to get it’s attention, I started shouting and clapping my hands. Fortunately, it woke up and noticed us once we were just a few feet from it. Thankfully, we didn’t collide and it was close enough for us to get a good photo! I don’t know if animals have adrenaline in their blood, but I can just imagine that little guys heart beating furiously as he realized we were almost on top of him. Well, at least this story had a happy ending!

The other very cool thing we saw was a huge manta ray. I saw this big black shape just beneath the surface off our starboard beam, but couldn’t make it out. I called Barry’s attention to it and he recognized it right away. It must have been six to eight feet across. That was a first! The only other notable thing was the appearance of large brown batches scattered across the water’s surface. The water suddenly went from being clear to being muddy brown with no clarity. We finally concluded that it must have been plankton or a red tide. Once we were in Chamela we spoke with other people and found that this red tide coincided with the recent drastic water temperature drop. Many of the snorkeling and SCUBA diving cruisers were very disappointed by the water conditions. Even life in paradise has it’s disappointments!

The bay in Chamela was pretty big and had a long stretch of white-sandy beach. On our first morning there we were greeted by two young girls in a panga full of fish. One was probably about eight and the other about twelve. The older asked if we wanted any fish or if we had trash we needed to get rid of. The fish were very small, so I declined on that offer but gave them our trash. The locals are more interested in what you have to trade than in pesos. After taking our trash the older girl asked if we had any candy. We did bring along candy and some toys for that purpose. I disappeared down below and returned with a bag of candy and two dolls. The older girl motioned for me to give the candy to the younger girl. After I did so, she thanked me dutifully. Then I handed her a doll and her little faced lit up like a Christmas tree. I think that made her day! She wasn’t the only one who felt good after that simple transaction. I cannot express the satisfaction I felt after seeing how such a simple act of kindness touched a needy little girl. I have so much to give and many of these Mexicans have so little and work so long and so hard to just survive. It truly is more blessed to give than to receive! It is better than any other high I have experienced (and for those of you who know me well you know that before becoming a Christian I had experienced pretty much every kind of high available!). That brief encounter both inspired me and challenged me to do more. God has blessed Barry and I with so much. We have been very comfortable materially, and are rich by the standards of most countries. More importantly, we have an abundance of one of life’s most precious commodities, time. We both desire to use our resources to fulfill whatever purpose God has for us. Barry, alone, is gifted in so many areas and I know that I have skills to help others also. Sure, having all the time in the world and having adequate resources to travel like we are is great, but there is a greater purpose to life than the pursuit of pleasure. That is one thing I’ve learned from reading the bible. God has a plan and a purpose for each of us individually as well as a plan and purpose for all of humanity. His plans are intended to bring us joy, peace, purpose, fulfillment and hope. He uses people who submit their lives to Him to carry out His plans. I have come to personally know the God of the bible little by little over the years. One thing I am certain of is that He created us for good purposes and loves every person deeply. A person’s station in life is not a reflection of how much He loves someone. He loves that little girl who probably does not know He exists just as much as He loves someone who has faithfully served Him all their life. The more I know God, the more I love Him and want my life to be aligned to His plans. My greatest fear is missing God’s purpose for my life. I know that He has plans to use Barry and I in some way during our cruising adventure. Part of the adventure is discovering what that purpose is! We both want to volunteer time to The Children of the Dump Ministry when we return to Puerto Vallarta. Not everyone can do what we are doing (cruising) or even wants to, but if you desire to help these children here’s what you can do. Barry and I want to collect girls and boys shoes while we are back in the states and give them to the ministry. This is one of their greatest needs right now because the law states that children must wear shoes to attend school. Right now, this is preventing many from getting the great education offered in the school built and run by this ministry. The shoes do not have to be new and should be sensible and for school aged kids. Let us know by email if you would like to provide shoes and we’ll make arrangements to connect with you.
Now, back to Chamela! Shortly after our panga traveling girls left we were visited by a couple from the anchorage who have the same kind of boat that we do. They saw us come into the anchorage and wanted to meet us and check out Blew Moon. There were only eighty Fantasias built so it is rare to see another one. They are a nice young couple probably in their thirties and are heading for the Marquesas and ultimately to New Zealand. They sold their home, gave their dog to friends and headed south on Gunner Too. We had fun checking out each other’s boats. Later in the day we went ashore with Rdreamz and Wanderer via dingy to check out the area. We hadn’t been off the boat in three days and needed to stretch our legs. The surf was fairly big and we got very wet! Landing a dingy in the surf is definitely a learned skill. We haven’t done it much yet. In this case, we managed to get sideways to the surf and the wave drenched us both and filled the dingy with several inches of water. It had great entertainment value for some locals and our friends who were watching from the beach. We were happy to oblige! It’s only water (salt water!), right? Well, our walk through town and our pizza dinner were a wee bit uncomfortable but we survived. The whole way back to the beach I kept saying, "I don’t want to get wet again." By this time I was almost dry. Well, I didn’t get my wish! We got just as wet going back out through the surf. The only thing that didn’t happen during our four, yes four, attempts to get out passed the surf was to flip the dingy. This had even greater entertainment value than when we beached it earlier. Everyone flips their dingy at least once, so it will happen eventually! I just hope it doesn’t happen too soon!

We left Chamela the next day for another small anchorage called Careyes. There used to be a Club Med along this rocky shoreline. We actually had a good sail during this ten mile passage and saw more turtles. While I was below Barry saw a three-foot Barracuta (?) jump out of the water. Sailing is full of those serendipitous moments! We had ten foot swells on this day but they weren’t bad at all because they were very gentle and far apart. To give you an idea of what a ten-foot swell is like I will tell you from my perspective. I was at the helm and a power boat was crossing in front of us at a close, yet safe, distance (I’d guess about two-hundred feet). No sooner had I spotted them and then they disappeared. We were in the trough of the ten-foot swell and they were hidden on the other side. Until that happened I really had no perspective of just how big the swells were. The interesting part is that they were generated by a storm four-thousand miles away! Wow, now that’s amazing! When we got to Careyes these swells had the anchorage churning like a washing machine. There were several boats in there that were getting tossed about. The anchorage was bordered by shear, steep cliffs with lots of nice looking homes on them. There were large rocks inside the anchorage which the swells were crashing into. As Barry put it, "There’s no way I’m going in there!" So, we headed back out and kept going all the way to Tenacatita which was another eighteen miles. We motor-sailed so that we could get anchored before dark. We arrived in the bay at Tenacatita about 6:00 p.m. and were greeted by four dolphins. This is a very large anchorage and very beautiful area. There is an all-inclusive resort on the beach and another resort on the cliffs overlooking the beach. One day there were people riding horses in the surf. It is a favorite spot for cruisers. It is not uncommon to have fifty sail boats anchored there in the height of the cruising season. There were about sixteen when we arrived. Our goal was to arrive by Saturday so we could all celebrate Judith’s birthday on Sunday. We were a day early and made good use of the time there. Dreamweaver had already been there four days and knew what was worth doing and seeing. The highlights of our four days in Tenacatita were a great seven-mile hike, a dingy ride through the mangroves, the dolphins swimming about and an evening on Dreamweaver in honor of Judith’s birthday. Barry even got to be the net controller for one morning of the Gold Coast Cruisers net. He did a great job!

We continued along Mexico’s Gold Coast to Maulaque which is one-hundred-fifty miles south of Puerto Vallarta. We had our best day of sailing between Tenacatita and Maulaque. It was twenty-four miles of stimulating excitement! There was a consistent fifteen to twenty knot wind and we averaged six knots and even had Blew Moon up to 7.3 knots which is smoking for a heavy vessel like her. I found out that I’m perfectly comfortable with the boat heeled at a fifteen-degree angle but don’t like it at all at twenty degrees! We had a blast sailing. This was a great day.

We’ve now been anchored in Melaque for three days and really like the town. I’m going to pause here and I’ll continue with an update on our time in Melaque and Barra de Navidad, our next stop, within the week.
We miss everyone! Till next time . . . Stacey