If you have the free Google Earth and are trying to find us check the lat/longs at the end of this message.
With some difficulty we finally arranged to have a new solar regulator purchased in San Diego and mailed to an address some 6-10 days in front of us. With this latest problem half way behind us (we still have to get the solar regulator and install it) we were ready to leave La Cruz and Banderas Bay.
We had a 19 hour trip to our next planned stop in Chamela Bay so we decided to leave La Cruz at 1 AM and arrive (hopefully) at Chamela around dusk. Night time anchoring or even approaching a strange anchorage in the dark is one of the sailing no-no’s. This would be our only trip in the first few weeks that could not be completed during daylight hours, and the 1 AM departure allowed us to sail with only 5 hours of pitch black darkness instead of a whole night. The 30 mile trip across Banderas to Cabo Corrientes (Cape of Currents) would take until dawn, but would have us rounding this Cape at the calmest part of the day. Good planning. What we got was brilliant lightning flashes for about two hours followed by torrential rain squalls that cut visibility to zero. But there was no one else out there, and we motored along nicely at 5 knots. Daybreak was beautiful. We were in deep, blue water and by 10AM we had great sailing winds from the beam. We set the boat south and sailed merrily along enjoying some of the best sailing of the trip.
Andrea was excited more by the dolphins than the sailing. Schools of dolphins raced along side of us throughout the day. At one point we had about 8 dolphins under the trampoline between the hulls. We turned on the motors late in the afternoon when the winds settled down and set anchor at 6 PM. We could hear the Mexican music from the beach while we congratulated ourselves on a successful passage. We were the only boat in the anchorage off this small beach village and, other than the Mexican Navy boat that pulled along side during the day we had seen no other boats on the entire trip from La Cruz.
A windless sunrise promised another warm day. Temperatures are constantly in the 90’s although the night time temps have dropped considerably and sleeping is much more comfortable. We moved the boat a few miles south to a small island in the bay and spent the afternoon swimming and snorkeling in turquoise waters before motoring back to our original anchorage for a peaceful evening off the Chemela beach..
By dawn three other boats had entered the anchorage, but we were ready to move on. Next stop the small cove called Careyes (named for the endangered Carey’s turtles that nest here). Careyes has two resort hotels, but they have roped off large portions of the cove for swimming and moorings for small excursion boats so there is little room to anchor. Still this was a pleasant stop with green water and colorful buildings.
After leaving Careyes we were treated to a long sail with good winds from the stern. We decided that sailing was the order of the day and we headed further offshore to keep the winds from blowing directly behind us. The catamaran sails well, but it doesn’t really like wind from directly ahead (duh!) or even directly behind. The sailing was superb. Blue water, dolphins, good winds and the boat moving smoothly, just like they advertise in the boat brochures.
This leg to Tenacatita Bay was only 15 miles, but we sailed nearly 30 miles to get there. We dropped anchor in the lee of a small reef with 3 other boats and, after introducing ourselves on a short dinghy ride around the anchorage, we invited everyone over to Manana for a round of cold beer. The group was from Norway, Vancouver Island, Dallas and, of course, Aptos, and we had a nice time talking about where we had been, where we were going, when we were going and why.
Is it Sunday morning? Beach campground was crowded last night. Looking for a reason we finally realized that it was Sunday and this was a weekend crowd. We dropped the dinghy in the water and took a long “jungle river tour” with another couple from CA. The river tour does indeed wind through mangroves and swamps, narrowing at times to less than a few feet, and with iguanas and butterflies in the trees, but the promised crocodiles never appeared (Much to my relief. You may recall my inordinate fear of huge crocodiles form last year’s posts.) Cruisers are warned not to let small dogs swim in the river because the crocs regularly feed on swimming iguanas. I guess the crocs here are near sighted because that would be one ugly dog. The river tour winds through the jungle for about an hour and ends in a lagoon where you can simply walk across the small beach to the ocean and, can you believe it, a palapa bar. Eureka!! We wined, we dined (well mostly we just drank beer and ate chips) for the afternoon before the return trip down river. An evening snorkeling on the reef finished out a beautiful day.
The anchorage is populated by three dolphins that seem to call this home. Two of the dolphins are paired and are seldom more than a few yards apart while the third dolphin is a loner who likes to hang around the anchor chains of the boats. Since he has a chunk out of his dorsal he has been named “Chip”. We were told about these dolphins before we reached this anchorage. They are friendly and always swimming around the boat very slowly and peacefully.
We are sailing slowly (less than 2 kts) south towards Barra at the moment and it is sunny, quiet, smooth water, slow, warm (hot). If you are reading this e-mail then we have reached Barra de Navidad which is the first place we will find internet access. Barra is about 140 miles from La Cruz, and it looks like it will have been about a 1 week trip to reach there.
Google Earth
First, set your Google Lat/Lons to decimal readings (it’s easier). Go to Tools, Options, 3dView and check the box Degrees, Decimal Minutes in the Show Lat/Lon section.
The following are degrees and minutes: Paradise Village 20 41.267/105 17.784; La Cruz 20 44.9/105 22.6; Chemela 19 35/105 08; Careyes 19 26.7/105 02.18; Tenecatita 19 18/104.50 (Jungle River behind beach); Barra de Navidad 19 11.5/104 40.5
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