Underway from Puerto Vallarta

We left Puerto Vallarta Monday morning around 8:30 a.m., put up the sails around noon, and sailed in increasing winds around Cabo Corrientes, a major elbow in the geography of Mexico where winds gather. By the time we got around the cape, the winds were blowing about 25 knots. Seas were confused with waves coming in various directions before we started rounding the cape, probably due to winds coming from inside Bandaras Bay and following us around the bend. The little village of Ipala sits in a tiny cove 10 miles south of the western-most point of land. When we arrived around 4:30 pm, there were 8 boats tucked in there already, so we had to anchor outside. We didn't expect to see any boats at all except for the rather large sailboat which had passed us as we sailed south. Although we were protected from the northerly winds, the waves curved around the corner and bounced us around badly all night. I was most eager to get out of there. George wanted to stay another day until the winds calmed down a bit, but we high-tailed it out of there when the weatherman reported (Tuesday morning) southeast winds expected by afternoon. George reasoned that all of the sailboats would be on a lee shore in that case with the wind blowing us all towards land. We also didn't want to fight headwinds going further south. As a result, we had a wonderful 2nd day of sailing in 25+ knot winds, 6-8 foot seas. We rode along very nicely, sometimes on a broad reach, sometimes wing-on-wing, then sailing with just a double-reefed mainsail by mid afternoon.
We arrived in the bay of Chamela by 5:00 p.m., the next bay south of Ipala after sailing 50 miles in 8.5 hours. Our GPS had us traveling over 6 knots per hour on our somewhat zig-zag course, many times over 7 knots as we surfed down the waves. Great fun, but we were tired when we arrived, glad to find a safe, uncrowded anchorage for the night. Chamela is a popular spot, though. We tucked in behind a couple of islands, but the main anchorage is in the northern section of the bay, well protected from northerly winds. There were about 20 boats in that anchorage when we arrived, and we had seen NO ONE out there on the ocean all day long. (Actually, we did see a tanker on the horizon which was traveling very slowly. We were curious about that and heard a story the next morning about a tanker off Chamela rescuing crew from a sailboat we never saw. Apparently they lost their mast and couldn't get to shore safely in the heavy winds.)
Today we went snorkeling. Saw lots of fish in the shallows. Other sailboats from the other anchorage joined us over behind the islands as the winds shifted to southeast. We're rocking and rolling a little tonight, but not as bad as two nights ago in Ipala. Tomorrow we expect to head south again to Tenacatita, the southernmost point that we traveled last year.

Bahia Tenacatita

We left Puerto Vallarta Monday morning around 8:30 a.m., put up the sails around noon, and sailed in increasing winds around Cabo Corrientes, a major elbow in the geography of Mexico where winds gather. By the time we got around the cape, the winds were blowing about 25 knots. Seas were confused with waves coming in various directions before we started rounding the cape, probably due to winds coming from inside Bandaras Bay and following us around the bend. The little village of Ipala sits in a tiny cove 10 miles south of the western-most point of land. When we arrived around 4:30 pm, there were 8 boats tucked in there already, so we had to anchor outside. We didn't expect to see any boats at all except for the rather large sailboat which had passed us as we sailed south. Although we were protected from the northerly winds, the waves curved around the corner and bounced us around badly all night. I was most eager to get out of there. George wanted to stay another day until the winds calmed down a bit, but we high-tailed it out of there when the weatherman reported (Tuesday morning) southeast winds expected by afternoon. George reasoned that all of the sailboats would be on a lee shore in that case with the wind blowing us all towards land. We also didn't want to fight headwinds going further south. As a result, we had a wonderful 2nd day of sailing in 25+ knot winds, 6-8 foot seas. We rode along very nicely, sometimes on a broad reach, sometimes wing-on-wing, then sailing with just a double-reefed mainsail by mid afternoon.
We arrived in the bay of Chamela by 5:00 p.m., the next bay south of Ipala after sailing 50 miles in 8.5 hours. Our GPS had us traveling over 6 knots per hour on our somewhat zig-zag course, many times over 7 knots as we surfed down the waves. Great fun, but we were tired when we arrived, glad to find a safe, uncrowded anchorage for the night. Chamela is a popular spot, though. We tucked in behind a couple of islands, but the main anchorage is in the northern section of the bay, well protected from northerly winds. There were about 20 boats in that anchorage when we arrived, and we had seen NO ONE out there on the ocean all day long. (Actually, we did see a tanker on the horizon which was traveling very slowly. We were curious about that and heard a story the next morning about a tanker off Chamela rescuing crew from a sailboat we never saw. Apparently they lost their mast and couldn't get to shore safely in the heavy winds.)
Today we went snorkeling. Saw lots of fish in the shallows. Other sailboats from the other anchorage joined us over behind the islands as the winds shifted to southeast. We're rocking and rolling a little tonight, but not as bad as two nights ago in Ipala. Tomorrow we expect to head south again to Tenacatita, the southernmost point that we traveled last year.

Barra de Navidad

We left Tenacatita on the 22nd and spent the next 3 days in Barra de Navidad, about 6 miles further down the coast. The town of Melaque is nothing to write home about, but the tourist village of Barra is reasonably nice with shops and a French cafe. The chef for the cafe brings French pastries to the boats in the harbor most days. After having a croissant or two and cafe au lait in town, we got bread from the chef as he came around to the boats yesterday morning. Very nice! And Marie takes your orders for 5 gallons of bottled water, propane refills, and groceries from Costco. We found a box of Giradelli Chococate brownie mixes in her store and have already enjoyed one of the mixes. Then she delivers your order to your boat, a most welcome service. The nearest Costco is in Guadalahara, so she must have things stored somewhere. Getting 12 rolls of toilet paper was a great find as they are individually wrapped in plastic. Perfect for storage in our potentially wet environment under the head sink.
Dream Chaser sat at anchor in a large lagoon with a huge, perfectly elegant hotel nearby. The entrance to the shallow lagoon has been dredged to allow boats to come in to anchor. Far on the other end of the lagoon, hundreds of birds nest, roost, and feed on the mud flats. We saw Spoon Bills once again (large, bright pink waders)and Aningas. We weren't able to quite identify the terns, but we think there might have been several large flocks of Skimmers, a similar bird. Terns fly fast and dart around, making it difficult to make accurate identifications. We also saw a Grey Hawk.
Today we departed Barra De Navadid and motored south to Manzanillo, a much bigger tourist destination. Their main industry is fuel (gasoline and diesel for commercial as well as small boats). We can see a large power plant here as well. We're anchored in the north end of Santiago Bay, rocking a bit. The water here is quite clear and clean for swimming. We've been sweltering the last few days with not enough breeze to keep us cool. The water felt refreshing and wonderful swimming beside the boat. As we motored along, about 3 miles from shore, a fair number of honey bees came to the boat. Flicking one off my neck absent-mindedly, I was stung. But I was able to remove the stinger. My finger hurt a little, but it never swelled or became red. I felt very tired from the heat all afternoon. I suspect I'll be up tonight since I slept this afternoon. Zihuatanejo is 180 miles away, maybe as much as 40 hours. So we'll leave early, sailing all night and maybe into tomorrow night. 17 boats lay at anchor with us here, most of which will probably sail along with us, heading for Zihuat Fest just like us. Hope we get a little wind for the trip.

Manzanillo’s Santiago Bay

We're anchored in a lovely cove in front of gorgeous condos and a huge hotel in Manzanillo. Unfortunately, we won't be enjoying this town. We've discovered a small leak that needs attention. A couple gallons of water every three minutes was coming in. But we installed a mechanical compression bar applying pressure on a rag and plastic glove over the pin hole. We currently don't have any water coming into the boat, but we want to get the boat out of the water right away instead of waiting until after Ted and Christine arrive in Zihautanejo. Since there isn't any place that can work on our boat south of Puerto Vallarta, we're heading back there tomorrow morning. We took you by an excellent boat yard there the first time we went for a ride on Dream Chaser. We can take a bus down to Zihuatanejo while Ted and Christine are there, hopefully stay in the same hotel with them, and enjoy our time together. I'll be back in Puerto Vallarta in plenty of time to fly home for Melissa's wedding.
160 miles of ocean lay ahead of us to Puerto Vallarta, most of it smooth sailing and calm weather predicted for the next few days. Getting around the southern end of Bandaras Bay can be a challenge, but we'll just think of it as the beginning of our voyage north to Portland and Seattle with extra time in our favorite part of Mexico. Other cruisers have given us words of encouragement, routing information, and radio contact times with Don "the weatherman" which we intend to use.

The 20 hour pit stop in Puerto Vallarta

On the way back to Puerto Vallarta we had the help of the cruising community. Sharing our problem with the Amigo Net and the Sonrisa Net, two morning radio nets in Western Mexico, we received encouragement and support from many boaters. Fellow cruisers, Tom and Kathy on Ahwahnee from Portland offered to ‘buddy boat’ with us back to Puerto Vallarta which eased our minds considerably.
We had a wonderful sail from Tenacatita to Chamela this morning, arriving here around 1:30 in the afternoon. The wind picked up around noon. Today we experienced what we hope to be the norm as we head north along the outside of the Baja Peninsula in April: 5-10 knots of wind in the morning up until noon, then 15+ in the afternoon. We motor-sailed some of the way, and sailed some of the way, tacking and keeping wind in the sails even with the motor running. Running up the swells and waves as they came towards us at an angle with the engine running or with the power of 15 knots of wind we were able to make 5.5 to 6 knots over the ground and arrived here probably earlier than if we had bashed through the waves under power alone. I tried that to begin with and found we could only do about 4.5 knots and it wasn't very pleasant.
Arriving here in the early afternoon we had plenty of time to relax, listen to the radio (George) and go swimming (Sue). Got a few little projects done too. The Southbound Net comes on in a few minutes here. They are keeping tabs on our progress just in case we get into any difficulties. We talked directly today on the radio with Don the Weatherman to get specific help on the best time to go around Cabo Corrientes. He will know more tomorrow.
Time for a few games before we go to bed, too.

I found an e-mail address for the boat yard in Puerto Vallarta and wrote them an e-mail, said we had a "serious leak" and needed to be lifted out of the water as soon as possible, that we would be there by Wednesday, February 1st. We received a response with 10:00 a.m. Wednesday to get us out. Yeah! :) Other cruisers have been very sympathetic and helpful. One couple who we met at Avalon, Catalina Island over a year ago came over at our anchorage yesterday and recommended a man to do the work. The yard doesn't hire anyone to do the work; you have to do the work yourself or find someone to do the job. Of course, there may be guys waiting on the dock to do anything for money. They usually show up a few minutes after you come in to a marina asking to wash and wax your boat or clean the bottom, etc. But we'll send this fellow recommended to us an e-mail and see if he is available. Everything seems to be falling into place in perfect harmony.
As we motor up the coast this morning, we're finding lumpy seas, but virtually no wind. The weather guys all said today would be the best day to round Cabo Corrientes. "Ahwahnee", with Tom and Kathy aboard are following along.

All who have heard of our plight would like to know what happened that our fiberglass suddenly sprang a leak that brought as much as 2 gallons every 3 minutes into the boat before we set the compression bar in place.
By e-mail we were able to get an appointment to pull the boat out at 10:00 this morning. As soon as she was on the stands, we searched out the person who had been recommended to us: Juan Gonzalez. Bless his heart, as soon as we found him here in the yard, he had Alvaro, one of his workers, come right over and work on our problem, promising the work would be done in one day. Alvaro removed the baskets covering the through-hulls on the bottom, then looked inside the engine room. Having read all about through-hull installation in Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual which we carry on board, we all agreed that the two through-hulls in the engine compartment had been improperly installed. Alvaro quickly removed them. George and I took a good look at the bottom of the boat and discovered two screw holes in the fiberglass that had been covered by the basket. The fiberglass was very wet there so we figure that was the initial cause of the problem. Why Schooner Creek Boatyard in Portland which installed that through-hull hadn't filled the holes they probably drilled in error is a mystery. It cost us a lot of grief for sure! Well, anyway, we think that was the problem which simply got worse and worse as the fiberglass became more and more saturated. They repaired the hull area with an epoxy gel coat. The following morning they installed the new bronze through-hulls, then applied primer and bottom paint, and finally reinstalled the external protective screen covers for the through-hulls and painted them with a primer and bottom paint as well. Twenty hours later the boat was splashed back into the water without any leak!!
Trying to find the replacement through-hulls took longer than we thought. It turned out to be a treasure hunt. Zaragosa's is the West Marine of Puerto Vallarta and is really the only game in town when it comes to marine gear. They had 3/4" through-hulls, but no connectors of that size to attach the hoses to. The 3rd hardware store we went to did have them. The owner of the store laughed with us that Mexicans won't pay the price for solid bronze. Aluminum levers and fasteners for the valve are cheaper and work OK for household applications. But God bless this man. He had two all-bronze Parker-Hannafin valves and the adaptors we needed to go from 3/4" to 1/2". (Our original through-hulls were 1/2", but Zaragoza's didn't have any bronze fittings in 1/2", much to our chagrin.) George had brought along the old fittings so we knew exactly what to get. Even with taking a taxi into town, it still took us 4 hours instead of 2 including a trip to the grocery store while the hardware store was closed for siesta. Everything worked out well in the end.

Yes, we figure we can get down to Zihuatanejo in 48 hours if we sail straight through which will save us a lot in hotel, bus, and food money PLUS give Ted and Christine the opportunity to sail with us. The weather should be in our favor with strong winds coming up on Friday up here after we have departed, moderate winds blowing us down the coast all the way.

Zihautanejo (the furthest south and east that we have gone)

Looks like we'll get there sometime before noon on Sunday morning. I hate to admit to having made assumptions and also miscalculations on the distance to be traveled. But I was about 100 miles short! That's a whole day of ocean sailing (conservatively figured). Terrible......
Anyway, we left Puerto Vallarta at 5:30 p.m. yesterday through pretty sloppy seas and head winds that switched to a beam reach and finally a broad reach as we headed around Cabo Corrientes between midnight and 3:00 a.m. Winds were 15-20 which wasn't bad, but the seas were confused for about 6 hours. :( I used my kitchen strap to hold me next to the stove while I cooked dinner last night, leftover Swiss Steak with potatoes and carrots added. Tonight and tomorrow night we will have freeze dried unless Dad gets inspired to do a little fishing and we actually catch something.
Most of the time we have had the engine going with pretty benign conditions all day today. Made for a lovely day. George discovered this afternoon that the shaft was squeaking and felt hot to the touch as we were motoring along. He had forgotten to bleed the hose after the new through-hull had been installed. He was able to burp the air out of the hose and reset the fitting around the shaft so that it wouldn't leak anymore! Hallelujia! We made 30 gallons of water while motoring today. It doesn't taste very good, but it will do for dishes and washing. The bacteria is removed, but the salinity is so great here in the tropics that our watermaker doesn't remove enough of the salt. It's potable, just not too great tasting.

The wind came up a couple of hours ago so we've been sailing wing-on-wing with the wind directly behind us. We're staying about 4-6 miles offshore to avoid rocks and fishing boats that tend to hug the coast at night in the shallower water. Tonight we will be more like 15 miles off as the land dips in and out south of Manzanillo. By this time tomorrow we should be just south of Maruata.

We arrive in Zihautanejo at dawn, anchored, and within minutes, saw Ted and Christine on the shore waving. Sunday was Super Bowl Sunday, and being Sea Hawks fans, we suffered through watching the game at one of the Palapas on the beach in front of their hotel. Television is a novelty for us, but was still great to see the game.
The week went too fast, enjoying our son Ted and wife Christine in sunny Zihautanejo. The air temp is 80 degrees and the humidity is 95% just before dawn in the morning. A little sticky. Showers and fresh water swims in their hotel pool help give relief.
Went snorkeling with 25' visibility seeing lots of fish. Went kayaking with an 'Eco' guide who focused on birds, helping us with several first sightings. Went Hobie Cat sailing in the Bay one afternoon. Played Mexican Train dominoes, 5 Crowns card game, and had lots of good meals.
Zihaut will be our furthest South port, as we will slowly head back North to PV where Sue will fly to Portland for our niece's wedding. Upon returning from Portland, we hope to go to Guadalajara for a 4-5 day visit.

Leaving Zihautanejo

On the 12th, we headed out of Zihuatanejo over to Isla Grande near Ixtapa where we had taken Ted and Christine snorkeling, just for the fun of it and to get away from the lumpy seas in the anchorage. We stayed 2 nights, went SCUBA diving, landed the dinghy over in Ixtapa and took the bus back into Z-town to check out with the Port Captain (He said we needn't have bothered...he..he.) and do laundry. We discovered there was a lot more to Z-town than we had seen with Ted and Christine, but nothing to write home about. However, Ixtapa was truly pretty. Consisting of only one main street with 5-star hotels on the beach side and a nice shopping mall on the other, the street was nicely paved with palm trees lining the median, sidewalks or bike paths on both sides, and additional plantings along those walkways--much prettier landscaping than we have seen anywhere in Mexico, especially since the whole little town was so nicely cared for. We figured the hotels must pay for the upkeep. With all our errands finished, we decided to head out and go north on the 14th.
Well, after rising at 5:00 a.m. this morning, the weatherman on the Amigo Net said to watch out for stronger winds from the Northwest (of course), building during the day to 15 knots and 20-30 knot winds the next day. Rats! Well, we headed into a little anchorage towards sundown where we're tucked into a little village, Caleta del Campo, which has a short breakwater to control the swells. The winds had only built to 13 knots today. For once the weatherman was wrong about building winds through the night. It's 10:00 pm and the wind has completely died. We're rocking pretty hard, our anchor holding well in 20 feet of water and a stern anchor out to hold us into these gigantic swells coming in and roaring onto the beach. We have an alarm set so if we move about 20 feet away from our current GPS setting an alarm will awaken us, we'll jump up and start the engine and hope we don't get swept onto the beach sideways. Yes, that's what a lee shore is all about. So far, we haven't moved an inch (in 5 hours), and the anchors are dug in so well that the boat keeps jerking from side to side as the swells try to jostle us around. We don't plan on moving tomorrow. We'll listen to the Amigo Net on the short wave radio to see which boats are out there and how the winds have been treating them during the night. By Saturday we should be in Manzanillo. We would like to stop in Bahia de Navadid again too, the last place where we can get fuel again before Puerto Vallarta. Of course we will have to watch the weather closely as we approach that now infamous Cabo Corrientes in order to get around that cape in calm weather for the third time.
Our present challenge mechanically has to do with the watermaker and the quality of water in our tanks. We had another idea today, so I filtered what little water we had left through a handkerchief to remove the chunks of algae multiplying in the tanks. Then I added some bleach to keep the algae from growing again. Bleach is an enemy to our watermaker membrane, which is why we haven't been adding it to the tanks. But our charcoal filter should strain it out when flushing the membrane with fresh water, part of our daily cleaning process. Our water was beginning to smell pretty bad coming from the tap. Yuck! So we'll see if the bleach helps. George is convinced we will have to replace the membrane, that somehow it has become irreparably contaminated. I think if we keep flushing it with fresh water and making water every day or two, it will eventually clean itself. When we're sailing, however, the boats heels over and the intake sucks air as the waves wash under the boat unevenly. Then we lose pressure and have to stop and start the machine in motion once again. By the way, we have plenty of bottled drinking water on board.
Time for bed. George just checked the anchors once again, checking for chafe on the snubber lines for the bow anchor, chafe where the stern anchor lines go through the chocks. (Yes, we have two lines attached to that anchor in case one breaks since they are old jib sheet lines.) He plans to rise at 2:00 a.m. to check for chafe again and make sure all is well. With the weather as calm as it is outside our little anchorage, we would simply head out if we didn't feel our anchors were holding well. We're just not certain that the wind won't pick up during the night sometime since heavier winds during the night are forecast.


We spent my birthday motoring all the way to Manzanillo after all. The winds died over night and looked calm for the daytime as well, so we headed out around 9:00 a.m. We got into Manzanillo at 6:00 a.m. this morning after an uneventful passage. Dad asked me if he could do anything for me for my birthday, so I asked him to put out a fishing line, and he cheerfully obliged. That was around noon. Just as we were starting to think about dinner we were rounding our first little cape, Maruata. Dad had been keeping his eye out for dolphins to bring in the fishing line if they showed up. A couple were splashing around, but must have disappeared as soon as they saw the fishing line. We looked back and behold, there was a fish on the line! It had a big mouth and that was all we could see until we got it up to the stern of the boat. It was tired, but still alive. It struggled only a little as we picked him up with the net, a 30" Pacific Big Eye tuna. Dad cleaned it immediately and I cooked it up for dinner! It was a light tuna, not the dark red variety we think is only fit for cat food. Fried in butter and garlic and onion, it tasted great for my birthday dinner as we sat in the cockpit with the sun setting behind me.

At 4:00 pm there was a party for all of us in the anchorage on a beautiful big catamaran owned by a woman whose husband passed on before they were able to fulfill their dreams of cruising around the world. She has 2 men with her as crew now, but the loss of her husband is still pretty raw, I would guess, with pictures of him still displayed all around the boat.
About 15 couples showed up, no one we really knew, so it was a great chance to make new friends. I became confused by all the new faces, not knowing who belonged to who or which boats they were from. I hope to get more opportunities to talk to these people one-on-one as many of them came down on the Baja Ha-ha with us 2 years ago, but we had never met them. One of the fellows (possibly one of the crew on the catamaran) brought out his guitar and began singing. I mentioned I had a keyboard on our boat as tamborines, bongo drums, and rattles were passed around. So the guy brought out a keyboard for me to play! Oh noooo! I couldn't get out of it and of course had no idea what to play other than chords to go along with his singing, if I could catch which harmonies he played as he changed keys. After a couple of songs I began to get the hang of it, but still felt very embarrassed by what I was doing. After a couple hours, George signaled it was time to go home. Now I feel I really need to get out my songbooks and practice when I can. Maybe there will be another opportunity to play with this guy again since their boat is going in the same direction as ours: north to PV along with most of the other boats here.

Back in Tenacatita on the way north

Yes, we flipped the dinghy again, this time with the motor on. Neither of us were hurt, just disappointed and maybe just a wee bit angry. Poor "Mercky", our outboard. What we have put him through! (We're anchored in Tenacatita, just north of Barra de Navidad.)
We had taken the jungle trip through the mangroves to get fresh provisions at the beachside store/restaurant row, returning at a higher tide which should have helped. However, as we approached a little bar which we had walked the dinghy over on our way in, the waves seemed small and non-threatening. So we proceeded along, getting into the dinghy as the water got deeper. We saw a small corridor which we could go through without fear of hitting any rocks and headed for that, but we had taken too long. The waves coming over the bar began to build. As a new one would form, the water would shallow out as the water got sucked back into the next breaker. We went over two breakers just after they broke. Fine except the foam was too airy for the propeller to cut into, keeping us from going forward over the next wave before it broke. The waves continued to build and a gigantic one broke just as we got to it, flipping us up end-for-end. We both fell out of the boat and George scurried to get the boat turned back over. Of course, there were no more big rollers at all for about 5 minutes while we got the gas tank and backpacks and cushions back into the boat. George tried to start the engine hoping it hadn't gulped enough water to be of consequence. But it died right away each time it started. We rowed back to Dream Chaser.
I looked around as we scrambled to get our act together and as we paddled back to Dream Chaser. No one called out to see if we were all right. No one came over to give us a tow even though a couple of dinghies were buzzing around. It made me furious that all the people on the beach hadn't seen us and the friends who had gone with us on the jungle trip behind us simply pulled their boat up on the beach as if they were simply going ashore. Apparently they had seen us and didn't want to chance it until later. But when they did get back over the bar, they didn't come over to see us for a couple of hours. I'm going to be more responsive than that in the future whenever I witness an accident.
Anyway, while I changed my clothes and hung out all the wet clothes and backpacks etc., George sprayed anti-corrosive sprays into every part of the engine he could, wiped it all down, and got it started again. It didn't sound very good, but it didn't die. He took the boat for several trial runs that afternoon, finding that it would rev up just fine in neutral as long as it wasn't under load. And, it would jump up to full speed for a few seconds, but then would die back down when in forward.
We had ordered some meat from the little market on the beach, so the next morning, George "drove" in all the way through the mangroves again only to find that they didn't have the meat in spite of their promises. The engine performed a little better, staying at planing speed a little longer before dying back down. With more advice from people who had heard of our plight, George washed the engine down with fresh water to be sure to get all the salt out, and then hit it with the sprays again. Exhausted from all this effort, he spent the afternoon finishing his book. After dinner we went over to another boat to see a movie they were showing in their cockpit. Good 'ol "Mercky" sounded GREAT. And it held planing speed without a flaw. Our destination wasn't very far, but we felt elated and pretty confident that our little outboard had once again survived a serious dunking in salt water.
Lessons learned? Before crossing any bars or heading out into any surf, we will wait until we see the really big ones come in,and go in just after they die down. We won't assume it's OK just because it looks safe as we start out.
Anyway, we are currently under way, heading north to Chamela. From there we will head up to Cabo Corrientes, timing our arrival for midnight to 2:00 in the area where the heaviest winds can be. There isn't any indication that the cape winds will be dying down anytime soon, but they aren't terribly strong, 15-25. We'll have to see what the weatherman says tomorrow morning as well as today. We can always duck into Ipala, a little village just south of the cape. There is a large wind shadow there that protects a rather small anchorage. We stayed there on the way down once.
One of the boats at Tenacatita is "Aquarius" from Seattle. We had met them in Pender Harbor when we went to the jazz festival there in 2003. It was fun to recognize them and have the opportunity to get better acquainted with them. Sally and Jerry have a very nice 40+ foot boat. Having remembered our conversation with them back in Pender Harbor about their new watermaker, George asked for a little advice. After an hour of working our watermaker and testing various things, they concluded that our watermaker is working just fine and that we simply need to put a little bleach in the water tanks to keep the growth down. That's a big relief to me!

Yes, we did duck into Ipala, spent the night there, then motored around Cabo Corrientes in the morning, finally setting sail, and sailing into Banderas Bay with 15-20 knot winds! One special event was having four humpback whales in front of us, we sailed to the side of them. Two of them lifted their heads and looked at us as we sailed by. What a wonderful memory! February is a big whale watching month in the Bay.

Dream Chaser is in Marina Vallarta while Sue is in Portland for our niece’s wedding. This is a good time for projects like varnishing, other upkeep, and system reviews.

Guadalajara - March 2006
 

We just returned from a more European setting than any other place we have visited in Mexico. After riding the bus to the Camionera Central, we took a cab to the Hotel Universo, five blocks from the huge cathedral in the Historic District. Having arrived by 4:00 p.m., we had plenty of time to do a little exploring before dark. The cathedral is in the center of a huge Christian cross made up of city parks with the long section being about 10 blocks long. We walked two blocks from our hotel and found ourselves in that long segment and in front of their "opera house", Teatro Degollado. Within five minutes four men dressed in mariachi suits and women dressed in lovely huge skirts and boat-necked blouses walked into the square with a TV crew. Although there was no music, (probably dubbed in later), they all began to dance, shuffling and stomping their feet. Letters on the back of their director's white shirt said "Ballet Folkloric Universite de Guadalajara", so we figured they were part of a group we would be seeing that evening. The dancing in front of the Teatro must have appeared on the local news that night. And what a lovely scene that would have been.
   The show we attended that night lasted an hour with non-stop dancing, barely enough time for the group to change costumes and the live musicians to take a breath. They danced on a temporary wood flooring that resounded with their stomping and tapping. One woman was older than all the others and more polished so she was probably one of their instructors. The mariachi band that played about half of the background music wasn't as good as we expected. There were four violins, two trumpets, a harp, a huge stringed bass held like a guitar, and another instrument smaller than a regular guitar, but fatter than a mandolin. The singer played the latter instrument and was a little flat at times. And the volume was too high, as usual in Mexican public events. But oh, all the beautiful costumes, gorgeous young ladies with jet-black hair pulled tightly back into a bun and highlighted with different flowers in different places on their head for each dance! We wondered how they all remembered the choreography of each dance so perfectly. Both men and women wore taps on their boots and the high, thick-heeled dancing shoes. Perhaps each dance and costume represented a different region of Mexico, but they were all so similar we couldn't really tell for sure.
We stayed five nights in our air-conditioned hotel, enjoying the slightly cooler and dryer climate. During the days we explored museums and shops, all within walking distance. We found an American woman working for the Tourist Bureau who gave private tours around the historic district. Two other couples joined us as she interpreted the murals of Orozco, prominent in the Government Building where the Governor stays and in the Instituto Cultural Cabanas, a former orphanage now used to display art. Of course, she included a lot of history in her explanations. All of you saw the crazy sculptures along the waterfront in Puerto Vallarta. The same artist who did those donated a number of sculptures to be placed in front of the Instituto. None were the same as the ones in Puerto Vallarta, but were just as funny and delightful.
   The second night we attended a recital of a singing instructor at the university, accompanied by piano. We loved her clear, expressive voice. She sang songs from every period of music with lots of expression and poise in spite of the music from someone's boom box next door (George didn't even notice it) and a journalist who walked up the aisle and put her camera practically in her face, then walked out! At the end, the artist was given flowers and everyone sang a song to her mother who was present. Lots of good singers in the crowd!
   Friday night we attended their symphony concert in the Teatro Degollado, a building erected about 150 years ago and recently renovated. The interior was fashioned after La Scala in Italy, an opera house with five balconies surrounding the main floor. Not very large inside, it probably seated 1,000. But the stage was modern, the seats were comfortable, and we thoroughly enjoyed the concert of all Mozart compositions. Among other works, they played two double concertos, one for two violins and one for flute and harp. The guest conductor was a pretty 24-year old Mexican woman, very energetic and accomplished. She seemed very confident and comfortable in her position of authority over a male dominated orchestra. And the crowd loved her, giving her lots of applause, flowers, and a standing ovation. Those in attendance were from mostly upper middle class homes, but every age. We rejoiced to see a young couple in attendance wearing street clothes. He wore a leather jacket and jeans, she wore a "Sex Pistols" t-shirt with her midriff showing bare skin. Well, George and I wore summer resort Tommy Bahama clothes, not as bold as that couple, but we didn't really blend in with everyone else either.
   On Sunday we rode the bus to a street fair in two suburbs, Tlaquepaque and Tonola. The booths of artwork from all over Mexico went on forever! But the best artisan goods were in the shops and factories nearby. I bought some place mats and a small Huichal Indian burro covered with tiny beads. I also found a nice embroidery tablecloth to buy. Nothing is priced, so you bargain for whatever is on the tables (not in the shops) which we enjoyed. If they wanted too much (and many of them did), we simply walked away. You could buy furniture and lamps here besides display items, garden pots, shoes, belts, and a host of trinkets, mostly junk.
   It surprised me to see so few Americans here. We really used our Spanish a lot as hardly anyone, including the people at the hotel could speak any English. As we boarded the bus for Puerto Vallarta an American sat behind us, telling us how lucky we were to get a seat as this was a Mexican holiday week-end. Maybe that's why Guadalajara didn't seem as crowded and busy as we expected for a city of 5 million people.
   We're back at the boat now, looking at ads on the Internet for boats 40-45 feet, 1980-1990. Some look pretty good for less than "Julia Max", the boat here at the marina. But we are starting to see the advantages of Julia Max, and hope to go out sailing on her today. We may have found our new ‘home’ after all.
The weather report is favorable for us to leave on Friday, so we're hurrying to talk to the people we need to talk to, getting a hole in the engine block re-drilled so that one of the four bolts that holds the alternator will be fixed, and provisioning with my very long list for a five week trip north.
   Also we hope to get a picture today from a friend which we can use for an ad in "48 Degrees North" to sell Dream Chaser. On and on. It was nice to have a little vacation from cruising. But what a pleasant place to "work" here in Puerto Vallarta!