Thursday Jan.18,2018

Neither of us got any sleep last night.  It was like a very bad amusement park ride.  Rock one way then the other add a dip then a swirl accompanied by loud surf, ominous growling and gurgling sounds from the anchor bridle and various deck drains. So much noise....and we have a quiet boat, things are secured and have their own places but it sure wasn’t quiet last night.  Al was already double checking the anchor so I tried to block the noise with my ear phones.  Started with Gypsy Flame and Blues Traveler and by 0600 it was The Greatful Dead.  It’s a beautiful cove and we wanted to explore and get off the boat so we put the kayaks in the water to row ashore.   Before we got to the beach we realized it would be a very wet landing.  We did row out to tell Toccata, the other boat in the anchorage, that we had decided to leave.

The picture doesn’t look rough but the kayaks were really pulled in all directions.  You can really feel the chop the swell and the backwash.   Not difficult but a weird feeling like being in a top loaded washing machine.

Thursday Jan 18th,20218:    0945 Underway from Paraiso to Tenacatita motoring at 6kts with  little wind from aft. Long swell maybe 2-3ft.  Nice short smooth trip.  

Love making breakfast in my new Copper Chef pan.  I took almost all my other pans off the boat last summer.  Nothing sloshes out of this one.

Coming in to Tenacatita anchored at 1345 25nm in 4hrs.    Later we met Mark and Helen of Raereva (pictured above) who are from San Pedro and live five blocks from us.   Nice to be back here for the 3rd time.   Missing the grand kids though this time.

Great Coco Shrimp

Looking forward to a quiet still night and sleep.

Cruise to Zfest (Part 2)

Tuesday Jan 16th 2018 ;  0745  Underway from Ipala to Chamela motor sailing. 

 Had motor off for about 5 mins but then our speed dropped below 5 kts, which sort of is our prompt to turn the engine on.  Motoring at 6 kts against a counter current of 1 kt with main and staysail.

1500 wind at 12kts aft. We used the preventer on the main most of the day, sometimes with the genne and sometimes without.

1608 anchor down in Chamela in 36 ft of water. Calm seas and about 10 kts of breeze.   52.6 nm 8hrs and 24mins .  It was a long tiring day in the sun for JL and when a now new friend Wes from the steel sailboat Arcola came by in his kayak to invite us to meet him and two other boat owners on the beach for an earlier dinner we didn’t immediately commit but after a second thought we deployed the dinghy and were off.   This landing was much drier as the town has dredged the river so you can enter the river and pull out on a sandy bank instead of the typical surf landing.  Great shrimp/ veggie brochettes and garlic shrimp.  A dark ride back to the boat and and the regular chore of lifting the dinghy onto the davits for the night.  It’s a safety thing, so we’d be ready to leave the achorage if we had to in the middle of the night and also to help prevent theft.

Wes on  ARCOLA, Ric and Mary on QUE SERA ,Marlyn and Steve on TOCATA...and Al.   

Wednesday Jan.17th 2018 :       What a rolly uncomfortable night.  We had planned on staying a day and walking into the town of Perula but decided to move on.

1045 anchor up, no sails motoring to the other side of the bay to Parisio 8 miles to the south east.  Using the boat chart plotter, my iPad Navionics and Shawn and Heathers Cruising guide we successfully avoided all the reefs and rocks.

 

Chamela

Reef extending a quarter nm off Punta Perula 

Passing in front of Isla Parjarera and Isla Covinas.  Flat Top Point in the background.

Going in the little cove of Parisio to anchor

Anchor down at 1245 in 18 ft of water with 75 ft of chain.  Wind 8-12 kts till about 2000.  Good size swells pass by the entrance of the cove and crash into the cliffs on both sides but hardly any effect us.  We will see tonight how rolly it is.

Looks like a hippy Hotel. 

LOVELY

                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                 

Nueva Vallarta to Zihuatanejo Sailfest 2018 (part 1)

Sunday Jan.14th 2018;    0940 Underway from Paradise Village with Jl and Al on board.  Last night VYC had a fried chicken dinner after the Vallarta Cuo Race which gave us a chance to say good-bye to lots of our friends before taking off. 

This is the first time JL has been sailing since her Achilles’ tendon surgery in August so we desidered to make this a short easy sail and headed for Punta de Mita.  Like sailing to Catalina.   In preparing to anchor Al turned the windless on to see it flash “SENSOR ERROR”.  Now this is the new sensor that he installed this past summer and the same one that worked without flaw at Todas Santos Is. 2months ago.  Bummer,   

1220 We anchored in 30ft of water with 125 ft of chain out.  Thankfully Al can still make out the painted marks on the chain.  Had the rest of the day to sun, read and watch the Big guys play.  Got buzzed once by the helicopter landing then twice by their drone. 

Monday Jan.15,2018;    0745  Underway from Punta Mita in the chilly dawn.  Today’s destination is Punta Ipala.   Light wind from the east motoring at 6 kts.  

Passing inside IslasTres Las Marietta’s.

1145 rounded Cabo Corrientes 1.3 nm off ,motor sailing DDW.  Cabo Corrientes bouy was not on station.  Wind increased to max 23kts and we reefed the main at 20kts.  Had to gib twice to sail to our turning point around Punta Ipala.  The town is a little fishing village with protected water but still gets the WNW winds.   The wind had eased for the short period of time it took us to anchor but quickly increased again to 18kts in flat water.

1420 anchor down.  40.5 nm-6.5hrs.

Wind died down to 8kts so we put the dinghy in the water after pumping up the wheels again.  Love the cool electric pump.  Gift from thr McGoldricks years ago still works like a charm.

Dinner at Candes looking out at Chez Nous and the Panga fleet.

A MONTH IN NEUVO VALLARTA

We have had a great month in Paradise Village reconnecting with old friends and making some new ones.  Christmas and New Years came and went with lots of fun and great company.  Boat projects and Vallarta yacht Club activities including race committee took up most of our time.  JL also made use of the kayak and the pool for exercise, especially the pool for Achilles’ tendon rehab and her kayak for Croc hunting.