Time to Go Upstream!

All good things must come to an end, and our downwind sailing time is over.  It is time to turn around, go from gybes to tacks, and work our way back up the coast to the tune of 1500 or so nautical miles back to Ventura.  The boat is running great thanks to Craig, and we are optimistic that we will not have any major problems beyond finding favorable weather windows.

After Randy and Vicki went home, we stayed an additional week at Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz.  We let Patrick use our extra key card as he was anchored outside the marina.  He came in for water and gave Dover dinghy rides, which he totally loved.

We were thrilled to be able to see our old G Dock Ventura West neighbors Rick and Karen, s/v Eyes of the World for a fun evening of sundowner cocktails and great sailing stories before leaving La Cruz.  Back in the day, Rick taught Craig how to sail in Channel Islands Harbor and it was so great to be able to both be in Mexico on our own cruising boats and celebrate that moment!

Speaking of dinghy rides with Dover, Craig took Dover out to the point at Punta Mita which is a world class surf spot and the northern tip of Banderas Bay.  We stopped here and anchored for a night before heading up the coast to Chacala again.  Dover is barking like a wild man because Craig is full throttle on the outboard trying not to get rolled by a swell he misjudged as being smaller than it actually was... No worries.  They lived to dinghy surf another day and Craig caught this great Dover action shot.

This is a good shot of Patrick aboard his Crealock 34 s/v Amy Michele as we all head up the coast from Punta Mita to our next anchorage in Chacala.  Just an FYI: you can click on any of these photos for a larger version to see detail.

Craig hooked this guy on the way to Chacala too...  To the untrained eye, it looks like a really nice tuna.  We know better.  This is the fish we have lovingly termed "Ass Fish".  He is a tuna poser with warm flesh the color of liver.  He is relatively easy to catch, but don't get excited about having sushi from this guy.  He is best sliced-up and used as bait to catch other, better fish.

                                                                                                                                                                                                  Here's Craig adjusting the leech of our foresail outside of Jatemba.  We had a really nice sail back into Chacala.

Coming into Chacala anchorage.

The beach at Chacala with Craig and Patrick

Palapa construction in downtown Chacala.

Enjoying Ceviche at our local palapa restaurant in Chacala.  The great thing about these restaurants that differ from the states is that you can stay all day at a table if you like for the price of a beer or soda.  In the background on the right you can see someone at the jukebox.  The tunes were pumpin' on this very nice day in Chacala.

Our view of Bahia Chacala and the boat anchorage from the palapa restaurant.  We are nice and cool here!

After we left Chacala, we did a day sail up to Mantachen Bay which is the ocean side of San Blas.  With Eva still suffering from San Blas jungle river bug bites we decided to anchor out in this bay away from the bugs...  Okay, we only got bitten 20 times as opposed to 200 in San Blas.  Luckily, the weather gods were on our side and we were able to head to Mazatlan in the am after only one semi-intolerable bug night here.

Back in Mazatlan, Old Harbor again!  It was a really pleasant 26 hour leg between Bahia Mantachen and Mazatlan.  We saw little to no traffic and easy sea state.  It was good to be back in Mazatlan, and we are looking forward to getting ready here to cross the sea again and hang the big right turn for California and home.

La Cruz and Friends!

We find ourselves in a very cool little town called La Cruz de Huanacaxtle near Puerto Vallarta.  We visited here before in 2005, but so much has changed in five short years!  Our friends Randy and Vicki Rowe from Idaho are staying aboard with us on South Trail and our friend Patrick Martin, s/v Amy Michele has just sailed into town from a month in Zihuatanejo.  He lives aboard in Mexico full time now...  Lucky guy!  We also met up with many of our old Ventura West, G-dock neighbors: Wally and Linda, s/v Andanzas; Don and Judy, s/v Wind Ryder; Lucy and Jim, s/v Passage II.  We had a lovely potluck aboard Wind Ryder and were very happy to see so many of our old neighbors with huge, "we are so happy cruising!" grins on their faces!!!

This first picture is a combination courtyard which includes Huichol Indian Gallery, Coffee Hut, Restaurant and Artist's lofts.  Patrick took us all their to purchase coffee beans from a very talented Frenchman who roasts a wicked good bean with plenty of early mornin' kick if you follow my groove...  Patrick told us all the story of how this entreprenuerial cruisin' couple sailed their boat down to La Cruz and found what they were lookin' for and started this magical place.  The green shade awnings pictured are old sails, and there are other boat remnants incorporated into the courtyard.  They were playing some very interesting jazz music selections mixed with the sounds of birds and the smell of that fabulous coffee.  The place and the feel of it reminded me of Berkeley, CA.  pictured from left to right are Craig, Patrick, Vicki and Randy.  In addition to our coffee bean score, Randy got Vicki a beautiful huichol beaded ankle bracelet.  Whata sweet guy!

Here is a picture of Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz where we stayed for twelve days.  We got into our slip a day before our dear friends Randy and Vicki were to arrive, so it was great to have ample water and power to clean our very messy boat!  The marina was not here five years ago when we were last in this port.  It is a very nice facility with all the emenities that you could ever need or want.  During Randy and Vicki's time with us the marina was hosting a boat show with quite a few mega yachts.  It was quite a change between venues.  You go out of the marina glitz, and into this sleepy little town with chickens, dogs, iguanas and the occasional horse walking around...  We heard from some fellow sailors here that Presidente Calderon was in town the week prior to our arrival.  A cab driver also told us that the roads were all spruced-up for the Presidente's visit along with certain areas of the town.

During the boat show, the local marina restaurant had a 90 peso per person breakfast buffet that we all enjoyed thoroughly (exchange was 13.3 pesos to $1USD).  The best part was fresh squeezed orange juice and pinapple juice.  They lost money on us for the juice bar alone!  Also, during the boat show they would have shows every night in the marina amphitheater which was behind our boat.  So each night we could sit on the back of our boat and hear music or watch dancers all for the price of the slip!

We blew-up the kayak and Randy and Vicki, as well as Craig and Dover took it for a spin around the harbor.

We took several little walks into town (check out those stone streets!) and had a couple of very nice dinners in La Cruz including pizza at Philo's and traditional Mexican fare at "The Cave" which was really quite good.  Here is the namesake of the town... 

and the very colorful town square which is hoppin' with townsfolk at night.  Very cool to be able to go out and meet your neighbors and friends in this central location to share an ice cream and catch-up during the cool nights.

On Sunday, we broke free of our gilded slip and got Randy and Vicki to the local islands, Las Tres Marietas, for a day outting...  What better way to start a Sunday than Randy's Famous Bloody Mary's?!!!

South Trail to Puerto Vallarta

After Jack and Elvia departed, Eva lost the war with the no-see-ums and skeeters and was pretty much in hell with itching, or trying not to itch, for the next two days.  We got South Trail out of the river mouth easily, and set a course for Chacala a short 20 mile or so trip south.  This was again a new anchorage for us, and we were hoping to catch some cruising friends from Ventura, Jim and Jeannine from s/v Char Ann on our way to Banderas Bay and Puerto Vallarta.  We got them on VHF radio about an hour into our sail.  They were leaving Chacala!  Bummer!  We saw eachother later in the day...  Two ships passing...

We were bummin' on missing our compadres when all of a sudden... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!  The not so familiar sound on this trip of a fish on our trolling line.  It was a very nice Sierra which we fileted, bbq'd and had as tacos.  Muy bueno comida!  The ocean wisked our friends away, but gave us a nice fish...  Good Yin/Yang balance of life stuff...

Dover checking out Chacala as we pull in.  This is about 20 miles from Punta Mita, the northern point of Banderas Bay which is home to Puerto Vallarta.  We stayed here for just one night as we have friends flying into Puerto Vallarta on March 11th and we need to get into a slip somewhere in the bay.  

I made it a point to take a dip in Chacala, and let me tell you, the salt water did wonders for my very itchy bug bitten skin!

We saw a gorgeous sunset before packing it in for the night.

As Craig weighs anchor, we wave goodbye to our old G-Dock neighbors, Jim and Lucy, s/v Passage II whom we anchored next to here in Chacala.  They are headed into Banderas Bay as well, and we look forward to seeing more of them down the road.

This picture sums up our mood on the next leg to Banderas Bay.  Seas are rough.  There is not enough wind to sail for the first five hours and we are forced by rum line to be riding in the trough.  Everybody is a wee bit sea sick.  The sun is also pounding on us, and poor Dover is just a little black sun sponge!

When we take the left turn into Bahia Banderas everything changes, wind pipes up, we are going downswell and now flying!  This is Craig's best sail of the trip thus far and he turns Sig the Autopilot off so that he can enjoy helming this great sail.  We were cruising at 7.5 knots sustained with bursts of 9 and 10 knots with the swell.  What a great way to arrive in our furthest southern destination!

Craig secured a slip for us via VHF at Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle which is about 15 miles from Puerto Vallarta.  We stayed in La Cruz during our last visit in 2005, but there was no marina at that time just a good anchorage and beautiful, peaceful beach community.  What a change!  It was great to get into the barn and clean-up our very messy boat... 

The Bells of San Blas...

... the famous last poem by Longfellow and South Trail's next stop on the Jack and Elvia's Sailing Tour! 

This pic is of the sunrise coming up on the mainland as South Trail approaches San Blas from a midnight run off of Isla Isabella.

Originally, we were not going into San Blas which lies on the shores of the Rio Santiago and requires crossing a sometimes boat eating sandbar and navigating up an ever changing river...  These were Craig's thoughts prior to having his old cruising buddy Jack aboard.  It took one comment about how Jack had never gone up a river in his boat to which Craig replyed, "neither have I".  Yup, then a new course was set, and Elvia was flagging down a local panga with el pescadores to see if they would lead us over the bar and up the river...

And that they did!  Have I mentioned how totally cool it was to have Elvia onboard?  She has motivated my lazy ol' self to really start studying my Espanol.  The ablity to communicate freely and easily, with Elvia's help, brought a whole new, fabulous dynamic to this trip, and brought home the importance of accurate, sensitive communication among all of us peeps on the planet.  These fisherman wanted no compensation for the huge favor, and slowed way down to accomodate our wee engine power compared to their ample one.  We ended up using the GPS track these guys provided us in reverse to leave San Blas and the river bar safely.  Thank you San Blas Pangeros! 

 

 Okay, this is a suck pic of a really important moment...  We are crossing the bar at San Blas, and these are (out of focus) waves, being surfed by about a dozen surfers as we are going by.  Sailing and surfing are done in very different ocean environments as a general rule, and seeing breakers off our port side was definately a bit disconcerting.  In contrast, the blurry little surfers in this picture were totally stoked and had huge, ear to ear smiles.  The very ridable waves just kept coming for them to enjoy.

Dover checking out the lay of the land as we head up river to our anchorage.  Notice the cloud cover.  This was a real blessing for us during our stay as it kept the heat tolerable...  The no-see-ums and mosquitoes were prevalent in the mangrove rich environs, we managed to keep them at bay during Jack and Elvia's time aboard with the help of massive amounts of citronella tea candles throughout the boat, and gallons of deet.  When they left we suffered an attack of biblical proportions...  At least Eva did.  Craig apparently is not prefered bug food...  Lucky guy!

Eva onboard Alvino's Panga for the Jungle River Trip.  Alvino was another Elvia flag down, and he was a fantastic guide up the river.  He knew all the bird and fauna species along the river.  We saw about a billion species of herons, boobies, hawks, and various other long billed sea birds and jungle birds.  Lots of noise along the river.  This area also has a population of wild boar and big cats including Puma and Jaguar.  We never saw anything, but one night anchored Dover did a straight Jack London, Call of the Wild growling, howling thing that we have never experienced before or since...  He smelled SOMETHING. 

This was the palapa restaurant that Alvino took us to up river.  The folks that run the place came a bit later to this remote location after getting provisions for our meal.  Remote save the three sacked-out dogs and caged crocodile (thank goodness we didn't see any on the river so I could continue to sleep at night!)  The man who runs this place with his wife was super nice and very proud of all the varieties of plants that he grows on his property including a pistacio tree and agave plants...  Our personal favorites for what they produce!  His wife was an great cook, and served us up a sumptuous platter of shrimp, fresh salad, frijoles, rice and homemade tortillas and salsa.  Mmmmmm Good.

The dogs at the restaurant had their own dedicated palapa.  We are pretty sure it is on stilts because of the crocs.  These dogs need all the advanced warning they can get.  They were not in any hurry to move at all.  They vaguely recognized us while we were there.  During the hot days the Mexican domestic animals pretty much have only one concern, conserve energy.  Dover  is, finally, starting to understand this warm weather survival technique, and has been easing-up on asking for anything remotely strenuous during the daylight hours.  Come buenos noches though, he is ready to rock!

Craig and Alvino charging down the river back to our boat at anchor.  I love to sail and think that sailing on the world's oceans is the most affordable adventure you can have with the skills and mindset to accomplish it, BUT...  I love me a fast boat every now and then, and when Alvino opened his baby up, wow she flew!!!  Forget Magic Mountain or Disneyland...  This was THE BEST water ride ever and all for the grand total of 500 pesos for about five hours of tour and 100 pesos per person for lunch with 2-3 cervesas per person.  Jungle River Trip in San Blas, Mexico... PRICELESS.

Jack and Elvia leaving South Trail on a local panga headed for the Bus Station in San Blas to catch a bus back to Mazatlan.  A note to all cruiser's anchoring here is that we had a steady stream of local panga traffic, and found that waiving them over to catch a ride into town was a very easy proposition.  We tipped anywhere from 30-50 pesos for this ride, but it sure was nice not to have to put the dink in the drink!  We had a great time with Jack and Elvia n this trip and look forward to seeing them again on our return trip to Mazatlan in a month.

Elvia, Dover and Jack hangin' on the guest berth.  Dover slept with them the whole trip and loved having his new tia and tio aboard.  When they left...

Dover was a little blue! 

Isla Isabella

Craig and Dover on the surfboard at our anchorage at Isla Isabella (no, that is not the island in the background...  it is one of two pinnacles which make a nice wind break in the right conditions).  This little island about 80 miles from Mazatlan in the Pacific Ocean has been featured on National Geographic with Jacques Cousteau.  It is a Mexican National Park and is home to literally 1,000's of nesting sea birds and iguanas.  It is also a fabulous place to snorkel as it has a reef system which is rare for this area of the Pacific.   Jack and Elvia came with us on this part of our trip.  After all the great places they showed us in Mazatlan, it was nice to be able to offer them a ride to some pretty cool places on South Trail.  This was Elvia's first multi-night, high seas adventure on a small boat and she impressed us all with her easy transition to boat life as soon as she stepped aboard!  Capt. Jack was a superior hand, fabulous company as always, and happy to be out on the water again after a hurricane took his beloved Catalina sailboat, Dream Catcher.  We came down the Baja and up into the Sea of Cortez with Jack back in '04-'05 and it was a real treat to be out on the water with him again! 

This was also Jack and Elvia's 2nd anniversary and if pictures speak, I'd say they had a good one! 

We all had a great day on the island!  If you take a close look at the "sand" you will see that it is all bits of dead coral, and shells.  If you sit on the beach here quietly, after just a couple of minutes, the whole beach starts moving with about a billion (educated guess) hermit crabs...  You would have to be a hermit crab with all these hungry birds around!

If you have time, click on this picture and check out the color of these peds!  These are the Blue Footed Boobies and they are working with a color that I believe VW stole for the 60's Bug...  Hey there fancy feet!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

These are Frigates, or as we lovingly call them, Devil Birds.  This pic does not really do justice to the size of these beauties.  They are about the same size as Dover, or a Turkey.  They are sea birds that cannot land on the water...  God does have a sense of humor.  They have to pluck fish from the surface of the ocean without getting wet or stopping flight.  They launch themselves into flight from a perch... ergo the tall bushes here.  They are Devil Birds to us because they like to plant their large, destructive bodies on our mast heads and do all sorts of havoc wreaking on our instruments and antenaes up there!  They also have a split tail (forked?) for gliding all stealthily onto said masts...

 
Two Old Salts coming into anchorage at Isla Isabella. 
 
It was a great day with perfect conditions for us on the island and then, at about midnight, everything changed and we had to high tail it outta there, or else risk being in a world of hurt.  Why does this always happen at midnight?!
 
Oh well, we got into San Blas the next morning which was another fantastic adventure for another day...