Hello again, Puerto Vallarta
January 11th, 2011
Dan arrives alone and lonely today… Carol remains at home recovering from pneumonia. Dan is planning to prep the boat for our departure, but is stymied by some slight mechanical problems and instead, enjoys the sunshine and the games installed on the iPad. He is missing the company of Carol and us but soon we will arrive to entertain him! He does do some housekeeping, scrubbing the walk in shower and the stove top in preparation for our showering and cooking!
January 13th, 2011
It is a cold, damp, gloomy and wet morning as Tom and I await our flight to sunny, warm Puerto Vallarta! Our plane from Seattle is late due to cold, rainy, damp weather in Seattle. Two hours late, we board and depart from San Francisco and 3.5 hours later we land in sunny, warm Puerto Vallarta! Hallelujah… as we say aboard Caprice when the gods are with us! And to Tom and I, being in warm, sunny Puerto Vallarta (have I said warm, sunny Puerto Vallarta many times now?) is a lovely dream come true. We have suffered through very cold (for us) temperatures at home and have been looking forward to arriving here, in warm, sunny Puerto Vallarta for weeks now. We zoom through immigration and customs and soon are in a taxi bound for the marina at Paradise Village in Nueva Vallarta where the welcoming Dan and Caprice await us. After a quick visit aboard, it’s off to the Vallarta Yacht Club for a bite to eat and a “catch up” with Dan to see how things are aboard the boat, having left it two months ago!
Friday, January 14th, 2001
The sun is shining and the temperature is marvelous… in the mid 70’s as we make our plans for the day. We bus to town for lunch at La Palomas, the restaurant Tom and I dined at before. All three of us enjoy the food, view and ambience as we gaze out across the gorgeous blue waters of Banderas Bay. After lunch we stroll along the promenade to Isle de Cuale, a lovely little island in the Rio Cuale, with shops and restaurants. We spot a restaurant/jazz café, Le Bistro, that beckons for a visit… but we are not sure how to fit it in. On the corner near our bus stop is our gelato store, so flavors are chose and we sit and chat while enjoying our first Mexican ice creams. Our visit to town is wonderful, we all agree as we board the bus to Sam’s Club, Walmart and Caprice. Sam’s club denies us entrance, but Walmart is open for business and we buy some supplies for the next few days. I am interested in a trip to Costco if possible as Walmart and Sam’s Club are unfamiliar to me. We return to Caprice with our purchases and decide dinner is not necessary after our delicious lunch and gelato. Tom and Dan choose to sit for a spell and read, but I long for a walk along the beach and a sunset… which is on display as I walk along! A stroll through the shopping and good news… what to my wondering eyes should appear but a gelato shop… so back to the boat I go carrying six scoops of gelato to share with my boat mates!
Saturday, January 15th, 2001
Another warm sunny morning so off we go to walk the beach… picking up shells and enjoying the seashore and the sights. Dan is at the Yacht Club talking with AT & T so that the iPad will work here in Mexico. Tom and I return to the Yacht Club and enjoy delicious Chicken Taco Salads on the deck of the club. When we return to the boat we see Dan scurrying around with our soaking wet bed linens. While adding water to the water tank, a bad thing happened to him. The hose separated from the nozzle and jumped into our open hatch depositing at least ten gallons of water on to our bed!!!! Dan is quite excited and upset… what to do but take the bed linens to the laundry and have the staff there save the day by washing and drying everything so that sleeping in our bed would be possible! Then, we have the afternoon in front of us, so off to the beach to laze about in the sunshine and fly Dan’s kites and enjoy ice cream at the seashore.
Dinner tonight is at Fajita Republic, on the lagoon in the Marina area! It is grand. Dripping with ambience and delicious food… especially the house special… fajitas. Our group enjoys a variety of these along with Mexican beer and Margaritas. The restaurant is accessible by dinghy and that is our plan, until Helen recommends a taxi as the wind has come up and she feels it will be wet and damp. We enjoy wonderful conversation and laughter as we are from three different states and have enjoyed varying lengths of travel aboard boats all over the world. Helen and Ralph are on their Seawind 1160 right behind Caprice on B dock. Ralph is at home for a few days, so Helen’s childhood friend Cathy is keeping her company. We arrive back at the Marina, full and happy and ready to make our bed again and jump in! Buenos Noches!
Hello Again, Puerto Vallarta part 2
Sunday, January 16th, 2011
We awake to yet another sunny morning (this could be habit forming!) and the engine mechanic is here early to change the engine oil in preparation for our leaving. After that is done, we stow away everything that belongs in the pantry which frees up the dining room table for breakfast. Dan prepares his famous hash browns and eggs and coffee which we three enjoy immensely. After breakfast, it’s off to Costco to shop for provisions for our trip to La Paz. Tom and I ride the bus and a taxi to Costco and have a grand time selecting delectable goodies for the next week to ten days (‘til Admiral Cookie arrives) and sets us on the right track health and diet wise. We taxi back to the boat and unload and stow away the goods. Then it is you know what for lunch… butterscotch ice cream and fruit. Dan’s up the mast next to check the rigging and Tom keeps an eye on him, while I try to log on to wifi at the yacht club which is unsatisfying! Eventually I am able to do so and send the first part of our story.
Helen takes us on an evening beach walk to the turtle preserve where we, along with perhaps 30 other people, assist the new born turtles to the sea. The organization finds turtle nests on the beach and rescues the eggs which they incubate and upon hatching, release to the sea with the assistance of tourists and locals. During the hatching season, they have a “release party” every evening. This was more fun and more rewarding than you can imagine… children through retirees helping these tiny 24-hour old baby turtles make it to the water… they still have an uphill battle for survival as they are tender and delicious to the many fish and dolphins enjoying life in Bahia de Banderas, but at least they are in the water before hungry seagulls can eat them.
We are dining aboard tonight I believe and plan on a departure some time tomorrow. Stay tuned for more of the Adventures of Caprice!
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Surprise, surprise! The sun is shining again! It is cooler than the first few days, but bright sunshine abounds and it will warm up as the day goes on. We are prepping for departure up to La Cruz along the north shore of Bahia de Banderas where we plan to anchor or tie up at a Marina and enjoy exploring the town and have dinner ashore. Philo’s is well known and we think we should give it a try. We are finishing up provisioning this morning and one last check of emails, while making our lists and checking them twice! We are hoping for a sail across the bay this afternoon.
Until next time, happy trails to you!
Back to Mexico for fun in the sun!
Monday afternoon and evening, January 17th, 2011
We are sailing across glorious Banderas Bay with whales! They are spouting all around us and Tom shoots photo after photo from his camera… he captures one whale tail photo but it does not come close to the one he got in Monterey Bay. Helen and Ralph are out here with us enjoying the sunshine, the water and the whales. Eventually we make our way to La Cruz and the newly developed Riviera Nayarit Marina. We tie Caprice up in B3 and immediately make friends with a couple from Nashville across from us. They are friendly and offer much helpful information regarding La Cruz dining and shopping hot spots. Our first choice for dinner later is Philo’s, a cruisers gathering spot, but it is closed on Monday, so Glorietta’s is chosen for their jumbo coconut shrimp. Tom and I stroll the town while Dan entertains Guy and Carol, owners of Stray Cat, a Seawind 1000 anchored in the bay. They are neighbors from Santa Rosa down here for nine months of the year enjoying the warmth of Mexico. La Cruz is very popular with yatistas… laid back and very Mexican. The streets are a Mexican version of cobble stones, simply rocks cemented together to make a form of pavement. The stores and restaurants are simple and casual… food is inexpensive but the Mexican Indian beadwork is expensive. We wonder down to the beach which is a local’s beach lined with restaurants to try a Negra Modela for Tom and a lemonade (actually made with limes here in Mexico) for Merrie. The Riviera Nayarit is one of the fastest growing areas of Mexico. New condominium developments are being built all along the bay and one day, La Cruz will probably rival Puerto Vallarta for tourists. Today it is still a bit sleepy and obviously that is a great draw for laid back cruisers.
The three of us venture out for Glorietta’s but first a stop at a recommended shop selling native handicrafts. We spot beaded baby turtles similar in size to the real ones we had handled at the turtle release party, so three of them come home with us as gifts for the grand children. Then off to Glorietta’s… absolutely dripping with local color and native ambience! Our server is delightful and the jumbo shrimp are sweet and delicious. They are served with mango salsa and the best margaritas in La Cruz! We waddle back to the boat and turn in with the goal of reaching Chacala Bay tomorrow!
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
Anchors away at 9:30 am after checking out with the somewhat difficult clerk. The bay is beautiful as we motor around Punta de Mita headed for Chacala Bay, some 40 miles north of La Cruz. We are fishing with three heavy duty lines out, but alas, no fish for Caprice so far. Life aboard today is easy and very comfortable. The seas remain calm all the way. At 3:30pm we set the anchor in lovely, isolated Chacala Bay. The beach is lined with yalapa covered restaurants and bars and tourists as well as locals are enjoying the beach and water. There are nine other yachts anchored in the bay with us. We deploy the dinghy and head for what we think is a dinghy dock, but it is full with pangas and our dinghy is not light enough to land on the beach, so Dan drops Tom and me off to explore and he returns to the boat, agreeing to pick us up in an hour. The village is a one-street town with shops and restaurants/bars lining it on both sides. The beach-side ones are delightful looking and after a stroll down the beach, we return for a refreshing aqua fresco. At the end of the beach there is a marvelous little hotel, the Mar de Jade, offering seaside accommodations and wellness programs. It looked like a little piece of heaven, although quite remote. This maybe perfect for those truly looking to get away from it all. We also saw guest houses and other hotels as well as two signs of the times: a cell phone tower and an internet café! And all the places of business were advertising their web sites! What would we do without these things today? Dan is even able to send emails with his iPad using cell phone service as he signed up for an international data package.
This was our first anchorage and all went well. Once the sun went down, the temperatures dropped quickly, but it was very comfortable. Dan bbq’d hamburgers for us for dinner, but they were not up to par with what we can purchase at home. The quality of beef was not at all the same… which we may have detected from the packaging had we been able to read it.
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011
Up with the sun and off we go headed for Isla Isabela. At first, we are under those predictably present sunny skies, but at Los Custodios, we enter a San Francisco like fog bank across the Pacific. It’s as if we have been beamed back to the cold grey city by the bay! The sky darkens and the temperature drops. We are hoping it will be a small fog bank and that we will soon be through it. We have turned on the radar just in case.
Isla Isabela is a National bird and sea life sanctuary. Dan hopes to snorkel and skin dive and Tom and I are looking forward to some hiking about the island. We arrive late afternoon and drop the anchor. We have four other boats for company tonight. The number of birds flying overhead is amazing… we hope we don’t wake up to a bird soiled Caprice in the morning! We break out the Rummyo tiles tonight for a friendly game… and soon it is bed time for the three musketeers aboard Caprice.
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
I’m getting used to saying this: “another sunny morning” ! After a delicious breakfast of ham, scrambled eggs and hash brown potatoes, it’s off to the snorkeling spot with Dan done up in his wet suit and fins and mask. We board the dinghy and head for a likely spot. Dan falls backwards (as planned!) into the water and Tom and I bob around on the anchored dinghy. Dan is all over the area having a grand time. When he returns to the dinghy, he says it is like snorkeling in an aquarium! He is just thrilled to have had the chance to snorkel in this spot. Dan says it is the best snorkeling he has had since visiting the island of Bequia in the Caribbean in1984. After a hot shower to return Dan’s temperature to normal, we three take a bit of a tour of the island from the water. Alas, we discover we are anchored in a totally different spot than we thought we were in… but it is a safe anchorage also! Landing on the island looks difficult, so hiking is not part of the day. We escape with only one bird calling on the galley hatch!
A word here about the dining aboard Caprice in Carol’s absence: We are faring quite well! The meals prepared by me are not as creative, but delicious, and winning compliments from Captain Dan and First Mate Tom. Examples of our meals include chicken tostadas, salads with chicken or shrimp, ravioli, hamburgers, ham and cheese Panini’s, and the inevitable ice cream! Dan makes fabulous coffee for breakfast and we have a boat load of fresh fruit, cereal and yoghurt for breakfast along with those delicious eggs, ham and potatoes!
We are underway this afternoon to Mazatlan. New friends from Stray Cat tell us to anchor in the harbor near the Old Town and we will be able to walk to it. We expect to arrive by day break on Friday and have two full days there before departing on Sunday for La Paz!
Thursday, January 20th continued.
At sea on the way to Mazatlan… all is calm at first and then the winds begin to blow… we have winds reaching 18 knots for sometime and then it drops to an average of 12 knots. We sail and/or motor sail all night and it is very bumpy! After an early dinner and gorgeous sunset, Dan and Tom take turns taking three hour watches… and in the morning, when the sun comes up, we are here! Hallelujah! As we say on Caprice! I am sooooooo thrilled to be here… we head for the anchorage near the Old Town and board a bus to see the sights! We immediately head for an internet café, having endured three days without communications! AAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then, off we go to find the Plaza and hopefully a restaurant with local fresh-caught shrimp for lunch. Unfortunately, we are misinformed and with too little information, so we never find the large, supposedly quite attractive Plaza Machado and end up taxing back to the marina and head for Marina El Cid up in the more upscale Hotel and Marina district.
Marina El Cid is lovely… it rivals Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta for amenities and beauty. We are tied up at the end of B dock and welcomed by the local “welcome wagon” representative… Captain George, who explains our folly regarding the Old Town and Plaza. If we ever go back, we shall enjoy the Old Town much more after our discussion with Captain George! But alas, we are happy here in Mazatlan’s version of paradise… the boat boys are washing Caprice and the laundry people are doing the laundry… we have but to enjoy with a walk on the beach and perhaps Dan will get those kites out again. If not, a lounge in the shade by the pool will suit us quite well!
