Category: 2021-03 (March)

We woke up to the coffee making at 7 am, and slowly got ourselves together and underway by 8 am. Then spent the day motoring (no wind) to Barra de Navidad. This is an interesting location, there is a lagoon to anchor in, somewhat shallow (as in we draw 5 feet, and much of the lagoon is less than 6 feet. We are anchored now and our depth gauge showed 2.3 feet. We are floating, so I think that means 2.3 feet below the keel. In any case, all the wind we did not see today is here, 25 knots through the anchorage. We arrived and had our anchor down by 2:30 or so.

Pérula (town)

We got a better night’s sleep than the last two rolly anchorages (Punta de Mita and Impala).  Of course, we slept in too…staying two nights here.  Neil woke up with his sinuses blocked and that developed into a migraine.  He doesn’t get these often.  He took a morning nap while I enjoyed watching the world around our boat from the cockpit.  After lunch we dropped the anchor and headed for the beach.  There was wind and waves but we timed it right and landed on the beach nicely.  We used the handles attached to rope and threaded through the bow rings to pull the dinghy up on the beach.

Next, we did some restaurant hopping and some walking (along the river Malecon that was beside the town).  We had some beers, a margarita, coffee, and a shrimp cocktail.  We also did some shopping – avocados and a hairbrush.  We spoke with a man on the beach (a Mexican) who lived in Michigan and retired from General Motors.  Next came the fun part…getting the dinghy off the beach…yes…we got wet!

We got up at 6:30, and I pushed the button for the coffee maker and we went back to bed. About 20 minutes later, the machine beeped and we got up. It was a pretty rolly night. Not great for sleeping. We got underway by shortly after 7 am.

There was a hint of wind for a little bit then it went away for about 3 hours, so the sails were up, but not really helping. Then about 10:30 or so, the wind was at 10+ knots apparent from directly behind us and we put the sails out as far as we could using a preventer for the main and the staysail, and just putting the jib out on the other side. The wind was blowing from the same direction very consistently and built up over the day to probably 20-25 knots apparent with us doing as much as 8.5 knots! This was a pretty fast sail.

We arrived and had our anchor down and engine off by 4:30. The wind is blowing in the anchorage, but at least there are no waves. We plan to stay here for 3 days. So tomorrow we will get the dinghy down and go in and see what there is to see.

The membrane that we ordered for the water maker has arrived in La Cruz and will be there when we get back, in about 2 weeks.

We did not go ashore at Punta de Mita, and we will not be going ashore at Ipala. We got up at 6:30 and underway by 7 am. Virtually no wind, so motored for several hours (good it charged the batteries fully, bad we had to listen to the motor all morning). We had a little wind shortly after noon and sailed for an hour or two, then again no wind and motored the rest of the way into Ipala. This not a very protected anchorage, and it will be a rolly night. On the way down, we saw a turtle right next to the boat. Renee’ did some fishing and caught a Bonito, about 19” long. So fish tacos are on the menu for tonight.

 

We got up about 7 am, had breakfast and listened to the net. Then prepped the boat for getting underway. That meant putting things away so they don’t fall while we moving on the water, rolling up the screens on the cockpit, and removing the covers over the windows. Then I got the shore power stuff put away, and Renee’ walked to the office to check out. Shortly after that the security guy came by and read the meters. At 10:00 we pulled away from the dock, Chris was there to help with the lines. As we pulled out, we had to dodge the turtle that was right in front of our slip.

We left the marina, and headed west to Punta de Mita, plenty of wind so the sails were put out and we took about 4 hours to go about 12 miles. Anchoring at about 2:30. Then a quiet afternoon just enjoying being on the boat. Along the way, we saw a whale within about 50 feet of the boat!

About the time we were getting ready for dinner, there were fireworks from one of the hotels on the beach. No idea what the occasion was, but we enjoyed watching them.