Logbook and Photos

Welcome to Mexico!

The next leg of our journey was to tackle the rugged 700 nautical mile (nm) Pacific coast of the Mexican Baha Peninsula, then cross the Sea of Cortez, an additional 300 nm,  to Puerto/Nuevo Vallarta in order to meet up with friends for Christmas.

The day after leaving San Diego and with s/v (sailing vessel) Atalanta a mile off on our starboard side, we ceremoniously raise our Mexican flag.  Whenever you visit a foreign country, it is international courtesy to fly the hosting nation's flag on your starboard side.  The flag should be approximately 1/2" long for every foot of boat length.

The first leg of our Mexican journey was a 3-night offshore leg from San Diego to Islas San Benitos, a group of three islands with a small fishing village on the west island.  Once anchored, we approach the village in our dinghy and are very nervous.  Our Spanish, except for ordering beer, is next to non-existent.  But the fishermen smile and welcome us to their island with friendly gestures.  Está bien - it's okay.

We are deep into culture shock as we gingerly beach the dinghy.  Two pretty little girls come down.  Hola, we greet them.  The fish boy shows us his catch with a big grin.  We turn left and walk up into the dusty streets.  More villagers greet us as we walk by.  Elephantas? one woman queries as she gestures us to walk in a certain direction. Si, we reply and alter our course from one unknown to another (what, are there elephants on this island?).  Soon we find what she is talking about ... elephant seals!  Every year they come to the island group and breed.  They have just started to arrive.

This is a typical Mexican fishing boat, called a panga.  They are made of fiberglass, are deep hence very stable, and they have flat bottoms so that they can be beached easily.  A motor in the range of 50hp or more will plane the craft at a good clip.  Fishermen use these vessels for attending nets, lobster traps, and for diving operations.

Still tandem with s/v Atalanta, we make the short overnight passage from Islas San Benito to Turtle Bay, the best all-weather harbor on the Pacific Baha.  We feel very welcome in their village.  The spot in this photo was magical - a little cantina right on the beach serving ice cold cervezas. In no time, the kids have made friends and play soccer with the local kids and we are deep into relaxation with the locals.

Today is a walking-tour of Turtle Bay's sizable village with the crew of s/v Atalanta. The village soon reveals to our surprise a market, restaurants, fuel, grocers, cafes, bakeries, meat shops, tortillas and fresh-baked breads, banks, public telephones, ice, beer ... most anything you would need and extremely friendly people everywhere.  Michael jokes, as he finds his favorite cereal sitting on a grocer's shelf, "Mexico's gonna' be all right after all!"

Local kids Ricardo and Eric, with their mom's permission, visit with us on Tioga for a hour or so Sunday morning.  Once onboard, their eyes are wide open as we show them about.  Conversation is sparse as they know as much English as we do Spanish, so we suggest the card game "Uno."  It is great fun as well as great Spanish practice with numbers and colors. A great memory!

You can get a good appreciation of the landscape of the Baha from this photo.  While it appears quite barren, it actually is!  But it is unique in it's own way and the ocean is a magnificent blue teaming with marine life.  We have a great afternoon on this secluded beach.  But before we go, it's time to dispose of our garbage...

A number of days have passed and we have worked our way further down the coast.  We are trying to avoid large ocean swells that a massive storm system in the Pacific northwest is creating.  As reported by weather fax and on the SSB radio by boats to the north of us, ocean swell is reaching 20' in inshore and 40' in offshore waters and will reach well into Mexico.  We are already finding it impossible to go to shore - the breaking surf will easily upset our dinghy.  Even the local fisherman are struggling with the surf line.

We'd read about it, but this was a first for us.  This "ribbon halfbeak" flyingfish had his last flight sometime during the night and landed on our deck (with a big "drat!" I'm sure).  These fishes scull violently with their tails, taxiing to attain flight speed.  They then spread their pectoral fins, soar high for a few seconds, then splash back to the sea... except in our case.  These fish can actually seriously injure people with their spiked bill.  Reportedly, they also taste good for breakfast.

Sheila had just gone off watch and Chris on, when one of the fishing lines we troll stretched out it's shock chord.  Chris started to pull it in and to our delight we had hooked a sizable Mahi Mahi (a.k.a. Dolphinfish and Dorado).  It took a fair amount of time and effort to tire the fish out before bringing it on board.  It is gorgeous when caught, with iridescent shades of purplish-bluish gold, sea green and emerald.  It's also a great tasting fish.

Chris spent a couple of hours cleaning and packaging the 4' Mahi Mahi.  Then it was sushi time.  It doesn't get fresher than this!  With only a day left in our passage to PV and beautiful skies and warm temperatures, we were really enjoying this passage.  The only thing missing was a bit more wind.

Finally we arrive in Banderas Bay, home to Puerto and Nuevo Vallarta.  The large ocean swell finally catches up to us and we have to wait a day in the La Cruz anchorage before we can get into the Paradise Village Marina, where the massive surf is breaking on the breakwater entrance.  It's far too dangerous to attempt coming in. On Thursday, we get the call from the marina manager to come quickly while the swell is down, and we dash in and tie up.  And hey, there's the kids from s/v Evolution!  Voyage complete and Paradise Village looks great (in fact we highly recommend it)!

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