November 11, 2014
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| Cabo Marina |
The weather was still unsettled on Tuesday, so we decided to
remain one more day in Cabo. I took
advantage of the time to shop for a new pair of headphones. While walking through the mall, I happened
upon a toy store where I managed to purchase the last available set of Mexican
Train dominoes. I had been searching for
them since the previous December, so was well satisfied, although the last
thing I really needed was a five pound domino set to add to my already voluminous
luggage. Eventually, I found a pair of
headphones at a farmacia. Then I went to
Starbucks and posted the first blog post I had made since starting my
journey. Unfortunately, I had forgotton
my camera, so could only get as far as Bahia Santa Maria.
When I came back, we had an early dinner of tostadas and
then Kathy stayed behind to sew while Don and I set off to walk to Walmart in
the cool of the evening. It grew dark as
we walked and what started as an easy stroll along the sidewalk, eventually morphed
into a hair-raising walk along the verge of a dark freeway. We did eventually make it to the Walmart,
however. We stocked up on beverages and
fresh produce and then took a cab back to the boat. We retired early, planning to get up at first
light to leave for La Cruz.
November 12, 2014
Wednesday morning, all the boats planning to head for
Banderas Bay finally paraded out of the Cabo marina to start the nearly 300
mile passage. We motored for the first
few hours to charge the batteries and run the water maker, but switched to sail
when the wind came up and sailed all day and into the evening. Though we had expected wind on the nose, we
were able to sail on a close reach. The
day was nearly perfect, with points of light sparkling off the wavelets like
diamonds.  |
| Cabo in the Rear View Mirror |
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| Thunderheads in the Distance |
We made good time, rotating
through our watches. The sport fisher in
the slip next to us in the Cabo marina (We were the only sail-boat in that
section of the marina.) had given us a couple of dorado filets and I sautéed
them in garlic for dinner and we ate them with cabbage and couscous. While there were massive clouds all around
us, the weather stayed fine all night, although the wind died and we had to
start the engine about 9:00 pm.
November 13, 2014
Thursday was another day of perfect weather. The wind was a bit light for sailing and
mostly on the nose, anyway, but the seas had calmed and we motored along
easily. We all caught up on sleep when
we weren’t on watch and Kathy did a bit more sewing. We could hear the other Ha-Ha boats talking
on the radio around us. As evening
approached, we dodged a few squalls. I
made chicken cutlets and mashed yams for dinner. Kathy had some impressive lightning on her
watch, but I slept through the whole thing.
When it got dark, we could see the lights on the Marias more than twenty
miles in the distance.
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| Sunrise on the Way to La Cruz |
November 14, 2014
I came on watch at 4:00 am as we neared Banderas Bay. I slowed the motor a bit so as not to have to
thread my way between Punta Mita and the Marietas in the dark. The sun rose over the mountains behind Puerto
Vallarta just as I had remembered it, eclipsing ever other sunrise on this
journey. Gradually, I made out the
Marietas and headed for the center of the channel. I woke Don so that he could witness our
entrance to Banderas Bay. Kathy came up
at what would have been 8:00 if we hadn’t sailed into a new time zone, making
it 9:00 local time. I saw a whale blow
three times and then breach and then we saw a pod of dolphins following us
in. The last vestiges of the tropical
storm had passed and it was a gorgeous morning.
We entered Marina La Cruz at 10:15 in the morning and took a slip for a
few days.
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| The Marietas |
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| Entrance to Paradise |
After washing the boat and ourselves, Don and I took a walk
around the marina to the port captain’s office and checked in. Kathy stayed behind to try to finish sewing
the trim on the dodger. When we
returned, she was ready for a break, so we repaired to the nearest palapa bar
for drinks and appetizers. It truly felt
like we had landed in paradise.
November 15, 2014
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| Don at the La Cruz Marina |
We had stayed up quite late on our first night in La Cruz,
so I rose late. It was wonderful to be
able to wander up to the office and use the lovely showers, revel in the air
conditioning, and connect to the internet.
In the afternoon, Kathy repaired once again to the Eva Mandarina Beach
Club, which was still under construction when I was in La Cruz last year, and
Don and I went for a walk around La Cruz so I could show him what was
there. Unfortunately, my favorite
restaurant was abandoned and Ya-Ya’s Café had burned down, but there were also
a few new places that has sprung up in my absence. The town seemed unexpectedly sleepy, but
everyone was expecting a busy season because of the hurricane in Cabo and
violence in Acapulco.
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| Bar at Eva Mandarina Beach Club |
After it cooled off, Kathy sewed on the dodger until it got
dark and then we all set off for town to seek out some street tacos. It was still rather early, so we stopped into
the Gecko Rojo for a couple of drinks first.
Several sidewalk eateries spring up after dark in La Cruz, dragging a
barbecue and a few resin tables out onto the sidewalk and/or street and serving
food al fresco. We had carne asada and
beef adobo tacos. Dinner for three cost
us 75 pesos (about $5.75) in stark contrast to the beach bar where one
margarita cost 85 pesos, although the ambiance was wonderful. We chatted with a local fisherman at the next
table who wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss the Sunday farmers’ market
the next morning.
November 16, 2014
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| Kathy at the Farmer's Market in La Cruz |
Feeling that I had been entirely too lazy the day before, I
got up before dawn to run in the cool darkness.
I ran the 2+ miles from one end of the marina to the other and back and
then repaired to the office for a shower and to use the internet to compose a
blog post. Kathy also got up early to
finish the sewing on the dodger before it got hot. I worked on my blog until Don and Kathy were
ready to go to the farmers’ market.
The
Sunday farmers’ market in La Cruz doesn’t offer much in the way of produce, but
offers every other kind of food imaginable and lots of clothing and crafts
vendors. They had a good band playing
classic rock and Latin hits. The singer
did a passable Paul McCartney imitation.
Kathy bought a variety of berries and a small picture made of colored
straw. She and Don shared a chorizo
sandwich and I had a spinach and cheese empanada. We all shared a yeasty roll dripping in
sugary frosting and drank fresh juices.
I had a refreshing glass of kiwi, cucumber and lemon juice that really
hit the spot. We ate, drank and listened
to the band for a while before heading off to catch a bus to Bucerias to find
an ATM.
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| Beach Bar in Bucerias |
We disembarked from the bus near the center of Bucerias and
gave Don a quick tour of the plaza, market and beach before stomping off in
search of the bank. We actually had to
walk almost all the way to Mezcales to find an ATM, but there were a few up
that way. It was hot, but interesting to
see parts of Bucerias I had never explored before. We got our pesos and then caught a bus back
to La Cruz. Of course we were hot after
our exertions, so we stopped at the Gecko Rojo for a drink to cool down.
I spent part of the afternoon perusing various websites and
sending emails to landlords, looking for a place to live. There were a lot of B&Bs and luxury condos
for rent in the $100+ per night range.
Long term rentals were much cheaper, but I wasn’t planning to stay the
requisite 6 months or one year. I wrote
to the few options available. I got
negative responses from a few that were already rented, leaving me with just
two possibilities to pursue. One was as
apartment building on the hill overlooking town that had a variety of places
from studios at 5500 pesos ($425) per month to two bedrooms for 8000 pesos
($615.) The other was a home that rented
rooms and looked lovely, although the stated rate was $40/night.
Kathy and I strolled over to the beach club for banana
daiquiris and passed a couple of pleasant hours hanging out there. We were all hungry by the time we returned to
the boat, so I whipped up some salad and quesadillas from leftover chicken
cutlets and veggies and we had a light dinner.
I napped for a couple of hours after dinner. (Kathy had taught the bartender at the beach
club how to make daiquiris and he used a LOT of rum.) I woke up just long enough to make a trip to
the restroom and chat with Scott for a few minutes before retiring. By the time I got back, Don and Kathy were
already asleep.
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