4.30.2008 - 2PM Nayarit Time (MDT)
Yesterday, 4/29, was a beautiful day. I pulled up anchor in La Cruz and headed towards Punta de Mita and the mouth of Banderas Bay. It was a fairly brisk motor-sail up to that point, blowing about 15 knots on my nose. I had the motor running so I could point higher into the wind; I didn't want to be tacking back and forth for two hours to get out of the bay. After so much time at anchor or in a marina, it's funny all the things that can start rattling around and crashing down below once they've been taken out of their "heel-safe place." Right at the edge of the bay, defined by the line between Punta de Mita and the easternmost of the Islas Marietas, the islands that guard the bay, is a scary place given the inaccuracy of the Mexican nautical charts. There's a big spot that's labeled "2'", and another big exposed rock. And these spots are right in between the islands and the point. So I was pretty stressed as I motor-sailed through that area. I finally found the buoy that marked the exposed rock (about 1.5 miles off where the chart said it should be), and realized that if the chart is about a mile and a half off, then I'm probably about to run into the area that's only two feet deep. Well... I did. I didn't actually hit bottom, and I'm not actually sure the area really was only two feet deep - it could have been a mass of bait fish or other turbulence that caused my depth sounder to read "2", but I was heeled pretty well, and turned a bit, and knew that my depth sounder isn't properly calibrated and reads about four feet shallower than it is... so the most likely scenario is that I went over a six foot shallow while heeled at about twenty degrees, which means I was almost in trouble. The tide was rising, so I wouldn't have been stuck for long, but getting stuck at the mouth of Banderas Bay wouldn't have been the highlight of my trip.
As soon as I left Banderas Bay, the wind died to nothing, so I cranked the engine a bit more and motor-sailed with much more motor than sail for a while. A short while later it didn't make sense to have the sails up at all. In retrospect, I should have stayed closer to shore, as the breeze seemed to be entirely driven by the warming of the earth (I forget what those winds are called). I realized this when I got to Guayabitos and as I got closer to shore it got windy again. I wasn't sure whether to go on to Chacala or stop at Guayabitos Cove, but Guayabitos is bigger and I wasn't sure if Chacala would be good with those onshore winds, so I anchored in Guayabitos.
I'd stopped near Guayabitos, off Isla de Pena, on the way down initially from San Blas with Shiloh and Sailfisher (and my crew, Denali and Malavika aboard), and was sort of drawn by all the activity on the beach but we didn't stop then. Last night, the activity on the beach turned out to be an illusion, as it was all pretty much all-inclusive resort activity and restaurants that were closed for the season. I had to walk around the town for about an hour before I found an open restaurant at 8pm.
This morning I awoke to lots of loud music and PA-amplified yelling and excitement, as the resorts started up their kids-fest / day-care. There are also a couple of party boats that cruise around looking for customers for that night's sail. There are two - one of which is called "Party Boat" and one of which is called "Barco de Fiesta" (which translates as "Party Boat"). If they're competing companies, that's hilarious.
Since wasn't a lot to do or see there, I pullled up anchor and am now heading out to sea more or less towards Isla Isabela, but I've recently decided that I'm not in a hurry so I turned off the motor and am now just sailing as close as I can into a 5-6 knot breeze. It's great - I'm only making about 4 knots, but it's quiet and I have full sail up. Chemistry is so great with all her sail up - yankee, staysail, main; perfectly in balance. A while ago I turned OV off and steered manually for a change. She was so well balanced that I just let go of the wheel and we went along straight with no problem. So now, slow and steady on our way to Isla Isabela (or beyond, all the way to Mazatlan, maybe), fishing lure trailing behind, nothing but quiet all around, the occasional swish of the bow splitting a swell.... Perfect.
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4.30.2008 - 7:45 Nayarit Time (MDT)
Well, timing, timing. I was very much relaxing earlier today, and then started thinking that I'd rather get to Isla Isabela than go all the way to Mazatlan, so I started motor-sailing and have been cruising along at 7 knots since 3 or 4pm. Chemistry, for some reason probably related to the in-boom furling, much prefers to be on port tack (that's when the wind is coming over the port (left) rail). So we were cruising along, then engine at only 2k RPM, with the wind at a relative 30 degrees off the port side (as close to the wind as we can point, with help from the motor). This didn't let us point very directly at Isla Isabela, which is directly upwind, so about 30 mins ago I took down all sail and now am motoring right into the fairly light breeze (about 5-7 knots) towards Isla Isabela. However, I'm having second thoughts and will probably just pass by the island in favor of getting to Mazatlan. I don't know - maybe I'll drop anchor for a bit and take a three hour nap, but I need to get to Mazatlan by Friday morning so I can get to the Capitiana (the office of the Port Captain) and check in/out and alter my crew list on the check-out form. I'll be picking up friends Rich and Deb in Mazatlan, and sailing around for a few days, ending up in Cabo, where they'll fly out on the 7th. Since the Capitania is closed Saturday, and adding crew is a pretty big deal, I need to get there quickly. It's a 14-hour sail (at 6.5 knots) from Isla Isabela to Mazatlan, so at the very latest I'd need to leave about 8pm Thursday, and that doesn't leave much room for error. So, in order to ensure I arrive in the daylight to a port I've never been to, it's probably best that I just go through right now.
I'm hoping that I'll be able to raise the sails again soon, but I need to make a little more westing towards Isla Isabela. I'm hoping that as I get more north and more west the winds will get more favorable for my northward leg, as the winds wrap around Cabo San Lucas. In any case, I have plenty of fuel and we're moving along at 5.8 to 6 knots and only 2300 RPM.
I had the fishing gear out all day without a bite. Crazy "Dorado Killer" and all. The "Dorado Killer" is basically a flasher - an old 1-litre Coke bottle that's filled mostly full of water and then dragged behind the boat about 10 feet in front of the squid lure. It's supposed to attract the attention of the top-feeders and then they see the squid. I'm really missing my Cedar Plug, though. That thing killed, literally. Since I lost it to a shark or something big, I don't think I've caught a fish. Well, maybe that Jack Cravalle, yuck.
I passed through a lot of fish and dolphins around 5pm, but the fish weren't interested or were too busy getting away from the dolphins. One fish jumped right by the boat. I didn't see what sort of fish it was, but 3 seconds later it apparently jumped again and rammed right into the boat because we got a good thud.
I'm betting it was a football-sized yellowfin or Jack being chased by a dolphin. So Chemistry helped get that fish eaten, I'm sure. I saw a billed fish jump way in the distance. I'm not sure if it was a swordfish or marlin or what because it was so far away, but it was cool.
It's 8:10 now, about 30 mins past sunset here, and almost totally dark. So I'm going to send this off on the SSB, go to "nighttime mode" on the Nobeltec chart, and get some food and coffee in me.
TT
