It’s Fortunate We Don’t Have Any Plans

because they would keep changing. We were determined to leave PV Monday morning. Rhea came down with a bug Sunday. She was much better Monday but we waited a day to make sure she is up to speed.

Christmas Eve found us with Tournesol and Eleytheria in a time-share overlooking the bay and city lights. A traditional dinner was served except the time-share didn’t have an oven and none of our boats had ovens that could handle a turkey over 10 pounds. We agreed that chicken would work. We stayed until midnight playing cards and enjoying the company.

Christmas Day was celebrated with friends from La Paz on Persistence. They are cruising long term with 13 year old twins. One of each gender. The boy seems to be enjoying the cruise. He is into computers and helping with the boat. The young lady misses her friends and playing sports, which are a big part of her life. Her big gift was some calling cards so she can call her friends. Until this fall the children have spent their whole life in rural northern California. The kids were not only very polite, they handled us old adults very well. A visiting older daughter who is getting her masters in accounting rounded out this fine family.

We went to another marina for Christmas dinner at a cruisers yacht club. About 60 people attended. Pot luck; cook your main course on their barbeque. We ran into Dream Caper and generally had a great time with good friends and food. How many of you have taken your own plates, silverware, main course and a large side dish to Christmas dinner on a bus? The cruising adventure continues with interesting people and situations being one of the best features.

Vagari will leave PV Tuesday with the morning tide. We plan to enjoy sailing in the bay with perhaps a side trip north to San Blas. We will be out a week or two and expect to have occasional access to the Internet.

Kev and I forgot to take pictures Christmas night, you'll have to settle for the day after. 

Brunch at Mark & Melanie's 

Emily and her baby furniture 

Christmas morning inside her Santa gift. 

Enjoying her cake from Carter's 1st birthday. Hope you two enjoy the pictures! 

Yes, Emily is sucking on Corona bottle in honor of you Grandpa! 

Matthew / Courtney's Birthday 

We Have No Plans & We Are Sticking To Them

P.V. is proving to be a really difficult place to leave. First ordering the new autopilot is taking longer than planned and second, friends from previous ports keep arriving and we want to spend some time with them. We just spent the better part of a day with Pam and Scott on Tournesol (Something about the sun in French) and had a really great time. They have a time share just a couple of miles from our dock. We spent the afternoon at their pool/beach/hot tub and condo (see http://www.blindsailing.com/ for more on Pam and Scott). Then we went to our extraordinary dinner place out in the county. For $9.00 US you get more fresh shrimp, lobster and fish and side dishes than even I can eat.

Our friends on Eleytheria (Freedom in Greek I’m told) are due in today. They will be good for at least another week.

We started the day by taking the bus to Paradise Village Hotel & Marina to check on our marina reservations and enjoy a first class resort setting. We took a water taxi back. The bus took 45 minutes - the water taxi took less than 25. We rode back with a crewmember from a 95-foot luxury yacht. He spends the winters here and the summers in the Puget Sound area. We were in a 21-foot open boat with a huge Honda outboard. Neither of the taxi crew spoke a word of English but they could handle that boat. We had to put on life jackets when we went by the Port Captains office, “it’s the rules”. Of course by then we are in the harbor 25 feet from shore doing 6 kms/hr as opposed to 60 kms/hr and a mile out a few minutes before. Cruising is about sailing in warm waters and exotic anchorages for sure but the fascinating people and situations are the frosting on the cake.

Riding the busses and shopping for groceries with they locals is always interesting. We can ride all around Puerto Vallarta 4 pesos (36 cents) each. Often a musician will perform for just the small change that he may be given by the riders. The stores are full of interesting products and people. Vagari is less than two miles from Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. They have the same lunch deal as Costco. The Hotdog Pack for 35 pesos gets a large hotdog; large drink and large French fries covered with cheese and way too much salt. All the US condiments are available plus some Mexican ones like hot peppers and salsa. A pizza pack is also sold for the same price. We can be lazy, take a bus to downtown stop at Sam’s on the way back, have lunch, take a bus back, see some live entertainment and only spend 4 US dollars a head. Did I mention that the weather is ideal, the people are gracious and the views are magnificent? Yes it’s hard to leave PV.

Continuing on the food theme, our favorite restaurant on the malecon is Victors Place. It’s at least a ½ mile away at the other end of the malecon. This means that we will walk over a mile just getting dinner. That has got to be worth a dessert, right? Great fresh seafood dinners complete with an after dinner liqueur for under $7.00. Beer is 10 pesos and comes with a shot of tequila. You can sit outside on the malecon with a beautiful view of the harbor with the city lights and jungle-covered mountains behind. I’m not sure I remember why we want to leave PV.

It's Official

Vagari's crew likes grape juice

Crossing into the Tropics

Enjoying a good passage

Enjoying a good passage

Taken from SeaDreams during the crossing 4 of 4

Taken from SeaDreams during the crossing 3 of 4

Taken from SeaDreams during the crossing 2 of 4

Taken from SeaDreams during the crossing 1 of 4

Rhea set the table at sea

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. We are going to sea until about January 2.

All Rhea wants for her birthday and Christmas is a couple of weeks at sea or in anchorages, and by the way a new autopilot would be nice.

We are enjoying Puerto Vallarta with all the advantages of a big city. But it’s hard to keep them on the farm after they have been in the beautiful anchorages of the West coast of Mexico. So its time to hit the waves.

Before we started looking at boats to cruise in, Rhea made it clear that we needed two autopilots on any boat we purchased. She is a very capable driver but driving is very taxing after an hour or two and diminishes the enjoyment of sailing. Vagari had only one autopilot. It was broken when we tried to use it last summer. We had it fixed and were assured it was everything we needed.

We did get it to work this cruise under certain conditions but when we really needed an autopilot it didn’t work. So I had a cruiser who sells and installs autopilots look at our setup. He gave me a quick course in Vagari’s brand of autopilots. When we are out this time we will work on learning to use this autopilot, which is completely different than the three autopilots I have used on other sailboats.

We are also ordering a new unit, which should be installed by late January. The two units will be completely independent of each other.

Banderas Bay is one of the great cruising areas on this coast of Mexico with predictable wind speed and direction. Puerto Vallarta is at the head of the Bay. The North side of bay has several cruiser friendly anchorages. The south side of the bay is beautiful with the jungle coming right down to the ocean. However, there are no really safe anchorages on this side because the mountains come right out of the water. The water is very deep just 100 feet from the shore. The south shore is a great place for lunch but not to spend the night.

It’s time to enjoy this bay and get some relaxed fun sailing time without having to get to a distant anchorage before nightfall. We will have occasional access to the Internet and will keep you updated.

So the crew of Vagari wishes you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Crossing Back to the Mainland

December 9, 2004, 20 Degrees 39 Minutes North 105 Degrees 15 Minutes West, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Water Temperature 80, Air around high 80’s. Trip total from Fraillies to P.V. 297 n.m;. Average speed 5.8 kts.

Life is good in Puerto Vallarta. We are in the Municipal Harbor, which is used by cruise ships. We are about 3 miles from downtown. Hi-rise condos/time-share buildings surround the basin we are in. There is a Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club across from the cruise ship terminal, a mile away. The malecon around the basin is lined with shops and restaurants. You can buy a time-share within 40 feet of any place on the malecon.

The trip from the Bay of the Dead to our jump off point, Frailes, was only 42 miles and uneventful except for the fact that we crossed the Tropic of Cancer and therefore officially entered the tropics. A brief celebration was held on board complete with boat-made party hats and grape juice.

The weather forecast for the crossing to the mainland was winds 15-25 kts from the North for a couple of days then a stronger northern system moving in for several more days. We discussed it with several other boats and all decided to leave. This time we were the last to leave.

The wind was at the top end of the forecast and the waves were 4 to 6 feet with an occasional 8 footer. They came from two different directions. We were all uncomfortable. The real problem was that autopilot could not handle the seas and would not work. In fact Bob and I were challenged holding the course. Bob or I had to steer the boat around the clock. Rhea tried to take a shift at the start of the second night but she wasn’t strong enough to hold us on course. She did sit with me.

Just after midnight the second night we passed the Tres Marias Islands and the wind and waves calmed down but the autopilot still wouldn’t work but the steering didn’t require much muscle..

The five boats that left together kept a radio schedule and we talked every hour or two hours depending on the time of day. A real comfort when its pitch black and you can’t see anything beyond the boat. The second afternoon we hooked up with a boat that was going the same speed and same destination we were. We took each other’s pictures in the morning. We followed him thru a short cut that they had used before into Banderas bay.

Banderas Bay/ Puerto Vallarta is a wonderful place to spend some time in the winter and we plan to do just that.

Passage to Ensenada de Los Muertors

December 4, 2004, B.C.S.

The wind was blowing fairly strong when we woke up on departure day. A strong tide was running the same direction as the wind. Two other boats said they were leaving that morning so I decided to go. Backing up Vagari is always exciting and today due to the wind and tide running across our beam was no exception. We backed within a foot of a piling put it in forward and took off. Another skipper complemented our smooth departure. I don’t think he was looking at Vagari.

Lots of eyeballs on board meant an easy trip through the harbor channel. The wind kept increasing however. By the time we were far enough north to turn east the wind and waves kept our speed down to 3 kts or less. The ladies were uncomfortable. We needed to average 5.5 kts arrive at the first possible anchorage in daylight. Once we turned south we put out our big headsail. We flew along at 7 kts. The ladies took naps; Bob and I enjoyed the sail. We dropped anchor 15 minutes after sunset in twilight in Ensenada de Los Muertors (the Bay of the Dead).

In the morning Bob and I took the dinghy to checkout the Giggling Marlin Beach and Yacht Club. We ordered drinks and decided to get the ladies. We couldn’t get the outboard started, no problem we had oars. One oar went overboard. Bob and I both went to get it and promptly went swimming. Great fun.

Meanwhile up at the “Yacht” club a fine example of American youth was passed out on the sand in front of the club. A young lady was trying to do handstands on his chest. Unusual for sure especially when you consider that she felt is necessary to do this without a top on. Of course it was ugly, Bob and I could barely stand to look. However we want to understand different culture experiences so we had to observe the local customs.

Lunch with the ladies was enjoyable and we got to meet another couple. She explained to us that she had her own set of morals and didn’t take her top off when children were around.

Bob and I like the bay of the dead.