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.

Life in La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico

November 26, 2004, La Paz, B.C.S.

We had a great sail/motor sail Monday down to La Paz. Nice wind and moderate waves. The channel into the harbor is full of twist and turns. We didn’t have any problems but it was interesting. We went in and out of San Diego harbor without thinking. Here we had to have one of us manning the binoculars on the bow looking for buoys telling the person steering where to turn. The driver has to track our progress on the chart to make sure we are following the right buoys. Great fun if you are into navigation like I am. Rhea can handle either position. She is becoming a real sailor.

I was in this marina in ’99. Fourteen months ago it and almost all the vessels in it were completely destroyed by hurricane Marty. Like the first class San Carlos marina, this marina is owned and operated by former Americans who are now Mexican citizens. They have completely rebuilt the marina and have done a great job.

I spent five hours Tuesday morning doing the Mexican check into port paperwork. I had to do this personally because I have to get an import permit for Vagari. Vagari is not completely legal yet but we are close.

Tuesday night we had a formal dinner in a very fancy restaurant. Well deserved after many days at sea.

Wednesday we explored the area around the marina and the downtown area. We have a fold up bicycle that we used all day. I rode around looking for parts, groceries and good restaurants. Rhea rode the beautiful Malecon (boardwalk) and checked out the fancy shops in the upscale part of downtown. The Malecon runs along the bay front for two or three miles starting just a block from the marina.

Wednesday night we went to a local restaurant that has a weekly jamfest for cruiser musicians. Some of the players/singers we very good, some weren’t. We sat at an interesting table. The couple from the sailboat right next to us is, we think, in their early 30’s. They are from San Francisco. They are starting a circumnavigation. Not all that unusual in our little world of cruisers. Except for the fact that they are both legally blind!

Hard to believe. Check out their website http://www.blindsailing.com/. Having said all that, they are really neat people. We hope we can spend more time with them. On our other side was a young married couple (under 30). She is from Sydney, Australia he is from the San Francisco. They met on Catalina Island California. He worked for the harbor patrol and she was a sailing instructor at a kid’s camp on the island. I first saw them in the Port Captains Office. A fun, interesting couple to share dinner and drinks with. The third couple is also planning on going all the way around. They are much more like us in age and background.

La Paz has a population of about 425,000 and is the capital of the state that covers southern half of the Baja. It is not a tourist town, but we have seen a couple of nice hotels. There is only one road that comes down the Baja into town. It’s a two-lane twisting road that should only be driven during the daylight hours because cows wander onto the road. La Paz is also supplied by a daily ferry from mainland Mexico. Baja California Sur (B.C.S.) has the lowest population density of any state in Mexico.

We are sorry we couldn’t invite you for Thanksgiving dinner. We are sure you understand. Because of our tight space limitations we had to limit our guest list to 147 of our very closest friends. The cruisers club held Thanksgiving dinners at another marina. You bring a side dish, your plate, utensils and chairs if you can and they provide the main course. We went with friends from our dock and enjoyed ourselves. But we did miss our family.

Sunset 3 of 3 Partida Cove

Sunset 2 of 3

Partida Sunset 1 of 3

Partida Cove 5 of 5

Partida Cove 4 of 5 Rhea Walking

Partida Cove 3 of 5 Vagari Anchored

Partida Cove 2 of 5

Partida Cove 1 of 5

Sunset at Isla Partida Cove

Vagari Anchored at Isla Partida

Beach at Isla Partida Cove

Coastline South of Punta Evaristo

Sunrise at Punta Evaristo Anchorage

Agua Verde Anchorage

Another Boat In Agua Verde Anchorage

Anchored at Punta Perico, East Coast of Isla Carman B.C.S. Mexico

Lighthouse, Abandoned Town

Bay Behind Punta Perico

Leaving Chivato 2 of 2 Typical Coastline

Leaving Chivato Typical Coastline 1 of 2

1st Sunset

1st Sunrise 2nd shot

1st Sunrise

cruising [krooz ing] verb- present participle (1) Repairing your boat in exotic anchorages

Pancho, the gentleman who takes care of Vagari during our summer absence, told us that when he tried to start the outboard before our arrival that it wouldn’t start so he took it to the shop. A few days later he told us that the engine needed some major work. It was due back the day before we planned to leave. So we don’t see Pancho until the day after we are scheduled to leave.

During the check out in front of Pancho a part of the electrical system flew off and damaged the spark generating system. As luck would have it, the broken part was not available in the San Carlos/Guaymas area. It would take two weeks to get the part from the US. So we left without it. Pancho will hopefully ship the repaired motor to us in La Paz.

Next the windless, the device that raises the anchor broke a couple of days out. This is of some interest to me since I now have to pull the anchor up by hand. The chain weighs one pound per foot and the anchor weighs 44 pounds. We typically put out 100 feet of chain when we anchor.

What happened was that the “key” that transfers the load from the drive shaft to the winch broke. We didn’t have a spare but we stole from Peter to pay Paul and made another one. That broke during the first test because the clutch was frozen. So we fixed the clutch and made another key. The windless now appears to be working.

We were in an exotic anchorage when we made this repair.

Headed for the Barn

November 21, 2004; 24 Degrees 32.01’North 110 Degrees 22.51’ West; Water Temperature 80 High Cloud Cover Air only mid 70’s; Partida Island, B. C. S. Mexico.

We have worked our way down the coast. We are now just 25 n.m. from La Paz where, starting tomorrow afternoon, we will spend two weeks enjoying the capital of Baja California Sur, a marina and our fellow cruisers. Rhea reminds me that we have not even seen a store in well over two weeks.

We keep a notebook of items that we want to buy in the next port; items that we want guests to bring down; and items that we want to bring from home on the next trip. I was reviewing the list today and noted the second item on the “bring from home” list is “Whole House”. Perhaps after 16 nights in 10 different anchorages and about 300 n. m. under the keel Rhea is ready for La Paz. So am I. Cruising is not like camping but we do miss some of the comforts of shore life. Not to mention that Rhea has been out of wine for several days.

I don’t have a clue about what the readers of this blog would like to read and see. I could send a travel log with great sunset/sunrises, beautiful anchorages and coastline shots every day. So if you would like something different than these first few posts please let me know. I will do what I can to make this blog interesting.

Stan

Cruising

November 17, 2004; 24 Degrees 54.79’North 110 Degrees 42.18’ West; Water Temperature 78 Air about the same during the day; Punta Evaristo, B. C. S. Mexico.

From San Juanico we went to the east side of largest island in the Sea or Cortez, Isla Carman. We had the very large anchorage to ourselves. There is an abandoned town there that serviced a sea salt production area. The salt “pans” have been abandoned and so has the town. We didn’t get to explore the area because we anchored too far away. We chose our anchorage because strong west winds were predicted. We did kayak a bit and I climbed a hill next to our anchorage and took some photos of Vagari. At sunset the wind came from the southeast. We were exposed from that direction so I stayed in the cockpit until midnight when the winds went west.

The next day we went to Agua Verde. We had an uneventful motor trip with perhaps an hour of sailing but we had beautiful scenery all day. The shoreline reminds us of the Grand Canyon with horizontal bands of different colored rock.

A good sailing friend from San Diego had given us a video he had taken in Agua Verde. It was his favorite anchorage in the Sea so we were eager to check it out. Once again, it was the most spectacular anchorage to date.

We spent the next day enjoying Agua Verde and then off to Punta Gato (Cat Point). In the afternoon our friends on Dream Caper anchor next to us. A local fisherman/diver/entrepreneur offers to provide whatever Dream Caper wanted from the sea. We placed our order and in three hours received 2.5 kilos of very fresh lobsters for dinner on Dream Caper. If we told you how much we paid you would cry, but we did not charge him for the 4 AA batteries he wanted.

Rhea takes over.

So we meet our friends again! We decided to have a lobster dinner together. As previously mentioned our outboard motor is being “fixed” so we kayaked over to Dream Caper for the evening. Had a great dinner, Steve barbecued the lobster tails. We brought wine and vegetables and some beer. Had a great time – such interesting and nice people. Very different from Stan and I. At 9 PM we decided to call it a night. You haven’t lived until you tried to board a kayak from a catamaran in the pitch-black night. Stan gives his usual great instructions so I immediately tip over and go swimming. The water was great. I finally got into the kayak and gave Stan the same great instructions. It was a joke but – he thought his idea was basically good if properly executed Ha, ha! He went in also and we laughed all the way back to Vagari.

The Crossing 

Starting Down The Baja

November 11, 2004 26 22.09’N 111 25.79’W North anchorage in beautiful San Juanico, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

At first light we were off in 10 to 15 kts wind from the west. We sailed for a short time without the motor. Then the wind went dead behind us and increased to 25 kts as the sun got higher in the clear sky. So we motored with the main up for most of the 45 miles down the desolate barren coast. No houses or roads but we did see an abandon magnesium mine that looked like a fort.

The ride was too rough for a really pleasant ride. Punta Pulpito (Pulpit) is rock knob 475’ high connected to the Baja by a low flat ridge that gives protection from north or northwest winds. Just what we needed. The anchorage had flat water but the wind roared over the low flat ridge. I slept in the cockpit until the wind calmed down. A cruiser on one of the evening ham radio nets told us he was just 10 miles further down the Baja in protected, gorgeous, large anchorage.

So… dawn we were motoring southeast to San Juanico. By 9:30 AM we were anchored in the best anchorage we have been in to date with two other cruisers. One of them a big catamaran named Dream Caper was on our dock in San Carlos. They left three days before us. The other vessel was an Islander 41 Harmony, the guy we talked to on the radio the previous night. We all ended up having dinner together on the cat. We had a very pleasant evening.

We have always been told that meeting fellow cruisers was the best part of cruising. We also made some good friends in San Carlos that we will meet again down the road.

San Juanico is a collection of anchorages in a small bay off several long sandy beaches in shallow water. We are anchored in only 13 feet of water at low tide. This is the prettiest anchorage we have been in to date.

We will stay put for an extra day hoping the northwest winds calm down.

The Crossing

November 8, 2004 27 degrees 3.94’ North 111 degrees 57.7’ West - Tucked behind Punta Chaivato

The voyage from the Mexican mainland to the Baja is 72 nautical (kt) miles or 84 statue miles. Vagari can cruise at 7 kts but we usually average 5 to 6 kts so we know we can’t make the crossing in daylight in November.

So… we left our marina at 4 PM on Saturday night and anchored in Catch 22 Bay (the movie was made there) in a spot we know we can safely leave in the pitch black (90% cloud cover ¼ moon low in the eastern sky). The anchor was up at 2:30 AM and we were underway.

As we motored off shore the wind came up and we had 25 kts from the North West with lumpy seas. We put out the big headsail after a couple of hours and the boat settled down and picked up a kt in speed. We had a few brief rain showers early, which gave us a glorious sunrise complete with rainbows. Pictures will follow. The crossing was pleasant but long. We motor sailed all the way. The temperature was cool in the early morning but was in the 70’s during the day. The wind never got above 25 but was below 10 at times. Seas were lumpy all day.

Trip totals: 73 Kt mi.; time 13:12; average speed 5.5 kts.

The anchorage behind Punta Chaivato is the best we have ever seen. Very calm water, good sand bottom at 20’ and beautiful.

We stayed the next day to rest and enjoy the anchorage. During our noon swim (the water is 78 degrees) I checked Vagari’s bottom, which was clean, however the prop was completely covered with barnacles. A dirty prop cuts efficiency drastically and accounts for our slow average speed considering the wind we had. I removed most of them with a putty knife. We will work on it more at our next anchorage.

Next a 45 kt. mi. sail down the coast to Punta Pulpito.

From Rhea;

Now…the rest of the story. The crossing was lumpy, but good preparation for that which followed. The trip to Punta Pulpito was quite rough, white caps all the way. The wind was considerable, and directly behind us, so it was difficult to sail. We left the main sail up for stability. The anchorage was a welcome sight, but although the seas were rather calm, the wind was considerable. Stan decided to sleep on deck and stayed there until things calmed down shortly before midnight. I think I am getting to be a better sailor because I made it through this without thoughts of mutiny. The best friend a crewmember can have is a good paperback book to get ones mind off of the situation!!! Anyway, better times were waiting the next day when we moved to another anchorage less than ten miles away. I’ll let Stan continue.

Good By San Carlos

The tanks are full, the course is calculated (211 degrees magnetic), the weather is good, the crew has recovered from the adios’s last night. We are just waiting for our friend Pancho to show up with our repaired outboard and we are going to clear one of the fuel filter cases. Should slip the lines before sunset.

We expect the next Internet access we will have will be in La Paz about 11/22.

Stan and Rhea

Preparing Vagari

The drive down was uneventful. The only excitement was getting thru Mexican customs, which we did without declaring anything. We had to lower the tailgate on the truck to get everything on. Sooner or later we will get caught. The boat was clean, thanks to Pancho, the man we hire to take care of her during the hot summer hurricane season.

It takes days of work to get the boat ready for sea. Before we leave in the spring we take the sails and everything else below that we can, cover all the working parts with old canvas, cover all the ports with aluminum foil, cover the hatches, wheel, instrument cluster, compass, solar panels, remove the wind generator, replace the halyards (4) with small sacrificial “tag lines”, prepare the engine for a long period of inactivity, close all the thru hull fittings, shut down/drain the propane system, shut off the refrigeration system and clean the freezer and refrigerator, drain the water tanks, fill the fuel tank, run the outboard and generator dry, chain Vagari to the dock pilings and say good by to other cruisers in the local cantinas. Vagari is in an area that has been hit by hurricanes so we prepare her for the worst. In the fall we reverse this process plus install whatever goodies we purchased for the boat and repair whatever needs fixing.

As cruisers we are not driven by work schedules as we have been for the last four decades. We plan to go where the wind blows, when the weather is favorable. The hurricane season is “officially” over on Monday November 1st. As luck would have it the forecast for Monday from my favorite forecaster is for 40 knot sustained winds with higher gusts from the northwest. So we have a few more days to get ready and to enjoy San Carlos and meet and learn from the experienced cruisers.

Vagari anchored 15 miles North of San Carlos