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From: Phil Sherwood (no email)
Date: Sun Feb 29 2004 - 23:23:14 EST
Am back from a few weeks of cruising in Mexico; am posting this to the list
at the request of another list member. Hope you find it interesting.
Briefly, around Jan 21 or so I hooked up with my son and two of his friends
and his 32' light-displacement Brandlmayr sloop (plywood/epoxy
construction) in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, where we hung out for
a couple of weeks. Part of that time included a run over to Isla Espiritu
Santo and Isla Partida for a bit of fishing and general exploration, and
part of the time included just living on the hook in La Paz harbor while my
son made a quick trip back up to Seattle to get a replacement autopilot and
attend to some personal business.
We got the new autopilot installed without undue difficulty the day after
his return and then set out across the Sea of Cortez in the general
direction of Puerto Vallarta. There had been some pretty strong northerly
winds for a day before we left so when we actually got out into the larger
Bahia La Paz we saw 6-8 ft seas and probably 15-20 knot winds for the first
day or so. Not unusual in global terms, but a bit more than usual for that
area at that time of year. We'd already double reefed the main, though, so
no sweat handling the conditions. We headed down Cerralvo Channel, then
bore off to the southeast toward Islas Tres Marias, on the other side of
the Sea of Cortez.
The winds and seas calmed down within a day or so, and we actually shook
out the reefs and set the spinnaker and were able to sail for probably 2
days or more without having to change sails or even adjust the trim
significantly -- maybe just a little tweak of the spinnaker here or there
if the wind shifted around slightly, but that's about it. Dream sailing,
although it got quite slow as we passed by Islas Tres Marias because the
wind dropped to almost nothing and we didn't want to start the engine if we
could possibly avoid it (fuel conservation and also the esthetic difference
between sailing, with the sounds of the wind and the water, and motoring,
with the noise and vibration of the Atomic 4).
Didn't catch any fish on the way across, but on two different occasions we
did see big marlin leaping out of the water, perhaps half a dozen times
each before becoming tired, seemingly getting six or seven feet of air on
their first few jumps. We also saw a big sea turtle and a huge marlin
swimming slowly at the surface, just off the port beam. Much speculation
and amusement about the wild ride we'd have gone on had we somehow managed
to hook that magnificent beast.
We got to Bahia Banderas with no problem and first anchored just off Punta
de Mita, at the tip of the point that forms the northern edge of the bay.
Many great surf spots all along there and just around the point heading up
toward Sayulita a little ways. Right after we anchored we were visited by a
huge whale (I don't know what kind), gliding along the surface not 25 yards
off our transom. Extremely impressive and awe-inspiring. We hung at Punta
de Mita, a very cool and only very lightly developed area (one building of
condos, but no fancy hotels and only a few decidedly Mexican-style
beachfront restaurants) for several days, mostly surfing and fishing, then
headed a little further along the north coast of Bahia Banderas to an
anchorage just off La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. Interesting and pleasant place,
but not much surf there. From either place (Punta de Mita or La Cruz) one
can easily get to Nuevo Vallarta or to supermarkets in Puerto Vallarta for
provisioning by inexpensive and frequent local buses. Yep, there's a huge
Wal-Mart and Sam's Club right by the cruise ship docks a couple miles north
of Puerto Vallarta Centro. And lots of other American brands -- McDonald's
the most obvious among them -- all over the place as well.
I checked out a few boats for sale in Nuevo Vallarta -- a vast
mega-development that apparently seeks to provide a completely American
environment, complete with slick, glossy shopping mall and expensive
supermarkets, restaurants, housing, and marina and American prices, or
higher -- then a day or two later signed off my son's boat and spent the
last week or so of my time in Mexico exploring Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan
by foot, before catching the ferry back to La Paz and, ultimately, a flight
back to the States from Los Cabos airport.
I happened to catch the last few days of Carnaval (what we'd call Mardi
Gras) in Mazatlan and La Paz. That was, uh, interesting. Parades, much
selling of food, beer, trinkets, etc., in the streets, music (much of it
incredibly loud) 'til 2 am, and wall-to-wall people. In Mazatlan the big
parade on Sunday reminded me of the Rose Parade in Pasadena, with people
staking out sidewalk and curbside turf early in the morning, then grimly
fending off the multitudes through hours and hours of hot sun so as to have
choice seats when the festivities finally began.
All in all a great trip. I especially liked La Paz, a relatively mellow
place and one that does not especially seek to exploit tourism. As one
person explained to me, they have no interest in being another Cabo San
Lucas. It's also cruiser central -- a great place to anchor, get parts and
repairs (several excellent boatyards available) and a full range of
provisions, and enjoy the amenities of a nice place without too much of the
usual BS. Hot as hell in the summer, though, and as we know vulnerable to
hurricanes. Damage from Hurricane Marty was very evident -- missing and
splintered docks, still a few sunken boats around and a few hulls blown up
onto the beaches in a few spots, and a lot of boats getting rig,
fiberglass, and paint repairs in the yards. The local folks are getting
after it little by little, though, and will in due course have everything
repaired/replaced.
Puerto Vallarta is also very nice -- a bit more tropical, thus a bit warmer
and more humid, but many very pretty buildings kind of flowing down out of
the ravines and toward the beach. Pretty, I guess, if you like, as I do,
whitewashed walls, wrought iron, tile roofs, and lots of bougainvillea.
True, there's a big commercial part of the city, to the north a bit, that
includes big box stores and other usual urban stuff that isn't much
different from anywhere else, and a big part of the city, perhaps most of
it, is based on the tourist trade. The resort hotels, which abound in PV
(and Mazatlan) aren't for me, but the beaches are available to everyone,
and it is eminently possible to find some very pleasant and comfortable and
affordable hotels, bars, and restaurants not all that far off the beaten track.
I could go on for much longer, but there's a bit of a view anyway. Now, to
figure out how to get back down there next year ...
Cheers,
Phil Sherwood
San Juan Island WA
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