Knocking about Banderas Bay

Bahí de Banders really is a beautiful patch of water.  We spent the better part of a week sailing around in it.  In the mornings the wind is usually light and out of the south but as the day progresses it clocks around to the north.  So there is usually a favorable wind direction at some point of the day and with a little forethought one can usually avoid a lot of tacking and dead runs.  So mostly it’s reaching in gentle, warm winds and gentle seas.  A sailors paradise.  

It was named Bahí de Banders, “Flag Bay” in the 15th century by the conquering Spanish who were met by twenty thousand flag carrying indigenous Aztatlans that tried in vain to defend their land against; one padre, one hundred Spanish soldiers and a hand full of infectious deceases.  That didn’t end well for the Aztatlans, 90% of the native population was wiped out.  It hurt my heart to read of such a staggering defeat and genocide.  This place if so beautiful, I wonder what the Aztatlans culture was like then and what it may have evolved into.  Sadly we’ll never know.  



We went back to Punta de Mita and hooked up with an old friend and made some new ones as well as practiced our surf landings.  Timing our landings between sets of 3’ high breaking waves.  



We also tried SUP surfing again which for me it basically practicing falling off my board in new and different ways.  Expanding my repertoire!



There was a 37’ sailboat high up up on the beach at the end of the point this time.  The result of an inattentive skipper attempting a night time approach to the anchorage. Bummer!  One of our marina neighbors in La Cruz, Joe on Sherpa, had participated in the initial rescue attempt by a group of 9 sailors who ventured from La Cruz & Puerto Vallarta in the middle of the night.  The boat was already hard aground by the time they arrived but they were able to remove all the diesel fuel, from the stricken vessel, thus preventing a potential spill.  They are trying to workout a salvage operation to save the boat.

We ended up back at the anchorage at La Cruz where we were careful to keep our peros out of the pool which was actually pretty easy as we don’t have any peros.  When I was taking the above photo, a woman who was near by told me that in her home town, on the last day of the season, the pool is open just for dogs.  She had a small, toyish dog with her.  I asked her if her dog enjoy it.  She said no; “the pool on that day tends to get taken over by Labrador retrievers”.  Oh those Labs…



We hooked up with more boating friends when we took in the fabulous La Cruz Sunday Market and shopped for gifts for loved ones and friends back home.  



Most evenings in the bay settle down wave and wind wise to present calm nights and beautiful sunsets.  One of the many simple pleasure that make sailing in Bahí de Banders a real treat.  

Heard in the middle of night on Malo:

  B: The toilet is glowing.

  D: Hun

  B: The toilet is all bright and sparkling.  

  D: Oh

  B: You should really see this…

  D: Oh wow, that's amazing, it’s looks like the 4th of July in our toilet bowl!

Bioluminescence and simple pleasures on a boat.

Accidental Yelapa & Whale Songs

We left La Cruz harbor in the morning while it was calm and easy to get out of the tight slip ways of the marina. We then anchored just outside of the harbor in order to wait for the day’s wind to fill in.  While we were waiting we dove in to clean Malo’s bottom and to cool off after all the activity of the morning.  I was underwater cleaning the hull when something gradually crept into my conscious, a beautiful, melodic sound, that was both soft and pervasive.  It took me a few moments to realize what I was hearing.  Something that I’ve been listing for my whole adult life but never heard before in the wild.  Whale songs.  I’ve heard recording of them but this was the first time I’ve ever heard them in their natural environment and that was so thrilling.  I had to hold my breath and have my head underwater in order to hear them.  What I heard sounded like at least two whales doing a duet and it’s was amazingly beautiful.  

A little bit later, after the hull was cleaned the wind started to come up, so we hoist the main sail and started to raise the anchor.  As we were up at the bow doing that a young Mahi Mahi about 2’ long came by and made several circles around our bow only about two feet a way.  What a beautiful fish.  It was the first time I’ve ever seen a live Mahi Mahi.  Another thrill.  

Soon after we got under way we sailed through a pod of 6 to 8 dolphin that were busy hunting.  And, and, and then we saw a large pod of whales feeding only a few hundred feet away.  Perhaps they are some of the ones that we heard singing earlier.  

We had a great sail to Boca De Tomatán but unfortunately when we got there the anchorage was just to sketchy and ill defined for my comfort.  It was way deep, off soundings until we got quite near the beach, too near for my comfort too.  There was one spot that seemed doable but another boat was already there.  So I did the conservative thing and turned tail and scooted out of the bay.  We headed east to Yelapa which tuned out to be an amazing consolation prize.  

We took a morning right next to the beach in 120’ of water and then settled in to enjoy a nice dinner of fresh Ahi tuna from this morning’s fish market.  



Yelapa is a beautiful little village located on a steep hill on the side a bay that is split by a river.  Everyone who lives there enjoys an ocean view from their homes.  The river that passes thorough Yelapa is their water source and a beautiful waterfall sits at the top of the village.

Yelapa itself is populated by a collective of indigenous folks that received a land grant from the King of Spain in 1581.  There are no roads that get to Yelapa.  The only way in or out is by boat which is usually small pangas that work the coast of Mexico.  

The folks here support themselves via tourism and by making and selling hand crafts along with some fishing.  The land is owned collectively by the community with no one owning “private” property.  

Frita made an appearance, of course…

Frita Koho, looking at us, we look back and see what?  I know what I see; a beautiful, strong and highly creative woman.  A woman who is looking outward at the same time she’s looking inward but is that what others see, maybe not… I wonder?

I also wonder what it must be like living in a village where one’s family and connection to the place go back over 400 years.  What story they have and the changes they have seen mostly from the outside.  

We hiked up to the waterfall at the top of the village.  It looked there might be some sort of pond or reservoir up there that feed the water fall and also the whole village of Yelapa as there are several dozen 1” water pipes leading down from there that followed the cobblestone walking trail back down into the village.  They are all drinking out of the same pond.  That must impart some deep and readily apparent bond also.  We all breath the same air, you, me and everyone else on our planet, but are we aware of that…? 



Sharing a heritage, sharing bloodlines, sharing land, sharing water, sharing air…
…all in tiny Yelapa…me thinks that we have much to learn from these people in the “huge” USA….

And, and, and… last night we set the alarm and got up to see the Southern Cross Constellation just over the horizon, which is equivalent of Ursa Minor and the north star, Polaris.  Another first for me!

One last taste of La Cruz...

This morning we paddled out of the harbor and up to a point west of us to do some snorkeling.  It was a bit cloudy bit still and perhaps because of that it was a remarkable session.  We glided over sting rays, their diamond shapes just barley discernible in the sandy bottom with just their eyes poking up.  They would startle as we passed over and glided off in a smooth but hurried hover away from us.  The sandy bottom captured and mirrored the motion of the waves above looking like so many other wave forms.  Near the shore the waters turbulence raised some slit that made the scene look like the beginnings of a sand storm over the desert as seen from a airplane.  

As we approached the rocky point we saw more fish, some pufferfish, a few parrotfish.  Then on the reef we saw lots of sea urchins and some live coral.  It struck me how very different sea-life was from land lifeforms, so alien.  It’s hard to believe that is what we evolved from.  If that’s where we came from and I believe that it is, I wonder where were are headed evolutionary wise as a species?  We might have to get off of this planet to find that out and in order to do that we’re going to first have survive this planet.  Along with an amazing array of highly evolved and specialized life on our planet it also has a long list of evolutionary dead ends.  After causing so much extinction, our species may be in the unique position to think our way out of it's own extinction, or not…



A bit later, back in the harbor and back on land, we went to the Sunday, harbor-side market in La Cruz today to pick up some fresh veggies and anything else that looked good.  

It turned out to be a happening scene with live music, lots of arts & crafts and plenty of savory food.  It's a crazy mixed up world that we're living in.  Sometimes it's best just to relax and enjoy the music...

Tomorrow morning we head out to spend a week exploring some of the smaller anchorages and harbors in Banderas Bay.  Depending on the wind we’ll probably start at Boca de Tomatlán, then Quimixto and on to Yelapa and possibly back to Punta Mita.  

Frida Kahlo lives…

…on in the hearts of the people of Mexico.  Her image can be found almost everywhere around here.  Her strong life lived out-loud and powerfully expressed, vividly echoes forward in time somehow seeming to be amplified as it does or perhaps not so much amplified as appreciated.  Like too many artist she lived a life that was all too short, dying when she was only 47.  The candle that burnt twice as bright burnt only half as long...



One never knows where she might pop up, which for me has been great fun.  She is such a powerful artist that even in death she seems to have transact the populist kitsch that embraces her.  



Turn a corner and she's the centerpiece of a new mural on a large new building.   



Turn another corner and she's adoring a small street corner café.  



Turn again onto the malecon and of course, she's there too, being painted anew...  

Trátala como a un criminal, como una traicionera, una mujer terrorista, feminista, mexicana, condenada, peligrosa, pistolera...

Frida Kahlo may your spirit live ever onward...

Day Trip to Puerto Vallarta

We traveled by land to Puerto Vallarta yesterday to meet an old high school friend of Bev’s; Denise and her husband Frank who happened to be vacationing there.   It took a two hour bus ride to PV and then a taxi from there to old town Puerto Vallarta and a walk along a bit of the malecon to get there.  The bus ride was rough, two hours of cobblestone while seated on hard plastic seats, riding on a secondary road all made for a bumpy ride but a fine young, talented clown who juggled and road a unicycle made it fun.  



We met Denise & Frank "El muelle de Playa Los Muertos" or the dock at the beach of the dead.  The dock is both a work of art and a functional dock.  



The beach of the dead part stems from a legend about of a battle between pirates and local miners back in the day, after which bodies remained strewn on the beach.  Sounds a lot more gruesome than it's looks today but the Mexican people seem to have a friendly, even playful relationship with death that I don't grock yet but am trying to understand.  Evidence of that cropped up every where we looked as we strolled around old town.

We wove our way around old town checking out the buildings and shops as we went. 



I love the vivid colors of this place which I think speaks volumes about the Mexican people.



We were just four gringos out for...

...boots?  No, these boot were made something but what?  I wondered but couldn't quite figure out what one would do with such footwear.  I've still got a lot to learn...



There are a few foot bridges that crisscross the river between old and new Puerto Vallarta.  Big, el jefe grande, iguanas sunned them selves high up in the tree tops as we wandered below.  



After a delicious lunch in a family restaurant that was situated inside of a family's home we escorted Denise and Frank back to their hotel via the malecon.  

There are a number of sculptures along Puerto Vallarta's malecon.  This one was my favorite and seemed to engender the most participation and joy from the passersby.   

In La Cruz

The marina here continues to have sweet vibe.  Sailing, swimming, snorkeling, SUPing and beach walking has all been wonderful abut after 3 weeks living at various anchorage it’s wonderful to enjoy a strong, hot shower and clean laundry.  Simple pleasures.  

I took a free class in the marina today on using Google Earth to enhance the accuracy of OpenCPN (Open Chart Plotter Navigator) which is is a free software for electronic boating charts.  The project was developed by a team of active sailors to use GPS input data to determine a boat's own position and data from an AIS receivers to plot the positions of ships surrounding boats.
  


There were also two levels of Spanish classes offered today and on other days there are yoga classes and an ongoing seminar about crossing the Pacific.  All for the most part given by sailors for sailors.  

Before that I spent the day rewiring our running lights which had gone out while Bev did a very thorough, bottom to top, cleaning of the boat.

La Cruz is a diamond in the rough, just the way I like my diamonds.  Yesterday evening we strolled around town and I stumbled upon the tree of life, an amazing Huanacaxtle tree in the town's not-so-square square.



Later I came across god’s son.  He was selling tacos not too far from the tree.  He offered me a taco but I was full and politely declined.  He seemed good with that.  

Later we strolled along the Malecón and reconnected with far off friends…

Most towns along the Mexican coast seem to have malecóns which are pedestrian walkways or promenades that run along the sea.  What a egalitarian and civil idea.  Folks love to walk, stroll, bike, run, walk and linger upon them.  Dogs seem to love them too.  Such a lovely architectural thing…so simple and refined they are.  Me thinks we have much to learn from our older and more established neighbors to the south and really no need for a “wall”.  One of the most exciting and optimistic times in my life was when the Berlin Wall was brought down, so of corse the idea of building such a wall of our own is distressing…I pray that we do more to join hands with our neighbors and less in the way of building walls.  

La Cruz

After enjoying our last sunset in Punta de Meta we left the next morning to head just 10 miles down the bay to La Cruz.  It was a short but lovely 2 hour sail.  La Cruze seems like a pretty sweet place that I’m looking forward to checking it out.  



The marina seems like a good set up, well run and it's quite affordable.  



We just got here and we’ve already seen the Cross of Huanacaxtle for which La Cruz is named and…



...we met the mayor, of iguanas that is. 

Punta de Meta, Bahía de Banderas

After one more sunset in Chacala’s bay we had a delicious sail down the blue coast.  The next morning were able to sail off the hook at about 8:00am.  We set our Code 1 sail and rode a sweet land breeze down the coast for about 8 miles before the wind died out completely.  So we reluctantly started old Mr Rumbly, our previously, notorious, unreliable but now very reliable and sweet sounding but still a bit loud, 30hp Universal diesel motor.  Mr Rumbly kept us moving and we even managed to dodge several long-line fishing traps that are set shallow and are poorly marked in these parts.  It only took a couple of hours for the wind to reorganize itself and come on strong out of the north.  When that happened we raised our mainsail, set the jib and enjoyed a strong beam reach for the remainder of the trip to Punta de Meta.  

That’s Punta de Meta at the very right had side of the above photo.  On the way down we saw several whales off in the distance, a couple of who came so close that we started ringing out the ships bell just to let them know we might be above them as they deep dove near us.  You can tell when they are diving deep when you see there flukes (tales) go high in the air before they dive and then they stay under for a very long time.  

To say that Punta de Meta is nice would be a tragic understatement so I’ll to revert to a bit of salty sailer talk here to properly expresses my sentiments; Punta de Meta is fucking fabulous!  

There is a sweet point break at the end of the playa and just beyond that there are some rocks off shore that are good for snorkeling.  By the time we got to the point the surf had died down so after SUPing around in the dying swell we went snorkeling which was pretty nice.  Then we headed into town for lunch at one of the beachfront palapa restaurants but before lunch we walked around town.

I rely like the vibe of this place.  The air and water too, which is a bit cooler than Chacala and the air a bit drier and a bit stronger, more constant than further up the coast which made for a very pleasant experience.

I also like the art of this place, both natural and man made.

After roaming around around town a bit we picked out a nice palapa restaurant for a burrito and some fish tacos…

…and of course some very delicious margaritas…(that’s Malo off in the distance, the furtherest sailboat to the right in the above photo, positioned just over one of the dinners head).

Cheers…