Markets and Gardens

The Captain has gone to Montana for a family visit, leaving the Mate in the very capable hands of friends Chris and Paul. Armed with rental car and guidebook, we have been exploring some of the attractions beyond the shores of Bandaras Bay.  We traveled north along the coast of the state of Nayarit, past the surfing town of Sayulita, to the community of La Peñita. Every Thursday morning the streets there are converted into the kind of  sprawling open air market known as a tianguis.  There are local artisans, as well as some from distant Mexican states, with pottery, textiles, and jewelry. Then there are the stalls that sell hardware, electronics, clothing - almost anything you can imagine, in every color and shape and size. It's like a Walmart on steroids, but infused with the entrepreneur's eye for display and promotion.

Another day, we headed instead to the south, and visited the Vallarta Botanical Gardens, in the mountains about fifteen miles beyond old Puerta Vallarta.  The setting is spectacular, laid out among steep slopes; the restaurant was excellent. The gardens, although not yet ten years old, are promising; orchids are a specialty.

Yelapa

We were eager to go to Yelapa, a village tucked into the mountainous southern shore of Bandaras Bay, accessible only by boat.  Because there are no roads, there are supposedly many trails, and hiking in a quiet, sunny location sounded great to us.

We ended up making two trips to Yelapa. The first involved taking a bus the twenty or so miles into Puerto Vallarta, then a 45 minute ride on a panga to Yelapa.  We settled into a oceanside, thatched roofed cabin, and stayed the night. Rain began about sunset, and continued all night. The electricity failed, and the morning was damp and drizzling. We beat a retreat, wet and chilly enough for a sauna once back at the boat.

Our second trip to Yelapa was more successful. We sailed across Bandaras Bay from La Cruz, and tied up to a mooring offered by a local restaurant owner, who also took us ashore in his panga. The photo above shows the Captain with our friends Chris and Paul, with Indigo moored in the bay beyond.

We had only an hour or so to explore onshore, but got the feel of the town, which is built on the steep shoreline. Stairs and steep cobblestone paths wind among the buildings on the slopes. Trails wind back into the hills, to waterfalls and viewpoints.

And then there is the beach to enjoy. We will return to Yelapa sometime in the future - in the hopes that we can encounter sunshine and blue skies!

The Skies of Bandaras Bay

We returned to Bandaras Bay ten days ago on a beautiful, clear day. The skies were a deep blue, and the winds favorable for great sailing from Cabo Corrientes across to La Cruz. I was mesmorized by the odd formations of isolated, high clouds, making patterns of lines and grids. Maybe this was a portent of a change in the weather.

By the following day, the skies had turned gray, and rain showers swept through now and then. We had spectacular cloud formations, and even a double rainbow over the anchorage at La Cruz.

Our friends Chris and Paul came to visit, and they weren't daunted by the gray skies. We went into old Puerto Vallarta to walk the city center, the malacon, and visit galleries.  The damp air got heavier, and thunder threaded. When rain started we sheltered under un overhang on a street corner. For the better part of an hour, we waited and watched as torrential rain fell, and the streets began to run like rivers with muddy water.

Eventually the rain stopped, and we waded ankle deep to a bar to drink a beer while the water level dropped. And that's the weather report from beautiful Bandaras Bay.

Sweaty, Sandy, Salty....

We've been anchored for nearly a week at Tenacatita, a large, shallow bay embraced by a perfectly curved beach, and protected from the northwest swell by rocky islands and headlands. We've fallen into a daily routine. Daytime exertions include kayak trips into mangroves (green herons, reddish egrets) and around rocks where the surf crashes (oyster catchers, black vultures), rowing ashore for beach walks (outboard motor not working), and swimming off the boat. Mid afternoon we are melting with the heat, and hose off with fresh water on the stern steps. Naps happen; how still can you stay, what tiny breezes can you find.
Evenings are blessedly cooler, providing time and energy for ambitious cooking. Breezes, a near-full moon, a bottle of wine. The occasional get together with other boaters.

Mornings are best. At first light the local fishermen are all around us, throwing out nets for the small bait fish that hide under our boats. Bottle-nosed dolphins surface, breathe, and dive again and again, weaving through the anchorage. Gradually we rouse ourselves, and gear up for another day, becoming steadily more sticky, sweaty, sandy, salty.

Costalegre

The Mexican mainland coast south of Puerto Vallarta and Bandares Bay is called the Costalegre, which can translate as the happy or light-hearted coast.  Our experience, exactly, since we have found the living - and the sailing - to be easy here. The water is warm, the winds are light and steady, the days sunny and hot, and the evenings cool. There are a chain of good anchorages, close enough together so that the passage from one to the next is an easy daysail. The seas have been calm, allowing us to set the spinnaker and make long downwind stretches under sail. Once at anchor, we swim off the stern, and enjoy gentle evenings and mornings.

Most of our anchorages have been adjacent to small Mexican towns, but we had one memorable anchorage off the community of Careyes, where our crew member Doug has family. Careyes was built by Italians, and mimics resorts along Italy's coast, with homes and hotels hanging off the steep shore. We anchored among tall rock outcrops, and rowed to shore through the surf to enjoy lavish hospitality.

In this calm, sunny stretch of ocean, we have had clear views of whales, sea turtles, and a range of dolphins and fish. Mac had one memorable tug of war when he caught a big fish. It took him twenty minutes of hard work to reel the fish in so that we could identify it as a Crevalle Jack - not good for eating, but a beautiful fish nonetheless. We have high hopes that we will catch something we can eat soon!

A week out of Bandaras Bay, we pulled into Barra Navidad, where Doug - very reluctantly - jumped ship and returned to Seattle. He was great crew, and also lucky, as the Costalegre has easily been the most pleasant, scenic, and warmest stretch of sailing in all of our travels on Indigo.

Note - there are new photos posted on Flickr. Click on the link to the right that says "Photos from Indigo's Crew".

El Otro Lado....

We have crossed over from the Baja Peninsula to the Pacific Coast of Mexico. The crossing from San Jose del Cabo to Mazatlan - about 160 miles - was easy with great stargazing early in the night passage, and a moon rising about midnight that resembled an orange section.  The light just before dawn, near Mazatlan, illuminated the sails so gently.

After a few days moored in Mazatlan, our longtime friend and sailing companion, Doug Bayley joined us. Reunited, we sailed south and east to San Blas, the historic home port of the Spanish Pacific fleet. These days, San Blas is a small, but vibrant coastal fishing town, but once it was the starting point for Spanish exploration that ranged as far north as Sitka, in what is now Alaska.

While tied up in San Blas, we hiked up the high hill where the Spaniards built their fort and garrison. The photo above is the interior of the church that was part of the garrison. It was first built in 1769; the stonework stands nearly untouched.

This mainland coast of Mexico is dramatically different than the Sea of Cortez.  Vegetation is lush; the vegetation along the shore is jungle, with palms and mangles. We are moving south quickly, now located at La Cruz in Bandares Bay,  and ready to set sail towards Barra Navidad.  We are in expedition mode with a great crew of three.

Perfect Crew

We have just finished up a week of travel with the perfect crew. We might be biased, and we might have made this claim before. Regardless, our son Sam and his wife Kate seem like the perfect crew on Indigo. They are continually cheerful and enthusiastic, they fit in the rather small forward veeberth, and they are undaunted by wind and heavy seas.

With them, we sailed from La Paz on New Year's Eve, traveling to Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida.  Fair weather and light winds made great conditions for hiking to the high, eastern ridge of the island.

Calm mornings allowed kayaking in the shallow water, which was an amazing green color.

The true mettle of all four crew members was tested by our passage down the East Cape of the Baja Peninsula, with stops at Bahia de los Muertos and Los Frailes. We were blessed with northerly winds at our backs, but the seas were boisterous, and the wind stayed in the 15 to 20 knot range. We made good speed using only the jib.

The high point of the trip was off Punta Colorado, when we hooked a big fish. The Captain has been taking advice from trusted cruising friends, and has geared up for open ocean fishing. This was our first trip with fishing gear out, so it was a learning experience to hook and bring in the fish....made more difficult by the brisk 18 knot breeze over the stern, so that we couldn't slow the boat below 4 knots. Mac and Sam persisted, and netted the beautiful fish - a twenty inch tuna we identified as a Mexican bonito, which is not great to eat, so the guys released it. From that point, the excitement abated, as we sailed to the anchorage at Los Frailes, and then on to Los Cabos, where we had to say goodbye to our perfect crew.



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Colorful LaPaz

This is our final week in La Paz, where the streets are quiet - many businesses are closed between Christmas and New Years, and the traffic is light. Great conditions for exploring the streets, and discovering amazing color juxtapositions. The small work boats in the Sea of Cortez - called pangas - are traditionally painted some shade of blue, but not just one shade. Where a bunch of pangas are pulled up together, there is a study in blue.

Virtually all the buildings in La Paz are constructed of concrete and finished with plaster, which is then painted. The colored plaster surfaces mellow quickly in the bright sun, and shadows are interesting variations on the color of the fully sunlit walls.

And if that's not enough color for you, there are the sprays of Bougainvillea draped over walls and escaping from courtyards.

Some of these color events found their way into paintings - see them here: http://sailingstudio.us/news

Colorful LaPaz Christmas

We have had a crazy, mixed up Christmas here in LaPaz. We have observed a few treasured family traditions: baking and sharing Orange Teas, the favorite Christmas cookie; taking a long, long walk on Christmas morning; and preparing a savory Christmas feast (Leg of Lamb, braised in wine and vegetables).

On the other hand, we have been cut loose from lots of other Holiday obligations. Clearly there have been fewer trips to odd stores, less gift wrapping, fewer holiday parties. Can't say whether one Christmas is better than another, but we do confess to having a transitory feeling of lightness about the holidays.

Plus an accompanying feeling of missing all of you whom we would see during the holidays. Merry Christmas to all!