Current Location – La Cruz de Huanacaxtle – Lat: 20°44.89’ N / Long: 105°22.42’ W
As we left the blog last week we were in the poorly protected anchorage of Chamela – where we never did attempt a beach landing during the three days we were there. I took my kayak in to check out the waves, and was so intimidated that I backed off and spent an hour paddling around the edges of the bay, way back from any crashing waves.
Our choices for going north were to 1) spend a 10-hour day ending at Ipala and then heading around the dreaded Cabo Corrientes the next day, which is 3 hours north of Ipala and then another 6 hours to La Cruz or 2) head straight for La Cruz at dusk and get there 19 hours later. The weather forecast suggested that Cabo Corrientes would be in a “flat calm” condition, which would be a wonderful event, since the wind usually always blows from the northwest and directly opposing a boat going north. We decided to start out at dusk and plan to duck into Ipala in the morning if the weather got difficult. Otherwise we would continue on through Cabo Corrientes by 10AM in the morning to capitalize on the expected calm conditions there.
Sunrise on our way to Cabo Corrientes with a look at the sea stateAs it turned out we had 2’ to 4’ waves with an occasional 6’ one coming from a variety of directions with 10-15 knots coming directly on the nose. That slowed us down quite a bit at the start, but it leveled out for about 4 hours in the middle of the night, allowing us to catch up to our planned time. Just at dawn we passed Ipala and decided to continue around the cape. The weather was back to what we started out with on the previous night and did not calm down as predicted. However, once we got beyond the cape, we were able to turn off the engine and sail across Banderas Bay at a brisk 5-6 knots, arriving at 3PM in the afternoon.
We didn’t sleep very well as we slogged north all night; so we arrived nearly exhausted. Apparently it takes about three days of continuous sailing to get acclimated to the watches and actually get some rest – at least that’s what we’re told by those heading across the Pacific to the Marquesas. Since we didn’t feel like cooking, we joined Jim and Susan of “Windward Bound” and Dave and Marsha of “Juniata” for dinner at a local restaurant in La Cruz. Both of them had arrived about a week before us and we got caught up on the local news.
The next morning we rounded up all our laundry and dropped it by the “Lavanderia” in La Cruz. Then we headed to the Mega Store to resupply the boat with food. We took a bus ride from La Cruz to the Mega Store (a combination store similar to a Safeway, a Sears, and a Thrifty drug store all together. The bus ride was about 45 minutes and about 15 stops for $.75 apiece at the current conversion rate. Once we have a stack of groceries we hire a taxi for $7 to get us back to our dinghy. Then we transfer the groceries to the dinghy, motor the dinghy out to the boat, unload the dinghy onto the boat, and then transfer everything down the companionway. I have repeated this sequence before, but I just want to let any land-based readers to understand how easy it is for them to just drive to the market.
This was the week for eating out. We decided that we hadn’t been near a good restaurant in about two weeks; so we splurged a bit. Due to the conversion rate of the peso with the dollar, we are paying about 70% of what we paid last year for the same dinners. A 140-peso dinner was $14 last year, and this year it is only about $10. La Cruz is loaded with good restaurants, which almost makes it a crime not to dine out when possible.
On Thursday night we dined on pizza at Philo’s Restaurant where it was “open mike” night – meaning a number of bands showed up to take a turn in the spotlight. It’s a chance to hear some good music for a very reasonable cost of dinner and a couple of drinks. On Friday we went into Puerto Vallarta with Jim and Susan of “Windward Bound” to stroll along the Malecon next to the bay and observe the locals, the tourists, and the interactions between the two. We stopped at a couple of places for appetizers and cool drinks and needed to get back by 6:30 for dinner at The Black Forest, a German that features a husband and wife flamenco guitar team.
Just as we got to the bus stop, Sheilagh noted a fabric shop nearby where she could get some sticky-backed velcro. We waited 30 minutes for her to buy 3 meters of velcro, and I decided that I hadn't mellowed as much as I thought I had in Mexico. During my early career I was an efficiency consultant, and it still drives me nuts to see time being wasted business situations. Sheilagh had to stand in line for about 10 minutes to wait her turn to have her spool of velcro cut into a 3-meter length. There were three ladies behind the customer service counter, one of whom had to go back to the rack to measure the length, since she had no measuring device behind the counter. Then Sheilagh had to leave her purchase and go to a payment location to pay $2 for the material, while another lady took her purchase from the first counter to a third counter for pickup. Naturally Sheilagh had to wait in line at each counter. She showed her payment slip at the third counter where the lady compared the actual merchandise with the merchandise listed on the receipt. I should mention that these three counters were in a sort of triangle arrangement with about 15' between each one.
I mentioned to Sheilagh that I could have reduced their labor costs by at least half and significantly improved profitability without losing security control of the process. Sheilagh suggested that maybe their goal was providing necessary jobs to people who needed them. I couldn't argue with that, but I was still frustrated because of a career spent in helping clients reduce their costs and improve their productivity. I just need to spend more time in Mexico to start seeing this work-duplication process as a normal and preferred one.
Another sunrise showing the flattened sea, the lack of wind, and our mop draped over the aft lifelines. We use the mop to swab the deck with the fresh dew we get nearly every night, which helps us remove some of the salt from a passage.At the Black Forest German restaurant we saw Latcho and Andrea that night - the husband and wife flamenco guitar team I mentioned earlier. We invited Joel and Chris of “40-Love” to join us. Yes, they are tennis aficionados, having met on a tennis court. They are from Minneapolis, Minnesota and seem to be happy to be in Mexico for the winter. Although Chris misses the snow, Joel does not have the same fond memories. The entertainment was very good, but we had a couple of racing boat crews in the restaurant who had been drinking all afternoon. As it was there were some loud individuals from those groups who made it difficult for the rest of us to hear well.
As part of flamenco rhythm the performers do some very precise clapping at different times, usually for a very short time. On this night the more potted of the guests took that as a sign that they should start clapping in rhythm along with the performer. Not only were most of them off the rhythm, but the rhythm usually changed as soon as the performer stopped his or her clapping. Soon the clapping was completely out of synch with the performers. I can't imagine being a musician and playing for a bunch of people talking at the dinner table and generally trying to show by clapping and dancing that they have rhythm too. I guess I just hadn't had enough to drink to appreciate the talents of the audience.
I see that the seaweed is again starting to grow around the bottom of our boat; so I need to get out there with a good brush and scraper. It’s almost as bad as having to mow the lawn every week. This week I worked on shining stainless steel and lubricating the wind vane. Don’t worry, I don’t work more than about an hour a day; so I can still say I’m retired.
Sheilagh is reading about one book a day and rating them for me. Based on the number of books we have read together lately, she is very knowledgeable on what kind of writing I like. That way I don’t waste time reading books she knows I won’t like very well. I don’t read as much as she does, because I am still developing my expertise as a Sudoku Master, and that takes a certain amount of mental training every day. Sheilagh can’t imagine a more inane thing to do unless it might be Solitaire, which her mother and mine played incessantly after retirement. I think I’m a level above that.
We should be in San Blas by next Friday, where I hope to get some kayak surfing in on the famous surfing waves there. It was at San Blas where I initially started surfing with the kayak and I took a lot of spills there. Now I want to go back there with my new-found knowledge on how to surf a kayak based on a year of experience. If I survive I’ll be updating you in a week.
More later . . .
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