Hi there… When last we ‘spoke’, we had just arrived at Chacala… the bay of our dreams and our big time goal. The bay itself was as beautiful as we remembered and we felt very proud, sailing in under our own ‘steam’ from the water side this time. We even managed to set a stern anchor for the first time, and we enjoyed our celebratory champagne. The next day, Sunday, we awoke to fairly rolly seas, but not so lumpy that we couldn’t get off the boat, into the dinghy and head to shore…to the beach. ‘twas about the time we landed in the little sandy cove by the panga line, we noticed how many families were also enjoying the beach and the Tuba bands and the other wandering minstrels. Aaaaah, it’s SUNDAY…. the weekend…. the day(s) when many local families come from near and far to enjoy the body-surfing and sunbathing at Chacala. It was definitely busier than we remembered. We did however enjoy a trek through the small town and a cold cervesa or two at a beachfront Palapa, visiting with cruising friends. The afternoon wore on and we finally decided we’d best be getting back to the boat before the waves got even bigger. The wind was picking up and so were they. And, over a cervesa or two, cruiser talk had meandered around to the weather and the forecast that said how the winds and seas were going to get worse the next day… Hmmmm, seems we may not be able to realize that dream of a week lazing around Chacala at anchor… (this time).
Back to the boat we went and after some significant acrobatics (including CJ almost getting flipped out of the dinghy) we got the outboard back onto the stern rail bracket, and the dinghy up onto the davits and lashed tight. Dear Shannon was rolling sufficiently that we didn’t even go swimming, afraid we wouldn’t be able to grab the boarding ladder without getting beaned by the stern coming down… so we enjoyed the view, hanging on until the swells calmed down for the evening (which they did) and we slept.
Up early the next morning, we managed to retrieve our stern anchor without launching the dinghy and then we weighed anchor completely, heading out of the bay ahead of the pack… the rest fell in behind and off we all ‘motored’ towards Punta Mita, La Cruz and PV. As we travelled south the wind filled in and the seas built. Up went the main to stabilize the boat and ease the rolling…(the seas were on the beam of course). Then, as the wind increased…one reef, then two reefs went into the main.. and the genoa was furled to about 50%. With both sails reefed we managed to keep Shannon’s speed down to about hull speed and enjoyed a vigorous and raucous sail down the coast… When we rounded the point at Punta Mita and headed into Banderas Bay the seas came from behind and, with the wind up near 20, we had a great sail towards La Cruz. Whales were everywhere.. breaching and spy-hopping… huge splashes. Some came quite close to the boat while others just gave us a show in the distance. We arrived at the marina mid-afternoon and, after another gong-show getting in to our slip (the marina had double-confirmed our slip was a port-side tie.. so we stupidly set up on the port side only.. ignoring our house rule of always setting up lines and fenders on both sides….). Of course, as we approached it all went sideways. The narrow slip we were to fit into was a starboard tie..not port. The wind was pushing us from behind, and….. you guessed it….. the shift cable refused to give me reverse. I’ll save you the full details of the embarrassing manoeuvring, but suffice to say with the help from several folks on the dock, and no doubt some very good luck… we made it into our slip without hitting anyone or crashing into the dock.
Jack (expert #5) is working on the shift cable as I write. He seems like a very nice guy and is attacking the problem from the other end of the cable (the hard to get at end… the one the other experts didn’t even acknowledge) so I have high hopes he will succeed. Time will tell.
In the mean time, we’re loving La Cruz. The marina is new and big and several of our friends are here. There’s free yoga every morning and happy hours with a game called Mexican Train (Kathy likes Mexican Train…. and I like happy hours). As well, there are nice restaurants here and in the town, which is a small to mid-sized Mexican town, not far from Bucerias and Puerta Vallarta. We plan to stay here at least two weeks and then move all the way across the bay (about 2 miles) to Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta. Guess we’ve decided it’s time for us to relax and just enjoy some of the good life.
Tomorrow is February 14th. All of us here on Shannon… want to wish all of you… a very happy Valentine’s Day. We hope you’ll be spending it with your loved ones and looking forward to a bright future filled with good fun, love and laughter.
Photos that follow, from L to R:
First Row: View of the anchorage at La Cruz; our new home-made bimini; Keeping Kathy cool;
Second Row: The pinnacle rocks, east side of Isla Isabel; beach at Chacala; grounds at Marina La Cruz
Third Row: Docks at Marina La Cruz… Shannon’s in there somewhere :-)
