Waiting out the tsunami surges in Banderas Bay

As I write this, we are finally at rest on anchor in La Cruz after a day of avoiding the tsunami surges that affected Banderas Bay.

It has been a long day.

Early this morning we got news over the VHF radio about the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.   We learned that the tsunami’s effects would reach Banderas Bay around 1:30pm local time and that all Mexican ports were closed for commercial traffic.  We had been staying in Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta for the past two days because we are racing in the Banderas Bay Regatta.

A marina is the worst place for a boat during a tsunami, so we made the decision early to leave the marina and exit for the bay around 11am.  We were the 5^th boat out there, and by mid-day, there were upwards of 200 boats sailing around the bay trying to avoid the expected waters.

Geckos and Boobies and Whales, Oh My!

Ask anyone sailing to distant shores what their favorite aspect of the experience is and you will get a plethora of different answers.  For me, one of the most rewarding parts of cruising is the interaction with new landscapes and wildlife.  Every time I see a new animal, I am 5 years old again – filled with the same wonder it held for me then.

I saw my first gecko when Lauren B and I were eating at a small restaurant in La Cruz.  I was having a bite of pozole (a pork stew) and there on the chair across from me was a tiny gecko about the size of my pinky finger.  We caught sight of it just before it changed color to completely blend in with the dark brown wood of the chair he was on.  My eyes were fixed on its tiny, deliberate movements – slow as they were, like a spy trying to sneak through undetected.  It moved out of a shadow onto the top side of the chair.  Cue the color change!  I had always expected that watching a gecko change colors would be obvious, but it is so sly that it happens before your mind can catch up with it.  When it finally reached its way up to the top of the chair, it turned its tiny head around and proceeded to clean its toes with its tiny tongue, just the way a cat would.

Of course the bulk of the wildlife we live with now is a part of the ocean’s ecosystem.  Here in Banderas Bay, the rays are as plentiful as the fish and it is not uncommon to see tiny ones in the marina, like the ones to the right.  We were crossing the bay a while back and saw creatures doing flying flips on the water.  We got closer and saw that they were manta rays; about 5-10 of them.   When we’re in the ocean, sometimes we will see what looks like a large coconut floating in the water.  Those are the sea turtles.  They are always alone and very skittish.  If they see they are too close to our boat, they will frantically try to turn in the other direction.  It’s the only time you will see a fast turtle.   Whales are everywhere down here as well – I never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would see so many.  Most often they are far away when we see them. 

Yelapa – The Mooring Wars

“A palapa in Yelapa is better than a condo in Redondo.” – Anonymous traveler circa 1970s

A couple of weeks ago we visited Yelapa, a small anchorage and village,  in Banderas Bay.  The only way to get there is by water so it is a bit off the beaten track.  It’s a cool, funky little place but given our experience we’re not sure that we will be headed back there any time soon.

We left from La Cruz and sailed to Yelapa to meet our friends on Morningstar.  Since the anchorage is not protected against most swell and there is not a lot of ground to anchor on, we were told that it would be best to use a mooring ball and that there was a guy named Buly that could help us.  As we approached the anchorage and were roughly a 1/2 mile away, we saw a panga headed towards us.  As he approached, I could see the words “El Buly” on the side of the boat.  He was here about a mooring.

Banderas Bay

Banderas Bay is the largest bay on the Pacific Coast and is a beautiful cruising ground.  The whole bay is surrounded by mountains and there is a nice daily breeze.  We’ve been here for about a week and may stay longer.  We’ve mostly been anchored in LaCruz – a small sleepy town with the best taco stand we’ve encountered yet. ($1 each – can’t beat it)

Our friends J.P and Janet on Morningstar live here on their ketch in Neuvo Vallarta and last weekend we both took part in the Banderas Bay Bash which was a 3 day sailboat race that takes you to different points on the bay.  We picked up a crewmember for the race – a great Canadian guy who is only 21 and yet had already sailed to the south pacific twice – picking up different boats to crew on the way.

The Banderas Bay Bash was a charity race for the local schools. The La Cruz marina was nice enough to offer slips for one night to all the boats who participated in the race, so we got to stay in a marina which is major luxury for us.  We were sitting at our slip (while I was cutting Lauren B.’s hair) and we saw manta rays right in front of us.  They are really cool creatures and can get upwards of 16 feet or so, although we think these were just babies.

 

At the end of the second leg of the race, all the boats were in Punta Mita and gathered at a palapa on the beach called El Dorado.  There we got to meet some of the local children.  We learned that they are now teaching English in many of the schools in the area.  However, they lack good textbooks and books in English for kids K-12 to read.  Ironically, in the States many schools are cutting out their bilingualprogram and are throwing away wonderful bilingual textbooks!

This area has a lot of places to provision and we made a Costco run with J.P. and Janet to get some of the harder to find American items in bulk.  There is a large grocery store in Mexico, Mega, that is similar to a SuperWalmart except it has a Mexican flare.  There we stocked up on smaller things and fresh food.  All in all, life is good.

Back from Banderas Bay

I just got back from a nice week of distraction from my recent boat projects.  A good friend of mine just bought a nice ketch down in La Paz about 2 months ago, and decided to enter in the Banderas Bay race down in Puerto Vallarta Mexico.  I think this was only the second time I had sailed on a ketch, let alone race/call tactics on one!