La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

As we motor sailed into La Cruz from Punta de Mita I had the feeling that we had completed a circle – and, indeed, we had.  Five years previously we had sailed out of Banderas Bay on our way to Hawaii and eventually back to BC.  Now we were back.  The intervening five years had flown by in a haze of hard work, then preparation for our open-ended voyage, where I felt I hadn’t had enough time to even catch my breath, let alone reflect.  I guess I have to believe that “to everything, there is a season” and that the time for slowing down may someday come.

Boats at anchor at La Cruz - Bucerias and Puerto Vallarta in the background

We counted more than forty boats in the anchorage and the marina at La Cruz seemed ¾ full.  This area is cruiser central – for some, the end of the line, for others, a pause before continuing south along the coast, or preparing for the “puddle jump” across the Pacific Ocean.  When we left Comox last summer, we expected we would be in the third category by the time we arrived here.  However, somewhere down the coast of the Baja we began thinking that maybe we were moving a little too fast.  We started exploring the possibility of staying in Mexico for at least another year and teased out what that might look like.  We knew we would have to do some research and consult with our experienced cruiser friends. 

We were falling in love with Mexico all over again and realized that we had only seen a very small part.  We were especially intrigued by the Sea of Cortez and the countless pristine and undeveloped anchorages found there.  However, we also wanted to enjoy the warmth of our first winter outside Canada in a few years.  So we decided when we left La Paz to cross to Mazatlan and continue down the coast as far as Manzanillo before returning to the Sea of Cortez to explore in the spring.  We have decided we will leave Ka’sala on the hardstand in the Guaymas/San Carlos area for the summer and return in the fall to continue our investigation of the area when the water and air temperatures are more comfortable.  The Sea of Cortez is blazingly hot in the summer with temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit on a regular basis, so most cruisers head back north.  We intend to return to Comox to housesit for friends who will be away in Europe, then continue on to Ontario and the Maritimes to visit with family and friends before returning to Ka’sala in October.  We still have to work out so many details  - such as how we will get from point A to point B, but as time progresses, the answers seem to be presenting themselves.

A typical cruise in the Sea of Cortez  - note Guaymas in the north

Our primary reason for being in La Cruz was to have a safe place to keep Ka’sala while we visited with Comox friends who were vacationing in the area.  They had rented a sumptuous villa in San Pancho, just north of Sayulita, and had invited us to stay with them for a couple of days.  

We took a series of very inexpensive local buses and were delighted to reconnect with Phil and Jan, Wayne and Marina, John and Judy and Dave and Julie.  We had lots of fun catching up with them and the news from home, as well as joining in on their holiday activities.  

Doug and Phil

We had some lovely meals and margaritas in the funky village and on the beach, as well as in the enormous villa.  

Judy, me, Jan and Judy

Marina had found a pickleball court at the local community centre and a bunch of us went down to play.  This was the first time I had tried my hand at the sport and I am grateful to Marina for teaching me the game.  (Played on a miniature tennis-like short court, with badminton-like rules, with an oversized pingpong –like graphite paddle and a bouncy oversized indoor golf ball-like ball!!!   It is a load of fun!) 

Pickleball court in community centre - the net is not up yet

 Before we knew it, our time together was over and it was time to return to Ka’sala.  We are grateful to this wonderful group of friends for welcoming us and spoiling us so generously.  Thank you!

Thank you to good friends

The next day we took a trip by bus into Puerto Vallarta to look around some of the places we had been before to see how much had changed (not much), and to check out Zaragosa Marine.  Doug had a few things on his list, but none could be filled in this very expensive marine store.  We stopped at Walmart on our way home and stocked up on a few items.  The bus ride back to the marina was excruciatingly hot, though very inexpensive.  It was a hot day and it stopped all along the way.  We cooked without the air conditioning.

At the docks we were happy to re-connect with John and Sue aboard Valkyrie.  They had sailed down from Mazatlan and intend to stay here for a while.  We also ran into Sara and Peter aboard sister ship Riki Tiki Tavi who sailed here from La Paz and will also make this there home for an indeterminate amount of time.  Al and Lindy, aboard Enchante, followed us into the marina as Lindy’s sister, Erin, would be flying in from Canada to spend some time with them.  We recognized the names of several other boats we had seen either along the way, or when we had been here five years ago.  

RTT - Stretch Coast 36

Lindy and I trekking to the waterfall at El Cora (Al photo)

We have not found many changes in the little village of La Cruz. 

Maybe a bar or coffee shop has closed, but they have been replaced by others.  The live bands still play just about every night and the rock and roll drifts invitingly over the evening air.  Our favourite tiendas are still in operation and the famous Sunday morning market is still spectacular.  (I was able to find a cute little dress and a lovely silver and amethyst ring, as well as some gourmet treats such as fresh ravioli, pesto, olive bread, croissants and fresh basil).  The fish market is still amazing – a little more than ten Canadian dollars will buy you a kilo of large, yummy shrimp.  Generally, it seems to us that the people of La Cruz may be a little more affluent than they were – a wonderful thing to see. 

Market along the breakwater

Made by Argentinian silversmith Matias Brustle

Doug has taken the opportunity of being on a stable dock to do some engine maintenance – checking the transmission, the exhaust, combiner pipes and aligning the engine mounts.  It is filthy, necessary work that tears the boat apart, but when he is through, the engine just purrs. 

Are we having fun yet?

Imagine an engine in the middle of your kitchen!

The maintenance and logistics of living on a sailboat remain the same – they are vital and time consuming, often involving looking for things you will never find, long walks with heavy packages, laundry by hand, purified water that needs to be poured into your water tanks by hand from 20 litre bottles, sprinting to the toilets onshore (or using your holding tank – yuk!), washing dishes by hand, and living in space the size of a guest bedroom!  But who’s complaining?

Love the market! (Lindy photo)

Margaritas - yum! (Lindy photo)

We plan to leave the marina Wednesday, after we provision at the once a week, local transient veggie/fruit market and head out into the anchorage for a night.  Thursday, weather permitting, we will sail to Manzanillo, about 150 nautical miles south.  The trip should take about 36 hours.  

Punta de Mita

The time to move on had come.  We left Matanchen Bay at 3am in order to arrive at Punta de Mita, 50 nautical miles farther south, in daylight.  We had a nice breeze from the land and after charging the batteries under power for an hour, we took turns enjoying several hours of blissful, quiet sailing at 5 knots while the other slept.  The seas were a bit confused as we encountered wind against swell, but also had ½ a knot of current sweeping us along.  About an hour after dawn we were flat calm.  As we were off Jaltimba, just as I was making breakfast, Doug spied the dreaded standing pop bottle, indicating a fish line in the water.  We could see far into the distance, both ways, pop bottles every 100 meters connected by ¼ inch, yellow polypropylene line, with no indication of the black flag that is supposed to indicate its end.  We had to run parallel to it for a couple of miles, initially out to sea, but gradually back toward our course.  Frustrating, but the last thing we wanted was to have this line wrapped around our prop and rudder!  Other than an enormous green turtle and a few boobies, we didn’t see much wildlife on this passage, though we had heard there were whales nearby.

This is NOT Ka'sala, but it gives you an idea of what can happen

Just after lunch we approached Punta de Mita and the afternoon wind picked up to about 15 knots.  We had a bit of difficulty anchoring as the sand seemed very hard packed and our 45 pound CQR did a fair bit of bouncing before it caught.  The  forward “up” switch on the windlass had crapped out when we lifted the anchor at Matanchen Bay so we were loathe to pull it up with the cockpit switch to try again.  We finally held in 8 meters with 35 meters of chain, nearby a couple of sailboats and some huge powerboats.  A steady procession of tourist laden pangas zoomed out of a tiny breakwater and the surf rolled and crashed on the beach.  The day was hot and humid, the water was 26 degrees, light blue and crystalline clear.  It didn’t take too long for us to tidy up and jump in!

I wish this photo had better focus, but you get the idea

We had been without wifi and cell phone coverage since leaving Mazatlan so we were delighted to find we had 4G in the anchorage.  I would assume this is because almost the entire area is covered by the Four Seasons Resort, condos, golf courses, etc., not to mention its proximity to Puerto Vallarta. 

Golf courses and the Four Seasons Resort - the anchorage is  the long bay to the right

What was once a tiny little fishing village is now destination resorts and a surfing mecca.  While others surfed the waves outside, we spent the rest of the day catching up on emails and surfing the NET.

Beachfront at Punta de Mita

The next day we were happy to see Al and Lindy entering the anchorage.  We really wanted to visit with them, but were put off by the water conditions.  An enormous surf had brewed up, along with a wind chop, and other than swimming close to the boat, we felt more secure staying aboard.  Earlier in the day we had launched the dinghy to try to go ashore and were more than impressed with the size of the waves rolling into the steep-to beach.  There were even breaking waves in the entrance to the little panga breakwater which was full of pangas trying to come and go with their dozens of passengers.  Our guide book described a dinghy landing that would have rocketed us into the sand and upturned us for sure.  If we wanted to explore Punta de Mita we would have to do it by road.  Lindy later told me that when she tried to use her paddleboard she got “maytagged”.  However, there seemed to be a good number of surfing keeners out there.

Too close for comfort!

A number of boats came and went while we were there – many of them coming for the day or night from Puerto Vallarta.  We met a couple on our aborted dinghy trip aboard St. Leger.  They had just completed their world circumnavigation, having crossed their starting line the previous day.  It only took them 23 years to do it!!  They were accompanied by their friends on another boat who had taken 15 years to complete theirs!

The surf rolls in

We stayed 3 uncomfortable nights in Punta de Mita.  Although the anchorage is gorgeous, we spent most of the time rocking and rolling in the surf.  The motion was especially bad in the night when the wind died and the boat rested sideways to the swell.  On our last night, Doug even employed the lee cloth (which we usually use when we are underway) to keep him from rolling out of bed!  We weren’t too sorry to leave after breakfast on Monday, February 1^st and head for the marina at La Cruz.

This map gives you an overview of where we are

Matanchen Bay near San Blas

We left Mazatlan on a high tide about 9am on Saturday, January 23.  Even though all the stars were aligned to have a straightforward and easy breakaway, we still encountered breaking waves in the entrance.  We can’t help but wonder if someday soon it will be impassable.  We hobby horsed up and down through the shallow water and close-to swells until we were past the islands where conditions calmed down considerably.  Mazatlan just did not want to let us go!

Goodbye Mazatlan (photo by Sue)

The night before we left we had had a wonderful evening with three other cruising couples.  We joined Sue and John (S/V Valkyrie), Don and Bobbie, as well as Dean and Cathy (S/V Harmony) and hired a ½ ton truck taxi – remarkably like the “tuk-tuk”’s we used to take to get around in Thailand – to take us into old Mazatlan. 

Not us - this photo was taken from the Net - but you get the idea

We disembarked at the Freeman Hotel right on the Olas Altas waterfront and rode a tiny rickety elevator to the 9^th floor, then climbed three sets of stairs to arrive at the rooftop bar and pool.  OMG!

Freeman Hotel is the tallest building

What an incredible place with a phenomenal view. 

Roof top bar and pool at the Freeman Hotel

View from the rooftop looking north - the third island in the distance is where we anchored on our first day

The point of being here was to enjoy a cocktail as we watched the sun drop into the sea, the full moon rise in the east and the gradual change of light over the city of Mazatlan. 

Sunset from the Freeman Hotel (photo by Sue)

The 360 degree view was stunning as the pictures cannot possibly illuminate. 

Afterwards, we popped around the corner to a little bistro called Angelina’s.  

This establishment is lovely:  creamy stucco walls, tropical plants placed strategically, traditional furniture, gorgeous artwork and golden lighting made all of us look at least a decade younger than we are! We were entertained by a quartet of young people played lovely traditional music on some interesting instruments. We delighted in an elegant and delicious dinner at a very reasonable price.  There was even Negro Medelo on tap! 

Our meal was over way too quickly and we spilled out onto the old malecon to stroll back toward the marina.  There were many young Mexicans gathered along the way, courting couples, guys on bikes and skateboards, giggling girls and older folks keeping a watchful eye.  There were numerous street venders selling popcorn, cotton candy, iced liquados, fruit, hot dogs – you name it – many items to appeal to young and old. The waves rolled in against the rocks of the point and we could see fiery torchlight in the hands of a young man drawing attention to himself as he prepared to dive off a pinnacle into the darkness below.  

by day

by night

 Before long our eventful evening caught up to us and we headed back to the marina.  What a wonderful way to end our visit to Mazatlan – a special thank you to Cathy for organizing this memorable evening.

Cathy and Dean

Our 24 hour passage to Matanchen Bay was benign.  The seas were calm and the winds were light.  We managed to sail for a few hours in the late afternoon and morning, but that was it.  The moon was full and so bright we could almost read by it.  We passed many fishing boats trolling the waters but no other boats.

On the way to Matanchen Bay under the full moon

However, we did see our first sea turtles on this trip – three, to be exact – huge beasts looking like gigantic coconuts, floating along, lazily lifting their heads to stare at us as we passed.  We also saw the most whales in one passage.  We had recorded five individual sightings when we were amazed to see an entire pod of humpbacks leaping completely out of the water and slapping their tails, seeming to be chasing each other around in circles.  There were enormous splashes of water and we could clearly see their breath rocketing out of their blowholes.  Thank goodness they were ½ a mile away!  A school of dun coloured porpoises came to play in our wake and on our bow.  They were a variety of sizes, some not much larger than a large cat, others 5 feet long.  We assume it was a multigenerational family.  Cool.  Of course the seabirds were everywhere – frigates, pelicans and a variety of red beaked seagulls entertaining us with their aerial displays.

When we arrived at Matanchen, for a change, I handled the boat while Doug anchored.  The bay is very large, relatively shallow and well protected from prevailing winds, so it was easy to do. We spent the rest of the day catching up on our sleep and enjoying the sensation of being on the hook again. 

Hills behind the anchorage

Next morning we launched the kayaks and headed over to visit one of the other two sailboats in the anchorage.  Imagine my pleasure at meeting up with Lindy and Al aboard Enchante.  Lindy was one of the Zumba girls in La Paz, a fellow Canadian and a mutual friend of Joanneke.  Al is a gifted artisan carpenter originally from New York City.  The two have spent their last three winters here in Mexico and home to Lummi Island in Washington for the summers.  We have been able to spend many delightful hours in their company while we have been here.

Al and Lindy

Matanchen Bay is lined by beach and outdoor seafood restaurants.  One of them, a little way inside the point, is called Playa Hermosa.  A very amiable man nicknamed “Barra” will watch over dinghies or kayaks while you explore or go into the town of San Blas.  He will also allow you to drop off your trash.  Though he doesn’t charge for these services, having a delicious lunch in his establishment seems only fair. 

Dinghy parking at  Playa Hermosa - boats at anchor in the distance

But before we indulged, we had some fun in what Al describes as the “bunny hill” of surfing.  We discovered fairly soon that our kayaks were not made for surfing!  Doug figures there are 131 pumps to draw the water out of a swamped kayak!  Nevertheless, the bay is large enough that we got a good workout from paddling around.

Kayaking at the point on Matanchen Bay - surf hasn't come up yet

We had been to San Blas on our previous trip five years before and had taken Ka’sala through the very shallow breakwater to stay at the Fonatur marina on the outskirts of the town.  We spent about a week in this handy location where we were able to explore, experience the local culture and take the jungle tour.  Although not as convenient, it is possible to land the dinghy at Barra’s, walk a kilometre to the crossroads and pick up either an inexpensive taxi or bus for the 7 kilometer ride into town.  We felt no need to do this, but other cruisers at the anchorage have and have not found it a burden.

The insert map shows the San Blas/Matanchen area - the larger map shows the coastline we would sail  down to Punta de Mita and Puerto Vallarta.  El Cora is also shown on the larger map.  Our friends, Phil and Jan, are staying at Playa San Francisco just north of Sayulita

Unfortunately, this area is also famous for its jejenes (the Mexican version of no-see-ums).  On our previous visit here we didn’t seem to have any problem with them.  However, they have been a real plague this time - perhaps because it seems to be so much warmer than it was five years ago.  Anyway, we had lunch at Playa Hermosa’s on our first day and Doug was devoured by them - despite bug dope and smoking coconut husks. 

Lunch was great, the jenenes were not!

The bites, combined with a little too much sun, seemed to set off a terrible allergic reaction and the poor man has been plagued with itching and hives that have just about driven him crazy.  The tiny beasts find us on the boat as well.  We have screens on all our port lights and hatches, have been burning citronella and spraying, but nothing seems to deter them.  Although I have also been bitten, they don’t seem to have caused the same reaction.  Guess I am not as sweet!

Hermosa was surrounded by gardens such as this - the large leaved plant is a papaya

One day, Al and Lindy suggested we join them to find and explore the waterfalls they had read could be found nearby.  Unfortunately, Doug was so under the weather with the dratted insect bites he was unable to come.  Instead, Mary Alice, Rick and Harley, their dog, from S/V Notre Isle, joined us.  We dinghied ashore and a passing half ton truck gave us a lift to the crossroads.  What a thrilling ride standing up in the back, wind in my hair and clutching the rails above the cab!  We encountered several taxis and settled our destination and the price on Elias of Red Line Cabs.  Al had written out the name of the waterfalls and the directions and the cabbie seemed to know where to go.  Unfortunately, as we got further along in our trip, we realized he did not!  He asked along the way and, after about an hour, brought us to a place Al knew was wrong.  Thankfully, Lindy and Al speak enough Spanish to sort it out and we were eventually taken to where we wished to go. 

We followed the main road out of San Blas to Tepic, then turned off and followed a winding road into the hills and along a ridge draped with mango and jack orchards to a small village called El Cora. 

Along the ridge to El Cora - Mango orchards in the background, ocean in the far distance

 There the pavement ended, the cobbles started, and then, they too, ended in a dirt track. 

End of the cobbles - notice the cement sidewalk - it ran for several kilometers through the village of El Cora to here.

By this time we had re-negotiated with the cab driver to stay with us and take us home afterwards.  He was happy to do so as this was a place he also had never been.  The six of us followed along the track until we came to a pointed crest from which we could look across a chasm to the waterfall cascading over a cliff in the forest.  

We descended about 400 meters down a switch-backed rock and cement path to a gorgeous emerald pool filled by the shimmering cascade. 

Lindy descending the path

 It didn’t take us long to don our bathing suits and dive in.  (Well, the dog just jumped in!) I could have spent hours there as I found it a serene and inspiring place. 

 I longed to just sit and breathe – to let the place unfold around me - to watch the butterflies flitting around - to see the light change as it dappled through the leaves and branches - to really hear the song the water was singing.  But time was up, our clothes were back on and before I knew it we were back at the taxi. 

Elias looking over the pools - we could not entice him to swim

On our way back, Elias suggested a small restaurant in the village of Aticama called Cenaduria Lucy to stop for lunch.  Inexpensive and delicious, I enjoyed shrimp tacos with a cold Pacifico.

Lucy's

Time flash forwarded again and we were back at the dinghies, then back on the boat.  Someday I will return to that magical place and bring Doug with me.

Originally we had expected to stay at Matanchen Bay for a night or two, but remained for five days.  We have seen a steady procession of sailboats come and go while we have been here.  Some stay to check the place out and others use it as a convenient and easy anchorage as they make their way north and south.  If the jejenes were not so bad, this quiet anchorage and its surrounding area would be a wonderful place to spend a lot of time.  

Enchante at sunset in Matanchen Bay