Left Banderas Bay and moved the house to Bahia Chamela!

FINAL WEEK IN BANDERAS BAY AT PUNTA MITA

Last entry was a while ago because we really have continued to cruise in the grand Banderas Bay. There is so much to see and do in that incredible bay. We were able to spend time in La Cruz, Sayulita, Bucerias, Punta Mita, Tres Marietas, Nuevo Vallarta, Puerto Vallarta, San Sebastian del Oeste, and Yelapa. There are still more places I would have liked to have seen but we have a 2nd cruising season here which is fantastic!

My last entry ended with Yelapa and us finishing up another wood project as well getting an extension of our hard lifelines. Arturo Ruiz, from Bel Pacific Mechanics, fabricated and welded stainless steel lifelines for us with a modification to make the addition of new solar panels in the future most efficient. Additionally, he fabricated 2 J hooks so Stephen and I can put our paddle boards in a rack on the side of the boat. Arturo was very professional, respectful of your time and he did a great job. We would highly recommend him! We don't do this when on a passage but if cruising locally and at night to get them out of the water this is a great addition and space saver.

We were able to spend a week in Paradise Village which included the usage of the resort's amenities - yehah!  3 different pools, a lap pool, and 3 hot tubs. We did enjoy the pool at least once a day. Paradise Village is full of gringos on vacation. It is a spot many cruisers use to meet up with family as your family can have the luxury of a hotel resort and the cruiser can be close by but stay in their sailboat home:). Everyone is happy this way - ha! Additionally, PV is very easy to fly in and out of from East or West coast US.

After a week in Gringoville, we were ready to be more remote. We headed over to Punta Mita for a week of baby surfing. Stephen surfed in Florida in his past and I have twice in the past, once being on our stop in Bahia Santa Maria. We use our paddle boards and enjoy the gentle waves attempting to stand up. Sometimes it works and many times it does not but the paddle board is forgiving. I also feel that knee and butt surfing are acceptable if you ride all the way in! It's all about expectations and what "fun" means to you. We are with many other cruisers that are surfers and so we try to hang. It is another exhilarating sport and I enjoy just watching graceful surfers. We are still undecided about getting boards, mainly due to our limited space, but the thrill of catching and riding a wave is indeed infectious.

Cetol application to wood on the transom

Arturo working hard 

The modification is the extension out on the top life line to allow our future solar panels to rest at a 90 degree angle if need be but not intrude into the boat

Beach View at Paradise Village - just adjacent to the pools

My handsome Stephen got his Hairs cut! He actually got a GI bug in Paradise Village and that illness and long hair was too much for him. He had been struggling as most girls know with the bang issue. Using headbands, pushing his hair out of his face and then he just COULDN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! -bahhhaaaha! He asked me what he should do and he NEVER will give me hair advice so I said the same thing he tells me, "Do whatever you want to do..."  He is much happier now and I is not regretful about  his hair decision. That is always important:)

A usual visitor on the dock at Paradise Village

Yeah Pool time at PV- we did enjoy Gringoville as I called it for a bit

Yelapa View

Morning coffee and chillin'

Anchorage in Yelapa sunset

Kelly's (SV Arctos)  mom from Seattle flew down for a week and rented a lovely place in Punta Mita. We had a cruisers taco/marg potluck night and enjoyed here amazing patio view! 

Tres Marietas

Tres Marietas

We had a great snorkel day out here - 10 of us went and rented a panga - 20$ for each. You cannot come out here with your boat for an overnight anchorage and you need a park pass. We just decided to panga it and it was great! Panga rides are fun just alone - Stephen may want to be a Panga driver for his next job

Brad from SV Luego

Going from my right is Mel from SV Zissou, Kelly SV Arctos, Kelly's Mom, and Sonni in front from SV Luego

Peter from SV Dawn Treader and Dave SV Arctos

We snorkeled several places and had an amazing tropical fish display. Saw a trumphet fish which I have never seen before. There were many open sea caves were able to swim through and that was very cool! There is a "Hidden Beach" you can go to for a steep price of $100 and you can only stay for 30 minutes and you have to wear a helmet - we said no thanks! 

Dinghy fun with our Johnson 15HP

Sonni and Brad on SV Luego gave us a tow back from surfing. We tried to cowboy it up! 

Another Punta Mita View

Fresh Fish tacos back in our life! 

Dolphins hanging with us. We see them a lot but I was able to get some pics this time! 

A fuzzy but genuine 9.3 knots folks! 

Just capturing the magic

Followed this fishing boat on the way into Bahia Chamela- look at all the birds sitting on the lines. 

This is the northwest entrance - we are tucked in here next to the town of Perula

Waiting for sunrise to enter Bahia Chamela - 0730 in this time zone- time to head in

There we are- SV Soulstice

Great beach run or walk- long sandy beach approximately 4 miles -

Pensive

We finally left Banderas Bay to head south. We felt like we had enjoyed the bay and it was time to move on as there are many beautiful anchorages and mainland Mexican sights awaiting us.  We had a fabulous overnighter to Bahia Chamela on a broad reach with the whisker pole out and making at times over 9 knots - yep - OVER 9 knots and it was easy. It is easy when there is wind, no big wind waves and the swell in your favor. We also caught a skipjack and that was awesome as we have been unsuccessful fishing since my crevalle jack in the La Cruz anchorage.

There are little coastal hops from here to Manzanillo. We have plans to go as far south as Zihuatanejo but we will see. We don't want to rush coming down the coast but we do want to head back up into the Sea of Cortez which we skipped due to the Northers. Spring and Fall are the best times apparently to cruise up there. We want to leave Soulstice up there for the summer/hurricane season as well. Everything is tentative of course and plans change and Mother Nature still is the final decision maker for us.

Adios por ahora

Arturo Ruiz - Bell Pacific Mechanics - 0453221641261. bel.pacific.mechanics@gmail.com