Blue Snail Travel

Blue Snail Blog, San Carlos to La Cruz (Puerto Vallarta)

On October 3rd, once again, Blue Snail traveled down the main highway in San Carlos to the dry storage yard for another annual haul out and work session. This year, the major job was re-painting the entire deck and non-skid. After that and during the process, the bottom was sanded and painted and a myriad of other projects were completed. All went very well and we are pleased with the fresh new deck. The non-skid surface we used is quite aggressive and effective and we both have some healing wounds to prove it. Frank said “For “real” non-skid you should have no skin left by the time you go overboard.” Not sure if that is funny.

After almost 2 months on land, Blue Snail was launched on November 28th, Thanksgiving day. We celebrated the launch and the holiday with a nice dinner at a local restaurant with several good friends.

We prepared the boat for the anticipated straight run to La Cruz (Puerto Vallarta). We did all the usual things like getting propane and diesel, extra groceries and other things that are easy to get in San Carlos. Then we waited for a good weather window as we were anxious not to be
stuck like we were last year with the bad northers blowing.

We got a good window and took off on the morning of December 16th. Managed to sail for almost 3 days, which was really nice. Usually we have to use the engine a good bit of the time.
Lucky for us, we had a mostly full moon during the entire trip and what a treat that is when sailing overnight! The last 2 days of the trip, we had a few things go wrong. First, the block on the staysail blew apart but is an easy fix. Then, somehow he main reefing lines mysteriously wrapped themselves around the end of the boom, locking it in place. One of those things you couldn’t do if you tried. Then, finally, the hydraulic oil leaked out of the steering system. Frank did a marvelous jury rig of that with duct tape and an oil can taped to the pedestal. He squirted oil as needed and that kept us in business until we arrived. Forgot to take a photo….

Also, during the trip, discovered that the new prop that we had re-pitched last year is too small and will have to be worked on again. Could not get our speed up and found the boat very hard to maneuver in small areas. Will address that again when we go to Mazatlan. Frank will have to change the prop again, in the water, to the old one for the time being. Not his favorite job, for sure.

During this passage we did see some great wildlife and most importantly, the Blue Footed Booby bird that I have been longing to actually see. As it happened, we had one sleeping on top of the pilothouse and Frank accidentally swept him off when he moved the boom. The bird landed on the side deck, was unhurt and just tucked its head under and went back to sleep. Anyway, he was close enough for Frank to pet him and when he looked at us, just a foot away, he was totally unafraid. And, his feet are really blue! Also had a large group of dolphins pass by and Frank saw one come out of the water at night and rotate high in the air. He must have escaped for Sea World. As soon as we entered Banderas Bay we saw whales everywhere.

For those who have heard of the green flash that is visible when the sun dips below the horizon, we both saw it happen and Frank saw it twice. Quite pretty to see.

Arrived in La Cruz Marina on 12/21, Saturday afternoon and it felt good to not be moving. Frank was very tired as he had spent the previous night watching the steering and I just dozed a little inside. After a nice long shower and some food, we were in bed early for some much needed rest.

The next morning in the marina, we found a 6 foot crocodile swimming behind the boat. It seems unusual to find crocs this far north, but apparently they are around. This one got quite a bit of attention and the marina plans to re-locate him. Hopefully that will be soon before Frank has to change the prop. I volunteered to be the look-out.

Moshe the cat protested our departure from San Carlos by going in to her litter box and refusing to come out. Stayed there, glaring at us for almost 10 hours despite our efforts to re-locate her. Once she overcame her attitude problem she was better than usual on this trip and was walking around inside and not complaining too much.

Our plan is to stay here for the next 2-3 weeks and get our repairs done, change the prop and purchase needed items for the boat. The Puerto Vallarta has numerous good sources for all kinds of boating equipment.

After all is done, we’ll head south to Tenacatita and Barra de Navidad. Anyway, that is the plan for now.

Happy New Year to all!!