04/07/2011

I got a 6 am start from Punta de Mita and motored around the corner as the sun came up. There was no wind for the first five or six hours but then it started to build. It was on the nose and, if I fell off to starboard, I could have a nice sail to Ensenada Manatchen. The next four hours was very nice with boat speed int the 9-12 knot range and port tack the whole way. I picked an empty spot in the bay, anchored, ate, and slept.

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03/23/2011

I've been in the Bay now for a while. It's time to head north. I've met friends from the last two years and taken some new sailors out. I got some surfing lessons from Corey and didn't get roughed up much. The boat's ready to go and the weather doesn't look bad. I think I'll head out tomorrow and see which way it's blowing.
Luego.

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03/13/2011

Day three of the regatta promised better winds and no tsunamis. I zipped to La Cruz and picked up Corey for the last race. After a very exciting start we settled into a groove and we doing well when the main competition, Humu Humu, dropped out with an equipment failure. Humu Humu is a 68 foot Morrelli designed catamaran that will really move when the wind is up so they were having a better race than day one. That's sailboat racing and they'll be back again next year. We sailed pretty well and won again. The highlight of the day was the ride back to La Cruz to drop Corey at his boat. The wind got into the twenties and we got into the high teens while getting soaked. The awards banquet was a good time with lots of food, cervezas and laughter.

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03/13/2011

The morning of day two brought a tsunami warning and the port captain closed the port and said no one could leave. Naturally day two of the regatta was cancelled. After some discussion about how the marina was the worst place to be, most of the boats sailed out of the marina to ride out any waves in deep water. It was another beautiful day on Banderas Bay until it was time to head back. The water in the marina and in the channel was going in and out every twenty minutes or so. I came in with about 6 knots of current and it was actually quite a bit of fun. Others had to fight current and turned back. Most of the fleet anchored out. It felt odd to be at the last slip and have so many empty spots to walk by.

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03/13/2011

My buddy Corey and his friend Chuck sailed with me on day one. Chuck is a retired doctor who had never been sailing before so it was a 'jump in the deep end' experience for him. The winds were light but we sailed well and won our class.

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03/13/2011

After a one day stop in La Cruz I hoped over to Nuevo Vallarta to sail in the Banderas Bay Regatta. I sailed in the regatta last year and had a great time so I had high hopes for this year. Unfortunately there were only four boats in the multihull class this year. Last year there were eighteen. Oh well you don't need a lot of boats for a good race, two is enough.

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