La Cruz de Huanacaxtle & South
21 January 2012
A welcome return to La Cruz, familiar sights and a great marina. Unloaded and said goodbye to Helen and Lars. They proved to be excellent crew, had some great stories and took their watches seriously. I would welcome them back anytime. Walking the docks it was nice to see so many people I had previously met from La Cruz, Mazatlan, Marina Palmira and some from last year who return to this wonderful spot again this year. La Cruz has changed, more restaurants, more bars , more shops. I guess it is becoming popular. Frankly I think this is the best spot on the mainland. A few jobs undertaken on the boat and Julie arrived on schedule from Oregon. We had a great week, went exploring to Sayulita , a great surf come hipped hang out. The byus ride there was fairly quick but interesting, basically up a mountain and then down the other side. The beach was lovely and great surf. A very popular spot with the gringos. Next was an explore of Bucerious, the next village from La Cruz. We found some great places, even a french bakery!!
We had some long lunches and some really nbice evenings out with friends from other boats, "Tacos on the Street" was visited a few times and we also went on a margarita challenge to see who could find the best margarita's being served. Sadly the week passed quickly and Julie flew home to icey conditions in Portland. She will cpome back for the Lareto festival in early May. A few evenings out with friends then followed and a spectacular night at "The Kliff". This is a famous restaurant the other soide of PV, the evening was organised by Larry from Panta Rei. Nine of us pilled into a taxi bus and made the 50 kms journey to Mismaloma. The restaurant was perched ( litterly) on the side of a cliff, mulitple levels and lots of spteps connnecting small dining areas overlooking the bay. The food was fantastic and the views to die for. During the course of the meal, whales were breaching in the bay not more than a 1/4 mile offshore.
I was brought down to earth the next day when the macerator pump stopped working and on removing it , the back siphon which it has set up dumped the contents of the holding tank into the bilge, 25 gallons of pee was then deposited on the dockside by the automatic bilge pump !!! After washing everything down and throwing disinfectant everywhere I tried to rebuild the macerator for the third time. To no avail........next morning oit was off to PV to buy a single diaphram waste pump/. I have given uo on impeller driven pumps. New hoses, new clamps and by 6pm that evening all was in place and miraculously working. It actually owrks much better, is really quiet and should not give any issues for years to come. Or so I am told by other people who have converted to diaphram pumps!!!!
Have been eating some really fresh prawn and fish lately, the fishermans market is within the marina, fresh every day straight off the boats. Bought 1 x kilo of jumbo prawns and I x kilo of fantastic tuna loin for 240 pesos, about 23 kiwi dollars today !!
A few boats are heading south on Tuesday, I may well go with them. I intended to wait for Johnny and Jerry, but they may be a while before they are both ready to leave Mazatlan. Jerry is bringing down a load of parts for me and 9 months worth of medication and Johnny ( SV Wideopen) is returning from Australia where he underwent cancer treatment for a growth in his nose. All went well thankfully. Billy his australian cattle dog has been looked after by Don and his wife on TJ Wazoo. Had my fill of marina's and am looking forward to swinging off the hook in Ipala, chamala, tenacatita and Barre de Navidad for a few months. At Some point I have to backtrack and return to La Paz to meet up with Rock n Roll before proceeding up into the Sea of Cortez for the Larreto fest and then beyond into the summer cruising grounds. It's a long way to sail.....around 650 miles from Barre de Navidad.
So everything is set to leave at 5.00am on Thursday and tackle Cabo Corriantes, the weather looks good and hopefully I can make it around the point before 10.00am, the winds tend to come up mid to late afternoon. I managed to go around Corriantes in both directions last year without getting bashed and hopefully it will be the same this year. Will duck into a "cut in the coast line" anchorage called Ipala for some sleep and then make the 50 mile sail to Chamala with another early start the next morning. Alex II has been readied once again for single handed sailing.