A Taste of Cruising Mexico

Thanks for all your concern, but rest assured that since my last blog entry, we've steered clear of dark, deserted backroads in the barrio at the wee hours of the morning.

Our latest adventure took place under the bright, sunlight sky. Last week we invited a group of our 'cruising buddies' aboard Journey and set off for the national park islands of Los Arcos. Located south of Puerto Vallarta, just off the beach, this group of small islets has impressive rock arches and several sea caves. Our friends aboard S.V. Anna had recommended the snorkeling in this area. They'd explained that anchoring wasn't allowed, but there was a mooring bouy we could use.

After a little searching, we found the bouy they'd mentioned and tied off to it. Everyone started digging out snorkle gear and changing into swimming suits. That's when we noticed a very large boat (the one in the photo)bearing down on us...fast. They started insisting that we were on their mooring and needed to move. It's still not clear just what their claim was based on. Did they mean it literally? (We put in the labor and cost to build and maintain the thing). Or was it just custom? (We come out here at 11:00 to use this mooring every day.) Or was it even more simple? (You are Gringos, so this is obviously our mooring). In any case, we weren't going to argue with an 80 ft vessel that outweighed us by a ton or two.

There were a handful of other moorings, and we checked them out. They were all too flimsy, too shallow and too near the cliff to accomodate Journey. At this point we were ready to try setting our anchor anyway, but a guy in a panga stopped to warn us that government patrols came by frequently and would toss us off. He assured us that 'Serape' would be leaving out in about a half an hour's time.

So we motored around the islands a bit, taking in the sights, and did some people watching. This was a popular spot and pangas and modified sportfishers came in and out, grabbing the flimsy moorings and bringing small groups to snorkle or scuba dive. Then the huge catamarans would arrive, loaded to the gills with tourists. They'd lower their ladder and twenty men, women and children with orange life-jackets and snorkels would start splashing around in the water. In about 15-20 minutes, a voice from the loudspeaker would implore them to return to the boat before they were left behind. Once the last straggler was on board, the next catamaran would be right on hand to take their place.

'Serape' did leave out as promised and we had the mooring to ourselves as long as we needed it. The water was a chilly 68 degrees and since I didn't have a wet suit, I chose to take my kayak and explore the various arches and sea caves. The half dozen who did go snorkeling said the visability wasn't great, so I was glad of my decision not to brave the cold water.

After lunch we enjoyed a lovely sail under spinnaker back to the anchorage in La Cruz. In the days that followed we did more boat chores, took in some of the marina's social activities (Thursday movie night and Friday potluck) and took some long beach walks.

But the swell was approaching and so we headed back to Punta de Mita again so Jeff could get his surfing fix. Four days of nice waves seemed to be enough and we're back in La Cruz again.

Looking at the calendar, I was shocked to realize we've been in Banderas Bay for a month. The time has just flown by. The search for warmer water is giving us the incentive to move south, however. Hopefully by the beginning of next week we'll be on our way. We'll keep you in the loop.

Dori