The KIEVIT crew added Ginger and David Hanson on March 14th. They will be aboard for two weeks and we have been having non-stop fun, sailing and exploring Banderas Bay during the first week. Their flight from San Francisco was delayed four hours and as you may know, there is no way to contact us, except by email. Well, we didn't think to check email until they were three hours late. As they were going to take the bus from the airport and get off on the highway at the first traffic light in La Cruz, Dave was waiting there to guide them about a half mile to the marina. Eventually, with two hours until David & Ginger might show up at the "stop", we got on internet and indeed they did arrive - no problema!
We strolled around La Cruz the first day and our meals for the next several days revolved around the Fish Market located right at the top of the local fishing fleet dock. We spent a couple of nights moored at Las Marietas - a national marine park. Great snorkeling, stargazing with I pad app, which was exquisite, and hiking and sailing. Then, on Sunday we motored, a cold front was on its way to the Bay and there was no wind for sailing. This afforded the opportunity to see dolphins and whales and particularly turtles - even to get good photos of these charming ancients. Yelapa is integrated into the tourist scene now, but just a few years ago, it had no electricity and was a true "real village." It is still only accessible by boat and therefore, still isolated. Now it is a very interesting town, built on a hillside that climbs into the jungle, and has a lovely waterfall at the end of the trail. Climbing to the waterfall, the path goes by many local homes along the stream flowing from the falls, which is also the town's water supply. Looks like you'd want to boil that water! We wandered through the rest of town on the way down to the beach where we had stored the dinghy. There was strong singing, accompanied by guitar. We found the source at the town church, which appeared full, and we further discovered they were in the midst of a weeklong revival. Further down the cobblestone path, we heard lively dance music and it was emanating from the town casino, which was also full and through the doorway had a strong brew aroma. We thought there was probably a relationship between the need for revival and heavy brew smells - assuming dancing is a positive element in most cultures, as I do!
Photos from the past week's adventures can be found in the gallery - just a click away on the right of this log.
Sunday night on a mooring in Yelapa, became more and more rolly, on the boat. We left Monday morning just in the nick of time before sideswiping a very large catamaran. This was a problem with how the mooring balls were located and I'm pretty sure the "Yelapa Mooring Co." would not assume any liability for their mismanagement of equipment and overall lack of expertise. Anyway, we got out of that possible scathing experience by good karma, only to be foiled by especially strong current and unprotected, too small slip, while docking in Paradise Village. Poor KIEVIT, newly polished in La Cruz, sustained a sizeable deep scratch on the port side.
We were moved to a different space, in a more agreeable spot, on Tuesday and have been aggressively preparing the boat and crew for racing in the Banderas Bay Regatta. Starts tomorrow, with a boat parade - I do hope there will be photos for your enjoyment. First race in afternoon after the parade and again, races the next two afternoons. We are expecting great wind and a flying good time! The next post will report the results. Hasta Luego!!