Part of cruising is making go / no-go decisions. Do you stay put or move on the next destination? Yesterday we were faced with the decision of remaining in San Blas or heading south towards La Cruz where we will need to be when my parents arrive on the 8th. We actually need to be there a day or two prior to pick up a rental car for them and do some shopping. It's over 40 miles and due to tide related restrictions we can't leave early in the morning so a stop in Chacala, roughly midway, was planned.

The weather was intriguing. An unseasonal low pressure trough was extending from the Socorro Islands to Cabo Corrientes. The Socorro's are about 300 miles west-southwest of Cabo Corrientes which marks the southern tip of Banderas Bay. Puerto Vallarta is roughly in the center of Banderas Bay. The forecast was nothing particularly ominous. Conditions were forecast to be 2-4 foot seas and 10-15 knots winds. Looking at the satellite imagery though it seemed like an active system that could throw off some squally bands. That turned out to be a good hunch. We stayed put in San Blas and shortly before we went to bed we got hit with a nasty little squall packing winds of up to 47 knots and extremely heavy rain. This went on for a while and we scurried on deck to remove the awning and capture an errant halyard that had somehow come loose from where it was secured. Here in San Blas we are anchored in a tidal estuary where the current determines which way the boat faces. In our case the wind and current were at odds with each other. We found ourselves riding forward on the anchor. Eventually things settled down and we got some well deserved sleep. This morning I bailed about 10 or 12 gallons of water out of the Porta-Bote and was pleased to hear that none of our neighbors in the anchorage had any major issues during the night.

Our decision to stay put was vindicated by reports from La Cruz, a popular anchorage on the north end of Banderas Bay. One of our friends, a singlehander, reported a "tornado-hurricane" packing winds of up to 100 knots. The morning SSB net had several reports of winds of 75 knots. La Cruz does not have the protection of our peaceful estuary so I can only imagine it being a very rough and potentially hazardous night.