One more stop before La Cruz

Attempted anchoring here but the rock bottom looked a little sketchy

Early on the 1^st of November we putted out of Chacala and headed towards La Cruz. On the way we decided to go closely along shore. While on the way we noticed a few cool anchorages where the water was a crystal jade color and checked them out. We decided to stop and anchor overnight at one of these places that was not listed on our Nav charts on the iPad or on our paper charts.  This little bay looked similar to Chacala. It had the same feel but it had a lot more villas and cute little hotels on the beach than Chacala.

 

Anchored near this little cove

We anchored very close to the beach because Rick was keeping in mind he had to row to shore. After anchoring we jumped in the water to cool off and then got our gear together for the beach.

Los Ayala

We spent the day walking along the beach, meeting and talking to people. A lot of tourists we talked to were from Canada. They all come to this beach town yearly and stay in the same place. They all said they loved it here. “Here”…is what we later learned was, Los Ayala. Anyway…the Canadians are the friendliest people we have been meeting. Oh…and also the Australians. There seem to be a lot of Australians who sail the coast of Mexico and Baja and beyond. But on this particular beach we basically just ran into Canadians.

As we sat on the beach looking out at the water we noticed our friends Marilyn and Steve on Toccata out in the bay searching for a place to anchor. They ended up anchoring further out than we did (which was propably smart). When they finished anchoring, they dinghy’d to shore and we went to greet them. We all walked and talked and ended up eating at a little restaurant across the street from the beach.  The food was so delicious!

After dinner we said our goodbyes to Marilyn and Steve because they were headed back up towards Mazatlan because they had tickets for Carnival on the 8^th (or around the 8^th).

That night on anchor we went to sleep with the boat sort of hobby horsing in the swell. It was not too bad and it almost felt like we were being gently rocked to sleep. BUT in the middle of the night, things changed. The swells were bigger and closer together and our boat was spinning around the anchor. We ended up being sideways to the swell and being rocked from one side of the boat to the other…practically dipping our rails into the water. It was impossible to sleep. We were rolling from one side of the bed to the other. Things inside the boat were being thrown around. I could hear the dishes in the cabinets crashing into other dishes. It was awful! Rick ended up going out into the cockpit to try to sleep or to just keep an eye on things….to make sure we did not end up on the beach. I ended up just trying to sleep sideways in the v-berth. Nothing helped! As soon as the sun came out, we picked up our anchor and left! We noticed on our way out of the bay that Steve and Marilyn had left as well. Even though they were out a bit further from us, I’m sure they weren’t getting much sleep either.

 

The beach at Los Ayala

The swells were pretty big and sloppy as we made our way towards La Cruz. We had 30 NM to go and I was hoping it would not last the entire trip…five or six hours. I should have hoped or prayed harder because it was not letting up and the swells were only getting bigger and closer together coming from several different directions it seemed. Waves were sneaking onto the boat each time we dipped to one side.  Rick tried to find a direction that would prevent this but nothing seemed to make much of a difference. If we really changed our position, it would have made us severely off of our course and put us into the rocks.  Despite the rough water, the views were spectacular and the water was turning back to that gorgeous lapis colored blue again. 

Punta de Mita
As you can see these are breaking waves no where near the beach! There is a reef or shoal that is causing these waves to break where they are. 

We were approaching Punta de Mita and trying to figure out what the buoys meant off the point that we were seeing. Then through the binoculars we saw breaking waves really far out and we were on course to go right into them. Yikes! I was a nervous wreck inside fearing that we would get caught in those waves. But we figured out we were to go around the buoys on the seaward side. So we went wide around them and bypassed the impending doom!  As we passed the point the winds piped up and were blowing up to 25kts. The swells got a little smaller and not so messy but then we had lots of wind. We only had our jib out and it was pulling us through the water to about 6kts. Not bad for our heavy boat.  Things got prettier and prettier as we sailed toward our destination. But the winds were strange. One minute we were up to 25 or more knots then the next the winds were 15knots. It reminded me a lot of San Francisco Bay! The winds never seems to be very consistent.

Just turning the corner and heading to the Marina Entrance in La Cruz

About 2 miles away from the Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz, I called the Marina on the VHF to make a reservation. Luckily they spoke English very well and I did not have to stutter around with the little Spanish I know to communicate.  They gave us our dock and slip number and said they would be there waiting for us. I was happy to hear this because it was blowing about 24kts when we entered the Marina and our prop walk would not have been in our favor for getting into our slip. So…we needed all the help we could get to land our boat!  Two other men saw us coming in and ran to the rescue as well. So between the five of us we made it in safely to our slip with only one pinball affect.  Fhew! What a load off to be in our slip! It hasn’t been since we were in Ensenada that we had a slip…a solid surface to place our feet when stepping off the boat.

It turns out that one of the guys that helped us was someone else we met in San Blas, Doug. He and his wife, Lyneita are here in La Cruz on SV Ka'sala. As the day grew, we found out lots of people that we have met along the way are here and have been here for not only a few days but also weeks.  Jollydogs was a Catamaran we knew from Ensenada who left the same day as we did from Cruiseport Village. Two other boats we knew from San Blas.  Later in the evening we ran into Marilyn and Steve who were supposed to be going to Mazatlan! We were shocked to see them but happy as well. Apparently they had some issue with their dripless shaft seal. It was leaking! So they figured it would be closer to come to La Cruz and take care of it than to go all the way to Mazatlan. So hopefully they can get it fixed while they are here then make it up to Mazatlan in time for Carnival. Steve said that if it doesn’t get fixed in time they would take a bus to Mazatlan.

After checking in with the office at the Marina and talking to Steve and Marilyn, we went back to the boat and got our bath towels and shower gear and went to the La Cruz Yacht Club to use the showers. Wow….did the showers feel good! I took an extra long time just letting the hot water hit my face and the back of my shoulders.  I haven’t felt so clean and refreshed in a long time!

After our showers, we went up to a really nice outdoor Italian restaurant that overlooks the marina. The building was round and the roof was made out of Palm leaves. There were no windows and there was a nice breeze blowing through.  The food was incredible! We started off with Fried Calamari, which was so good especially because of the sauces that came with. For dinner, Rick had Fettuccini Alfredo with Shrimp and I had a delicious Spinach Salad with fried goat cheese, dried cranberries, pistachio nuts, tomatoes, and grilled chicken. I inhaled the salad and didn’t leave a trace behind. Rick pretty much did the same with his meal.  

Later last night we watched a movie and then went right to sleep. We were so tired from basically not sleeping the night before. And after a shower and a good meal we had no problem sleeping!

This morning I got up early while Rick remained asleep and have been working on the blog. I don’t like getting behind and before we get started with chores, checking in with the Port Captain and exploring the town, this morning is my only hope to get caught up!

We will be here for a week. Next stop is undetermined (That’s the life of a cruiser I guess).