Sailing on the catamaran S/V Savannah

Shortly before we left La Cruz for sunny Seattle, Josh and I were treated to our first catamaran ride on our friend's sailing vessel, S/V Savannah. Andy, Monica, and their son Jake will be leaving La Cruz in March for the islands of the south Pacific Ocean.


With Monica and Jake in the United States visiting family, we offered to participate in a day-long "sea trial" in Bandaras Bay.


Andy, Josh, myself, and the autopilot shared the steering duties for the day.


After a few hours of sailing, whale watching, and beer sampling, we determined with absolute certainty that S/V Savannah is ready for the islands of the south Pacific Ocean.

S/V Estrella in Marina de La Cruz

In order to properly inspect and adjust the headsail roller furling system, I climbed in our bosun's chair and went up the mast one fine day in La Cruz. Josh was on deck support and together, we fixed the headsail roller furling system in no time.


This is my second time up the mast and as you can see from the photos, the view is spectacular from the top.


I enjoyed the experience and was amused by the birds flying by at my altitude of forty-five feet above the deck.

Puerto Vallarta

On another adventure via the Puerto Vallarta public bus system, Josh and I headed downtown to the old part of Puerto Vallarta for lunch.


The trip took over an hour and needless to say, we were happy to get off the bus and head for the beach. Our first stop was the malecon, where we found a wonderful statue of Neptune (bottom), a pirate (middle), and a lady with a dove (top).


Since we happened to visit old part of town mid-week and almost off-season, the beaches were relatively quiet.


The remains of the winter sand sculpture season were still present. The sculptors continuously maintain their creations and accept donations for their efforts.


Our favorite sand sculpture was this highly detailed "grizzly" bear.


The malecon in old Puerto Vallarta also had bronze chair sculptures of either aliens or octupi, depending on your point of view.


Josh and I ended up at a delicious shrimp restaurant for lunch, which had a great view of Bandaras Bay.


After lunch, we stopped at the old cathedral two blocks from the ocean. This structure contained beautiful stain glass windows and was serenely quiet inside.


Upon exiting the old cathedral, this unknown priest stood perpetual vigil over his flock.

La Cruz

Josh and I spent the month of January and part of February on S/V Estrella in and around the wonderful little town of La Cruz. Located on the northern shore of Bandaras Bay, (and near Puerto Vallarta), La Cruz turned out to be quite the cruiser's mecca and we found ourselves constantly reconnecting with old friends from La Paz and new friends from mainland Mexico.


Our first night in La Cruz found us at Ana Banana's bar and restaurant. Strangely enough, we found the telltale signature of La Paz friends, John and Liz from M/V Outta Here, on the kitchen wall of Ana Banana's.


As seen in the above photo, the kitchen wall of Ana Banana's has proven a popular graffiti spot for cruisers and land-based gringos passing through La Cruz.


Ana Banana's restaurant also has their own version of Margaritaville. This place regularly fills up almost every night as it is a popular spot for local bands to play.


La Cruz is also home to abundant, delicious, and cheap fruit and vegetables. Banana trees line one of the walkways to and from the marina in La Cruz.


Coconut trees were planted along the breakwater at the marina in La Cruz. Part of Puerto Vallarta is visible in the distance across Bandaras Bay.


The marina in La Cruz early in the morning. S/V Estrella is docked just out of range of the photo on the left.

Bucerias y Punta Mita

Following our trip to the United States for the holiday season, I attempted to figure out the Puerto Vallarta public bus system. For those of you who have done so already, you understand that time, a good book, and spare pesos are the keys to this endeavor. Having already taken on the Mazatlan public bus system, I hoped for similar success in spending very little money and lots of time to go seemingly small distances.


I started out from La Cruz with a small juant over to nearby seaside town of Bucerias. With less then 20 stops in 15 minutes, I felt this to be a small victory at the cost of approximately $0.42. I happened to arrive on the day of the craft market and enjoyed a lazy stroll around the town.


The above wall displayed a nice cartoon version of Bucerias I found intriguing. The town square was full of interesting art and all sorts of folks out for a late morning walk.


Most people seemed to already be on the main beach in Bucerias. Eclectic waterfront restaurants were open and serving delicious seafood to the tourists passing through this otherwise quiet town.


After a relaxing morning in Bucerias, I hopped back on the bus and headed next to Punta Mita. The ride from Bucerias to Punta Mita (via La Cruz) took approximately thirty minutes and the bus seemed to stop less frequently. The road from La Cruz to Punta Mita was full of hairpin turns, precarious vehicle passing, and precious little room at the side of the road for waiting passengers.


Punta Mita is also home to a wonderful little beach and was full of tourists out for a walk on yet another beautiful day in Mexico.


Overall though, Punta Mita is more subdued and feels much less "Mexican" than Bucerias or La Cruz.


None-the-less, I spent the afternoon relaxing at a beachside palapa restaurant with a good book and a limonada.


On the way back to the Punta Mita bus stop from the beach, I spotted yet another delightful cartoon (paper) map of Mexico hanging on the wall of a local tour company. Gotta love Mexico!!!

Navidad in Estados Unidos

Josh and I are still in Mexico but we'd like to post pictures of our means of transportation for the Christmas holiday season. We were in Connecticut and Ohio for two weeks and decided to rent an RV for our time there.


We enjoyed learning to drive the small beast of a vehicle and overall, found our first RV experience to be both fun and vaguely familiar.


Oddly enough, it turns out to be much like owning and operating a boat, (with shore power, generator, propane stove, etc) and sometimes rode like a boat in high winds.