We left La Cruz on January 10th and sailed southwest across Banderas Bay so that we could get around Cabo Corientes, a formidable point of land known for strong winds and rough seas. It's reputation is a bit like that of Point Conception in California--sailors speak respectfully of it.
While crossing Banderas Bay we passed a number of fish boils--where small fish literally jump out of the water to escape larger predators, making the water seem to boil with fish. I cast a lure into one of the boils and immediately hooked the nice bonita seen here. We caught another small tuna soon after. Here is what a fish boil looks like.
Luckily, winds were light as we passed Cabo Corientes. There were choppy waves and confused seas caused by the meeting of strong sea currents (Corientes means current in Spanish), but we cut through them without difficulty. At sunset we arrived at a small protected bay off the fishing village of Ipala and dropped anchor for the night.
The next morning, we continued south. The winds came up and we were able to sail down the coast on a broad reach the entire day--a beautiful day of sailing. About 5 pm we arrived at Bahia de Chamela, which looks like a picture postcard with white sand beaches and palm trees. We dropped anchor and jumped into the warm (about 80 degrees) and very clear water. There are fish all around the boat and a reef near by that is like a tropical aquarium. This is a lovely place--the kind of place I imagined while planning a trip to the tropics.
There are a few palapa restaurants on the beach that serve fresh seafood. Behind the beach is a small village with a few tiendas and one hotel. Here is how the anchorage looks from the palapas.
A river empties into the head of the bay. Claudia and I paddled our kayaks up the river, which is full of interesting wildlife.
Landing on the beach with the kayaks or the dinghy was sometimes a challenge due to the surf break. During my first attempt to land in a kayak I got turned sideways on a wave but somehow managed to stay on top of the kayak while being washed sideways onto the beach. A group of locals, sitting in one of the palapa restaurants, must have found the sight pretty amusing. They stood and applauded, and then offered me a cerveza.
The picture below shows our dinghy on a beach on a small, uninhabited island at the South end of Bahia de Chemela. We landed the dinghy during a lull, hoping to stay on the beach for a while. A short time later, however, some big breakers started coming in, forcing us to leave this little beach in a hurry. We generally used our kayaks to land on the beach, as we did not want to risk overturning the dinghy and immersing our outboard motor.
During our first evening in Chamela, we shared our catch with Seth and Sophie from Liberty. They are both Stanford post-docs who are cruising with their four-year old son Casey. It was a fun evening.
The next day, the other Sabbatical arrived. Phil and Marylou are both lawyers. They are cruising with two kids--Kelli and Ryan. We had dinner with them as well. Cruising is turning out to be quite a social whirl. To distinguish our boat, we have begun identifying our Sabbatical on the morning radio net as Sabbatical Verde. The other Sabbatical is Sabbatical Ninos.
One morning a small whale swam through the anchorage, right past our boat, and then past the other Sabbatical. I yelled to call their attention to the whale, which passed within 50 feet of their boat.
Although the bay feels very remote, we are (amazingly) still able to connect to the internet using a Telcel Broadband card. The connection speeds are slow, but we are still able to read the New York Times while resting up from snorkeling. While here, the US Supreme Court decided the case of McDaniels v. Brown--a case in which I had filed an amici curiae brief with the court. I was able to read the opinion and engage in extensive exchanges with my the various academics who co-signed the brief, all while at anchor in this lovely place. Technology is indeed wonderful.
The only stressful incident occurred on January 15th, when a strong storm cell passed through the anchorage, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. As the storm approached, we experienced sudden, violent SE winds, which put us on a lee shore. I let out more chain and got ready to raise the anchor and head to sea. As the storm cell passed by, however, there was a rapid shift in wind direction back to NW (which is typical), after which things cleared up and the day became beautiful. We heard later that the same storm caused some damage, and created water spouts, north of us in Puerto Vallarta.
No comments:
Post a Comment