In Puerto Vallarta--Paradise Village

On December 9, we sailed south from Mantanchen Bay. We had light winds until we rounded Punta Mita and entered beautiful Banderas Bay, where we encountered a stiff breeze. It was late in the day, so we anchored just below Punta Mita for the night. The next morning we sailed east into the bay, arriving at Nuevo Vallarta about 3 pm. We had made reservations at Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta beginning the next day, but they were able to accommodate us early. We found a slip and had dinner at the Vallarta Yacht Club, which is in Paradise Village.

Paradise Village is a beautiful marina associated with a large, popular resort. We decided to stay for a month so that our two boys could visit us over Christmas break. Our daugher Jessica had just started a new job in Portland and could not come.

The boys stayed with us on the boat, but enjoyed the amenities of the resort, including the pools and beach palapas, where they could order food and drinks. We made a number of trips into Puerto Vallarta, which was easily reachable by bus. The boys liked a bar named Cheeky Monkey, which serves dollar margaritas.

The stay in the marina allowed me to make a number of repairs to the boat. I discovered that the wooden mast partners (wedges that support the mast where it passes through the roof of the cabin) had rotted due to a leak in the mast boot. Using a jig saw I bought at the PV Home Depot, and some teak boards I had on the boat, I made new partners and wedged them into place. I replaced the leaky mast boot with "impermeable" neoprene fabric that was made for me in Mazatlan by a woman known as Lycra Laura.

I also made some modifications to the plumbing for our marine head, which greatly reduced an odor problem. I eliminated the diverter valve (which was allowing gas from the holding tank to bubble up through the toilet) and repaired our pump-out pump, which was damaged by some cloth that was accidentally flushed down the toilet. The cloth had been clogging the system, making it difficult to pump out.

The stay in the marina also made it possible to work on some academic projects. I did some work on a possible book. I also did some pro bono work on a death penalty case from South Carolina--writing a lengthy report exposing scientific misconduct by an analyst who testified about forensic DNA tests. Some work I did at the navigation table on the boat, but I also did quite a lot while sitting on the beach.

We took one side trip on the boat to Yelapa, a beautiful inlet on the south side of Banderas Bay.

The boys have now gone back to school. I am finishing up my academic projects and getting ready to move on. We plan to visit La Cruz to refuel, and then round the notorious Cabo Corrientes and head south again.

Here are the boys arriving at the airport in PV.



And here is what they spent most of their time doing on the boat.



Here is Elliot at Cheeky Monkey celebrating the purchase of a new hat (which required protracted negotiations in the mercado).



Despite the tropical location, Graham managed to get into the Christmas spirit.



Here are some scenes from the Malecon in PV. A sand sculpture, and a bronze chair on which one can sit and contemplate matters.




Our boat is not the only Sabbatical in these waters. There are two others. We have become very friendly with the family on this Sabbatical, a Valiant 40, from Hermosa Beach. Phil and Marylou are lawyers and they have two kids, Kelli and Ryan. We have seen them a lot. To distinguish ourselves, we have started identifying our boat Sabbatical Verde on the radio nets. They often identify themselves as Sabbatical Ninos.



An interesting event in Nuevo Vallarta is the release of young sea turtle hatchlings. The sea turtle eggs are collected from the beach and incubated in protected areas to save them from preditors. When they hatch, they are released at sunset, which gives them the best chance of reaching the sea and surviving. The public is invited to participate in the release and cheer them on, as they crawl toward the setting sun and the ocean waves.