[I have an assortment of great excuses for why this is my first blog entry since we started cruising on December 27th, but I’ll spare you from them. Let’s just get caught up on what’s happened this season, really quickly.]
The big decision: Going back North to the Sea of Cortez.
After spending the Summer discussing the pros and cons of going in either direction, we decided to head back to Baja rather than cruising farther South into Central America. Courtney and I lamented not exploring the “Sea” more than we did. It’s one of the greatest cruising destinations on the face of the earth, so why leave it behind so prematurely?
We also felt another season in Mexico meshed better with other possible future cruising goals. At this point we’re definitely leaning more toward crossing the Pacific Ocean, rather than crossing the Panama canal and exploring the Caribbean. Mexico is a far better location to “Puddle Jump” from, than Panama or anywhere down South, in our opinion.
We’re also not in a hurry to go anywhere. We’ve fallen in love with cruising. The goal is to make it into a sustainable lifestyle rather than one big vacation that just ends one day. In our travels so far we’ve been inspired by people who’ve been seasonally cruising in Mexico for decades.
[A shout out to Becca and John from S/V Halcyon and Josh and Rachel from S/V Agape. Sailing in the same direction as you guys was definite “pro” to going south. We miss you guys. I’m sure we’ll catch up with you again. In the South Pacific maybe?]
Jungle Sailboat Refresh.
Grace was a sad sight when we returned to her in Huatulco, Oaxaca. Though she’d been watched over faithfully, she was nowhere near ready for an 800 mile push North to Puerto Vallarta, which would be our first major Marina stop before continuing North to La Paz. Grace needed a number of rigging repairs, engine servicing, and LOTS of general cleaning before going anywhere. The sun and humidity definitely had their way with Grace, so we spent a month working on her. We also enjoyed Christmas in Bahias de Huatulco. What a wonderful place.
The Push North
The first few hundred miles from Huatulco to Barra Navidad were very different this year. Last year, when we cruised south, the coast was being battered by large waves coming from the South. This year, earlier in the season, those waves were nonexistent. The seas were calmer, and the beaches were mellower.
Laguna Chacahua. Go there. I mean, don’t go there.
On the charts it looked idea. So why hadn’t any cruisers we met heard of it? Why didn’t the cruising guides say anything about it? It looked awesome from above—a large bay with a massive lagoon behind, and I mean massive. This lagoon was probably 20 times the size of the Lagoon at Barra Navidad. Let’s go there!
So we dropped anchor in this massive, majestic bay, all by ourselves with no other cruisers in sight. We inflated the dinghy shortly thereafter to explore the beach and lagoon. Turns out, Chacahua is absolutely magical. The beach is dotted with palapas, no hotels anywhere. The clientele are mostly young bohemians from Guadalajara and Mexico City. Visitors rent palapas and pitch tents underneath them. The only way to reach this place is by bus and by boat across the lagoon. That’s how it remains unspoiled.
The monstrous lagoon has a large breakwater that seemed as if it was part of a bigger unfinished plan for a marina or a port (common in Mexico). In a small, or shallow-draft vessel, this lagoon is totally doable. In a catamaran, you’d be a fool to not go in there. Just do it during a slack tide. The tidal current going in and out is very swift. We took the dinghy in and went back a few miles, until my “we’re fucked if we break down here” internal alarm went off.
Later, we’d explore the lagoon and mangroves farther via a rented panga. In it, we saw massive mangroves like these. See how small Courtney looks in there?
We spent our last night (New Year’s Eve) watching hippy-dippy Mexican millennials set off fireworks and fire-dance on the beach.
The Other 800 Miles
It was fun to revisit places we’d visited before (Zihuatanejo), and discover new spots (Ipala and La Manzanilla) as we slowly worked our way to La Cruz, a marina and small town in the North side of Banderas Bay, just outside of Puerto Vallarta. No major mishaps along the way other than the theft of my two favorite fishing rods inside the “secure” marina at Isla Navidad, in Barra Navidad.
We met some very cool new peeps along way—S/V Salt, S/V Untangled, S/V Small World, and S/V Tioga, to name a few—and wished they were all heading North like we are, but they, like most cruisers this time of year, are heading south.
Boat Projects, and TSA Woes
Grace received a much-needed haul out and bottom paint job at La Cruz. She also had her teak decks spiffed up with caulking repairs and stain. Additionally, she had her B&G wind/depth instruments upgraded, and had her batteries swapped for fresh ones. At this time, I flew back to LA for a brief visit to pick up a number of items you can’t get in Mexico, including a new watermaker (our old one quit), new semi-flexible solar panels (also quit), and two bags of Brodie’s special dog food.
Seems like a pretty straighforward mission, right? Not so fast. Right before I boarded the plane to go back to La Cruz, I was called to the airline counter, where a flight attendant informed me the TSA had seized one of my bags because it contained something they weren’t comfortable with—my new watermaker. So I convinced the airline to change my flight to the following day so I could hopefully convince the TSA that my Spectra watermaker wasn’t a bomb, and let me fly with it.
May I speak to your supervisor?
After a long talk with the humorless TSA “supervisor” a shakey deal was reached—I would disassemble the three sealed cylinders of my watermaker so that TSA agents could peer inside them and verify the contents, and my watermaker would be cleared to fly. [Understandably, TSA agents don’t like cylindrical objects they can’t see inside.] I was specific as specific can be with the agent about what would be done, noting several times that I would not disassemble anything mechanical, just the cylinders, and the TSA supervisor agreed, but her extremely unfriendly nature had me worried.
My worries proved their merit the next day when the TSA “supervisor” inexplicably reneged on our agreement. She wanted me to disassemble the part of the watermaker we agreed I would not disassemble just one day prior. WTF. Thanks to my google-saavy friend Lee Nelson, I discovered that I had the right to speak to her boss, the “TSM” about the matter. “TSM” shows up, realizing the OBVIOUS—that I wasn’t a terrorist, and that my watermaker wasn’t a bomb. So the TSM cleared my watermaker to fly. Sigh.
That TSA agent wasn’t doing her part to make the world safer, she was using her authority to make my life tougher. It was nothing other than an abuse of power for kicks. She enjoyed every minute of fucking my life up. It was obvious I wasn’t a terrorist or carrying contraband of any kind. I mean, would a single terrorist on Earth pick up their bomb from the TSA after it was seized? I don’t expect anyone to shed a tear about a white male complaining about abusive authorities. I’m not asking for any sympathy, just venting about the TSA. Flying was way more fun before 9/11!
Have you had a shitty experience with the TSA? Feel free to share below.
Cruising with Lee & Sara
Our friends from back home, Lee and Sara, joined us for our most recent Northward passage—Banderas Bay to Mazatlan. We’d make a few stops along the way at Chacala, San Blas, and Isla Isabel. What a nice time it was! Over the first couple months, Courtney and I had grown sorta weary of boat chores and routines, so it was great having some helping hands aboard to help out with simple, everyday boating tasks. Also, their enthusiasm was contagious. Good crew like these two are always welcomed back on Grace.
Mazatlan to Baja
Cut to the present. We’re waiting for two things right now—my sore back to heal, and for a weather window to appear for us to sail (motor too) across the southern Sea of Cortez to the tip of the Baja Peninsula. It’s a 180 mile or so passage. We’re aiming for the 8th to set sail. I hope my lower back stops having fits before that time, but if not I can always rely on Courtney for the grunt work.
It’s a 30-ish hour passage, can be kinda rough with short-period seas hitting the beam (side) of the boat but the reward is huge. We’ll get to drop anchor at Muertos when we’re done. Bahia Muertos is a blissful anchorage with perfect anchor holding, clear waters, and virtually nonexistent swell, which are three qualities hard to come by on the pacific coast of mainland Mexico. Baja, we can’t wait to see you again.