La Cruz to Manzanillo

This post is mostly notes made by Bill Eddy with pictures gleaned from several crew members. The crew for this leg was Paul Goss, Bill Eddy, Jim Labbe, and Bruce McDiarmid. It was planned to be more leisurely than most Virago legs to take advantage of the great cruising on the Costa Legre (Happy Coast).

Friday 4/2-Monday 4/5 in La Cruz

Jim and Bill flew into PV Friday afternoon and met Captain Paul at Virago. Bruce flew in Sunday and joined the crew. Highlights of this time included:

• Three breakfasts at local hangout Ana Banana’s
• Trip to famous Philos for drinks and music
• German dinner at the Black Forrest (schnitzel to die for)
• BBQ Rib Sunday dinner with music at Ana Banana’s
• Fellowship with ex-pats Leon, Al, Glen and Russ at Ana’s
• Local fun bus ride and provisioning at the giant Mega supermarket
• Boat preparation projects each day

Crew with Leon at Anna Banana

Bill, Bruce, Paul, Jim at La Cruz Marina

Monday 4/5 Trip Start Day

Left berth at 1:19pm and gas dock at 2:00pm for a nice Banderas Bay beat out to Cabo Corientes. 10-12k breeze, 86 degrees, and boat speeds in the 7-9k range with flat sea state. Great views of the entire Bay and Puerto Vallarta. Wind held till 4:30pm then died down to 4-6k. Put up asym (asymmetrical spinnaker) and later winged out the jib to help us along to Cape Destruction and Chemala. Great light air sailing. Ate dinner at 8:00pm prepared by Paul. Chicken, veg and potato stew with homemade bread.

Bill and Bruce Raise Asym

The Dreaded Cabo Corientes

As we turned southerly around Cabo Corientes, the warm wind built behind our wing on wing setup to 15-20k pushing us to 9 k with surfing the bigger swells. We did this all night through our shift schedules until 7:00am when we actually passed our first intended stop Ipala and were fast approaching our second stop at Chemala. Shifts were Bill/Bruce 8-12 , Paul/Jim 12-4 and Bruce/Bill the 4-8. This was world class night sailing in wonderful conditions. Give it an 8. This was also Jim’s first overnight in the ocean on a sailboat. Congrats on a first Jim.

Tuesday 4/6 Into Chemala Bay

At 7:00am, believe it or not, we had to pull down the Asym and tried to slow the boat down so as not to overshoot our Chemala stop. We only slightly passed it and turned the boat around and one beat back to the Bay approach. We anchored at 10:00am relaxed and had egg mc muffins Paul style. Very good after a night of sailing.

At anchor, we swam, drank beer and cleaned up the boat a bit. There were 6-8 other boats in the anchorage. Spent the afternoon setting up the dinghy and its outboard motor. As evening approached we went ashore through the surf for dinner. Got soaked on the way, but our cameras and money were in plastic bags and remained dry. Ate at La Bucerros shoreside palapa with sand floor and thatched roof. Had 12 giant local shrimp with rice and beans. Very good. With 2 beers each the bill was $400 pesos or $32 USD for all 4 of us. Took dinghy back to Virago and got soaked again. Something about our timing of the waves and the sadly underpowered outboard. BS’d till 10:30pm and to sleep.

Crew at Chemala Restaurant

Wednesday 4/7 At anchor in Chemala

Calm and warm so we did boat projects. Paul up the mast to remove a broken loud hailer bracket and hailer. He fixed the Windex guide damaged by birds on our BaHa HaHa trip in November. Had fresh baked scones for breakfast followed by swimming and some interior and dinghy cleaning. All of us worked on the steering system noise problem. We won’t know if it stopped the squeak until we get under way again. Drank beer and enjoyed the peaceful anchorage.

Jim Demonstrated the Possibility of Misusing his New Zoom Camera on the Captain

Chemala and the Crew as Seen from Virago’s Masthead

At 5:30pm went to dinner ashore. This time we almost flipped the dinghy in the surf break. Soaked all 4 of us, but provided great entertainment for the local panga fishermen watching us from shore. We ate at another beach palapa called La Questa. Waitress did not speak English (like last night’s waitress). We were able to communicate with effort, had 4 large Margaritas and langosta dinner with salad, tortillas and rice. Total $800 pesos or $64 USD. Very good.

After dinner we went for a walk in the little town around the beach looking for ice cream (helado). We asked a tienda lady where we could get helado and she summoned her daughter to interpret for her/us. They said that the store with helado was 6-7 blocks toward town. Since it was getting dark, we thanked them and promptly abandoned the search, returning to the dinghy on the beach. Again we got caught in the waves and resoaked. Half way to the boat the motor quit so we rowed the remaining 1/8 mile to Virago. Shot breeze till bed at 10:30pm. Before bed, I used Paul’s phone to call Nora and wish her a happy 31st anniversary. My Verizon phone was not useful in this remote place. Great to hear her voice.

Thursday 4/8 Leaving Chemala Bay for Bara de Navidad

Up at 8:00am for blueberry muffins and coffee. Then projects. Dinghy motor fix and lift onto Virago. Changed out the fuel tank that received water during last night’s adventure. Fixed the cockpit table brackets so they would reliably hold the table leaves up, double hose clamped a few water lines in bilge that had not been done previously and screwed the floorboards down.

We got under way at 12:06pm cruising/sightseeing up beautiful Chemala Bay. While doing so, we brought on deck all anchor chain and rode, measured it set up a new more user friendly deployment marking system. Straight forward and easy to understand. By 1:00pm we were out in the open ocean paralleling the coast in 8-11k breeze, 4-6k speeds and flat sea state. Saw some very nice and large resorts and private developments along the shore (ie. Careves) as we ate lunch. Ideal conditions for casual cruising.

Bruce and Jim Mark 250 Foot Chain and 150 Foot Mega Plait Rode with Colored Wire Ties

At 4:15pm we gave up on pure sailing as wind had died down and we wanted to make Bara de Navidad before dark for a safe narrow channel entrance there. Thus we motor sailed past Tenacatita Bay (might visit later) around 5:05pm then entered into the Bara breakwater and the marina at 6:50pm. The marina is at the foot of a mega hotel complex called the Grand Bay Isle resort. Though off season and mostly empty, the marina was first class. A lot better than anchoring out in the muddy and mosquito infested estuary nearby. The Grand Bay had many pools, lagoons, water slides and features, and nice restaurants and bars.

Town of Barra de Navidad Behind Breakwater on Port Side of Channel

Isla Grande Hotel on Starboard Side of Channel

445 Years Ago Spanish Forces Left Barra for the Successful Conquest of the Philippines

After checking at 8:00pm, in we went by water taxi to the town of Bara de Navidad across the channel from the marina. It had a bustling main street looking like a giant crafts bazaar. Many restaurants and bars, hotels etc on the beach side and two streets deep. We all used Banamex ATM machines to get some pesos while in town. So much easier than torturing the shop and restaurant people by making them try to convert USD into pesos. We ate at Marlena’s Beach Bar and Restaurant. Ate outside overlooking the beach and bay and enjoyed Margaritas and Vodkas along with guac dip and chips followed by fish, pasta and goulash dinners. Nice apple cinnamon crisps and ice cream desserts followed. Before the bill came the female German national owner came out with the waitress and gave us each a Tequila shot. The bill was $800 pesos or $64 USD for 4.

Assorted Pictures of Barra

After dinner we returned to the water taxi dock ($.25) for round trip panga ride to the marina. We walked about 10% of the hotel grounds, returned to the boat for BS session until bed at 1:00am. Not too humid and 85 degrees. Slept well.

Friday 4/9 Bara de Navidad Marina

Up at 8:30am to get fresh pastry from the famous “French Bakery Panga” that was driven by the bakery owner right into our dock. Had good stuff. Ham and cheese croissants and quiches, raisin rounds, French bread, almond croissants etc. We had some of this booty for breakfast. We took our laundry to the local lavanderia then Bruce, Jim and I toured the beautiful grounds of the Grand Bay Hotel. We used their bell desk to change large peso notes into smaller ones, took many pictures and got a price sheet. Wow!! Muy expensivo. Killed time until laundry ready at 2:00pm. Total laundry wash, dry, fold and packaged for $4USD @. Not bad.

French Baker – Never on a Wednesday, a Wednesday, Cause That’s His Day of Rest

At this point we decided as a group to skip Tenicatita anchorage and pool our money and stay at the expensive marina ($160) for one more tough night. This in lieu of going out and anchoring in the swamp, or leaving early for Manzanillo or backtracking to Tenicatita. With that major decision, we went to the Hotel for Cheeseburgers in Paradise and Pacificos. This followed by a swim in the hotel pools, then back to the boat at 6:30pm to change and go to dinner in town again.

In town we explored the streets and shops. Not too crowded as locals don’t come out to eat or party until around 10pm. We ate snacks at the family owned authentic hole in the wall called Mexico Lindo. Just Margaritas, chips and we split some chicken tacos. After dinner we went to a beach bar called Piper Love, with live music and beer. Returned to boat and bed by

11:45PM.

Views from Isla Grande

Panorama of Isla Grande

Pools and Small Beach at Isla Grande

Saturday 4/10 Departure for Manzanillo/Las Hadas

Up at 8:00am, no wind and a hot 85 degrees. Water taxi to town for final breakfast at Ramona’s for nice bacon and eggs, then back to boat for preparation for the trip to Manzanillo. Departed in light flat seas and no wind at 11:38am. No chance to sail so motored through large groups of giant sea turtles floating independently on the surface. Approached stunning entrance cliffs and homes on the edge of Manzanillo Bay and into the Las Hadas anchorage at 3:30pm. Set up dinghy and headed to the docks at the Las Hadas marina at 4:30pm to browse shops and check out the beautiful resort that was the setting for the movie “10”, with Dudley Moore, Bo Derek and Brian Dennehey.

Las Hadas from Anchorage

Las Hadas Pools

We walked the half mile malecon around the Bay, filled with cliff hanging condos and homes. Major feature was the ultra modern/luxurious Barceló Resort all inclusive. It had a full 18 hole golf course, 10 pools, an outdoor theater for Broadway type shows and one golf hole that was an island in front of a large bar/restaurant palapa in the cliffs. Stunning views. Even without the all inclusive wrist bands we did not get thrown out.

We finished the discovery walk at 9:30pm and ate at the Paradise Palapa overlooking the anchorage and Virago, the whole Bay and the City of Manzanillo across the Bay. We had Margaritas and a less than spectacular dinner of fish and beef brochettes, but the view trumped the crappy food. Back to the boat by 11:00pm to sit on the deck and BS surrounded by lights and listen to shore music from the Barceló show and ultimately the aforementioned palapa bar. Sadly this was Bruce’s last night with us. I talked to Nora and everything was right with the world.