Sail Repair

We have reached the point in our trip that we need to do some major sail repair.  Since we are enjoying Zihuatanejo so much and there are some minor resources here (fabric store, small fishing shops with some boating items and other cruisers) now seemed as good a time as any.  So here we go with the second sewing blog post in a row.  I apologize and promise more variety in the future, really.

Secondary only to the hull which keeps the water at bay, our sails are the most important item on the boat and they take a beating.  Some might think that sailing in heavy winds is what causes sails to wear out.  Although heavy winds can cause dramatic blow-outs as well as general wear and tear, in our experience it has been sailing in a lot of light wind that has taken a greater toll.  On a sailboat the sails help to stabilize the boat especially in rolling seas.  This only works correctly when the wind is strong enough to keep the sails full.  Here in Mexico we have had a lot of "sailing" days where this is not the case and instead of smoothly sailing towards our destination we wind up bobbing about at the whim of the waves. The sails flop back and forth as we madly try to keep the boom on one side of the boat and figure out how to move faster than the current can pull us.  As they flop, the sails have any number of things that they can bang on and they do this over and over and over again.  Chafe and rust, enemies number one and two on the fiberglass sailing vessel.  Sails can have problems with corrosion at all of their metal fastenings, but this we addressed before we left Seattle by replacing many of the old grommets.  However, the vibration as the wind rushes over the sail, the degrading UV rays from the sun and all of this flopping around has brought about the need for a sail repair session.

As I mentioned in my last post we do not have a sewing machine.  Instead we have four hands, two sail-maker's palms (even a lefty one for me!), some very large needles, various types of cloth, a roll of thick, waxed polyester thread and a couple of brewskies to keep us going.  Most of our knowledge about sail repair comes from our friend Marty at Ballard Sails.  Before we left Seattle she gave us a number of valuable lessons in sail repair that have served us well on our trip.  We cannot thank her enough!  On board we also have two books with information about sail repair.  One is a general repair book about all of the systems on the boat and has about five pages on the most common types of repairs sailors have to make.  Everything we have had to do has been in that book so they definitely picked the right topics, however, their is a serious paucity of information and most of the advice assumes that you have an industrial sewing machine handy.  The other book we have is like a cook book that tells you have to slaughter the cow rather than just season the stew.  No matter how pretty they might be I am not interested in making Chinese junk (a type of boat) sails from natural canvas, by hand.  Also, there is no way that the index in that book was written by anyone who ever had to repair sails.  So, like many of our boat projects, when it comes to sail repair we often feel like we are making it up as we go.

We wanted every sail on the boat examined and ready to sail with.  This includes the spare sails.  We carry one asymmetrical spinnaker, two (very old) main sails, a trisail, a 130% genoa, a 100% jib and a storm jib.  Here is some more information if you are not familiar with the names of these sails:
Spinnaker - These are the colorful sails that you often see on the fronts of sailboats.  Ours is kind of rainbow colored: red, orange, yellow and purple stripes.
Main - Just as the name implies, this is the primary sail on the boat that goes up the mast and along the boom
Genoa - A large sail that runs from the front of the boat back towards the mast.  This is really just a large jib.
Jib - The typical kind of foresail on a boat, running from the bow back towards the mast.
Storm jib/trisail - These are our storm sails.  They are much smaller than our normal sails, and we can put them up in heavy winds to help us more easily control the boat.

If you are keeping count that makes seven sails.  Right now we are three down, four to go!  However, it is definitely the genoa and main that need the most work.  We use those two sails and the spinnaker most often, especially since most of our trip so far has been traveling down wind.  Today my hands feel like a pincushion.  I think every finger has been stuck at least once.  I spent most of the last four days sitting under our harbor awning in my bathing suit pushing the needle back and forth using a sailmaker's palm and a pair of pliers. I don't think I have to say how much I would appreciate a sewing machine right now.  However, it does feel like quite an accomplishment when I look at the finished product.  Our genoa now has a new, functional, leach line and a repaired, leather-wrapped clew, two things that will improve our ability to sail well and safely.  How I acquired the leather is a story for another day.  Adam keeps telling me that if the whole doctor thing doesn't work out I can always fall back on sail-making but I don't think my fingers would like that very much.

Sorry no pictures right now because of our low reserve of data.  However, if you are interested in seeing Zihuatanejo in real life we would love some visitors!  We will probably be here for at least the next two weeks.  This week Zihuatanejo is having a wonderful International Guitar Festival and we can hear the music from the boat!  Check it out here: www.zihuafest.info

It's Getting Hot In Here

We are definitely in the tropics now! Since leaving California on what must have been the coldest, rainiest day in the history of San Diego summers, the weather has steadily gotten warmer.  I still have the odd feeling that Christmas and my birthday were a hoax because we spent our time lounging in our bathing suits and zipping around the bay fishing for 20+ lb sport fish from our dinghy.  However then I look at the calendar and realize that I am indeed one year older and our trip is almost half way completed!

Some of the hundreds of dolphins we saw on our way into Ixtapa

We are currently anchored in Zihuatanejo (zee-wa-ta-NAY-ho) and I think it is shaping up to be our favorite spot so far.  Not only are we in a beautiful protected bay but this is a town that has definitely maintained its local culture despite an increase in tourism.  Here, there are no mega resorts, those are reserved for Ixtapa down the road.  Instead there are many local guesthouses and some boutique hotels that seem to be frequented primarily by vacationing Mexicans.  There is a local market where you can buy everything from a whole cow to a bottle of soy sauce and a morning seafood market right on the beach where we land our dinghy.  Prices are not cheap but finally reasonable and on Sunday night we joined what must have been the whole town for their weekly gathering at the basketball court. That night the entertainment was Zumba and other forms of exercise to get the townspeople moving.  This was probably appropriate as I believe Mexico has now passed the US as the fattest nation in the world! I am certain it is also the most picturesque basketball court I have ever seen with a view of the sun setting over the bay and mountains as a backdrop for the dancers.

Back to the weather...Although we passed the Tropic of Taurus (formerly the Tropic of Cancer) on our way down the Baja, the nights have still been pleasantly cool and we often need our fleece jackets when we are night sailing.   Around San Blas we broke out the "harbor awning" a large tarp that we spread over the boom and tie out to the sides of the boat to keep the UV rays off the deck.  It is amazing how much this little bit of shade cools down the cabin.  We do not have air conditioning but have been more than comfortable most the time.  However, here in Zihuatanejo, it is hot.  Hatches open, awning out, and I am still practically dripping sweat into our food when I try to cook anything inside the galley.  So, yesterday I got crafty.

A large sewing machine was not in the budget for this trip and frankly I don't know where we would have put one.  Luckily, until now we have been fortunate enough to find other sailors with Sailrite machines when we needed to do sail repairs. We do however have a hobby machine, a gift from my Dad and Jane, that has been very useful for some small projects.  Yesterday I was determined to increase the ventilation on Moments.  Failure was not an option.

Our new wind scoop in action.  For the front corners I made some homemade grommets by sewing a washer between two layers of fabric and stitching around it like a button hole

I could write a whole blog post about the wonder that is a Mexican fabric store but this time I did not even need to visit one.  Adam had a ripped camping hammock (thanks to Kraemer, I believe) that he has kept from college due to some premonition that the thin green fabric would at some time become useful.  Yesterday I made half of it into a beautiful new wind-scoop for our middle hatch and we are currently experiencing gale force winds in the cabin.  Well, it may not actually be that effective, but Adam put it through the test with a handheld anemometer (wind speed gauge) and he would like everyone to know that, "the wind-scoop transfers the free stream wind velocity with 100% efficiency, thus defying the Betz Limit of power transfer."  For those of us without a degree in engineering, this means that we catch most of the wind coming towards the scoop and redirect it into the cabin.  We are pretty happy with the outcome and our cabin is once again a place of comfort and moderate temperatures.

Aground!

Yes! You heard us right. Moments has run aground in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico. Now you're probably thinking, shipwreck, two dead, the dreaded end to the blog. However, read on...

So, it's not that bad. We've seen worse (today running into town). Yes, we just had our bottom painted. But the truth is, our first grounding of Moments was quite anticlimactic. We're ok, the boat's ok, and we've learned...the boats seen worse. One of the wonderful items we found aboard Moments was the previous owners log book, which splendidly details the travels of Moments former crew. You see, the boat was originally in Texas, and spent a considerable amount of time cruising the Gulf Coast (and later the Pacific Northwest) which is known for shallow waters. In these travels, Moments was frequently aground on the sandy shoals of the area, probably groundings similar to our recent experience, but I'm sure, as with any boat being used, some worse.

We knew the entrance from Melaque to La Laguna at Barra de Navidad would be a tricky one. We had heard only to enter at the highest tide, as the dredged entrance only ranges from 1-2 fathoms (1 fathom = 6 feet, so 6 to 12 feet). Enter the sometimes annoying truth about tides...the high tides in the area were at ~6:30am and ~9:30pm, both (admittedly) during our usual high time of slumber and of course in the dark. Well, darkness adds a whole another element to entering unknown shallow territories, so we decided we we bite the bullet, wake up before the dawn, and be at the entrance just at sun up. We'd be entering just past the highest tide, but hey, close enough, right?!

Well, in true cruising schedule form, we hit the snooze button a few times, slowly (and awkwardly, thanks v-berth) rose from bed, scarfed a lovely oatmeal (aka provisioning-needed gruel) breakfast and, oh crap...we gotta go! Sun's up. So, we decided to go for the record.

See, we have a little competition going, as it sound like Moments previous owners did as well. How fast can we get the anchor up and get moving? I think I recall times of eight  minutes coming up in the old log, but we haven't finished reading all of it yet, so maybe there is a new record coming. Well, I'm not sure when the clock starts (exit companionway?) or stops (hook to roller?) so let's just say it took us 20 minutes to raise anchor (I think it was probably faster than that, but we actually haven't timed it yet - Rachel will read this later and may be encouraged by her readers to start timing anchor's a-weigh). Side note - previous owners did not have an electric windlass as the boat now has, so...anyone have ideas on how to handicap that? Minutes per anchor scope length? I don't know...

Okay, so we got the hook up a little late, but we saw a beautiful sunrise over the entrance to the lagoon we were aiming for...things were looking up. Of course, we had studied a chart carefully to plan our entrance (quick look and "we should be all right..."). As usual, a couple breakwaters, some unmarked rocks to avoid, swell, shoaling, NBD (no big d...). So we got past that first part - we were in. Smooth sailing from here. Town/palapa (beach front restaurant aka more expensive tacos given the view)/panga (the coolest super-planing barebones fishing boat ever) parking land to the left ritzy high class marina fertilized grass land to the right, lagoon dead ahead. The wise men told us, stick to the right, near the shellfish/fish pens to avoid the sand/mud bar, yeah, aim right for the island, hang a left, and boom...ancla (anchor in Spanish - remember, it's masculine! So use the "el") land. So, we followed the wise man's advice - stick close to the pens...stick close to the pens.

Depthsounder (little meter that tells us water depth) say: 8 feet...7 feet...6 feet...5 feet (mass confusion because Moments keel is 5'6" under the water...more calibration required)...4 feet...3 feet...

Knotmeter (little meter that tells us boat speed) say (should have made a table or graph...): 4 knots...4 knots...4 knots...3 knots (mass confusion, why slowing down?)...0 knots

Engine tachometer (little meter that tells us engine revolutions per minute) /transmission say: 1500 rpm/forward...1500 rpm/forward... 1500 rpm/forward...(oh crap, we're not moving forward anymore, what do we do)... 2000rpm/forward (nope, didn't work, more stuck)...1000rpm(idle-ish, thinking...)/forward...1000rpm/neutral (still thinking/sinking into mud)...1000rpm/reverse...1500rpm/reverse...2000rpm/reverse...full throttle/reverse...etc...

So, if you followed all that. We were heading into the lagoon, clearly went the wrong way and motored ourselves into a sand/mud bar until we stopped dead, but luckily, after some guesswork and likely not-by-the-book maneuvering, we able to escape our first grounded via propeller power. Phew. Why phew? Well, later today we saw the top of our friend's boat's keel as they waited the 12 hours aground for the tide to come back up and lift them of the sandy shoal. During those 12 hours, we were drinking beers and talking about it. Hopefully we're just as lucky next time.

The propeller that got us out - thanks Max-Prop. Here, testing home remedy antifoulings that cost less than PropSpeed. Baby diaper ointment (Zinc Oxide), Lanacote (lanoline sheep's wool goop), and bare polished bronze. Stay tuned for results...I should really write a post about the haul out in general.

In case we do run aground again, anyone have some tips and tricks for us on what we should/could do? I'm gonna have to read up a bit more on this one, because the charts are getting worse and worse as we head south and there are less and less people around, so we'll have to be pretty independent.

We're glad we made it to Barra, as we heard it's a cool town. Went exploring today and looks like we could spend a while here, but after a couple days we'll keep heading south. We love Mexico, but it's time to go!

Mangrove Morning

Up with the sun to ready for the mission of the day - a trip into the mangrove jungle by dinghy here in Bahia Tenacatita. After a few yawns, the daily coffee (tea for Rachel), and a quick bit of Mexico's finest supermercado breakfast cereal during the (relatively hilarious) VHF (very high frequency radio) local cruiser's net featuring rare hosts - a Mexican cruising couple - we loaded the dink (dinghy slang) and buzzed off.

The mangrove jungle tour is one of the highlighted features of this anchorage on the inside of Tenacatita Bay. How do we find these places?! Well, some people are familiar with the Lonely Planet series of guidebooks for travelers. There is a similar guidebook series for sailboat cruisers called Charlie's Charts, which we've been using all the way since Seattle. It feeds us tidbits of local highlights in addition to hints on entering the various bays along the coastline. Though sometimes out of date - actually frequently here in Mexico - it is a good addition to the hear-say we get from other cruisers along the way. We were not sure what to expect here in Tenacatita, as there has been rumors of closed anchorages and beaches laden with armed guards protecting failed resort developments. Well, we managed to anchor, and have not been approached by any brandishing forces, so it's all good so far!


While we have these hints and advice, there is usually a good bit of hunting to find exact locations and outcomes. As we buzzed off in our tender for some point on shore, we casted our trusty fishing rod into the rocky shoreline in hopes of a lucky catch. We haven't been so lucky lately, after a good stretch coming down the Baja Peninsula catching fish. Sigh...another slow morning as we approached. Bagging the fish pole for a while, we beached the dink on a tiny, calm beach with only the sight of a young Mexican couple in a Panga flirting among their new shellfish collection and an older cruising gringo clearly performing the daily ritual of escorting his two Portuguese Water Dogs to shore to take care of their business. We had a nice chat about our "plans" and his experience crossing through the Panama Canal and sailing into the Caribbean. As usual, this more than friendly cruiser directed us to our jungle tour destination, a ways down the beach.


Hidden behind a rocky patch of shore, the beach gave shallow way into an estuarial stream at first lined with fisherman tossing hand made nets, then panga (small fishing boat) parking for the local fisherman and tour guides, and finally, a very peaceful mangrove waterway at times barely wide enough for our dinghy then suddenly opening up to larger lagoons. Steering slowly at first and then accelerating after gaining a bit more confidence, we launched into the mangrove jungle with high aspirations of wildlife sightings and maybe a couple fish for lunch.


Herons, egrets, blood red mangrove crabs, and healthy schools of bait fish surrounded us as we worked our way further in. We had woken early in attempt to glimpse the rising wildlife and beat any crowd (relative term down here), which paid off it seemed. Adam steering and Rachel handling the fishing rod, we trolled a small spoon behind our craft just for the heck of it. Without much hope for any luck, we laid the pole in the bottom of the dinghy, and not five minutes later, we both jumped in fright as the pole crashed backward into Adam and the outboard engine. Rachel grabbed the pole and exclaimed, "Fish On!", and we threw the engine into neutral to fight the beast. A beast it was not, compared to some of our salmon, tuna, and dorado battles, but Rachel hauled in our first snapper of the trip, a welcome surprise as it would make a delicious treat for the day's lunch. Not ten minutes later, we had hooked into our second snapper, even bigger this time, and our lunch was secure. Not a bad start to the day!

The mangrove jungle seemed to wind on forever, but curious to see what lied beyond (we had heard of a small fishing village, some palapa restaurants, and a guarded entrance to the failed beach resort a ways back) we kept motoring against the falling tide and increasingly shallow waterway. It wasn't long until we came upon another dinghy like ours, surprisingly piloted by a young cruising couple from, you guessed it, Seattle! Lots of folks from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest down here, but a bit more rare finding those folks closer to Rachel and my age. We had a nice chat about plans and went our separate ways, but actually running into each other with chuckles several more times in the mangrove maze, until finally our boat reached the end of the road where the stream turned to beach and the fenced, exclusive resort. Without a ticket, we reversed and after a bit more unlucky trolling of the fishing lure, Rachel spotted a small (five foot long) crocodile, making the wildlife portion of the trip complete. It was the first we'd seen in the wild down here, and likely ever for me - though many alligators in Florida on family trips.

Yummy!

Having learned the way, we buzzed out of the mangroves back to Bahia Tenacatita, our two snapper in tow, gunning to get them on the grill before they spoiled. Actually, they ended up in the frying pan in a delicious fish taco concoction by sailing vessel Moments premier chef, the lovely Ms. Rachel Harper. Beer, tacos, and some smooth music by Santana on the jukebox (Moments newest upgrade) made for an excellent afternoon on the boat in the sun. Lounging and planning (delaying) our escape to Barra Navidad, our next destination further south. We're gradually picking the pace back up after a great month in Banderas Bay. However, the clock is ticking on our travels and we're both getting excited to get into Central America!

Merry Christmas Moments

Don’t worry, we are still alive.  We have just been so busy that I have not had a chance to sit down and think about writing.  Currently we are docked at Paradise Village Marina, almost exactly where we were a month ago when our guests came for Christmas.  Our stop in Banderas Bay was originally supposed to be for four days and here we are past the one month mark. Some cruisers call this area the black hole and now we understand why.  Still, if you have to be stuck somewhere a beautiful Mexican bay teaming with whales, surrounded by lush tropical mountains is not a bad option.

So, why are we still here?  First, after the rush down the Baja coast, it was a desire to relax and then by the time we were ready to move again the wind was coming out of the south.  So, since we have no strong desire to battle our way through headwinds we started working on some more major boat projects.  Puerto Vallarta is, according to many of the cruisers we have met, really the last stop on the way south to get quality boat parts and services.  When we bought Moments nine months ago we knew that we would need to get new bottom paint; there were some repairs to the hull that were looking bad and the paint was running thin.  When the paint is thin it becomes a big job keeping the barnacles at bay because it is the toxic metals in the paint that scares those suckers off.   We had been anchored for a while in La Cruz and when Adam finally dove the bottom with a paint scraper I don’t think you could actually see through the reef that had formed on our hull.  We have scraped the bottom a few times but it is a big job when you don’t have scuba equipment and the boat is rolling in the waves at anchor.  We finally decided that it was time to haul out.

After about two weeks of haggling on prices and searching what seemed like the entire country for the right kind of paint, last Thursday we hauled out at Opequimar Boat Yard in Puerto Vallarta.  We were a little nervous going into it, especially since most of the business down here is for power boats which are often lifted differently, painted differently, etc.  In addition, as you know, our budget it TIGHT.  However, I have to say that the whole process was flawless.   We were lifted at 9AM on Thursday, Arturo (our wonderful painter) and his crew got right to work sanding the hull, they painted the next day and we were back in the water at noon on Saturday.  They even repaired all of the blisters (correctly I might add) and greased the prop for what we considered to be a deal of a price.  Arturo is the third generation from his family to work on boats and he is getting ready to retire and hand the business over to his sons.  They work long days, every day, all year long; no time for weekends or holidays.  In addition, Arturo handles most of the sailboats in the yard so we could, very slightly, relax and feel like our home was in good hands.  In the end we actually paid less than we thought we were going to pay and we didn’t get any surprises.  Moments is just as strong and safe and we thought she was.

While Arturo and his crew were working on the outside, Adam and I were hard at work on the inside of the boat.  We replaced some of the seacocks, which let water in and out of the boat, and most importantly replaced the steering cables which had been improperly installed before and were showing some wear.  We also go to live on the boat at Opequimar, a rare thing for boat yards, so we could do some of the work at night when the sun was down, shower regularly and save the money on a hotel room.  Now we are back in Paradise Village, the only marina in the bay with potable water, to fill up our tanks and, finally, provision to head south.  If only the weather will hold…

Vacation?

Exploring the ruins of a Spanish cathedral in San Blas

Cruising (aka doing boat repairs in exotic locations) is full of ups and downs.  We have some really nice days in the sun: exploring local places, eating local food, swimming off the boat and catching big fish.  However, much of our schedule revolves around the massive amount of work it takes to keep this home of ours afloat.  Puerto Vallarta is, supposedly, the last big place as you go south to get items for a sail boat at any kind of reasonable price.  Now that we have been traveling aboard Moments for five months we know more about what we need and what we don't need. We are also in the midst of doing maintenance projects that we would have had to do even if we were still parked in Seattle.  I have mentioned before that our life includes many lists, and the boat work list has been long.  However, I am happy to report that in the last few weeks it has shrunk considerably.  I think Adam is so tired of doing boat work that he actually does a little dance and grabs a beer every time he gets to cross something off the list.  Currently I am singing his praises because yesterday he put his wonderful electrical engineering brain to work and re-wired part of our electrical system (staying up to 4AM) to fix a problem we had with our batteries and he still got up in the morning to make be birthday pancakes!

The remains of our old windlass after its first motor overhaul

Adam going a little crazy with the teak work.

Each boat has its problems and in general we have been very happy with Moments.  We feel fortunate that we have not found anything so problematic that it has really limited our plans for this year.  Sure, the paint is flaking off in places and our windlass died after only a few uses, but the boat is solid, she handles well and for her age is in remarkably good condition.  So you may be asking yourself, if things are so rosy then what is all this work you are doing?  Well in the last week we have totally overhauled the refrigerator ripping out the old (moldy and wet...ewww) insulation, stripping all the caulk, replacing the old insulation with something that hopefully...um...insulates and re-caulking the entire box.  We also brushed off the compressor with a toothbrush and troubleshooted the wiring, which appears to be original.  While the caulk was drying and we were madly trying to consume all of our food before it spoiled we also replaced the jib halyard, refinished all of the exterior teak, scrubbed and painted the engine mounts, re-bedded a leaking window, wired and installed a switch in the galley for the propane, troubleshot multiple electronic devices, climbed the mast to replace light bulbs and check out the rigging and last but not least totally restructured our head and finally, permanently installed our composting head.  In addition, many of these projects required shopping missions and I have come to learn that any "run to the store", no matter how small, takes at least a day in Mexico

John and Adam brainstorming about boat work

Adam with the repaired windlass

Now you may say...wow...these people sound like they are quite handy.  The truth is we are both doing a lot of things we have never done before and have no clue how to handle.  I am not clueless with a screwdriver and Adam definitely has an edge with the electrical systems but we have a whole library here on the boat and are fortunate to have 3G service where we are anchored.  Yeah for Google.  In spite of the fact that we are working hard and often don't believe that we are actually on vacation we are excited about what we are learning and it is quite a triumph when things start working the way they should or you want them to. I figure that these skills will come in handy even after we make it back to dry land, and maybe, possibly if there is another boat in our future.

Lastly, both Adam and I really want to thank our friends and family for all of the Christmas gifts we received.  We would not have been able to do many of these projects without your support.  Thank you!  Much love from Mexico.

Feliz Navidad

A group shot over the bay in Yelapa during a short respite from the heavy rains

John, brave enough to enter the cold water at the end of our hike

The river on the beach at Yelapa

Becca, Adam and I displaying exactly how soaked we got on our hike!

Over the past week we played host to our first set of live-aboard visitors!  John and Becca, our good friends from Seattle came for Christmas and got here in the nick of time, arriving at 2AM on Christmas Day.  Although we have had some wonderful crew, we have not had visitors here on Moments since Adam and I were living here together.  These friends in particular were excellent guinea pigs as they themselves live on a boat and have cruised up into BC and Alaska not long ago.  They know what it is like to live on a boat and how difficult it is to pick both a location and a time of arrival.  Instead, they flew standby and traveled overland (quite an adventure and a story for another time) to meet up with us in La Cruz, a small town on Banderas Bay.   We spent a wonderful Christmas together making beignets, catching very large fish and lounging in the sun.  Unfortunately, Christmas was our last sunny day and since then we have been dealing with clouds and rain.   To Adam and I, the rain was at first a welcome change and a much needed bath for Moments.  But of course, to our friends from Seattle the rain was a little too close to home.  Still, we have managed to have quite an excellent visit getting to catch up with good friends.  Some of the highlights were: catching very big fish, getting to watch less-than-24-hour-old baby tigers nuzzle with their mother, lounging in the hot tub at the Puerto Vallarta Yacht Club, swimming in Banderas Bay, walking on the beach in Nuevo Vallarta and dancing salsa in the street outside of a Cuban restaurant in Puerto Vallarta.  Today we hiked to a large waterfall outside of Yelapa, the small town in cove where we are anchored.  Despite the rain we were determined to have fun and are very sad to see our friends go.  Soon we will be rounding Cabo Corrientes and heading south. Next big stop Barra de Navidad!