December 20, 2009 La Paz to Huatulco

Danny Long, my brother Paul and I brought the boat down from La Paz over the past 10 days, in generally excellent weather and sea conditions. To continue the chronology where I left off:

We had a company Christmas party on Friday, December 5th, and a Partner’s meeting on Monday, the 7th. The next day Danny Long and I flew to La Paz. We were met at the airport by “Zeke the Boat Guy”, who had been working on Arcadia I in our absence. He kindly stopped at a supply store on the way to the marina, where we picked up new batteries for the house bank. We installed them, inspected the work he’d done and settled accounts with Zeke. His crew has stripped, sanded and varnished the exterior woodwork, washed and waxed the topsides and built a fish cleaning station for the cockpit. Before he left, Zeke took us to the “Say-Say-Say”, (CCC Supermercado), where we picked up some provisions for the trip.

On December 9th, we got up early, replaced one of the fuel filters and stowed the boat for sea. We cleared out of Marina Costa Baja by 10am and headed toward Mazatlan, where my brother, Paul, is to join us on the afternoon of the 11th. As we entered the channel, we noticed one of the Dockwise “float on-float off” transports that we plan to use to ship the boat on to Nanaimo in May. We circled it to get a better look before heading off across the Sea of Cortez.

We had plenty of time to get there, so we throttled back to 5 knots and took the long way around Isla Cerralvo, which should take us to Mazatlan with minimal shipping traffic to contend with. The 9th and 10th of December were devoted to the transit across the Sea of Cortez in nearly ideal conditions. We left the paravanes out of the water until late the 10th, when the wind started kicking up a bit, giving us some 3 foot seas and 9-10 kt wind on the port beam. Along the way we enjoyed numerous encounters with playful dolphin, as is common in these waters.

On the 11th, we were coming in to Marina Mazatlan just at daybreak. As soon as we could see to navigate, we entered the marina and tied up. Brother Paul, arrived that afternoon as planned. We’d already paid for a day in the marina so we stayed around for a shore dinner and went to bed early.

On the 12th, we left Marina Mazatlan in the dark, at 3:45 am, and got underway for Isla Isabella. Along the way Danny and Paul caught a nice dorado and several bonito.

We arrived at Isla Isabella before dark, after a beautiful sunset and anchored for dinner and some sleep.

On Sunday, the 13th of December, we pulled anchor at 5:45 am and set course for San Blas. We set our anchor there in Mantanchen Bay before noon. We rigged the dinghy down and ran up on the beach for a shore lunch, then restowed the dinghy and got underway again by 6 pm.

On the 14th, we rounded Cabo Corrientes at about 6 am. This is has been described as Mexico’s equivalent to Point Conception since it’s a place where two prevalent currents and weather patterns meet, often creating high winds and rough seas. We were glad we had the paravanes out, but the condition were actually pretty mild. After we got around, the seas calmed markedly, however, and we’ve enjoyed virtually mill pond conditions for the rest of the trip. We pulled into Chamela Bay, thinking we’d go ashore for dinner. However, at 7 pm, we couldn’t find a single palapa restaurant open, so we pulled anchor and went on our way.

The 15th , we motored along under ideal conditions for the whole day. On the afternoon of the 16th, we pulled in to Zihuatenejo, checked in with the Port Captain and tried, unsuccessfully, to buy fishing licenses for Paul and Danny. After a nice lunch, we picked up some ice for the cooler and got underway again. Late that night we passed by Acapulco without stopping.

We continued our transit through the 17th, without stopping again, until we got to Bahia Chahue in Huatulco. We found the reality of the Santa Cruz/Chahue bays much different than or cruising guide chart showed. After creeping in around some pretty impressive and intimidating shoals, however, we found the channel lights leading to Marina Chahue. We were tied up in the marina by 9:45 pm on the 18th.

On the 19th and 20th, we’ve spent the days cleaning up the boat and exploring the nice little town of Cruzecita which is a short taxi ride away. We’ll leave Arcadia I here for the holidays, with all three of us flying home tomorrow afternoon, (21st).

Merry Christmas to All!!