Quick sailing trip from Tenacatita Bay to Nuevo Vallarta

NUEVO VALLARTA, Jalisco, Mexico - Hector NY amigo Mike Schamel and I jumped aboard Roger Frizzelle's boat Di's Dream Tuesday afternoon for a quick delivery north to Nuevo Vallarta.

Roger had two issues going on - an ailing mother in California and a brand-new granddaughter in the Cayman Islands - and so he needed to park his 47-foot Catalina sailboat in a safe harbor while he attended to things.

Admiral Fox transported Mike and I Tuesday afternoon to the beach at the southeast end of La Veina in Tenacatita Bay (where most cruising boats anchor). We hitched a ride out to Roger's vessel aboard a dinghy owned by another cruiser in the anchorage.

Afte a few pre-voyage tasks, we pulled up anchor and were on our way north. And just 19 hours later, tied up snugly on B Dock at Paradise Village Marina.

It was one of the smoothest and fastest trips I have taken. Even Cabo Corrientes - noted for being a really nasty place - was like a lake.

Whales at play in Banderas Bay

We saw whales everywhere on the voyage, had one close encounter with another sailboat in the dark (which was not showing proper lights) and saw some of the ugliest red tides ever (video at the end of this blog).

But we also saw a fabulous (if weird) sunset, and then a spectacular sunrise as we enterered Banderas Bay. It was a largely uneventful trip, though the temperature differential between Arroyo Seco and Puerto Vallarta has to be 10 degrees F. We were damned cold in the pre-dawn hours in Banderas Bay.

As part of the trip, we also grabbed the headsail off Roger's boat and drove it today to Barra de Navidad for repairs. Bob Hogin (of Bob Hogin Sails) says it will be ready for Roger when he gets back from his various sojourns.

Red sunset off Mexico coast

Warm weather returns to Arroyo Seco - and we buy a house

ARROYO SECO, Jalisco, Mexico - With amigos Karen and Mike Schamel from Hector, NY in tow, we arrived in Arroyo Seco Sunday, greeted by much warmer days and the normal Mexican winter that brings us south.

Mike and Karen are ensconced at the hotel on the beach, an 11-room manse where Adm. Fox and I have rented a room for a couple of months so we have a beach place when we leave the Pink Flamingo. It's opulence, Mexican style.

While we were gone for just a week, our neighbors Chena and Chon - along with most of their extended family - opened a beach restaurant just 200 yards from the hotel. We had dinner there last night - a celebratory event for finally closing on our new house.

Mike, Karen, Adm. Fox and el capitan

Um, new house?

Yes, Adm. Fox and I just purchased a three-bedroom, two-bath casa in beautiful Watkins Glen, New York.

Watkins Glen, NY?

Yup.

The house became available at the end of last summer and after some machinations this fall, we flew into Watkins in December, checked it out, and decided that when we fully retire (Dec. 10 of this year), it would be our base camp. We will have a two-way split that way - Seneca Lake and Mexico, instead of the Seneca Lake-California-Mexico trifecta we have done for four years.

We will wait out the upstate New York winter before flying in to take possession this spring. Given the severity of this year's weather there, it's very had to predict when we will see our new house on North Glen Avenue.

But while we wait, our Mexican adventures remain steady at warp 10. Each day takes us to the beach for a long walk (a video of surfers is at the bottom of this entry).

And this afternoon I will go to Tenacatita Bay to hop aboard the sailing vessel Di's Dream to help Captain Roger Frizzelle pilot the ship to Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta. It probably means a bus ride back to Arroyo Seco in a few days after a an 18-24 hour voyage.

That means I can get motion sickness in both directions.

Hoo-boy!