Used inflatable paddle board\surf board - 2013

Mid April 2013 - Sitting at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay Mexico

Dave on Free Spirit at anchor in Punta De Mita with us.

Samoa Sevylor

On the morning Banderas Bay Cruisers VHF Net we announced under “Treasures of The Bilge” that we were looking for an inflatable paddle board.

Anchored in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay, Mexico - 2013

End of April 2013 - Anchored in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay Mexico

Our 45 lb CQR anchor and Acco chain 3/8 BBB chain are holding great as usual. No dragging or problems. We have about 135' of chain out and are anchored in about 25' of water.

Sailing from La Cruz to Punta De Mita - 2013

Middle of April 2013 - Anchored in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay Mexico

Feet steering 😈

 We had a nice sail from La Cruz to Punta De Mita. Our furler has never been right since we put on a new genoa or it could be when it broke on the Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlán crossing. We hate to furl the genoa with the winch on the second speed. The winch should not need to be used, never mind on the second speed!

Anchored in Punta De Mita, Keep vigilant not complacent, lost boats - 2013

Middle of April 2013 - Anchor in Punta De Mita  in Banderas Bay in Mexico

 While we were in La Cruz two boats went aground. One was a 30 or so foot sail boat which was lost.

We did go to the beach sale and picked up a couple of Garhauer blocks and cars for the jib track. Ours is a 1 ¼ track and we got lucky and we found two that fit.

Anchored in Punta De Mita - Breakfast at Ya Ya’s Café in La Cruz with friends - 2013

Mid April 2013 - Currently at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay Mexico

This took place a week or so ago when were anchored in La Cruz

Mike and Holly on s\v Wanuskewin sailed over from Nuevo Vallarta Marina and anchored in La Cruz anchorage. Then Sam and Dave on s\v Islena along with Mike and Holly came and picked us up on our boat to go ashore for breakfast at Ya Ya’s Café in La Cruz for some catch up on everyone's sailing adventures.  We were all dock mates at a time for a time at Marina Cortez in San Diego, CA  . Great time.

Anchored in Punta De Mita - The chicken myth buster - 2013

Late April 2013 - Sitting at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay, Mexico

 In San Diego before we left on the Baja Ha Ha 2012  we were told that the chicken in Mexico is very tough. That is because the chickens run around wild in people’s yards. That to cook the chicken tender you need to use a pressure cooker. I even tried to cook a chicken in our pressure cooker in San Diego, CA and it came out awful.

Wind sensors to be replaced -Garmin and Windex 15

Middle of April 2013 - Sitting at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay in Mexico

 The dam bird in Barra knocked BOTH our wind sensors off.
 We have been using the Mexican and Haja Ha Ha 2012 flags and a wet finger to decide on the wind direction.

Windex 15

 We will re-purchase the Windex 15 and replace it.

Also we will replace the Garmin wind vane that fell through the hatch when we (Debbie) goes up the mast. Another thing coming back from The trip to San Diego is the Windex 15.

Chain to rode for Lewmar H3 windless

Middle of April 2013 - Anchored in La Cruz Anchorage - in Banderas Bay in Mexico
Pg 76 of the Pacific Mexico Guide book

 

 We have a Lewmar H3 windless. It has a 3/8 gypsy on it and a rode drum.

It works great and we really like it.

We have 200 ft of 3/8 BBB chain. We would like to add 100 ft of line to the chain to make it a total of 300 ft.

 We can splice this ourselves and pickup the three strand locally.
This way we 300 ft of rode and then stern anchoring will be easier with more choices and this could be better in a blow than 200 ft.

 

New props for Honda 9.9 hp outboard - 2013

April 2013 - Currently anchored in La Cruz anchorage in Banderas Bay Mexico (across the bay from Puerto Vallarta)

 We got tired of looking for a prop hub re-build kit and place to have it done either here in Mexico or San Diego. We decided that the cost difference between a new and rehub prop was not that much different.

Anchored in Punta De Mita - Mexican Navy roras by - 2013

Beginning of April 2013 - Sitting at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay Mexico

 While sitting at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay the Mexican Navy came cruising through. They hung around for a day or two do some kind of exercise or just relaxing.

Anchored in La Cruz Anchorage - it's a fish story - 2013

Middle of April 2013 - Anchored in La Cruz Anchorage - in Banderas Bay in Mexico
 

 It was in December of last year and we were anchored in the La Cruz anchorage. That is where we are now and it is 4/15/13. We never got the post going because it took a long time to get the video to the web.

Anchored in La Cruz Anchorage- Magma flopper stopper(Rock N Roll Stabilizer) re-rigged - 2013

Middle of April 2013 - Anchored in La Cruz Anchorage - in Banderas Bay Mexico

New anchor line re-purposed for Magma flopper stopper(Rock N Roll Stabilizer) to right.

We extended the whisker pole out three more feet and replace the braided halyard line with a three strand line for some elasticity. The three strand is also longer so we could extend the whisker pole out. The line was a dinghy anchor line I think. It came with the boat. It is a bit large for a dinghy though.

La Cruz Marina - Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz - 2012

Late December 2012 Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz

Red was going on the PacificPuddle Jump. As of now 4/15/2013 they are now at Paradise Village Marina and have not left yet.

La Cruz with friends on,Debbie's birthday! - 2013

Beginning of April 2013 - Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz - in Banderas Bay Mexico

 Debbie's birthday! 

Anchored in La Cruz - Get around, Get around, we Get around – on bus(es) - 2013

Middle of April 2013 - Anchored in La Cruz Anchorage - in Banderas Bay, Mexico

Our old Honda 9.9 hpoutboard spun prop. We went aground in Bahia de Navidad in the dingy and spun the prop 😣

Yep that’s how we roll! We go by bus. Here in Mexico you can go about any where on a bus and it is way affordable. All buses are not equal though. Sometimes you can pay more and go on the big bus with AC and nice seats, sometimes not. Most of the times we role on the non-AC local city bus. 

Anchored in Tenacatita, Paddle board dingy skiing in Tenacatita - 2013

In the middle of March 2013 – While anchored in Bahia Tenacatita anchorage

The dad.

When we were in Bahia Tenacatita one of the boats did some dinghy water skiing. The father did OK but was too heavy to get out around the dinghy, or too inexperienced. The kid however did some good maneuvering (in the video).

12000 btu Mermaid Marine Air HVAC needs new Schrader valves? - 2013

Default temp was set to 57 deg, we changed it to 75 deg.

Garmin Dealer Autopilot Configuration on GHC 10 - soft keys

 How to get to the dealer autopilot configuration on GHC 10 for the GHP 12 Autopilot (Drive - Class A unit):

1. While the GHC 10 is disconnected from power, hold both the center and the right soft keys.
2. While holding the center and right soft keys, connect power to the GHC 10 and hold the power key.
3. Release all three keys when the heading appears

Anchored in Bahia de Navidad, bused to Santiago/Manzanillo to see Mike and Holly - 2013

End February 2013 - Anchored in Bahia de Navidad Bused to Santiago Mexico 

We took the bus to Santiago where we met up with Mike and Holly from s\v Wanuskewin (our former dock neighbors in San Diego). They brought Kiki and her husband from s/v Oya with them as they were anchored together in Santiago Bay. (Kiki is one of the net controllers for the Amigo Net on SSB radio).

Weather links for Banderas Bay, Baja, Mexico, Central America etc

Beginning of April 2013 - La Cruz Marina in Banderas Bay, Mexico
 

 This list was given to us by PV Sailing.

Basic weather defined    

Hurricane prediction 2012 notes

State of Climate  NHC  

 Except the cert. issue.  This is US Navy FNMOC

NOAA E-mail sign-up

University of Hawaii

  Choose Tropical Discussion in the bottom right which covers our weather events

IR4 of Bandeas Bay… Click on the picture and use the choices on the right

GFS from Storm Surf …. Scroll down for the following

Full Baja 

North Baja

Mid Baja

Southern Baja Cape

Cabo Corrientes and coast south

Gap winds south / Central America

Tropical east Pacific

Bob McDavitt Weather Gram  (METBOB) 

At anchor - Mermaid 12000 btu HVAC about done! - 2013



Put in teak grate in the salon with 3M 4000 UV Marine Adhesive  and some screws.

These pictures represent about two – three days’ work at anchor.

Anchored and surfing at Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay - 2013

Beginning of April 2013 - Anchored in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay in Mexico

Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay is a tourist spot, a surf spot and has a lot of condos etc.

Anchoring days verses Marina days so far this Cruising Season - 2013

Beginning of April 2013 - Anchored in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay in Mexico

 A tidbit of info for us.

Total days of Cruising since we anchored off La Cruz in December 2012 and then left for the Gold Coast until now:

Total days so far = 102

Days of that at anchor = 93 days

Days at a marina = 9 days

So it is about nine days at anchor to one day at a marina.

It will be probably ten to one by the time we tie up in a marina for hurricane season.

We have already planned to leave on November 1, 2013 to start the cruising season again. If not sooner!  (It depends on the weather and the full moon - a must for us rounding Cabo Corrientes.)  We got a late start last year going on the Baja Ha Ha 2012.

Anchored in Punta De Mita, Mexico - Mita'z Pizza and bonfire with friends! - 2013

Beginning of April 2013 -Anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay Mexico 

  We were launching the dinghy off the fore deck (where we put it for passages over a few hours for safety reasons) and a couple of ladies were paddle boarding by (VERY popular in the anchorages).  Debbie stopped mid-process to say hello so I asked her to lower the dinghy if she was going to stop to talk.  Right after he said that, one of the ladies said "is that Chip"?  Turns out, it was Marie, the roller derby queen from Marina Cortez.  She and her husband Leonard have been here for a couple of months.  Last we had heard they had been up in the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California).  That was freaky.

Honda motor does not get us up on a plane, spun prop? - 2013

April 2013 - Sitting at anchor in Punta De Mita in Banderas Bay in Mexico
Posted to a Honda Forum.

Hi,
After doing some more testing it seems the motor is fine.
We can rev it up at idle and there is no skipping or any other problems, it runs smooth till a high idle revved up.

HVAC work got done on Mermaid 12000 BTU unit anchored at Punta De Mita - 2013

First we determined where the 4” insulated ducting hose was going to come through the dish cabinet behind the Force 10 stove.The 4” return duct that shoots out cold or hot air from our Mermaid Marine Air 12000 btu HVAC (Ac\heat) unit is there.

Once we knew where to cut the hole Debbie drilled a few holes and we used the jig saw to cut out most of the hole. What we could not cut Debbie finished off by drilling a series of holes.