March 14, 2005  - Lac Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Mexico

We're now anchored in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle ('The Cross', named after an old structure that still resides on a hill above the town), and one of two roadstead-type anchorages in Banderas Bay, a large 20nm X 20nm dent in Mexico's west coast. It's absolutely wonderful here. Banderas Bay also houses Puerto Vallarta, so we have access to the benefits of a big city - Walmart, boat parts and supplies, an international airport, etc. - but La Cruz seems relatively unchanged by economic development. There is no marina here (the nearest one is about six miles away in PV), so going into town requires an occasionally adventurous dinghy landing on a surf-ridden beach. Storms up in the Gulf of Alaska sometimes generate swells that end up wrapping around into the bay and inside the small breakwater; the kids went surfing one day. The town's streets are paved in cobblestones, so traffic and pedestrians move comfortably slowly. The breeze fills most days around eleven in the morning, typically peaking out at about twenty knots in the mid-afternoon.

The anchorage is quite large, containing perhaps forty boats anchored at any given time - most of them cruisers, occasionally a few vacationers out of PV, and a single large (about forty-five feet), ugly, and particularly menacing-looking Mexican fishing boat - one with deeply inadequate ground tackle and the propensity to drag though the anchorage at high speed.

The fishing boat had been parked somewhere (varying locations, really) in the center of the anchorage, in the shallowest, and most protected water with the shortest dinghy passage to the beach, really first-rate real estate. Two days ago the boat had a particularly dramatic session. There's a fishing camp on the beach, populated by numerous Mexicanos and their pangas (22 foot open fishing boats with large outboards), and the fishermen had generally been good about coming out and addressing the needs of the large boat. Two days ago, though, was Saturday afternoon, the kickoff to the day-and-a-half-long weekend, and the fisherman were a bit slow. Before they got to it, the boat had nearly taken out three of the cruising boats (averted by teamwork on the part of the cruisers), and came very, very close to landing on the beach. The fishing boat is now located on the outside of the anchorage, well away from the other boats and downwind. I'm hoping it stays there.

I just looked at my log, and it turns out we've been here a month. Geez... I can't believe it. It's been pretty nice. The boat had been in Mazatlan nearly a year (the anniversary of my injury is in four days), a bit long. This place has been refreshingly entertaining. The daily breeze has gotten me into the sailing dinghies a number of times, the dragging fish boat has presented several opportunities to relocate Seafire, the constant arrival of new boats moving northward after spending the winter on the Mexican Riviera has brought waves of kids for Jackson and Naomi to spend time with. Then there seems to be wonderful community here of now-mature hippies who must have migrated ten or twenty years ago in search of sunshine and low rent; they've has made evening forays into town engaging and relaxed, really nice experiences.

We're into the final phase of our preparations for the South Pacific. Tomorrow is a big day for us - we're moving into a marina for final provisioning, and Mom arrives. I understand the marina is quite the swanky affair - something of an amusement park for vacationers - close to the airport, kept in mint condition, three monstrous pools, numerous restaurants and shops, a shopping mall and a price tag that comes to nearly $800 a month for us (about three times what we paid in Mazatlan). Our stay will be about ten days. Karryn and I expect to be pretty busy with the preparation work, so during her visit last month Mom offered to return to entertain the kids.

We're thinking we'll be pulling out in about three weeks. The first boats heading off to the South Pacific are leaving now, mid-March, and most of the boats will have headed out by April 15. The Mexican hurricane season starts June 1, but significant depressions can show up earlier. If we leave April 1, we'll arrive in French Polynesia May 1, spend May and June in the remote areas (Marquesas, Tuomotus, Australs) then move on to Tahiti and spend July (the final month of our visa period) there. I understand there's quite the celebration for Bastille Day, with canoe races and dance competitions.

I've been looking over the charts and guides of Tahiti, and it appears that the south coast of the island is really marvelous - there are numerous wonderful anchorages including a stretch along an uninhabited, roadless section of coast. The isthmus has a large bay, very well protected and remote, which also happens to house the Botanical Garden and the Gauguin Museum. Here's what my Tahiti cruising guide (published in 1985) says:

"The Botanical Garden's grounds almost surround the Gauguin Museum. The Garden's collection of tropical plants from all over the world is stunning, especially the giant bamboo that you can actually watch grow, quarter-inch by quarter-inch. The Gardens were founded by an American, Harrison Willard Smith, in the 1920's. Smith, a former Harvard University professor and botanist, collected plants throughout the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, which he established on this beautiful site."

"The Gauguin Museum should not be missed. About 60 of his original paintings are in the USA, 30 in France, and 30 in the USSR. The Gauguin Museum has 17 originals. The four halls are modern and of Polynesian design, all connected by walkways. The first hall doesn't have a single Gauguin painting, but instead shows work being done in the islands today. The others are devoted to Gauguin's life and his work."

Sounds like a pretty cool place. We've approached several people on meeting us there (including my mother) because of it's convenience to jet transportation - you know, getting' to the Tuamotus presents deeper challenges - but, so far nobody has taken us up on the offer.

Bill