March 26, Punta de Mita

Well we are back in Punta de Mita after an amazingly peaceful sail down the coast from Guayabitos.  We came back into Banderas Bay so we could do some exploring and snorkeling on the south side of the bay over the next two days before Tallen gets on the plane to head back home on Sunday.  Following some extremely delicious french toast this morning, courtesy of Karla, we headed out in the dinghy to a small island off of Guayabitos for a little snorkeling.  It was a bit murky but the water was warm and it was fun to explore.  After coming back, we readied the Liahona, pulled anchor and pointed her south.

As soon as we were clear of the rocky point that protected the Bay of Jaltemba we put out sail, turned off the motor and listened to the water moving quickly past the hull as we whisked toward our destination.  It wasn't even a half hour out of port when the reel started zinging so we rolled in the genoa and turned into the wind in order to slow the boat down enough to attempt to reel in what might be lunch.  Tallen did the reeling and in about 15 minutes we saw the bright silver sided yellowtail, and a nice one at that.  With a quick pull of the gaff the fish was hooked for good and pulled up on the back deck where it was filleted and cleaned for a short trip to the BBQ. ha.  Tallen did the cooking honors and prepared a pretty darn tasty lunch and saving the other half of the fish for fish tacos tonight.

The sail was perfect.  6-10 knots of wind off the starboard beam had us cruising along at about 4-5 knots in a long ocean swell of about 4'.  Dolphins joined us for a bit and we were constantly entertained watching the beautiful coastline off to the port side only a couple miles away.  We didn't turn the motor on until we were in the anchorage and ready to drop the hook.  31 miles, about 6 hours and we probably didn't burn more than a quart of diesel.  Not bad.

Preparing the anchor we encountered a small problem as the windlass was not willing to do it duties. grrr.  So we found our spot and put out the anchor by hand and I figured that I could figure out what the problem was once we were settled.  After getting the anchor set I tried it again and she worked perfectly.  I am not 100% what was going on but I think that since we sailed all day the engine batteries were a little low and did not provide enough juice.  After the 15 minutes of motoring the cells were rejuvinated by the alternator and all was well.  So a good ending to another near perfect day.  The day will be capped off by fish tacos provided by Mr. Yellowtail that graced us with presence earlier today.

As a side note, the surf here in Punta de Mita is definitely bigger that it was before.  As we rounded the point there were huge swells cresting and breaking over the shallow waters of the point.  That's a rap folks!  Ciao for now!

Bret, Tallen, Aven, Karla
SV Liahona