The Good, the Bad and the Sleepless.

Sunset at Punta de Mita

Last night we spent what turned out to be the most miserable night at anchor onboard the Liahona yet.  We were securely anchored in Chacala the night before with friends and it was delightful.  The next day it rained, a LOT, all night and then all the next day.  Near the end of the day Marne bucked up, put on a rain coat and drove me out in the dinghy to a left point break to do some surfing.  The break was amazing but it was a little stronger than the day before and unfortunately, like most good breaks, crashes over rocks, not sand.

Chacala

Anyway, the surfing was excellent, just me alone on a point break and Marne waiting in the dinghy.  I was a little more timid than the day before because it was definitely bigger, more powerful and hollow.  I wasn't really too excited about becoming intimate with the rocky bottom nor was I fond of the idea of either of my two brand new boards meeting the bottom neither.  I did catch a few lone swells and then we rode back in the pouring rain to the boat.

Getting the new sled ready to go.

Around 9 or 10pm the wind started to blow, not super hard but maybe 15 knots or so.  It accompanied the very heavy rains.  There must have been a pretty nasty squall offshore somewhere near because we began to get very heavy swells into the anchorage which threw us around like a cork. We rolled crazily from side to side, maybe 30-40 degrees. It persisted all night.  Nobody slept and nobody was happy.  It was frustrating because there was nothing we could do but ride it out, one sleepless minute after another.

This morning the bay in Chacala looked like the muddy Mississippi after a hurricane.  Totally brown and lots of stuff floating about.  So we decided to leave and head south to Punta de Mita which lies at the very north end of Banderas Bay, the home of Puerto Vallarta.

The seas we super big today but our point of sail was good so we bounded down the coastline under the umbrella of our big drifter in 15 knots of wind.  Several times we saw 8.5 or more knots of boat speed.  Crazy fast!  The seas were running 8-12', much bigger than is normally comfortable but even with the big seas the sail was awesome and we enjoyed a visit from some dolphins along the way and also saw a sea turtle.

Sunset at Punta de Mita 

Tar, happy to be here!

There are several surf spots here around Punta de Mita so we will probably spend a few days here.  We do have internet so we are hoping to post some pictures up soon.

SV Liahona
Bret, Marne and Tarren