Sail Cutthroat

17 November – 1700 hours

Well for the first time in 2 weeks writing this update I’m NOT on the 12-4 watch…so I probably won’t be as lucid. And yes, I’m enjoying a Martini with Roger – something I tend NOT to do while we’re underway.

We had a very nice and quiet trip from Mazatlan with winds out of the NW at about 10 knots (again dead downwind for the most part and not enough to move Cutthroat at that wind angle). Additionally, I didn’t want to dawdle not knowing what hurricane Sergio was planning for us. There was a steady line of fishing boats about one mile east of us most of the way down from Mazatlan. I don’t think I mentioned that in my last report but the Shrimp boats were out in force and they just kept coming and coming but our paths were never to cross as they remained closer to the mainland than the course we chose. It was by far the most activity we’ve seen at night. Additionally, the lights from the mainland were also more pronounced. They cast a glow similar to cruising up the coast in Southern California (without marine layer, and that doesn’t happen often). Anyway the light show, not to mention the stars was phenomenal and memorable.

The charts down here are quite sketchy. Information is limited and the further south we get the more apparent this becomes (the paper charts are even worse, Bob). Fortunately we have a great Cruising Guide of the area that is getting lots of use. I plugged their waypoint into the chart plotter for the entrance to Nuevo Vallarta (our harbor) and it put me on dry land. Fortunately, I do trust the waypoints and we had a good visual sighting so we were okay – another reason I’m not a big fan of entering these places at night. This was an easy entrance and the Marina had guys standing by to help us find our slip. We backed into that, checked in with the local Harbor Master (you have to do that in every port - for $20 you get an agent to go do that – yes, we’re lazy in addition to being wimps).

Checking in to Paradise Village felt like registering at college your freshman year. We just kept running around and paying fees. The Paradise Village Resort is quite unique – similar to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. In addition to a very large hotel facility there is a huge timeshare contingent with its own Mall, restaurants, laundry, SPA and Yacht Club. If you think we’re suffering in a third world country – think again! It’s hard to get someone to practice our Spanish on. Everyone speaks English and they are more priced as if we were in the States – I think I like Mazatlan better.

In the meantime, we are acclimating to our surroundings and looking forward to cruising in this beautiful area. It’s very tropical with lots of fresh pineapples, papayas and wonderful vegetables – so we’ll eat well! We’ll get some pics of the area over the weekend. Tomorrow we are going to take the bus downtown to find the market and speak some Mexican to somebody. It costs 12 pesos each way; about $1.20 – think we can afford it on our cruising/retired budget.

I’ll write more when something interesting happens and try to add photos along the way. Until then, we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving – enjoy this family time together and we will be thinking of all of you!