SSCA

Kris and Joan Greene introduced us to the Seven Seas Cruising Association many years ago, and we continue to meet some very fine people through this connection. For the past two years we have been able to join Steve and Kay (Kavenga) in Puerto Vallarta at the SSCA meeting they host at their condominium (swimming pool included!).

Yelapa

Along the south shore of Banderas Bay is the small village of Yelapa, accessible only by sea. All advice suggests that the anchorage is tenuous, on a relatively narrow shelf around a deep bay with healthy surge and waves that can pull a boat's anchor off the shelf. Additional stern anchors are recommended. Or, better yet, tie up to a buoy. We talked with Mark and Wendy (Sol Mate) who had just entered the bay before we did, and they referred us to Josel (monitoring Channel 71 VHF) who met us in his panga and guided us to a buoy smack in the center of the bay off the sandy beach.



We hiked up the winding, narrow, cobblestone streets to a waterfall, enjoyed a cool drink, availed ourselves of the facilities (ask Pauline and Dottie about that!), passed the iglesia, and, wading across the river that enters the bay, ended up on the beach.


Josel carried us back to Odyssey in his panga; just getting into it was an adventure! The swell was about three feet and one had to time the "jump" from the dock to the boat just right to catch the panga on the upswing. We made it just fine!


The night was a rolly one! Swells come directly into the bay, then bounce off the three "walls" (the beach and each side of the relatively narrow bay, so your boat gets tossed about a bit! It was the only time some of us didn't feel like eating a lot! And none of us got a sound sleep.

Puerto Vallarta Art

Pauline Flynn and Dorothy Eberly joined us for a week of sailing, exploring, and sunning...they were excellent companions and real troopers on board and off.



Along the Puerto Vallarta malecon are unusual pieces of art; some, like these cast metal "chairs," solid and permanent. Others, like the intricate sand carvings, are as transient as wind, weather, and waves allow.

San Blas Days

Dozens of workers spent the entire day building the tower (El Castillo) for the night's fireworks event. It drew a crowd of thousands, the square filled elbow-to-elbow.



Dancing by costumed youth, with clacking sandals and rhythmic beats of bow and arrows filled the plaza square...an old fiddler wandered through the dancers, his sounds drowned out completely, but his fingers flying unceasingly.

Burning Man?

El Castillo was a series of firework displays...spinning wheels morphed into colorful figures that the children called out: "It's a butterfly! Una mariposa!" "Zapatos! Shoes!" It started at the bottom of the tower and worked it's way up, culminating in a large octopus that turned and waved its tentacles up and down...quite spectacular. Even the two wheels that refused to spin and that required a worker to climb the tower in the midst of flying sparks and burning remnants from the previous wheel to set them going were spectacular...maybe moreso!





A grand finale with traditional overhead fireworks ended the night and families started home through the smoke-filled plaza, tired, excited, and very proud of San Blas.

San Blas Days

San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico. A beautiful town that we visited last year. This time we arrived the day before the February 3rd celebration of San Blas...in honor of the monk, Blas de Mendoza, for whom the city was named and who, we were told, was a physician. His "specialty" (we were told) was the throat, and a blessing of candles (placed across the throat and at the side of each supplicant's face) was offered by the local priests in the cathedral.



Celebrations are a mix of history, tradition, music, color, costumes and fun. We asked what it all meant...most people had no idea, other than "It's what we've always done. It's traditional." So we stopped asking and simply enjoyed the day: there was a balloon-festooned panga flotilla that left from the town wharf and, cheered on by hundreds of people on the water's bank, roared out of the estuary to circle La Piedra Blanca de la Tierra just out to sea from the harbor entrance and return. A life size figure of San Blas was carried from the church to the wharf to see the flotilla off.

When the boats returned, the saint was escorted back to the cathedral in a parade of dancers, drummers, and singers. Great care was taken to put the saint back in his correct position on the altar and the vela blessing conducted to songs and chants.

Isla Isabella

Isla Isabela

Third time's a charm. We have gone by Isla Isabel twice in the past year. This time we stopped. The weather favored us with calm seas and little wind, so we anchored on the east side near the two spires and shoals off the shore of this crumbling volcanic island. There were rocks and sand and our anchor chain rattled all night long. We were fortunate to drop the hook on a rock shelf...two feet to the right and we'd have had it snagged under a deep ledge. Also fortunate, the water is crystal clear and we can see the 20 feet down to where the anchor lies. Even then, we had to maneuver a bit to get the chain clear when we hoisted it next day.

We snorkeled from the boat, finding amazing schools of fish, a variety we have not seen since the Bahamas. My first Moorish Idols (!!!) and an 6-foot span eagle ray that took our breath away.




A short dinghy ride around the point put us into the southern anchorage area and the lobe where pangas tie up. We beached the boat and went ashore for a hike.




Isla Isabel is a bird refuge, reputedly the largest frigate bird rookery in the Pacific. Arriving as the nestlings are just hatching (we saw one booby egg literally cracking up), we wandered for hours among the birds. They watched us very carefully.




There are blue-footed boobies, yellow-footed boobies, masked boobies, red-footed boobies (we saw only photos of them), and any number of gannets and gulls.



The boobies nest on the ground, and are prey to rats brought to the island by boats. Frigate birds nest in the low shrubs and trees. Guano abounds and the aroma is a pungent reminder of the chicken-coops of my childhood.



There is a concerted effort on the part of Mexicans to eradicate non-native plants and animals from Isla Isabel. Work groups come to the island to clear land and set traps. Besides the restoration efforts, there are panga fisherman on the island, visiting school and tour groups, and scientists engaged in study of birds and geology. We talked with a German geologist who was busy with a drilling project, looking at sediment levels in the Crater Lake. She was very excited about the work they had done and the discoveries underway.