Checked Out & Waiting for a Window

We continued work on the boat, amidst fun, this week.  I experienced the local health care system when I sought out an ophthalmologist for a vision issue that I wanted evaluated prior to crossing the Pacific.  I had developed a defect in my right eye visual field and was pretty certain I knew what it was (a posterior vitreous attachment), but wanted to ensure my retina was okay.  The physician and office were impressive; I was reassured of no retinal issue, and I walked out only $60 US an hour later. 

We have continued learning about the upcoming passage, weather, storm avoidance, and playing the currents.  For me, knowledge equals peace of mind.  Soaking up the bright colors of concrete wall murals, smells of fresh tortillas and mesquite, conversations with a waiter who we have come to know, and the tastes of local tacos and flautas; we have thoroughly enjoyed our extended stay in La Cruz.  Sometimes the odors aren’t the freshest and the creaky piling and loud music from shore parties keep us up at night, but it’s all part of the experience. 

The cruising community here is stellar, from sharing parts and expertise, to coordinating activities for kids and adults.  The kids participated in pickleball lessons, a beach clean-up, beach ultimate frisbee, another trashboat regatta, an outdoor movie, and a 3-day sailing course in Opti dinghies, and have enjoyed hanging out with other cruising kids into the wee hours of the night.  Cora and a cruising friend took an acrobatic silks class which she loved. 

Our time with Bob and Christine flew by and, although they didn’t get the excitement of leaving the dock, they got the excitement (craziness!) of our family prepping for the passage.

Provisioning continues with prepped and frozen local shrimp (thanks Christine and Cora for all the shrimp peeling) for stirfries, cabinets overflowing with food after a Costco trip, and a liquor cabinet with rum (for Neptune of course). 

We will buy local foods along the way, but it’s nice to have staples for the next 7-8 months.  Our last mega load of laundry (including all our sheets and towels) is done.  Calder cleaned all our hatches and UV-treated the gaskets and plastic components on deck.  His fishing rods are set with spooled line, set by the door with their lures ready to go.  Cora is downloading books on her Kindle and songs on her playlist for the voyage ahead.  I have prepped school with a focus on meteorology, French lessons, early explorers, and Polynesian culture.  The final spare parts and tools have been procured; at this point, we have what we have.

Checking out of Mexico is a process of numerous steps and locations that, if you have them outlined in order, is not entirely that painful.  First, we needed our full crew and passports of everyone on our boat; once Emil (our dear friend and crew member) arrived with his passport we could proceed.  However, the Port Captain is open from 9am-1pm for this purpose and the holiday of Semana Santa (Holy Week) shortened working hours further.  This is the biggest holiday of the Mexican year and Bandaras Bay is quite busy with many official offices closed early.  Emil arrived at the beginning of Semana Santa, so we needed to get busy checking out before offices closed for the rest of the week.  

We rented a car, drove from La Cruz to Nueva Vallarta (after a brief detour to Puerto Vallarta due to my error, which I blame entirely on not enough coffee) where there was an official Port Captain that can check one out of the country.  Driving in Mexico is a confusing and sometimes harrowing experience that resulted in colorful language from Chris.  There is a Port Captain in La Cruz, but they cannot check you out of the country; however, it is important to check out with them as well for the city of La Cruz.  We presented our passports, among with a pile of other required papers, and were checked out within 30 minutes. 

However, to check out with Customs and Immigration, we needed to set up a time to bring our entire crew and boat to the dock at Nueva Vallarta.  That time was 10:30am the next day. 

We left our cozy dock and set off the 6 miles over to Nueva Vallarta where we squeezed into our assigned dock, our stern hanging off, and awaited officials.  Very friendly, they showed up, completed paperwork, went through our boat peeking in all drawers and into the floor cubbies, gave us our Zarpe (exit papers) and off we set.  All checked out from Mexico!

We are now anchored off La Cruz, waiting for a weather window to get on our way, which looks to be within the next few days.  The waves and boat traffic are a good step in the return of our sea legs. 

In brief, the 2,700 mile passage from Mexico to French Polynesia can be broken up into four portions, each with its own challenges and rewards.  The first portion is dictated by getting enough wind to leave Mexico and make headway west, in order to get to the Northeast trade winds.  Ideally, we will have a high pressure system off shore (without a big low pressure system coming to crush it) and north winds blowing down the Sea of Cortez for a few days.  Unfortunately, this is often a lumpy area of the seas and called a “wash machine” with swells and currents from many directions.  We will definitely have our sea legs after this first section.

We hope to leave this Saturday/Sunday and can be followed on our Predict Wind tracking page:  https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV-Terikah/

I also hope to write a short note on the Blog and/or our Predict Wind page daily on our progress.