Wednesday March 23, 2022
Isla Isabel
Leg 19
Departure Time: 7:15am local Wednesday March 23, 2022
Departure from: Isla Isabel, México
2 souls aboard
Lawrence Kerver
Gloria Vilchez
Destination: Bahía Banderas (Banderas Bay), Nayarit, México
Distance to Destination: somewhere in the neighborhood of 100nm (my guess)
Estimated time enroute: 15-20 hours
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| Leg 19: Isla Isabel to Bahía Banderas, México |
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| Nayarit is a State in México Map credit to srfer.com SRFER SURF TRAVEL |
23Mar 7:34am PDT local time:
We’re underway. ~ 7:15 departure heading for Banderas Bay, La Cruz
Predicted winds at Isabel shift from N - NE to NW by 12. Offshore from Boca Del Asadero will build to 14 by 2pm then lighten to 4-8 for night. Inshore/between points light offshore overnight. Thursday at 2 W - SW wind at point outside PV to 13. It looks good. Have a great sail!!
Will do. Thanks a ton. I'm still downloading my weather report. I started at 0200. Lol 😂
23Mar 9:36am local time: Satellite phone call from Lawrence
Bluewater departed Isla Isabel in about 5-8kts of wind. No problems anchoring or pulling anchor. Water was crystal clear so they could see the anchor 40 feet below between 2 rocks and pulled the trip line which worked great and they were off.
They are oddly currently in a NO WIND situation now so likely heading for San Blas to anchor and refuel, arrival predicted around 10pm tonight. He thanked us (Liz/Mark) profusely for providing weather predictions yesterday afternoon and this morning. He hasn’t been able to get weather data.
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| Looks like Bluewater should be seeing 11kt winds However, they are reporting NO WIND conditions 23Mar2022 16:23 GMT, 9:23am local |
The thing about weather predictions, though, is that they aren't always accurate for your slice of heaven. Yesterday afternoon Lawrence reported gnarly super strong winds in the southern anchorage at Isla Isabel. In fact he said it was 'herding sheep' out there. Mark and I know ‘herding sheep' means white caps from strong winds. I’m not sure if this is a recognizable term to anyone else but we must’ve heard it from another sailor or made it up and now we use it. Anyway, at that time Mark and I saw the Bluewater tracker AND the Nayarit weather prediction showed 15knots wind but Lawrence said it was much stronger. And similarly, we see on the tracker that Lawrence should be in 11kt winds now but he said it is dead calm. Go figure.
But as Lawrence noted when I spoke to him a week later, weather predictions are highly complex and the user of information must be aware of the system's capabilities and how to use it. Accuracy is a shared responsibility between the source and the user and it is complicated. There are many tools out there but you have to know how to use them. Weather feature I never knew about (mentioned by Lawrence): Resolution.
hmmmm....Food for thought for the future. Also, weather in more populated locations is likely to be more accurate than middle-of-nowhere specific offshore ocean spots.
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| Liz's weather prediction research info from Tue 3/22/2022 around 4pm Looks like it should have been around 15kts but Bluewater reported HIGHER winds from Isla Isabel's southern anchorage |
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| Mark's split screen weather prediction research info from Wed 3/23/2022 at 7:45am PWE data on the left; GFS data on the right |
Bluewater is currently aiming for San Blas.
Since they have no wind they are conserve gas efficiently (slower speed on one engine at a time, etc).
motoring with just the mainsail up trying to
Yesterday on the trail, Gloria spoke at length to some fishermen who described to them the long line gill nets which are EVERYWHERE. The fishermen said you can’t avoid them. They even said it's no problem, the fishermen just sew them back together. So sure enough, one of the long gill nets got wrapped on Bluewater this morning (bow, rudder, keel). It was uncomfortable dragging thru buoys but Lawrence got them off with a boat hook.
In addition to the no wind situation, they have an odd period swell. He said the waves are BIGGER than Leg 2 (Santa Cruz to Monterey) but coming at an odd period (timing) with rolly, uncomfortable seas. Short period swells with breaking waves. He is happy he hasn’t been seasick this whole trip.
He is still gushing about the amazing things they’ve seen. Last night he put down a green light in the water and it was so crystal clear he caught a fish in his hand! The light draws 10-12 amps so he can’t use it for a long time but he said there was tons of bio-luminescence. They’ve seen whales and turtles and lots of really weird things in the water like tiny fish, snaky things, amoebas, etc. He said they can literally see 100 feet down and it would be crazy to jump in with so many unknown sea creatures around.
They have plenty of food.
He will send photos when able. Sunset last night was incredible. Lots of great photos eventually.
23Mar 1:20pm local time:
We’re flying! 6-8 kts. Pancake breakfast. Caught a huge Jack Crevalle, i think. Ran over 3 different long lines/gill nets. Had to take the sails down and reverse hard core to get untangled. Now we’re just cruising fast and about as good as sailing gets. Rock on!
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| Bluewater abeam San Blas (Bahía Matanchén)... ...continuing south toward PV with good wind 23Mar2022 20:23 GMT, 1:23pm local |
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| Sun baked fish on Bluewater's bow |
Videos below of Lawrence catching a fish (catch and release) on a boat-line with no gloves sometime around 11am local 23Mar2022
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| Jack Crevalle on the swim step before being RELEASED around 11am local 23Mar2022 |
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| 23Mar2022 Originally I thought Lawrence was a happy fisherman in this photo but he later said this is a shot of a long line (Mexican fishing gear) that got stuck on his fishing tackle |
23Mar 7:42pm PDT
Lawrence sent photos from Isla Isabel that I posted separately.
I asked him for more info and he said
Hoping to Anchor around the point at Punta de Mita. It’s very dark now. Wish us luck, I’ll keep you posted. I’m very tired
Good luck! Stay safe! Thanks!!!
So many dolphins came with us. They are very large and spotted. Haven’t seen them before. So unbelievable
We’re good, I’ll let you know when we anchor
23Mar 10:13pm PDT
Lawrence wrote. Almost 😂 and sent this photo of his instruments
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| Bluewater's location in Punta de Mita anchorage in Bahía Banderas 10:13pm local 23Mar2022 Catamaran symbol on left map is Bluewater; radar on right shows many boats anchored nearby Heading 010°, Wind 10.6kts, Depth 42.7 feet |
Keep up the good work! Lookin good!
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| Bluewater's location 24Mar2022 05:23GMT which is 23Mar2022 10:23pm |
23Mar 10:40pm PDT
All done. Backed down on the anchor, 27’ Took some ranges for a bit. 2 anchor alarms. Going to sleep
140’ of chain out
Excellent! Sleep tight! Thanks and congrats!!
Seems very sound.
Sweet!
Leg 19 Bluewater checked in safe & sound @ Punta de Mita, anchorage in Bahía Banderas north of Puerto Vallarta!
Arrival: 10:40pm local time Wednesday 23Mar 2022
Duration of Leg 19: Somewhere around 15 hours
Thursday March 24, 2022
Punta de Mita anchorage
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| View of Bluewater's bow from Punta de Mita anchorage |
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| A local dinghy ride to shore from Punta de Mita anchorage |
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| Lawrence buying lunch on Av. El Anclote, Corral del Risco, Nayarit, México |
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| Local specialty: dried crickets and dried fish for sale |
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| Lawrence enjoying dried fish with hot sauce and dried crickets (of course he is) |
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| Gloria enjoying a swinging seat in an outdoor bar |
Sunday March 27, 2022
Punta de Mita, moved to a new anchorage
27Mar 2:04pm local time:
Gybe ho! Middle of Banderas Bay en route to La Cruz. Whale show spectacular!
Video came across in low resolution but you get the idea:
Did you get a slip?
No. They told me to call Sunday and I called at least 15X no answer. Either that was a cruel joke or a language miscommunication. We're gonna check out the anchorage. It's been rockin and rolling the past couple night.
Departure 1400, Arrival 1630 Popular anchorage 😳
9nm
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| Bluewater moved to a new anchorage nearby |
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| Popular anchorage - lots of boats! |
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| Hoping to get a slip in Marina Riviera Nayarit at La Cruz |
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| View from Bluewater's stern |
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| Anchored at sunset |
Monday March 28, 2022
Anchored outside La Cruz Marina
In anticipation of Gloria's Mom Gloria's (💕daughter/mother💕same name💕) birthday visit, Lo/Glo dinghy'd to the office of La Cruz Marina and Gloria used her Peruvian charm to secure dock space at the marina as others were denied. Tomorrow they will move to a dock in the marina.😀
Tuesday March 29, 2022
La Cruz Marina
Lo/Glo moved Bluewater to a guest dock in La Cruz Marina, got a hotel room to host Mother-in-law (MIL) Gloria for the week at La Cruz Inn right near the end of the marina. Everything worked out perfectly.
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| Bluewater in La Cruz Marina, Nayarit México |
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| Lo/Glo enjoying a meal |
Wednesday March 30, 2022
La Cruz Marina
MIL Gloria arrived! Not sure how they celebrated Gloria's Mom Gloria's birthday but I heard La Ballena Blanca (restaurant/bar nearby La Cruz Inn) was jamming all night (loud music)!
Thursday March 31, 2022
La Cruz Marina
Got a phone call from Lawrence.
Seminar today: How to store your boat
Movie Night tonight!
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| Movie night mere steps from Bluewater!!! Bluewater is docked just to the right of the screen in the photo |
Friday April 1, 2022
La Cruz Marina
Got a video texted from Lawrence. Here they are (Lawrence narrating and Gloria and her Mom Gloria in Plaza Pública La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit, México. The townspeople are getting ready for a 3 day mariscos, ceviche festival. Seafood galore.
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