La Cruz

With three areas sporting major marinas--La Cruz, Nuevo Vallarta and Puerto Vallarta--Banderas Bay is the most common departure location for cruisers sailing to the South Pacific from Mexico. We stopped first at La Cruz, the only place where anchoring is still allowed--preferring both the feel (gentle rocking) and fees ($0) of living "on the hook". All along this coast we have seen lots of sea turtles and plenty of humpbacks; here at anchor we can watch dolphins swim lazily by, and see pelicans and green-footed boobies fish by torpedoing into the water right next to the boat.

"Quaint little town" is a trite phrase, but it really does describe La Cruz. It's a combination of centuries: an old-fashioned central plaza and a gleaming new fish market; cobble-stoned streets with family-run taco stands and wifi cafes with jazz at night; a weekly market with authentic native art and organic produce booths. It's no surprise that a large number of "yachties" have their boats here much of the time. Once again we hopped on buses to get around the bay, these much more "local" than the Mazatlan ones (think people wedged into every possible space, hot wind blowing in the open windows, loud mariachi music playing on the radio; a fun slice of life!). 

View down a stone street

La Cruz Sunday market

Central Plaza

Iguanas hang out in the trees

Dinner at a street cafe

Typical street scene

There are quite a few cruisers in the area who are preparing to go to the Marquesas as part of the Pacific Puddle Jump, just like we are, so that was both informative and enjoyable. A few people have done this passage before, but at the PPJ seminars we realized we had more offshore experience than most of the participants. That didn't arouse overconfidence, but it did help us feel solid about our overall readiness for this voyage. (Another round of thanks to Katelinn for her expertise on our Kauai trip!)

It's also interesting to see the different kinds of preparations going on everywhere around us. As expected prior to a major trip, all boats have extensive To Do lists, we just differ in some specifics and in the order that standard projects are getting completed. Just one example: we met a couple whose fuel tank had started leaking; to fix the leak they had to have their engine taken out, the old fuel tank cut into pieces to remove it, and replaced with a much smaller one. Fortunately we heard this story before we had our fuel tank cleaned; we decided to be proactive and coat the inside of our fuel tank with a special sealant we fortuitously found in La Paz (maintenance items are surprisingly hard to find in Mexico, considering the number of boats there are around here; people are constantly on the internet at the marina's wifi access area desperately trying to find parts and shipping options). That procedure meant we were stuck in Marina La Cruz for a while--but there could hardly be a more enjoyable place to be stuck!