Mazatlan to Banderas Bay

The last three years we have stopped at Mantenchen Bay (San Blas) on the way to Banderas Bay (Puerto Vallarta) so this year we decided to change our trip a bit and sail directly to Banderas Bay without the stopover. So on Saturday morning, Feb 27, our scheduled day to leave Mazatlan, we awoke to the news that there was an 8.8 earthquake in Chile that had generated a tsunami. After Doug checked the NOAA tsunami site we decided to go ahead with our plans, the weather was right, there was a full moon and it would be better to be on the ocean than sitting in the marina if the wave was going to hit us. We left Mazatlan at 8 AM along with our friends on their boat TICA (they are headed for the Panama Canal). All the dock 8 cruisers came to see us off (we are on the smallest dock in Mazatlan).

What a good decision to go at that time. After some initial winds from the south, the wind shifted to the west. Our sails went up and both CHARM and TICA had two wonderful afternoons of sailing. There were five whales south of Mazatlan that surfaced just in front of the boat, some dolphins that escorted us for a distance and even a sea turtle made an appearance. Saturday night the wind lasted until sunset so the head sail was rolled up and the motor went back on.

The ocean that night was flat and calm so Doug and I took turns napping. About 3 AM Doug decided he needed to check the oil in the engine so we turned off the motor and sat. What an amazing time with the ocean calm, no lights except the moon and no sound except the animals. We could hear the whales as they surfaced and blew, although we could not see them. This was one of the most pleasant times we have had on the ocean and one that makes you want more.

First picture is dock 8: Bill, Jo Anne (TICA), Jerry (DESTARTE), Doug and I, Bert (GYPSY DOLPHIN), Sheila, Steve (GUIDING LIGHT). The second picture is TICA.