Puerto Vallarta…..Part 4

Dear F&F,
Sunday Feb 17
We did not know that \”holding tank pumpout day\” was only on Thursdays. We missed it. With 3 of us onboard for 5 days, we really needed to take a dump, no pun intended. There was no other option but cast off the dock lines, motor out into the bay a polite 3 miles & empty out our refuse. As gross as that sounds, bear in mind that massive cruise ships do this routinely. And most of the boats here in the marina do not even using their holding tanks at all, or so we\’ve been told. Apparently, most of
them just flush directly overboard. It is common practice all over the world. Viva la difference… It was quite blustery in the bay, so we didn\’t do much more than the intended business & returned to the dock.

In the afternoon we went to the Nuevo Vallarta Yacht Club Sixth Annual Wine & Art Festival. Sounds more grand than it was. A lot of pesos for tiny pours of mostly not very good wine & mostly boaters homemade artwork. It was a benefit for a local women\’s charity so we made our contribution. Scott met the first boating couple we have run into so far that love to scuba dive. They gave us detailed GPS coordinates on many dive sites in places around Mexico we will be visiting soon. Where the water should
finally be warmer. It is still only 75 degrees here. Diving in 82+ degree water is really when you feel that you have arrived in the tropics (and Cindy does not feel like she needs to be in her dry suit!).

Mon/Tues Feb 18 & 19
Highlight was having Mary & Bill on our boat for dinner. Mary\’s BD is Feb 20 so we started the celebration early. I made sister Maria\’s famous cheesecake again with similarly fab results (had made it for Scott on Jan 25). We swapped stories, drank good wine that we\’ve been rationing from home & thanked them again for talking sense into us – to stay longer & really see & enjoy Mexico.

Weds Feb 20
Farewell to the dock & back to La Cruz anchorage. An entire 4 mile journey. Not worth putting up the sails for. We got settled in, washed the boat & headed to the beach with the dinghy. We were prepared for the \”wet landing\” & had not only shorts & water shoes, but our laptops in waterproof cases. We had learned of a pizza place,(Philo\’s) that is boater friendly with free WiFi. We spent nearly 5 hrs on our computers on two separate days: Skype calls, Scott ordering parts for our next visitor (sister
Alberta) to bring & me making the reservations for her to meet us in Manzanillo at the end of March. Did you all get to see the lunar eclipse? It was very cool. We all went outside the restaurant to view it. The sky was perfectly clear, it was a site to behold.

Tomorrow morning we will be up at 4:30 am in order to motor around the southern tip of Banderas Bay, called Cabo Corrientes while it is calm. That point has a reputation for strong winds against current from the opposite directions. Cabo Corrientes in Spanish means \”Cape of Currents\”. It is a similar phenomenon to Point Conception that many of you know in Southern California. We will continue traveling south enjoying the real heart of the Mexican Riviera over the next few months. Stay tuned…