June 10, 2014  La Cruz Marina

It’s hard to believe that we arrived into Banderas Bay almost five weeks now. 

View from the La Cruz marina looking towards Puerto Vallarta

Since then we have met a dozen other cruisers and are getting to know our way around La Cruz.  It takes 10 minutes to walk into the small town of La Cruz and 15 minutes to walk to the bus stop up the hill.  We know where to get off the bus for the big box stores such as Walmart and Home Depot and are learning which small local stores to shop at.  We have bused into Puerto Vallarta a couple of times when we took some much needed 'time off'.  It takes an hour and a half each way but there are plenty of buses running regularly.  We found an inexpensive taco restaurant the other day.  It cost $4.50 for 4 chicken tacos, small soup and tapioca and two bottles of pop. Why buy groceries!

Beach in Old Town Puerto Vallarta

Water taxis come and go from the pier beyond the sun umbrellas.
When the waves build its really tricky getting out of one!

Old Town Puerto Vallarta, a couple of miles from the big hotels

Locals staying out of the sun, enjoying
fresh caught oysters on the shell

The murky river next to the manicured hotel gardens.  Locals
actually swim at the mouth of the river as it enters Banderas Bay.

Besides ongoing maintenance, our big priority since arriving was getting a handle on the heat situation.  Being Victorians, we are used to moderate temperatures so the heat and humidity have really taken their toll and left us with less energy than usual.  Most days it reaches 90 F or 32 C with light fluffy clouds and bright sunshine.  That temperature was both outside and inside and just too hot for us! After a couple of weeks of part time work we have now successfully installed our air conditioner in the main hatch.  We had to do a bunch of custom woodwork to make and paint the plywood box that surrounds and supports the air conditioner.  Because of the heat we broke up our work day, labouring outside before noon then resting below or in the VIP lounge (cruisers lounge) for a number of hours then doing more work in the evening once it cooled down a bit.  The humidity is intense and even my prescription glasses tend to fog up when I leave the boat or another air conditioned spot.   We are so pleased that it is now a comfortable 84F or 29C down below on Falcon VII!  As Mexico’s summer goes into full swing it shifts into lighter winds during the morning followed by wonderful thermal winds all afternoon.  With the hotter weather we now get dark looming clouds late in the day and we often get thunder storms during the night.

The weather front heading over La Cruz

Evening storm clouds just waiting to drop loads of rain on us

The entire sky lights up dozens of times per night as sheet lightning strikes somewhere in Banderas Bay.  We've watched fork lightning and wondered what it hit, especially when our power goes out.  On Sunday night La Cruz was right under the middle of the storm with the time lag between lightning strikes and thunder going something like this….FLASH (lightning)…count one second two…BOOOOOM (thunder) followed by more rolling thunder over many second.  The result of these storms has meant that La Cruz received over 17” of rain over the last four nights!  That’s not a typo!  We’ve been to Southeast Alaska three times but I think we saw more rain two nights ago than we’ve ever seen before!   We bused into Puerto Vallarta yesterday and saw numerous crews cleaning up loads of dirty water, debris and mud, especially at the bridges, driveways and low sections of the lateral roads.  Each morning our marina water as murky mud brown and full of floating debris but the staff try to pick it up quickly. 

There's a piece of property next to the marina that is a swamp, thanks to the rains.  It's come alive in the last few days with loads of birds, frogs, lizards and dragon flies everywhere.  Welcome to summer in Mexico!

The lively swamp next to the marina.  Really pretty!

Not too long ago Jim came up with a great saying...LIFE IS A CONSTANT REARRANGEMENT OF POSSIBILITIES ... and that’s a big lesson for us. We are so happy with our last minute decision to stay in La Cruz for the summer rather than Paradise Village in Nuevo Vallarta, which is about 15 km away.  Paradise Village is a great resort but it is also in a compound with limited shopping, restaurants and music in the evenings.  We decided La Cruz was a better fit for us.

The public square, freshly painted



Enormous trees provide shade

Downtown La Cruz with cobblestone roads

Remnants of the first big rain

It has a more casual atmosphere where we can wander into town, grab a bus to Walmart or the hardware store, or feast at a variety of independent restaurants and family run taco stands, all within a short walk away. 

A family celebration using the road as their gathering place

Bananas growing next to the marina

One of the little tiendas even stays open Thursday evenings when their wholesale vendor brings a truck overflowing with a great variety of both sweet delicious fruit and dozens of crispy veggies, which are great as we’re eating lots of salads these days (no cooking because it’s too darn hot).  A much appreciated breeze blows through the anchorage and marina most afternoons, helping to cool the boat down and keep the bugs and birds away. 

The breakwater on a calm morning

Thermal winds in the afternoon

Frigates, about the size of bald eagles, are a big pest at the marina where they like to sit at the very tops of the masts, bending expensive antennas and wind instruments in the process.  Of course, they also leave not-so-little calling cards all over the deck! And they don’t like to fly away when they’re perched up there either! So far we've been pretty lucky but we may put a garden rake at the top of our mast to discourage them from landing on Falcon.

Frigates next to the marina, checking out masts to land on

One of the big pluses for La Cruz is the feel of community amongst cruisers and the marina.  The other big plus is the great music scene.  La Cruz is renowned for its super active music scene in the winter where many restaurants are packed nightly with diners enjoying everything from duos playing exquisite flamenco music to five piece rock bands keeping the beat to acoustical guitarists strumming their instruments lovingly.

The whole music scene winds down considerably for the summer months when only a couple of dozen cruisers are hanging around.  Many La Cruz gringos head north also for the summer but those who stay support the musicians in the summer too.  We are becoming music groupies.  There are at least three opportunities each week for us to walk into town and enjoy really good 60’s and 70’s live music.

Leon on the washboard

We just spent an evening at a British Pub (I know!) where a mixture of Mexicans and gringos played non-stop for two hours.  There were no fewer than 10 musicians spelling each other off, many playing a variety of acoustic and electric guitars.  There was also legendary Leon, who is 83 and plays the washboard, another fellow playing the spoons, a doctor on electric piano and 2 drummers.   And for something a bit different….we plan to head inland to the town of San Sebastian on June 29th with a bunch of local musicians who are travelling there for a super jam session.  They do this a few times a year and invite others to come along for the fun of it.  It’ll be an overnighter in the mountains and a treasured relief from the daily heat.  Should be fun!

The marina in La Cruz has excellent facilities for cruisers including an air conditioned facility with showers and washrooms as well as the VIP lounge, which has free wifi and loads of comfy chairs and couches for those who want to get off their boats for a while.

La Cruz Marina Riviera Nayarit

Rooftop lounge in the winter, deserted in the summer

Pool and deli area

Great restaurant on the second floor overlooking the marina

The woven roof of the restaurant - no walls either!

VIP cruses lounge

They also use the VIP lounge for morning yoga in the winter and seasonal lectures geared for cruisers.  The staff also host their fair share of events to give cruises something to look forward to.  They hold movie nights for locals and cruisers on Thursdays.  Up until this week they were aired at an outdoor amphitheatre on the malacon but because of the higher threat of evening rain they’re moving into the VIP lounge.  Staff welcome everyone to the movie with a free bag of popcorn.  There’s also Taco Monday and Burrito Tuesdays out near the deli and the little pool, Mexican train dominoes in the Cruiser’s Lounge and Restaurant late Friday afternoons and even pool volleyball on Saturdays.  The marina staff are committed to making our time in La Cruz enjoyable and we are impressed with how professional they are.

Our new cruising friends have also made us feel welcome and are passing on their wisdom about La Cruz and surrounding areas.  We’ve had friends over for casual dinners and have been invited to a couple of potluck dinners that stretched to the wee hours of the morning.

Dinner at Charlies - comes complete with friendly cat

Playing Mexican train dominos at Gekko Rojo

On one occasion we borrowed a bunch of plastic chairs from the marina and used a surf board on a wheelbarrow to create a table for the pot luck dishes.  What a fun night!

The fishermen bring their catches into the fish market daily

Couple fishing off the breakwater

Not long after arriving at the docks we heard about a fundraiser being held to help a local restaurateur who broke his back when he fell off his roof.  Philo’s Restaurant hosted the dinner, complete with raffles, jello shooters, silent auction, life auction and three hours of live music.  Tickets were only $300 pesos each or about $25.  The place was packed!  Since Jim’s birthday is early next month I decided to bid on an inclusive dinner for two at Oso’s Oyster Bar and we were successful.  We also wanted two night’s accommodation off Falcon just before flying back to Canada so we bid successfully on a special two night package at Simply Baku, a tropical retreat only a few doors away from the marina and right on the beach.  So not only do we have a two night luxury retreat to look forward to but we also have cruising friends join us to celebrate Jim’s birthday on July 7.  This was a real win/win for all of us!

The neighbourhood around the marina is full of beachside restaurants.  Love Love is right next door and, though we haven't eaten there yet, we have enjoyed their very public and funky art display.

So our first ten months of cruising have come to an end for now.  We have had an amazing time and are so thankful for everyone’s support.  We have to put the boat ‘to bed’ over the next month in preparation for intense summer weather while we’re gone.  That weather could include tropical storms, high winds and large swells coming into the marina.  Like other cruisers here we’ll hire a company to look after Falcon while we’re away.  Then it’s back to Canada where we’ll enjoy catching up with friends and family in Victoria, on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver area this summer.  We’ll return to La Cruz and our beautiful boat in early September when we hope to have a bit of leisure time for day trips to places like the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Garden and the crocodile sanctuary we pass on the bus.  By the end of October the weather will becoming more settled.  Then we’ll take off again in full Horizon Fever swing looking for new anchorages and adventures for six months.   We hope you have enjoyed reading our blog.  We’ll be back in November with more stories of our adventures.XXXXHappy Summer!  Tricia and Jim Bowen