Gail took a 3 hour direct flight form Denver to Puerto Vallarta. I arrived at the same time when I flew from Washington DC back to Mexico. She found me in the very long customs line and once we both got through the lines, we hopped on a bus for La Cruz Marina, where we met Dan on Malo. Of course we stopped to check out the bull in La Cruz.
I think she was ready for the sunny warm weather and a real sailing adventure!
Gail got settled on her bed inside our boat Malo.
We spent one night at the marina tied to the dock. But I knew Gail wanted to get out on the water and so the next day, that is exactly what we did. We took off for a sail in Banderas Bay and headed for Yelapa about 15 miles away. Dan went over a few safety drills and explained how to use some of the stuff on the boat. We even practiced man-over-board drills. Here he is explaining the winches and using the jib sheets.
Dan showed Gail some basic things about using the chart plotter. She was an eager and attentive student asking Dan lots of questions. This was good for me too, as I got to learn as well.
Gail was delighted to take the helm and caught on like she had been doing this for years.
We had a delightful sail and even saw whales in the distance. It was most exciting however when a pod of dolphins followed our boat as they played in the bow wave. You can see a dolphin in the picture below. Our destination, Yelapa lies in the distance.
We made it to Yelapa and enjoyed this quaint village in the mountains. We took the dingy to shore despite a steep surf break on the shore.
We rowed the dinghy up the river a short way before it got too shallow for us. Dan's blog has more pictures and description of this short but interesting trip.
Dan had heard of a special family restaurant he wanted to go to while in Yelapa. We walked through the town for some time until we finally found it. It was most interesting to explore this village more. Below is one of the murals I found interesting.
Pollo Bollo was the restaurant we finally found and it was delicious. Chicken was their specialty and "Pollo" means chicken in Spanish.
The anchorage in Yelapa is rather rolley. Gail found it rather unsettling and had some difficulty with feeling sea sick our first night there. Based on that, we decided to forgo the second night in Yelapa and sail back to La Cruz which typically has a calmer anchorage. Once we were sailing again and Gail was on deck she was much happier.
Once in a while, Gail gave up the helm so I could sail. Dan was the skipper-coach on this trip.
We had much to do in the town of La Cruz. The Sunday market is always a treat - full of interesting food and craft booths. Gail and I took several long beach walks along the shoreline. Dan dropped us off in the dinghy to hike 6 miles along the longest beach. It was a great thing to do. Using a VHF radio, we called him again to get picked up.
As we walked along, we both really liked the patterns in the sand.
We enjoyed an evening in town listening to a fabulous Mexican singer and band at a local restaurant.
Of course Gail eagerly pitched in on any of the boat chores - especially if they were on the deck and not down below. Here she is washing dishes.
The time went by quickly before it was time for Gail to catch a flight back to Denver. She backed her bags and loaded them into the dinghy, and off we went to catch a bus.
Thanks for visiting us Gail, it was fun.
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