- Port of departure: Isla Isabel
- Departure date and time: Wednesday, April 24 at 5:30
- Port of arrival: Banderas Bay (Bahia de Banderas) – La Cruz de Huanacaxtle
- Arrival date and time: Thursday, April 25 at 5:30
- Total travel time: 24 hours
- Miles traveled: 80.4 nautical miles
- Forecast: We asked a fellow cruiser for the forecast and they informed us that there would be the typical diurnal (daytime) wind on Wednesday and Thursday and that a stronger North wind was predicted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We didn’t really know what they meant by diurnal winds, but they also didn’t seem too keen on chit chatting, but it was enough to go on.
We actually tried to pull the anchor up at 4:30 when the wind finally arrived…but it was good and stuck on a rock and a shiny new catamaran had essentially parked right on top of it, making it difficult for us to maneuver. You should read Jeff’s recounting of the situation. I have nightmares about losing our Bruce anchor, so I was especially relieved when I heard the sweet clunk of metal hitting our bow roller. I am in love with our Bruce and I never ever want to lose him.
The wind was at our back, blowing from the NW for the majority of our trip. We sailed through the night with our full main and genoa on a broad reach. It was a slow trip, but the sea was calm and gentle. The wind died down in the middle of the night and was dead by morning. We spent a greater part of the next day bobbing around until the wind picked up again in the afternoon from west.
We entered Banderas Bay under sail, watching as clouds of manta rays parted for us at the bow of our boat. Tack perched perilously close to the toe rail watching the rays wave the tips of their fins at him from the surface of the water, then dive out of sight.
When you do the math we had a 3.3 knot average for this trip, which isn’t too bad given how light the winds were (generally 5-8 knots, never exceeding 13). What’s more, we made it to the anchorage before sunset without having to run the motor, which is always nice. After dropping Bruce in 18 feet (sand) in the La Cruz anchorage we set up our swim ladder, put on our swim suits and jumped in. The water is getting warmer!!!
