11/27/03 1645 Log = 2849. Arrived Puerto Vallarta on Thanksgiving Day. We heard the Detroit Lions won their game. We checked into Marina Vallarta and were met by Cecilia, who did all our paper work. We got a slip in A-4, which was right in front of a little restaurant/bar called Victor’s Place. Beers cost 10 pesos (about 95 cents) and you got a free shot of tequila! Ron would love this place.

11/28/03 Went out for a day sail in wonderful Bandaras Bay. The bay has pretty consistent winds of about 15 knots and calm seas. We stopped the boat and went for a little swim. This is our only chance to swim, as the harbor is filthy. The water temp was about 82 degrees. When we got back to the boat, Mike Chaffee was waiting for us at Victor’s. He too discovered the 10 peso beers and free tequila.

11/29/03 Brian, Mike and I took the bus downtown to see the city. We walked around and had a burger overlooking the beach. Not much happening downtown, so we headed off to the boat to our now favorite bar, Victor’s Place, 50 feet from the boat.

11/30/03 Went for another day sail to make the most of Bandaras Bay and swam in the bay.

12/1/03 Wow! It’s December already. Hard to believe I’ve been out here for 6 weeks now. We leave tomorrow and there is much to do before we can go. We have to do laundry and reprovision the boat for what is about a 4-5 day sail with two stops. Plus, time to get away from Victor’s.

12/2/03 1100 Log = 2875. Leaving Puerto Vallarta, one of my favorite places so far. I can see how it is easy to get stuck here, but what a place to be stuck in. The prices are much more reasonable than Cabo or Matzlan and the weather was wonderful. Sailing in the bay was great too.

12/2/03 1820 Log = 2907. We are rounding Cabo Corrientes, which means currents in the southern part of Bandaras Bay. The winds are up to 23 knots and we had to put a reef in. Mike is holding up well on his first day at sea.

12/3/03 1030 Log = 2987. Arrived Careyes and anchored off of Playa Blanca, which used to be a Club Med until it closed about a year ago. Beautiful white sand beach all to ourselves. We took the dinghy over to a palapa and had a beer. We then walked over to an exclusive hotel and private condominiums, which was practically deserted. We only saw about 15 people in the whole place. They had a beautiful pool, which we had to jump in, and a gorgeous beach. We stayed for one drink, but they cost 90 pesos each! Two sailboats came in and we talked with them briefly at the restaurant. They both have kids and are headed to Z Town.

12/4/03 0915 Log = 2987. Departed Carayes for Tenacatita Bay.

12/4/03 1300 Log = 3007. After a short 4 hour sail, we arrive Tenacatita Bay. The main attraction here is a Jungle River trip you take the dinghy up in. After a successful beach landing, we portage the dinghy to the river. The river has a bar in front of it with lots of rocks and breaking surf. We wisely decide to skip the entrance. The river trip is pretty cool with lots of tropical birds and crabs in the trees. Parts of the river are only about 6 feet wide and the jungle canopy completely covers the dinghy. The river is about 5 miles long and ends up at the beach on the other side of the bay where there are many restaurants and bars. We had a quick beer and headed back down the river to the boat. Tonight’s dinner was BBQ cheeseburgers ("Cheeseburger in Paradise").

12/5/03 0830 Log =3007. Departed Tenacatita for Z Town. We have about a two day sail ahead of us. We leave just as the sun is coming up over the haze and the ocean is flat calm with no wind.

12/6/03 0945 Log = 3134 Halfway to Z Town. We’ve been motoring all day for about 24 hours now…no wind. The sky is cloudy, but very warm with calm seas. In fact, the overcast feels quite nice after too much sun.

12/7/03 0745 Log = 3219. Arrive Z Town after a glorious sail all day. The wind was up to about 15 kts from the SW putting us on a close reach all day at 7 kts. The wind was so good, we arrived before dawn and had to hover around Ixtapa until the sun came up. This marks the end of our outbound journey after 1900 nm! One arrival beer after another put the crew in a drunken stupor, with the captain leading the way. Mike is staying at the Hotel Suzy, in town, for $25 per day.

12/8/03 I had my first experience in checking in with the local officials, sometimes called the "Mexican Paperwork cha-cha". Now I know that the fee some agents charge are well worth to do it for you. The day started at the Port Captain’s office in the harbor where I learned that you must first go to Immigration (Migration). This was about a 1 mile walk out of town to get our passports checked and our papers stamped. Then it was back to the Port Captain’s office to fill out more papers and get a deposit slip for the bank. Then you walk to bank, stand in line and pay your fees…280 pesos or $28.00. The bank stamps more papers and then back to the Port Captain’s office for your final papers. All told, it took about 4 hours to do all of this. In the process, I ran into the crew of "Forever and Ever" doing the same thing. In their case, the Port Captain gave them the wrong papers and they had to go back and then the bank deposit slip was wrong and the bank wouldn’t accept them. They had to go back and forth twice to get it right. By this time, I was ready for a beer at Rick’s, the local cruiser’s hangout with Norma and Gary from "Forever and Ever". We tasted some of Rick’s special tequila on the house. He has it bottle especially for him and he sells it for 200 pesos a bottle. He says it’s the same as you can buy in the store for 1500 pesos. It is quite nice.