Ixtapa
From La Cruz, in Banderas Bay near Puerto Vallarta,
we sailed straight through to Ixtapa, a distance of
about 335 miles from our anchorage.
The Mexican coastline between Puerto Vallarta and Ixtapa is
known as the Gold Coast, with a number of great stopping points
for yachts, from almost-deserted bays to the resorts of Manzanillo.
We would have liked to be able to make one or two stops along
the way, but the tight schedule of our volunteer crew dictated that
we make this trip as a single leg.

We left at 0115 on Tuesday morning, 10 April. The southwest
point of Bahia Banderas is Cabo Corrientes, meaning "Cape of
Currents." Both our cruising guide and other cruisers advised that
the currents, waves and afternoon winds could raise a ruckus at
this cape, and that we'd be well-advised to round it at night or
early in the morning when the winds were light. In view of the chart
inaccuracies that we'd been dealing with, we didn't want to make
this rounding in the dark.

So, by leaving this early in the morning, we planned to cover the
35 miles from our La Cruz anchorage to Cabo Corrientes in about
6 hours, which would put us there right about sunrise. As it turned
out, we got there 45 minutes early, but the sky was beginning to
get light and we compensated by staying about 8 miles clear of
the cape before turning to the south east.

Ixtapa is pretty much a straight southeast run from Cabo
Corrientes. We had 10-15 knot following winds the entire
distance, with one night of stronger (15-20 knot) winds off the
starboard quarter. During the second full night of the  trip we
slowed our speed considerably so that we wouldn't be rounding
Punta Ixtapa ... once again, a rocky and tricky entrance ... until
the sun was high enough so that we wouldn't be blinded and we
could see obstacles.

We rounded Punta Ixtapa at about 0830 on Thursday morning,
and arrived at the breakwater entrance to Marina Ixtapa at about
0900. After contacting the marina, they advised us to stand by for
45 minutes as the tide rose and a marina security panga could
scout the entrance to determine if it was safe for us to enter. The
Pacific swell was sending rollers right into the mouth of the
(normally) 15' deep channel. Once we got the go-ahead to enter,
we powered and semi-surfed through the rollers into calm water,
our depth sounder reading less than 8' depth at the trough of the
wave.

Marina Ixtapa is the heart of a development that includes hotels,
condos, houses, a golf course, several upscale restaurants, and
stores including a marine supply. The marina itself was carved out
of a brackish lagoon. While very well-protected, it has its share of
pests: mosquitoes in the evening, and crocodiles round-the-clock.

Dakota Rose will remain berthed here until mid-May, when we will
begin the final, 3-week trip, first to Huatulco, Mexico, and then on
to Golfito, Costa Rica.
About halfway between Vallarta and Ixtapa, we were hailed by this
Mexican patrol boat, the Holzinger. We spent about an hour chatting
with them on the radio, giving them our information and, in
particular, confirming that we weren't carrying guns. The officer we
were in contact with was very accommodating, even apologizing in
advance and hoping that we wouldn't  be insulted when he asked
about the guns. I guess they figured we were harmless because
they didn't board us, and afterwards assured us that they were
standing by if we had any problems at all. They even checked back
with us later on to make sure all was ok. Given the lack of boat
traffic along this stretch (most of the other cruising yachts were
headed back north by now), we think they must have been bored.
When we were through with the radio formalities, I asked my new friend
whom his ship was named after, since it didn't sound like a Spanish name.
After some discussion on their end, he told us it was named after a war
hero, a German fighting for Mexico; I asked if his heroism came during a
battle with the United States, and they very emphatically answered "no."
Turns out they were sparing our feelings ... we were honored to be in
contact with the lead ship of the Mexican Navy's Holzinger class of patrol
gunboats, named after Mexican Marine Lieutenant Sebastian Holzinger,
hero of the Mexican-American War! In 1847, U.S. Naval forces led by
Commodore Perry attacked Fort Santa Barbara, near Veracruz, under
command of Lieutenant Holzinger.  When a 32 pound shot from the USS
Potomac’s gun cut the fort's flagstaff, the gallant Holzinger and one of his
men leaped to the wall and nailed it back to the broken stub of the
flagstaff, being very nearly killed for their trouble. Holzinger’s gallantry so
impressed U.S. Navy Captain Aulick that he recounted the incident to his
superiors in his after action report. Warfare was so much more chivalrous
back then.
I missed a bay once already on this trip ...
gonna make damn sure it doesn't happen
again!
Rounding Punta Ixtapa on
Thursday morning
MARINA IXTAPA
The marina strictly enforces a "no
swimming" policy, and strongly
advises against leaving small children
and pets unattended on the docks
Russ getting chummy with our waiter at our
arrival dinner
We browbeat Russ into "slumming it" by taking a bus
instead of a taxi into the town of Zihuatenejo, a little east
of the Ixtapa resorts. It cost us 7 pesos (70 cents) each, a
little less than the $50 cab ride.
Scenes from Zihuatenejo
And, to prove that he's really, really, really adapting to the cruising
lifestyle, Russ agrees to (ok ... we tricked him) a free ride to the
airport in the bed of Javier's Nissan ... Javier being the dock-guy I
hired to tend to Dakota Rose for the next four weeks until our
return (if you look closely you can see where Russ got whacked in
the head by a low-lying palm frond)
Fresh fish for sale on the beach
, direct from the panga fishermen
Somebody's having a hard
time recovering from the
bachelor party ... oh, wait,
that's just a perro!
The fat mermaid
Some photos this page courtesy of "Li'l Steve"