Preparations

It’s been 3 weeks since we tied up to the dock here in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, and time is flying by. We’ve made a lot of progress on our long list of pre-departure projects and enjoyed a visit from Mark’s cousins. With visitors, we had the chance to put down the to-do list for about a week and enjoy the area. We got off the dock with them for a really nice day sail, complete with lots of humpback whales putting on a show. We also visited nearby Sayulita, spent a day strolling through Puerto Vallarta, went swimming at the beach and in their pool, took dinghy rides (spotting dolphins and whales), enjoyed many of the great restaurants around town, visited a tequila tasting room, and broke out the pinata. It was a great visit and we look forward to the next time they can meet up with us somewhere else on our voyage.

After they left, it was back to the list. Here’s what we have accomplished so far: new dinghy engine delivery; updated boat insurance for ocean crossing; serviced the winches; glued on dinghy cover snaps; inventoried all food and supplies; fixed small leak on forward head; haircut on the beach for Mark; resealed windows; started process with local seamstress for new cockpit and interior cushions; completed paperwork for entry into French Polynesia; climbed mast for inspection; reattached starboard burgee line; filled rudder post with grease; serviced the windlass; added spacers to the bow roller; fixed bow roller guard pins; tested new snubber chain hook; tested new manual windlass adapter; completed about 2/3 of our provisioning; fixed cotter pins on the main sail track and cars; added an inline TDS meter for the watermaker; had fire extinguishers serviced; completed safety gear checks; annual mammogram for Kris; reorganized library and galley stowage areas; insulated forward hanging locker; completed engine oil change; cleaned and fixed window shades; finalized our float plan; planned for Equator crossing ceremony; installed latches on v-berth bed and garage table lid; removed old NMEA0183 networking and replaced with output from Vesper Cortex to provide VHF and SSB radios with reliable GPS data; replaced old SSB radio microphone with new; installed plastic cover over exposed shaft seal area; automated the engine blower fan via a new relay tied to the engine ignition; replaced 12v socket outlet in cockpit; replaced socket plug on the secondary depth transducer display; and wired an additional light source for cockpit. Needless to say, we’ve been busy.

Aside from all of that, we’re watching the weather and attending weekly Pau Hana meetings at PV Sailing with other cruisers looking to cross the Pacific this spring. Good spring conditions for departure have not fully developed and it’s still a little early to leave (though some vessels have decided to depart already). We’re waiting for a strong northerly down flow that will take us away from the coast nearly due west to Clarion Island. After Clarion Island we should be able to catch the northern hemisphere’s trade winds. The trades have not quite settled into a strong consistent flow, but they are getting there. The reason for taking a longer path via Clarion (rather than point more directly southwesterly towards French Polynesia) is that wind will be on the beam as we head past Socorro Island to Clarion which means good sailing! Additionally, there’s often a vacuum of wind south of Socorro Island. This route also gives us 3-4 days to find out if there are any problems for the crew or boat that we want to fix before continuing across. If anything major comes up, we can turn around and sail back directly to Bahia de Banderas on a beam reach, rather than slowly beating up into the wind tacking back and forth. For now, we’re waiting and watching for the development of the down flow and for the stabilization of the trades. We’re hopeful that within one or two weeks these systems will develop and we’ll untie the lines. In the meantime, we’ll continue with a few more projects and preparations.

For those wondering about the general sailing route from our current location in Bahia de Banderas to French Polynesia, the plan as mentioned above is to use a northerly from the Sea of Cortez and off the west coast of the Baja peninsula to make the ~4 day passage to Clarion Island. Then we plan to point towards latitude 10 degrees North and longitude 120 degrees West. We aim to cross the equator between 120 and 125 degrees West, depending on the width of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ aka the doldrums) and squall locations within that area. Once we’ve made it through the ITCZ, we’ll pick up the southern trade winds and point straight to the Marquesas.

Next Stop: Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia!