Chacala and Punta de Mita

We pulled out of the estuary of San Blas under sail on January 12th at 13:45 and ran aground on the sandbar but managed to back off. We sailed all but the last 1.5 hours to Chacala (N21°09.773' W105°13.636'), arriving at 17:30. We spotted 3 whales and 1 dolphin along the way!

The next morning, we rode the surf into shore, without getting wet, where we checked out the little village and long sandy beach with lots of palapas. We noticed the contrast of several very fancy houses owned by gringos set throughout the poor village.

Sea Turtle anchored in front of Chacala

Trying to get through the surf in the dinghy back to Sea Turtle ended up getting Jordan completely soaked as he gallantly protected me from the waves! After drying out, we pulled anchor at 11:15 and motored in rolly seas with 2-metre swells, at which point our auto-pilot ceased working. This time, we only spotted 1 whale next to a panga of happy, waving fishermen!

Punta de Mita has 3 ominous rock reef hazards which we were able to spot by the cresting waves over them. We set anchor safely at 17:45 (N20°45.882' W105°31.'246') on January 13th just as the sun was setting. Unfortunately, for the second time, we forgot that a fishing line was trailing from the stern of the boat and once again the line wrapped around the prop. We need to figure out a way to remind us when a line is out!!

As we set anchor...

Punta de Mita is at the entrance of Bahia de Banderas, a bay that is about 30 km wide and runs eastward inland for 25 km. It boasts two 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf courses for the exclusive use of hotel patrons. So much for boaters...