January 11, 2015 - Punta De Mita

The first stop in Banderas Bay mostly known for Puerto Vallarta was Punta de Mita.  Just around the corner and a short 5 hour run from  La Pena for us.  Very calm seas led to a nice leg with no system issues.  We had read to anchor toward the west side of the breakwater basin that panga's and other boats use.  Well, we ended up right in the path between Tres Marietas Islands and the Panga basin so there was quite a bit of panga and sportfisher traffic.  At home, boats at speed would never venture as close to anchored boats as we see down here in Mexico.  Mornings were always calm with no wind and the afternoon brought 15knots with gusts to 20knots.  Makes for not as pleasant dinghy rides but other than the winds, wakes from speeding boats, and some minimal swell, we had a very nice stop.

As we rounded the corner to head into Banderas Bay we had the pleasure of seeing a pod of whales heading out.

A whale pod

This Mom and baby came right by us

A whale tale!

We were able to venture to a restaurant on the beach and check out the town.  Cute town that has grown from a small fishing village to include restaurants and other tourist attractions, like fishing and trips to the Marietas islands.

a night's catch.  The fish are getting bigger!  They were too active so could not stay long.

Kevin's night for dishes...........

Cindy and Kevin, Adagio in the background

A panga coming in with their catch.  The birds know!

We rowed to shore here.  

a view out from the bay

Is this a "Booby" bird?  Not quite the Blue Footed but we are thinking so.  Anyone?

At a restaurant.......

These little birds spent hours flying around and landing on our anchor stabilizer pole lines.  Cute and musical.

Next stop is La Cruz.  We have one concern so we are staying near people.  Steve seems to have come down with Cellulitis again.  His knee is hot to the touch and getting more sore.  We brought antibiotics so started him on Azithromycin.  La Cruz has some doctors, walk-in clinics etc and on Monday we will contact the doctor back in Anacortes at home for their thoughts.  It can potentially be really dangerous if not treated.  He got a minor cut on his knee the other day in the engine room so we will see.

(Note: as of this posting, we called Steve's doctor in Anacortes and they told us that the antibiotic we are using will do nothing, get Cephalaxin.  I called on the VHF channel here for anyone with thoughts on doctor, walk-in clinics, etc and that we know what we need but do not have a prescription for it.  Everyone gringo (American) seems to monitor one VHF channel here to call one another and for a morning "net" with activities, things going on, etc.  Two boats came back right away with a pharmacy location with a doctor and then another told us that here, you probably do not even need the prescription.  Of course we got there at 3pm and they are closed from 2:30-4:30pm.  We went and had a bite to eat and walked around and then went back in and thank goodness they had the drug for us for only $120 pesos( less than $10us).  He did ask if we had prescription, we said no but he sold it to us with no further questions.  So Steve is hopefully on the mend.  If it's not better in three days we go to the walk-in clinic or hospital.  We think we may have caught it early since Steve remembers this exact feeling from the last time he had it.  He is laying down, leg elevated with ice on it.  Hoping for a quick recovery here.)