We left Mazatlan this morning and are sailing south to San Blas. It is a beautiful sunny day, a bit cool, with good wind with following seas in the 4-6 ft range. It should take us about 24 hours to get to San Blas. The trick is for us to stay on the edge of the higher winds that offshore for as long as we can, without getting ourselves so far off the coast for when they are ultimately forecast to die down.
Renee's doing the 10:00-14:00, 18:00-21:00, 00:00-03:00 watches.
I'm taking 14:00-18:00, 21:00-00:00 and 03:00-06:00 watches.
We don't expect any drama along the way, maybe some fishing boats to avoid at night, but who knows? There are only a couple of navigational hazards towards the end of the trip, a big rock (lighted) and a shoal that extends from the mouth of a river about 3 miles offshore.
When we get to San Blas we'll decide whether to head into the port or continuing down the coast a few miles to anchor in a small bay. Getting into San Blas requires crossing a bar with shifting shoals, but I believe we can get a panga to guide us in. Renee seems partial to anchoring near the historic town. I'm more inclined to the more remote anchorage, but it might be rolly if the swells are coming from the west as presently forecast. Both locations are infamous for jejenes (no-see-ums). We'll decide after we evaluate sea conditions, but I always give the benefit of the doubt to my crew, especially when there are annoying insects. That way I can always say, "If only we had stayed in the anchorage..." if the bugs are bad in town. Anyway, thank goodness for DEET.
I talked to my daughter Hannah this morning. She's excited about visiting Intermezzo in Puerto Vallarta after New Years with her apartment-mates from NYU and going snorkeling. I am really looking forward to her visit!
