Well, welcome to the only other island out here that you’ve probably ever actually heard of! Just because, again, we know that you’re wondering, Bora Bora is right here:
Did you know that long before Bora Bora was known as the honeymoon capital of the world its first role in the international community was to serve as Battle Fortress: South Pacific?!? Totally serious here! Due to Bora Bora’s strategic position half way between the Americas and Australia and its uniquely defensible geography, the island was chosen by the United States to be a resupply base during WW II. What do we mean by “uniquely defensible geography”? Simple, look: Continue reading “Battle Fortress: South Pacific”
Oh you want the zoomed out picture? Being as on that Google map we showed you before the scale was 1 pixel = somewhere around 500 miles or something, I don’t think it would change very much. We’re still in the middle of the blue stuff. 😉
With about 2400 permanent inhabitants (this is a HUGE number by the way, we haven’t seen cities so populous since Nuku Hiva) being only a paltry 220 miles from Tahiti (laughable distance really) and with an airport with actual daily flights (*gasp!*) Rangiroa is the de facto capital of the Tuamotu. Its coral reef is made up of 415 motu (islands) and it has only 2 passes in or out. This is where our story begins:
We had gotten a little cocky about the whole “sailing though a dangerous coral reef” thing but don’t you worry, Rangiroa was kind enough to re-humble us. Her lagoon is big: about 50 miles long and 20 miles wide. This atoll actually has its own horizon and generates its own localized micro weather patterns. Land’s still about 300 yards across though, so no help there. 50 miles long, 20 miles wide and a lagoon about 100 feet deep. That’s a lot of water and there are only two skinny little passes (say about 100 yards across) in or out. Perhaps you can see where we’re going here.
Rangiroa has a tidal current.
Those weren’t jumping fish; they were 5 foot long dolphins surfing in the standing waves. Rangiroa is famous for them. Also, some genius French entrepreneur (they did invent the word, after all) built a channel-side bar with an observation deck to watch the struggling boats…it’s like the nautical version of celebrity death match with dolphin cheerleaders & umbrella drinks!
A 6 – 7 knot tidal current shifts back and forth throughout the day, creating 5 foot standing waves in addition to the coral on both sides of the channel just waiting to snack on your fiberglass hull. If you don’t know anything about tides and currents, let us give you a visual. We watched one boat who thought that the reports of the rip tide were exaggerated and decided to just push though. For a full hour we watched this cruising boat, at all ahead full, pedal to the metal, going though gas like a drunken sailor though vodka, transit this 300 yard long pass. 300 yards! At sea – calm. In the lagoon – calm. In the pass, one little boat struggled to get in while 2.09×1013 gallons of water wanted to get out…all at once. Oh yes, we just broke out the scientific numbering system. The same system they use to measure the distance to other galaxies. Do we have your attention?
“Oh but that isn’t so bad”, you say. “Just go in while the current is pushing you into the lagoon.” Bad idea for two reasons:
1) For the non-sailors out there, the way a rudder works is that it’s a board sticking out of the bottom of your boat that turns you by pushing against the water. Turn the rudder, the water flowing past it hits it at an angle, which pushes the board and the boat attached to it, in a new direction. If water isn’t flowing past the rudder, the boat won’t turn. When a boat is in a following current (aka being pushed) in a narrow channel where the speed of the water is equal to the speed of the boat, then no water is flowing over the rudder and your half million dollar floating condo just became the world’s biggest pinball.
2) You know that desert island with the one palm tree that people get shipwrecked on in the movies? Found it. It’s at the end of the fast flowing channel of Rangiroa, right there in the smack dab middle of where all the really fast water lets out.
It’s cute, when the current isn’t pushing you right into it – then it’s scary!
As I said, Tiffany and I spent a lot of time working on the docks in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle and Paradise Village in Puerto Vallarta getting involved in the local cruising community and looking for ships looking for crew. The La Cruz marina was an interesting place to be. First off, the marina was still undergoing construction so that meant we had some unusual ships to maneuver around while sailing.
They also had a major boat show while we were there that the president of Mexico attended. I didn’t get any footage of the “El Presidente” mostly because I also didn’t get any pictures of the military snipers hanging out on the rooftops of all the buildings or the multiple hummers that drove around pointing their .50 cal machine guns at my head for no apparent reason. Let’s simply leave it at I didn’t want to give them any additional motivation to point their high powered weapons at me for longer than they already were. I did get some footage of how the Mexican government throws a party:
The weather over the months we were there was unusual, to put it mildly. Hurricane force winds, “weather bombs” (what the heck is that supposed to even mean!?) hot rain, freezing sunny days, tornados ripping through the bay…it keeps you on your toes.
Aside from when the weather was trying to kill by ripping your ship apart it was actually quite pleasant.
So like I said, La Cruz was the first place where Tiffany and I got to really spend some time, meet some people and just live a little bit outside the US, which was a major goal of this trip in the first place. My previous assessment of La Cruz as a town in transition from small village to tourist mecca was pretty accurate and I’m really glad I got here and got to know people before the transition was complete. La Cruz is still the kind of place where, as long as you engage people, you will find your name remembered, your favorite dinner served to you a few minutes after you sit down and bar tenders who remember your favorite drink. There is a strong, close knit, gringo community that comprises the owners of the bars, some musicians and a bunch of people with interesting stories. Add to this mix the cruisers we came down the coast with and you can easily see why some people end up “swallowing the hook” here and don’t ever sail out of the Banderas Bay.
Living in La Cruz did present one major challenge for me though:
Now walking on dirt roads in 3rd world countries in your sandals may sound like fun, but by avoiding the dangers of the sidewalk, I opened myself up to a different hazard
Needless to say, after two infections, the local doctor and I were on good terms and I was very grateful that Mexico has massively cheap medications.
Children’s fundraisers, British pubs (with awesome fish and chips), salsa lessons, Irish pubs…a good time with some good people is never very hard to find in La Cruz, Here is what our evenings typically looked like:
As for eating, well, with Mexican pricing on all the food and a ton of variety, we basically ate every meal out. The dining scene was almost as interesting and varied as the nightlife
And for those of you following along my church explorations, I found a very neat Catholic church near Puerto Vallarta that had a very different take on crucifix we typically see at the front of most Catholic Churches.
Seemed like the carving was more focused on the risen Jesus than the crucified Jesus. I liked it, defiantly gave a different feel to the church.
With the help of Mary-Ann on s/v OLD MOON we found another Mexican wine.
For my last entry on Mazatlan, I’ll focus on our transportation options. Yes, I realize that the topic of transportation would not typically be notable. Here it is.
Getting around presents some interesting alternatives. There are a lot of options for taxis but all of them are a little short on the safety department.
You could take the bus but be warned, you aren’t getting anywhere quickly on the Mazatlan bus system.
You’ll be happy to know that we made it to the local English speaking church on time (they have English speaking churches here…it’s a tourist city). The other transportation option is to rent a car; however, be forewarned that mode of transportation comes with its own inherent additional risks in this town thanks to the unique layout of the curbside parking. Gotta wonder what someone was thinking when they planned this out:
How about horses? Horses are safe, reliable, even fun and in Mexico apparently they are bilingual…
Ultimately though, it is the call of the sea that eventually reaches all of us. Well, all of us that sail on boats at least. I found a ride with Jake on s/v MALOOSE on an overnight transit down to San Blas. For those of you who have been keeping up with this blog, you will know of my long standing battle with Tiffany over the existence of the “supposed” green flash. This battle came to head under a beautiful sunset leaving the port.
Naturally, Tiffany was in another country when this happened.
As promised, here is the first entry of the revised blog. You’re going to notice a lot of significant changes.
– Each entry will cover a city, island, series of events or completely subjective period of time that I will use to tell you a more cohesive story all at once instead of single videos posted daily.
– Each entry will contain my notes integrated with videos and pictures as I begin to weave our disjointed adventures into a story, explain and give context to the videos and provide amusing commentary from time to time.
– Our new production schedule will be Mondays and Thursdays. Since the posts are going to have a lot more content, they will often be broken into two parts. I am covering a lot of stuff here!
Please continue to comment on the entries. The only way I know what you want to hear and see is by you telling me what you like and don’t like. Thanks for reading and watching!
Without further adieu, let me welcome you to the Banderas Bay…
…and you thought what Tiffany and I are doing is weird. Welcome to Sayulita, Mexico. Think of it as Santa Cruz, if Santa Cruz ever got to a temperature above completely frigid. To give you and idea of how far south we have managed to get ourselves, we are far enough towards the tropics for Tiffany to consider picking up water sports that are actually IN the water.
(Notice, Greg didn’t put any half naked videos of himself on this blog… No, just of me… ~ Tiffany)
It should be noted that I never saw Tiffany get in the water in the Bay Area…ever. We have sailed down to the Banderas bay, a large bay about half way down Mexico best known for its largest city: Puerto Vallarta. However, to say the Banderas Bay is PV would be like saying the Bay Area is San Francisco. (Ok, it would be like saying that to someone from San Jose, like me.) I spend most of my time well away from the big city and primarily in the outskirt cities of Sayulita and La Cruz. Sayulita is based around surfers and La Cruz is one of two major cruiser towns in the area.
La Cruz was our first real opportunity to stop, catch our breath and actually experience something of what it is like to live in Mexico. Needless to say, a lot goes on around here that has nothing to do with boats, sails, lines or waves. The first thing that struck me was not the difference between the poor and the rich in Mexico, what was so interesting was how very close both worlds exist next to one another.
Upon reflection, I have to say that Mexico is not unique in this particular regard. In my home town there was often no more than a freeway that separated a higher income area from a lower income district. Perhaps the extremes of wealth are more pronounced in Mexico but the theme is the same.
We also lived in the area for a few weeks and started really sampling the local food. This next video amazes me. I mean, I’m sure you’ve heard of and possibly even personally eaten “street tacos” but these people are way ahead of the power curve on the production and distribution of this fine culinary delicacy. I suppose relaxed health code laws can be helpful to some people and really, how often do you see a giant wheel of pork on a spit being roasted on the street? It is a sight that demands both reverence and a little personal introspection.
And where does all this pork and beef and assorted taco stuffing’s come from? Well from what I would like to think of as the “ultimate playing with your food experience”…
…which is naturally located in the dead center of downtown in the main city of the area. You know, right next to freaking Macys!?
I regret to report that my schedule and the bull fights never seemed to match up and know that a seed has been planted, a spark lit in my soul. I can only pray that little spark can meet some opportunity. I might look good in those bullfighter pants.
Continuing with our theme of foods south of the border, I encountered an interesting gastronomical dilemma and found myself shirking from the task. I ask, presented with the same dining opportunity, what would you do?
However, know that Mexico is not just questionable fish products, bullfights, street tacos and guys hiking around the countryside on 4 foot stilts. No my friends, not by a long shot. You see, Mexico has joined the community of nations in embracing the modern era and as always, it is to the little children we all look to bridge the gaps of language and culture that keep our peoples apart.
I do believe “Halo” is most assuredly guaranteed a place in the international lexicon.
Though I know we are feeling quite sad for Tiffany as she is dragged kicking and screaming to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands to be paid to go on vacation for 2 months, I would also like to point out how horrible I have it. I am currently hanging out with our friends Allan & Alison on S/V FLY AWEIGH while they are moored at a private yacht club and resort in Mazatlan, MX. I would also like to point out that there are 4 bars on the resort no farther than 100 yards from each other and all with consecutive happy hours. But the Karaoke is rather painful, so mourn for me 😉 Alison wrote of our adventures in paradise on her blog, check it out at
