We leave La Cruz on April 24th -Easter Sunday- with much grumpiness on my part. Maybe it’s because I really hate leaving, maybe because of yet another cold brewing in my head. But I am definitely grumpy.
The plan at this time is to stop at Bahia Jaltemba, about 38 miles from La Cruz, a short trip of about 6 hours to ease us back into sailing mode after about 6 blissful weeks at the dock. I just KNOW we softened up… We need to get back to our anchoring routine and self-reliance. I’m looking forward to it. We think we’ll stay in Jaltemba a couple of nights, before making an overnight trip straight to Mazatlan.
Mexican Seagull during its Lunch Break
Up for another Run!
We slowly exit Bahia De Banderas and take a right turn off Punta De Mita. Lo and behold, we’re even able to raise the sails and turn the engine off! That cures my blues instantly. Not the runny nose, though.
We spend hours watching the antics of many Mexican Seagulls diving for their lunch and arrive to our destination before we even notice.
Bahia De Jaltemba
Mon Apr 25th
The day starts with an unpleasant problem: our trusted and usually very reliable Spectra water maker has decided to go on strike, giving us nothing but a “system stalled” message… Tom dives under the boat to investigate and clean a possibly clogged thru hull, but as it turns out that’s not the problem. After hours spent troubleshooting and after three phone calls to the techs at Spectra in California, we decide that the best course of action is to return sheepishly to La Cruz and see this problem fixed. The only authorized dealer for Spectra parts in Mexico is in Nuevo Vallarta, so it only makes sense to turn back.
Regardless, we spend another day and night in this cozy bay, staying long enough to become a local attraction. It’s Easter vacation week, and the beaches are packed with local tourists. The Banana boats are running full speed, the dinner cruise boats with live-orchestra make their tours, and all seem to converge very closely around Camelot. There’s a lot of waving, shouted greetings, picture-taking from the tourists.
The Official Banana Boat
A panga comes to visit us and in the usual mixed Spanglish we communicate with our smiling visitors. They want to know where we come from, how long it took us to get here, how many days of travel, how many miles. It turns out everybody thinks we came straight from San Francisco to Jaltemba! We had a fun time explaining our wandering ways to these friendly people. Their faces fell into a frown when they learned that we were going back to Banderas Bay the next day, and they made us promise to stop again on our way back and spend time in the bay they’re so proud of.
Hector the Fisherman, owner of the panga, wants to take us out fishing next time.
Sunset Cruise Boat - Dinner and Dancing!
SAILING CAMELOT 
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