Puerto Vallarta

Finally made it into town with Jim this week. Partly because I was on a quest to find a shaft zinc, a simple, but very important, part. Without it, the propeller will start eroding away and so will the thru-hulls. (Without a zinc, the boat could zinc.) I finally found some, but not where I expected. Had a diver who was working on a neighboring boat install it. When I asked him “How much?” he replied “Whatever you want.” He refused to give me an amount, which I know worked way in his favor. I was so grateful to have gotten the zinc installed before what little was left of it fell off, that I gave him the equivalent of $25, which blew him away. Only other maintenance issues are a steaming light that is out and a broken handle on the Y valve for the head outflow. Neither a big deal. That's it for the boring technical stuff!

The travelogue is told in the photos, but a little background first. When I talk about Puerto Vallarta, I include four areas:

• Paradise Village, which is the hotel/vacation rental complex associated with the marina. It is in Nuevo Vallarta. Lots of geriatric vacationers. Much English spoken.
• Nuevo Vallarta, which is north of Puerto Vallarta proper and across a river in the state of Nayarit. Technically, it should be in a different time zone too, but for convenience it uses the same one as Puerto Vallarta. It is full of beautiful newer retirement communities, condominiums, country clubs and upscale hotels. An enclave primarily for wealthy American retirees.
• Puerto Vallarta's newer section, which is between the old city and Nuevo Vallarta. It, and all of Puerto Vallarta proper, is in the state of Jalisco. This area is full of huge upscale waterfront hotels, malls, upscale stores and things like Walmart and Home Depot.
• El Centro, which is the old part of the city and the malecon area. South of the newer section, it retains cobblestone pavement in the streets and looks like Mexico rather than the U.S. I haven't gotten much away from the tourist areas around the lengthy malecon yet, but even they are charming.

Jim flew home this week, so I'm singlehanding again for a while....

Some guys hanging around on the malecon