Somewhat reluctantly, I left Barra de
Navidad this week and headed back up to Paradise Village in Nuevo
Vallarta. It was a bit easier to reverse an earlier path and revisit
places I had already been. I timed my passages well and had an easy
time of it: 12 miles to Tenacatita, 30 to Chamela, 50 to Ipala, 50
to Punta Mita, 12 to La Cruz and 6 to Paradise Village. As you will
see in the photos, it got pretty windy in La Cruz anchorage, but
there were no problems other than having to stay onboard to keep an
eye on things. I'm happy with the slip they gave me in Paradise
Village. It's well protected in a channel behind large buildings
with mangroves across the channel. The docks have obviously just
been refurbished, too. It's also convenient, directly behind the
little mall.
The approach of hurricane season and
the ending of the cruising season has brought about some real
changes. People are leaving either to sit out the season in a safe
hurricane hole, head further south out of the hurricane zone, head
across the Pacific, haul out their boat and/or leave the boat in a
safe harbor and fly back to their land homes. It's definitely going
to be different with fewer cruisers here.
Thankfully there have been few new
technical or maintenance issues. Some friends recently told me they
weren't seeing my AIS signal, so I'll need to troubleshoot that one
soon. The big breakthrough was I think I have solved a mystery that
has been driving me nuts for a long time. Whenever the boat is
heeling or rocking in the waves, there is a disconcerting groaning
sound emanating from a place that seems impossible to localize. If I
were in a lightweight fin-keeler, I would be worried about the keel
working. I've checked Circadian's semi-full keel and it's fine.
Finally traced the noise to what sounds like a baffle in the water
tank moving around and rubbing. Haven't opened up the tank yet to
confirm it, but I'm pretty sure that's it. The repair will be a good
summer project.
