Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Hurricanes! Oh My!

The advisory from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that tsunami waves up to 3 meters (10 feet) were possible in some areas along the west coast of Mexico.  It was one a.m,, and I was half asleep, but I had to decide what to do.  The estimated time of arrival in this area was 6 a.m.  Should I try to leave?  Wake my friends?  I decided to wait until 5 am to wake people up, if necessary, pending further developments.  I gathered together important papers, some water and some cash and stuck it all in my backpack in case I had to abandon ship and head for the upper floors of the hotel.  In the next couple of hours, they had some actual measurements of waves from the quake:  1/2 to 1 1/2 feet.  Big difference!  By 4:30 am, I had read over the advisories several times and FINALLY found the note explaining that the times listed for expected tsunami waves were UTC!  That meant that any waves would have already hit here about midnight.  I had slept through both the earthquake and any small tsunami effects here!  Doohh!!  At least I hadn't woken up my friends and made a complete ass of myself!  I just lost a night's sleep.
But I made up for it the next day, and had a pretty good week doing some exploring (from the upper floors of the hotel to the remote village of Yelapa) and handling some of the inevitable boatwork.  The story is in the pictures.
Now all I need to worry about is the four storms offshore....

Last Friday an 8.2 earthquake hit Chiapas, resulting in tsunami

warnings for the Mexican coast.  I learned of it at 1 am, and

checked the advisories and warnings.  In my grogginess, I failed

to notice the times given were UTC, so I thought the "up to 3 meter"

waves would arrive about 6 am.  Not until about 5 am did I realize

my mistake.  I had already slept through both the quake and any small

waves that made it up here from the quake.

Now there are no fewer than 4 storms in the Pacific off Mexico!

Norma is heading toward Cabo.

However, there is a 20-30 percent chance it could bring winds

up to 39 mph to this area.  Max is predicted to head east

(inland) so it shouldn't bring anything up this way.  It's still

too soon to know what might happen with the tropical

depression further off shore.

This is a view of the area behind my boat from the 6th floor of the hotel.

The green trees at the bottom are the mangroves right behind me.

Looking over one of the pools across Banderas Bay toward Punta Mita

Looking southwest past the harbor entrance toward Yelapa.

Night comes to the harbor.

Shooting a time lapse video at dusk,

 Dusk 100 times faster than reality.

There were still boat projects to do:

I cleaned out all the food lockers, trashed out-of-date stores and

rearranged things.

I changed out the turnbuckles and T-fittings for the

upper shrouds on both sides.

I was able to borrow a gauge from my friend Denny

to get the shrouds properly tensioned and check the

other wires.

Once the mast was centered and straight, and the

shrouds brought to the right tension, I secured the

new turnbuckles with cotter rings.

With the new stern rails finally done, I was able to start putting

gear back where it belonged and clear off the aft deck. 

There's still more to do, of course.

But there was still time to do some exploring

My friend Tony and I went into Puerto Vallarta to A Place in the Sun

to have brunch, and I traded in some used books for some I hadn't read.

This is on the malecon near the Romantic Zone.

The bridge over the River Cuale.

The river is high and muddy from all the recent rains.

It runs into Banderas Bay at the malecon, causing waves to break

at the mouth and creating a brown patch that extends a couple of miles

into the bay.

For these guys, the swollen river is a food conveyor belt.

As we walked through the back streets, we often saw locals

watching the world go by outside their door.

Sights like this aren't unusual either.  Maybe that's

why in Mexico sometimes things work,

and sometimes they don't.

It's always great to stumble upon interesting street art.

On Wednesday a group of us hired a high-speed panga, captain,

and guide to take us to Yelapa.

 Yeeeehaaaaa!!!!

Tony checks out the bay as we arrive in Yelapa.

The bay is filled with moorings, which have proved

to be untrustworthy for heavy cruising boats.

Many of them are occupied by pangas.

The top of the landing dock in Yelapa

Our group walking up the path to the waterfall.

It's a struggle to make a living in the remote village,

so everyone is selling something.  But all are friendly,

and it's done in good humor.

Oh the stress of living in Yelapa!

Some wall art.

Denny and his wife taking a picture of Bruce and Jeanie

in front of the waterfall.

It is a delightful spot...muy tranquilo.

If you look carefully, you can also find some

small delights.

Yelapa beach

Want to rent a deck chair?

Franny's restaurant, where we ate lunch and met several

locals selling handmade items.  All claimed to have parents and

grandparents in the village.

This little boy was fascinated by a little piece of string.

There's not much entertainment in a small village wedged

between the jungle and the sea.

After lunch we decided to take a long scenic tour around the bay

on our way back.

Sorry, too much tequila!

About half way back, we came to Los Arcos de Mismaloya.

Near an underwater national park, they are a spectacular

group of islands with caves and tunnels.

Swimming in the tunnels.

I failed to bring a bathing suit, but I had fun anyway.

This "pirate ship" puts on shows for tourists.

This was just outside the restaurant at the Paradise Village Hotel.