In 2015 we took an 8-month leave from The Fox after we'd stripped the stern of all gear, to prepare for the installation of a new stern arch. Call it "an extended hurricane-season boat-prep." We wanted the stage set for whenever Rick and his boys scheduled time to do the work. Over there on the…
After 13 years of owning The Fox and 12 years living aboard and cruising, it occurred to us that we could improve our tropical sailing experience by having a stainless steel arch installed on the stern, to support a couple of solar panels, a more stable cockpit shade cover, and whatever else we could dream…
February and March, 2015: the days were just PACKED. Our good friends G&J treated us like royalty. They had lived aboard in Mazatlan for over 10 years and had spent many of those years writing and distributing "Cap'n George's Cruiser's Guide to Mazatlan." They knew all the best places and very generously drove us around…
February 23, 2015: calm water. Heavy haze. Land and sea breezes at the usual times under 10 knots raised no more than a light chop. GB empties our jerry cans into The Fox's main tank – looks like another motoring trip. Raised anchor at 0740. We passed by several humpback whales grazing slowly, but shrimpers…
I would say that as long as the weather and sea conditions are calm-to-very-light, the anchorage at Punta de Mita is less rolly than Tenacatita. It would seem, then, that if winds are northerly a forecast of less than 5 knots would be a good opportunity to visit Punta de Mita, Jaltemba, and other open…
Rounding Cabo Corrientes can be challenging no matter which direction your boat is traveling. The (very) general rule is to round this cape in the early morning hours when the winds and seas are often at their lightest. We used this approach and intended to round Cabo Corrientes at or before sunrise. However, just a…
Once again, our clever plan to slow down our travel and actually spend time in one place, got thwarted by the weather forecast. We had one that called for good weather during the next 36 hours to either travel northbound, or stay in place at Tenacatita. The Tenacatita anchorage is large enough with good holding…
On February 19, 2015, we maneuvered out of that nice slip at Marina Puerto de Navidad and rounded the corner into the very first part of the entrance to the Barra Lagoon, where the fuel dock was located. It is a deceptive turn with a long, shallow sand bar located exactly where no one wants…
I don't like rolly anchorages. They make the olive jump out of my lunch. Great minds think alike – and bad ones seldom differ – so it was no surprise that on the morning of February 15, 2015, all but 3 of the other cruising boats in Santiago Bay raised anchor within minutes of The…
So much for our genius plan to hang around Zihuatanejo for a few days. On the morning of February 12, 2015, I pulled a weather forecast off of the SSB via Saildocs that called for increasingly sporty weather in our area some time within the next 36-48 hours. Since it takes about that long to…