Friday, 14 February 2014 – After adding fuel to our tanks in La Cruz we left the fuel dock at 10:50 a.m. and set sail for the Bay of Chamela, about 115 nautical miles south of the marina. Diesel fuel at the Marinas in Mexico is not as cheap as you would expect for a major oil producing country and a gallon costs about $4.36.

At 12:20 the wind came up and we put up sail for a couple of hours. The Banderas Bay is large, and it was 25 miles before we reached Cabo Corrientes. While crossing the bay we passed groups of boats with tourist’s whale watching. The bay is very deep being an ancient caldera and many Whales use it as a birthing area. By 3:00 p.m. we were back to motoring and by 5:00 pm. we were closing with Cape Corrientes. Sailing directions suggest passing it during the early hours of the morning when the seas are at their quietest.

Just after 6:00 p.m. we had covered 37 miles and had cleared the Cape under ideal conditions.  We set our course keeping us about seven miles offshore. We started our three-hour structured watches and when Anita came on watch at midnight, we had covered just over 65 Nautical Miles.