S/V INTREPID II - Cape Dory Intrepid 40

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Intrepid II is a Cape Dory Intrepid 40 sailboat, hull #2, designed by Chuck Paine and discovered by the Captain in Blue Hill Maine in 2006. The crew are Kelly (Captain) and Carol (Admiral and Blogger). In 2009 INTREPID II embarked on her West Coast journey from Victoria to San Francisco, the Baja Sur Peninsula and into the Sea of Cortez. In 2010/2011, we sailed from Guaymas, south to Bahia Banderas and back. In 2011/2012 we left Guaymas, headed south to La Paz, spent three weeks at anchor on our northward journey and rested on the hard in San Carlos. Her 4th, 5th and 6th seasons were Boat Projects related. Season 7 - an incredible amount of boat work - but no cruising. Season 8 - Tropical Storm Sergio toppled Intrepid II in San Carlos dry storage. A disappointing season of serious and costly repairs. Season 9 - continuing those repairs and still hopeful for cruising. 2024 - well cruising plans certainly have been dashed the past few seasons!

February 12, 2011

Sailing to Banderas Bay and La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

A quick note to advise we are now in Marina Riviera Nayarit in the town of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle as of Friday evening.  We plan to stay here until next week, with INTREPID II secure at the dock while we explore and meet with friends.  You can see that this is a very large marina with over 300 slips of varying size, a restaurant, showers, fuel dock and more.
Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz 
Last Monday morning we untied our dock lines and departed from San Blas, successfully following our way-points back out over the bar at high tide and motoring south to Matanchen Bay, all of 4 nautical miles.  This is a lovely spot, wide beaches with palapa restaurants where the locals go to enjoy the sun and waves.  We stayed anchored for two peaceful nights, then headed south to Chacala, a 4 hour trip into a picturesque, but rolly anchorage.

Friday morning (February 11th) we brought in the flopper-stopper, the stern anchor and the main anchor and headed south again towards Punta de Mita (36 nm) and La Cruz, a further 9 nm.  A call to the marina confirmed there was room for INTREPID II at Marina Riveria Nayarit, so we chose to head there rather than attempt the anchorage.  Recently this part of Banderas Bay switched to Central Standard Time to be the same as Puerto Vallarta, so we arrived at 17:00 (5 pm) rather than 16:00, losing an hour en route. Friends met us at the dock and saw us settled in.  We've done some exploring of La Cruz village itself  and sampled some of the restaurants.  Soon we hope to connect with long-time friends from Edmonton who are staying in a nearby town.

A special 'fair winds' message to Sea Turtle IV.  So pleased we saw you for a short time Friday evening before you headed out from La Cruz.  We'll watch for your blog updates and be thinking of you on your journey.  [Pictures and more details about the earlier anchorages should follow in the next few days.]
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