December 14-20, 2013
Chacala was magical. Maybe it was the stark contrast of the lush, green, tropical, anchorage compared to what we had grown accustomed to on the Baja Peninsula, but all I can say is that it was jaw dropping dramatic. Or maybe it was that we hadn’t been in surf for so long and the boys were able to spend hours each day boogie boarding and even learning to surf. Or maybe it was the wonderful beach that just beckoned you to relax all day and ignore all of your boat chores. Or maybe it was the great friends we were with enjoying nice meals ashore. Or maybe all of those things…
Logbook – December 14, 2013 (Matanchen Bay to Chacala)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1135 Depart
- 1221 P engine off. Genoa + SB engine
- 1306 Start watermaker 3 hours
- 1541 P engine on
- 1630 Arrive Chacala
Daily Notes
- Happy Birthday Andrew!!
- Stern anchor for the first time
- Amazing whales en route – slapping tail and breaching
- 2 sierras – B gave one to Joel
- Sleepover & a movie on Exodus
Logbook – December 15, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
- Beach day! Beautiful Chacala beach lunch (camarones) at a palapa.
- Boys boogie boarded for hours
- Dinner/snack at “Vino Bar” with disappointing vino
Email to family and friends dated December 15, 2013
Subject: San Blas and Chacala
We stayed 2 nights in San Blas (well, actually Matanchen Bay, which is just south of San Blas) and now we are about 20 miles further south at Chacala. San Blas was a lot of fun. We took a tour in a panga up the Tovaro River where we saw amazing wildlife: birds, iguanas, turtles, crocs. We stopped at a Crocodile “zoo” which was really quite depressing, but there was a cage with a couple possums next to a cage with a bobcat and the curious possums and the bobcat who clearly wanted to eat them could have kept the boys entertained all day. There was also a stop at a restaurant with a fresh water pool with a rope swing and I’ll let you guess who had more fun with that, Tim or the boys. We had enough time to take the bus into town and see a little bit of San Blas, but we had to be back off the beach before dusk so we didn’t get eaten alive by the no-see-ums. Chacala is a picture perfect tropical anchorage… we have clearly left Baja and arrived on the mainland. There’s light surf, so we’ll probably try some surfing today. Because the northern point of the bay is not very prominant, the swells wrap around it and come in here without much dampening, so we had to set a stern anchor to keep our bow pointed into the swell, and while it’s pretty bouncy it’s not nearly as bad as if we were taking the swell beam on.
I have a cell signal now, not sure about internet.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
At 12/15/2013 1:45 PM (utc) our position was 21°09.72’N 105°13.65’W
Logbook – December 16, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
- Checked in w/ Port Captain. Discovered our TIP (Temporary Import Permit) has expired
- Boys played in the surf
- Minecraft & rum after dinner w/ LC
Email to family and friends dated December 16, 2013
Subject: Visits
Well, we will be in Banderas Bay within a few days, and after that we will be in the vicinity of the Puerto Vallarta international airport for several weeks. This would be an easy place to fly into if anyone is interested in visiting…
-D.
At 12/15/2013 1:45 PM (utc) our position was 21°09.72’N 105°13.65’W
(Spoiler alert: we will get some visitors…)
Logbook – December 17, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
- Computer day – Tim showed me how to embed photos in my essays w/ html
- Afternoon beach – Steve injured boogie boarding
Logbook – December 18, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
- D/T – hike to the crater. Help w/ directions from Mar de Jade
- Boys – dinner @ Choc Mool w/ Joel and Kyle
- D/T – dinner at Bernard’s w/ LC & TBV. 2 bottles of vino tinto for 3. Vodka tonics w/ LC @ Exodus. Who has the conch?
Logbook – December 19, 2013 (Chacala)
Daily Notes
- Lazy day
- Boys made soft sugar cookies with Kyle
Gresham Family Exodus 
One reply on “Chacala”
[…] Chacala is a picture perfect tropical anchorage… it was clear we had left Baja and had arrived on the mainland. The northern point of the bay is not very prominent so swell bends around and enters the anchorage. So, we got our first experience with setting a stern anchor. The stern anchor is deployed, well, off the stern in order to keep the bow of the boat pointed into the swell, which is the most comfortable way to take it. We were planning on staying only a day or two, but ended up staying 5 days, and we definitely could have stayed longer. There was light surf, and the boys spent hours, literally hours, in the water everyday boogie boarding. At home they could never stay in that long before their lips turned blue and their fingers and toes went numb. Tim and I spent one full day as a beach day where all we did was lounge around on the beach without doing any boat chores or repairs. We also spent one full day as a computer day, and I went crazy after Tim showed me how to embed photos in my essays using html. On one of the radio nets someone told us about a crater at the top of the hill above the anchorage, so Tim and I made our way up there, and the crater itself was only slightly interesting, but the views from up there were amazing. One of our last nights there, we had a wonderful dinner out, just adults, and it was the closest thing to fine dining we’ve experienced since being in Mexico. The wine was flowing and the shrimps were plentiful. […]
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