We’ve been spending too much time at the dock and it was time to cast off and get back to cruising. We’ve been called “slipper lobsters” far too long. Where are we heading? We are first stopping at La Cruz to fuel up and anchor for the night and then we are off to meet our friend, Jim, in Chacala. We haven’t seen Jim in over a month and are looking forward to catching up! 
La Cruz was a wonderful pit stop and we spent the day on the boat. We were lucky enough to hear that a whale calf and it’s family were making its way through the anchorage. We hopped on deck and enjoyed the show! The calf was breaching over and over again and it was truly a joy to see. 
The next morning we were off to Chacala. It would be a 7 hour trip that kept us on our toes! We carefully navigated through Punta De Mita and the Tres Marietta’s avoiding the shallow area in the middle. And my favorite quote of the day was “It’s your job to make sure we don’t hit any whales!” The Bay is full of whales this time of year and the last thing we want to do is hit one! We saw so many spouts, backs and tails, it was incredible and incredibly nerve wracking. Realistically we were fine because we had our motor on and the whales would hear and avoid us.
It wasn’t too long before our fishing line struck and the reel started to scream. Brad was occupied down below. I slowed the boat down, yelled at him to hurry and grabbed the reel. The fish was huge and kept jumping out of the water. I squealed with excitement to Brad that he better hurry because I wanted him to see this guy in action. Brad ran up, took over the reel while I steered and controlled the boat. Brad handed me the reel again and I hung on for dear life while the fish jumped and tried to get off the hook. Brad grabbed the gaff and I brought the fish to the side of the boat. It took one try and the fish was on deck! We couldn’t get over the size, beauty and the fact that we actually landed this guy just the two of us. Major high fives were thrown and upcoming meal plans were made!
Mahi fish tacos were on our plates in about 30 minutes and oh so tasty! The next couple of hours flew and before we knew it we were in Chacala. We set our bow anchor and Jim helped us with our stern anchor via the dinghy. We caught up on our boat and headed to shore to check it out. We made it just in time for a stunning sunset. 
Chacala is a small town that actually feels like Mexico. The streets are dirt and cobblestones with small restaurants and markets on either side. In the mornings you wake to the sunlight trickling through the port lights, the sound of crashing waves on shore and the roosters singing cockadoodledoo! It is perfect here!
At night there are tons of fish that enjoy our deck lights, it is quite a site to see!
Sydney’s Perspective: Finally we are at a place that has a beach for me to play and poop on! I even have a new trick, peeing in the water. It makes my humans laugh every time! Oh and my humans caught me a giant fish that I could care less about until they are hand feeding me the scraps. Things are finally looking up, although I do occasionally miss the ice cream. 
We plan on being in Chacala for a few days and heard there is a hiking trail with ancient petroglyphs. We also have plans to move to a new anchorage that is the most visually stunning place I’ve seen so far, and don’t worry, it has a beach for Sydney too.
Cheers to all!