01 October 2011; 2nd day at Sea.

In accordance with our hour forward the sun did indeed not rise until 08.15, which meant that the Dawn only set in just before 8 am. Not that it bothered many, as most of our guests were enjoying a lay in anyway. The weather is holding nicely and that meant, with following wind and seas, that it was going to be a warm day today. The ship was making the same speed as the wind velocity and thus it was nearly wind still on the deck and it was sunny, very sunny. By 11 am. We were coming closer to land and we could see the bare mountains and beaches of the coast of the California Peninsula. As Puerto Vallarta is located on the mainland east of the Peninsula we had to go around the southern tip of it and that gave a chance to do some sightseeing near Cabo San Lucas. The fact that is was at the most convenient time of 13.30 in the afternoon made it even better. No worries about disturbing the lectures or the bingo, most people were having lunch and so could see if from behind the panoramic windows of the Lido restaurant or the Crows nest.

I came to Cabo San Lucas for the first time in 1982 with the old Statendam (IV) then there was only the old town tucked away in the bay, with a flea market, which at that time did indeed sell more than just tourist trinkets. For the rest there was one hotel on the beach facing south towards the Pacific Ocean. Playboy magazine had just declared that Cabo had one of the seven most wonderful beaches in the world. If that was a good thing to announce, I do not know, as shortly after the expansion started with an enormous building boom that has continued into recent times. So when we came around the corner, I saw that the hotels and condo’s had spilled deep into the desert and over the mountain ridge away from the old village itself. The old hotel was gone or had been refurbished and now the place looks more and more like Acapulco.

With “coming around the corner” I mean that we round the Cape at the most western point called Cabo Falso. Named the false cape as it is not really the most southern point of California, that is Cabo San Lucas further East, although there is not much of a difference in latitude South. Still as soon as you are around the Cape the wind and the current fall away so you get a whole new operational environment. For us on the bridge the main thing was that we suddenly lost a knot of free speed, provided by wind and current that pushes us in the back. Unpleasant if you want to conserve as much fuel as possible. As there were not that many sport fishing boats in the way, we could sail quite close to the land and to our utter amazement the beaches were completely deserted. It looks like it that tourism has taken a big hit here as well with the downturn in the economy.

There were no cruise ships calling into San Lucas today so we had the whole area to ourselves and that meant an unobstructed view of the Cape it self with the Archway carved out by the sea through the centuries. If there are cruise ships in there, then the waters around the arch are full of glass bottom and other sightseeing boats. At this point we also lost our little stowaway. Sometime in the last few days a little owl had landed on the ship and was recuperating in the lido area. It is not unusual for birds to do so, especially if it has been stormy weather  and bad weather the Statendam had in abundance during the last week while in Alaska and coming down the coast so a lot of birds used the ship as a shelter in the storm.

I have no idea what sort of owl it was but it was quite happily sitting in the window watching the world go by and when it saw the coast coming closer and closer it hopped into the air and flew ashore. I do not know either if this sort of owl is indigenous to Mexico but if it is not, then we will have introduced a new species to the local Fauna.

Photo courtesy: Hotelmanager Bert van Mackelenbergh

By 2 pm. The ship was heading on a south easterly course directly for the entrance to the Bahia de Banderas at which end the town of Puerto Vallarta is located.  By 0700 tomorrow morning  we will be at the pilot station and docked about 40 minutes later. We are the only ship in, which is not amazing as it is a Sunday and the regular cruise ships are in their Home ports for their turn overs. The weather is holding and it will be a warm and sunny day.

Note; some of you have been asking questions by means of your comments. There is a sort of software hiccup with the blog at the moment in such way that it does not want to go in the answering mode. Some very wise men from IT are looking into it, so please bear with me.