What the Heck?
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Whenever we cover a major event we seem to have interesting leftover factoids and photos that don’t make it into our articles. The curious photo above is a case in point. Yeah, it’s literally a see-through umbrella with a bunch of stuff inside — and also, if you look closely, a human.
That person ‘wore’ this as his costume at last month’s Baja Ha-Ha Kickoff Party. We’ll leave it to you to figure out what he’s supposed to be. But here’s a couple of hints: This ‘thing’ is found in every ocean of the world, and — for those of you who still remember anything about biology — is from the phylum Cnidaria.
Stand By for Blast Off!
The action-packed Banderas Bay Blast, three days of ‘nothing serious’ sailing fun as well as sailor socializing on land, is set for December 2-4. The sponsoring Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club and Vallarta YC need to know who is coming, or else how are they supposed to know how many t-shirts to make?
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The Blast action starts on Wednesday, with a ‘nothing serious race’ from either — take your pick — Punta Mita or Nuevo Vallarta — to La Cruz. Both courses are about seven miles, but it’s a spinnaker run if you start from Punta Mita and close reach if you start from Nuevo Vallarta. Last year everybody got a free slip for the night at the Nayarit Riviera Marina in La Cruz, but we haven’t been able to confirm that for this year yet. At the very least, you’ll be able to anchor out for free. There will be some free beverages provided by the marina at the Sky Bar, followed by the always popular water balloon drop. If you don’t like trying to catch a water balloon from a third story — or at least watching people try to catch water balloons — this might not be your kind of event. All this will be followed by street tacos in La Cruz and live music and dancing at Philo’s that night. Yeah, it’s a big first day.
Thursday will be the upwind, flat water sail to Punta Mita. After all the boats are anchored, the fleet will celebrate the grand annual reopening of the Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club facility at the water’s edge. There will be a beautiful sunset followed by live music. Lifetime memberships will be available to all those who sailed to Punta Mita, accept the carbon fiber paddling by the Yacht & Surf Club Commodore, and can afford the $1 lifetime fee. Shirts are extra, of course.
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Friday will be the 12-mile Pirates for Pupils Spinnaker Run for Charity from Punta Mita to Nuevo Vallarta. This is a fundraiser for various educational and environmental programs around Banderas Bay. The Baja Ha-Ha Class of ’09 has already donated $1,000. Rather than a big shindig on Friday night, everyone will be encouraged to meet up again at the Vallarta YC’s big Chili Cook-Off fundraiser on Saturday afternoon in front of the Vallarta YC facility at Paradise Marina. When people say it’s a gas, they aren’t kidding.
There is no charge for the Banderas Bay Blast, but it is a fundraiser, so please be willing to dip into your wallets for a good cause. If you seriously plan to take part, please email Richard so we can get an idea of how many people to expect and t-shirts to order. Please include your boat name, boat type, full name and hailing port. Last year there were about 30 boats, and it really was a Blast, both on the water and ashore.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
If you don’t have a boat in Mexico, Doña de Mallorca reports that a cancellation on Profigate has left a cabin open for a November 29-December 6 time slot on the 63-ft cat. In the three days prior to the Blast, we might be doing anything from sailing to Yelapa to hike to the jungle waterfall, swim in an infinity pool on the ocean, sail out to the Tres Marietas Islands, take a road trip to Sayulita for dinner, surf or boogie board at Punta Mita — and who knows what else? For info, contact Doña.