Sailors’ Splash / Banderas Bay Blast

Looking for a good time, sailor? If you’re in the Banderas Bay (Puerto Vallarta ) area, it all starts this Friday, December 11, with Riviera Nayarit’s Sailors’ Splash Welcome for Ha-Ha vets and cruisers of all stripes at the Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz. Starting at 7 p.m. under the big tent near the car entrance to the marina, there will be music, free T-shirts, free beverages and such, welcoming everyone to the area and the new sailing season. It’s so much fun that the Wanderer is flying in from San Francisco that afternoon.

The Splash is followed, after a Saturday lay day, by the three-race, nothing-serious, Ha-Ha-style ‘racing’ of the Banderas Bay Blast. ‘Race’ your ‘home’! The courses are relatively short and easy on the warm, flat waters of Banderas Bay. Sunday’s race is around the cans off La Cruz, to be followed by a short party at the Marina Riviera Nayarit swimming pool area. Tuesday is the ‘race’ up to eight-mile-distant Punta Mita for the annual opening of the Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club. Membership in this exclusive club is limited to those who sail there, but only costs $1 per lifetime. The initiation rite is somewhat painful, however, but nothing good ever came easy.

The last day of the Blast is the Pirates for Pupils Spinnaker Run for Charity from Punta Mita to Paradise Village Marina, where esteemed harbormaster Dick Markie will provide participants with free berthing for the night. It all ends with a fun gathering at the Vallarta YC, adjacent to the Paradise Village Marina. Participants are encouraged to take guests aboard for this race for a $20 donation. The course is a lovely 12-mile spinnaker run. The money is used to buy school supplies for the local schools.

Without even looking at a weather forecast, we predict the daily highs will be 85, the lows 71, and the winds 7 to 17 knots with flat seas. The ocean temps will be in the low 80s. We’re talking total pleasure sailing conditions.