Sunrise on Thursday, December 12 (taken from aboard Kosmos):
Eric changed the engine oil first thing in the morning, before it got hot. He also tightened a hose connection for the engine’s oil drain, where a slight oil leak had developed. Then we took Kosmos over to the fuel dock to top off the fuel tanks.
After returning to our slip, we decided to get lunch at the Iguana’s Garden Sanctuary, as the name piqued our interest. It was located near the port captain’s office. Much to our disappointment, when we arrived at the address, we saw it was a condo complex with no sign of any kind of garden or restaurant.
The closest restaurant was on the waterfront at the north end of the boardwalk that surrounded the protected basin, so we ate there.
Christi ordered a whole deep fried red snapper, which was delicious.
After lunch, we walked back to the boat along the walkway circling the basin. We passed a public dock, tiny chandleries, a seafood market, the port captain, the fuel dock and a boat yard before getting to the marina docks. Here are a couple of shots to give a sense of what it looks like along the basin. The restaurant we ate in, taken from the walkway:
The seafood market to the left, and on the right were a couple small marine chandleries.
Here is the travel lift, and to the right you can see the edge of the fuel dock entrance:
The marina office is at the south end of the basin. It has very nice facilities for the cruisers, including a fantastic bathroom and a sitting area with air conditioning and free-wi-fi. There is also a restaurant upstairs. There are views of Puerto Vallarta from this end of the basin.
Once back at the boat, Eric started the fuel filtration and we did chores until dinner time.
We had dinner at Lusty on Land. It was an open-air restaurant, cheerfully painted with bright colored murals and strings of small lights. There was a big-screen TV that was playing a hockey game until the musician began playing. The music was classic and alternative rock. It appeared to us that all the patrons were American or Canadian ex-pats. The food was typical pub food, although they also had burritos and potatoes stuffed with assorted fillings. We all enjoyed our food. On our way out, we chatted with Karen for a while. It was nice to catch up.
The marina has a free movie night on Thursdays in their amphitheater, which was located at the south end of the basin next to the marina building, so we went to this week’s movie, a French film called “The Taste of Things.”
Friday’s sunrise, taken from the south end of the basin, looking towards Puerto Vallarta:
Friday was another quiet day. We did chores until lunch time, then had lunch at a pizzeria near the marina entrance called “No Name.” It was surprisingly good!
We walked around town a little more, then went back to the boat. Another cruiser family with kids invited us to go swimming at a condo complex they were temporarily staying at. Eric and Keith spent the afternoon at the pool while Christi stayed aboard and worked on a “land life” project (something unrelated to cruising).