Good News for Banderas Bay Blasters

The kind folks at the snazzy Marina Riviera Nayarit in La Cruz have confirmed that they will provide free berthing on the night of Wednesday, December 2, for boats registered for the Banderas Bay Blast, the three-day ‘nothing serious’ regatta on Banderas Bay December 2-4. It’s easy to register — just send your boat name, boat type, your full name and your hailing port to Richard. But don’t delay, because the number of free berths is limited to 30.

Boats that signed up on the first day include Raptor Dance, Maya, Destiny, Interlude, Island Mistress, Charissa, Capricorn Cat, Eupsychia, Profligate and Rotkat. So you can tell this is ‘cruiser racing’. Arjan Bok, owner of Rotkat, said he wasn’t intending to return to his boat so quickly, having already taken off a lot of time to do the Baja Ha-Ha. "But after two days in chilly San Francisco, I changed my mind!"

Yep, it’s warm on Banderas Bay. It’s in the mid to high 80s during the day, high 70s at night, and the water temperature has been over 85 degrees. Skies have been blue, the jungle is verdant green, and the fish are biting. What’s more, the $3.50 tortilla soup at the fancy second-story restaurant at the Marina Riviera Nayarit is delicious, and great street tacos in La Cruz are less than half that. The only bummer is that there hasn’t been much surf.

So if you’re anywhere near Banderas Bay, we encourage you to participate, as the Blast also features the annual reopening of the Punta Mita Yacht & Surf Club — the new shirts are killer — music night at Philo’s, surfing at Punta Mita, and great sailing in eight to 15 knots of wind and flat seas. It’s such a fun combo that Steve May, who did it last year with his Corsair 41 cat Endless Summer, which is back in Northern California, will be taking a break from preparing his boat for the Pacific Puddle Jump to do the Blast with friends.

As we mentioned on Friday, we still have one cabin left for charter on Profligate, for a fun-filled week on Banderas Bay that incorporates all of the Blast. Email Doña de Mallorca for details.