Sayulita (NEW featuring guest editor Brett Mays!)

**3/28 UPDATE: scroll to the bottom of this post as I just added nephew Brett May's write up on his time in Sayulita--SO GOOD!!**

Ok, its been a long time since I last updated as we have been throughly enjoying ourselves as we spent almost two weeks visiting with friends and family once we arrived to mainland Mexico following our arrival in San Blas. Following our departure from San Blas on the morning of March 11, we traveled further south to meet up with Jay's sister and family on their vacation, in Sayulita. Perfectly well timed, might I add to our travel schedule! Sayulita is a quaint, surfer beachside mecca just about 40nm south of San Blas. I had previously heard about Sayulita both from friends and for it being largely known as a great surf town, with mellow hippy-esque vibes--completely my kind of place and I had been dying to get my board out to play in the waves. While San Blas is also know for an incredibly long right, after our my jejenees run in, I wasn't too keen on staying longer and battling the bugs to find the beach, let alone allow another buffet free-for-all. More importantly, we were really excited to meet up with family and spend some time with them! While there is no marked anchorage, per say in Sayulita, we figured with the large bay showing on the map near Sayuita Beach and right in front of the house our family had rented, we figured we would give it a shot and see if possible to drop anchor. I mean, how cool to be able to sail right up to the beach where they were staying, drop anchor and dinghy right on in to their front steps!? Worst case, we could go just around the corner to Punta de Mita, where there is a large anchorage just off where the Four Season and Jack Nicklaus golf course sits on the point. (I'll get to our time there too in a later post!)

As I just shared, Jan and John (Jay's sister and brother-in-law) rented this absolutely KILLER house, right ON Sayulita Beach....steps away from the surf and all the ongoings at the main beach in town and just a short walk away from the town center. The pictures above were taken from their deck -- hands down the best spot on the beach, right? Anchorage wasn't the best at Sayulita Beach, but it was doable and like I said, simply killer to be able to anchor right out in front of their house. Jan and John were incredibly kind and insisted we stay with them, which after the first really rolly night, we took them up on their offer and slept in a real live bed for the remainder of our time with them (plus way more fun being all together) Don't get me wrong, sleeping on BOAT is by far the best sleep ever! Our bed is super comfortable, complete with a Memoryfoam mattress that you just sink into and are rocked to sleep by the movement of the waves. However, we both really appreciated sleeping in a "land bed" and having the 5 star hotel quality full-sized bathroom. Biggest complaint about BOAT is the bathrooms...but another post, another time! Such a great reunion with "most" of the May family, niece Amanda, Amanda's boyfriend and nephews, Brett and Bradley (Justin arriving just a few days later...Sean sadly didn't make this trip as he was busy at school in ID and spring breaks not aligning-bummer :( Additionally, Jay's Dad lives just a short bus ride away in Puerto Vallerta, so he also came up for the day. So after arriving in the late afternoon, getting BOAT settled in a quite rolly but perfect spot just outside the surf break in front of their house, we dinghied to shore and were greeted by everyone, hugs all around and excitement at getting to spend the next few days together. We spent four glorious days with The Mays. We surfed, played in the waves, lazed on the beach, chit chatted while sipping homemade pina coladas and spent a day exploring this cute town (despite a few hiccups of A. everyone getting sick, dropping like flies night two. UGH! How Jay and I didn't get sick is a miracle and still beyond me?! and then B. poor, but a total trooper Brett hurting himself pretty badly, complete with a really exciting trip to a local hospital and later a Skype exam from a family friend doctor hoping to reassess the not entirely promising, nor the most accurate injury evaluation at said local hospital. Modern technology seriously rocks! However, despite these crappy set-backs, The Mays bounced back and we all had a great time together! And we had the added bonus of meeting some of friends of Jan and John who also were vacationing in Sayulita that same week. All absolutely lovely people whom we really enjoyed meeting and getting to know! (Jan/John, if you are reading this, since leaving you guys every couple we have ran into further south when we shared we were in Sayulita, first question, hands downs has been, "Oh, did you guys get sick?!" AH!! I guess its thing there? I'm calling it the "Mexican 24 hour Weight Loss Program for Gringos"--Complimentary on your first night stay in Sayulita!) Anyway....! Here are more pictures of this lovely little town and our time spent:

I am almost thankful I was too interested in spending time with everyone and not really into shopping as I would probably have bought entirely too many things. As it was, I managed to only buy three adorable beach blankets, which was probably the ONE thing we absolutely didn't need for the boat (Rivaling food, bathing suits, and spare parts for the BOAT, blankets are also WELL stocked on BOAT) But you can't pass up adorable Mexican blankets for $20/each!

We saw these guys almost every night in town, I think there are a few different groups of entertainers. Some like the above video, another night there was a guy on stilts, all have crazy get-ups and circus slash Halloween like makeup on. Apparently one night, the street entertainers were doing their thing, amazing the gringos with their fire ring tossing skills. I think it might have been the same guy in this video. Well, he took a small misstep in his "routine" and dropped the ring, which then ROLLED TOWARDS THE CROWD OF ONLOOKERS WHILE STILL ON FIRE?! Thankfully no one was hurt at all, but can you imagine?! Im guessing they probably don't have liability insurance....and which is why the performer ran off and called it a night after that mishap. Taking this story to heart, we were careful to not sit "first row" at any of the restaurant we ate at. Day four of our visit and time in Sayulita, Jay took all the guys out for a sail and to go fishing, hoping to catch dinner for the evening. Sadly, it was not to be and no fish wanted to offer up themselves as delicious dinner, ah well! This same day, one of my best friends (we've known each other since 6th grade and one of my go-to travel buddies) was arriving to Sayulita and then traveling on with us to Puerto Vallerta. The bus systems in Mexico are super cheap and efficient ways to get around, so Jenn had flown into PV and then taken a hour bus ride north to us in Sayulita. (Jenn, I am VERY proud of you for heeding my advice and packing lightly with condition appropriate luggage this time) After she arrived later that afternoon, we got her settled onto BOAT, which THANKFULLY the seas had calmed over the past few days, making for a much smoother night sleep on BOAT. I would love to lie and say we had a wild night out on the town after her arrival, drinking too many marguerites, eating too many street tacos, dancing with the fire dancers and waking up with face tattoos and a lion in our bathroom with Jay missing, but well, Jenn traveled from the east coast and had been up since 4am, and Jay and I are on the AARP bedtime schedule. So, we had a nice early night out and back to the boat well before a brag worthy bedtime and no crazy antics stories to retell. Aaaandd, to keep literary interest here, let's just go with the previously fabricated story as what transpired that night, ok? Last picture taken of the night:

(just kidding this was from my cousins wedding in 2016, but complements the story quite well, making it somewhat believable) Anyway, the next morning, after we found Jay asleep on a rooftop in the next town over and returned the lion to Mike Tyson, we dinghied back to the house to say our goodbyes and set off further south to Punta de Mita as our next anchorage AND with our new crew member Jenn! --

3/28 UPDATE: GUEST EDITOR - BRETT MAYS

Experiencing Sayulita, Mexico

Mexico didn't go exactly as planned…in a good way and in a bad way. What I mean by that is you never know how things will turn out. Our trip started out fabulously, we got off the plane and drove just a few minutes to my grandpa's apartment in beautiful Puerta Vallarta. We ate, visited for a sufficient amount of time before our driver whisked us back to the airport to pick up Amanda's boyfriend. Amanda's boyfriend's name is Ryan and he is a super energetic, funny and easy going type of guy. Once we arrived at our beach house, Casa Playa, we were all astonished that we were staying in in such an awesome house right on the sand. To this day I still can't comprehend what we had for a whole week. We went in the ocean for a brisk dip and then had the pleasure to be able to go into our exclusive hot tub that had an extraordinary view. Later that evening we walked just next door to a restaurant on the beach called Don Pedro's. This was our first mistake, well it wasn't really our fault. The food there was alright but when we woke up the next morning that wasn't the case for our stomachs. My mom, dad, Amanda and Ryan got terrible food poisoning. I felt terrible for them but don't worry I also paid a hefty price! Our good friends, the Pettys were staying just up the hill with the Dillons, and the Johansons. Next to them was a family we just met on the trip, the Haddocks.

That morning Byers went scuba diving so Bradley and I hung out with Chloe, Lyle and later on Flynn. That day we further explored the fun packed, interesting town of Sayulita. We walked a few blocks to gelato and examined the street shops. The next day we watched as our Uncle Jay and Courtney sailed right up on the beach on their 41 foot masterpiece. They eventually rode their petite but quick dingy in to shore. It was awesome seeing them again. They told us of fishing tales and what it is like to sail in the crystal blue, smooth water and shred times of when they saw whales as big as their water craft. On Tuesday, Amanda and Ryan were forced to leave by their brutal flight schedule. As for me, I had until Saturday. I went surfing and enjoyed the thrill of riding a wave that almost makes you feel like you're flying. A little while later dad's good friend Kyndel, his wife, and his son Johnny stopped by. They are a wonderful kind crew. Bradley, Lyle, Flynn, Johnny and I went to a beach club just up the beach a little ways. While we were knee boarding I made the executive decision to stop sharing boogie boards and to use "the broken one". A great wave was coming and I ran full speed for it. WHAM! There goes my collar bone, an excruciating pain of which I have never, ever experienced before! It pierced my shoulder like a hot knife. THe lifeguards wrapped me up and I was carefully driven to the hospital where they didn't speak english and got the wrong X-ray. What I did get was a shot in my butt. It could have been so much worse though-I could have been the poor, helpless old man that had a priest reading a bible with his solemn family surrounding him. The next day I got to know Netflix and Apple TV real well. On Thursday we were given the treat of having the opportunity to go on Uncle Jay's boat. My dad, me, and Bradley were to go sailing and fishing. Justin just got in from the airport so he clung along also. Getting me to the boat was another challenge because if we hit waves it would really hurt my shoulder but uncle Jay made it look like he had done it a million times. On Friday, we went on a hike, most people were received by then. On Saturday we went and got delicious extraordinary strawberry waffles. We took a calm drive to the airport and had 2 flights that couldn't have been smoother.

All in all, Mexico was an experience of which I will not forget in the coming years of my adolescence.

-Brett Mays, March 2018 --

Last Passage Distance: 40nm (San Blas to Sayulito) Cumulative Distance to Date: 1,535.8nm Days since last donating to Posideon: 8...glory!! With more land time than sea time this past week, I didn't have nearly as many opportunities to make any deposits. Items donated: n/a

#Sayulita #surf #beach #streettacos #iguana #mexico