Moving South Again - January/February 2009

Mazatlan

Ah, Mazatlan. From Maricha bands to Salsa dancing to the Venador baseball games, we enjoyed this interesting, diverse city. An enormous wealthly area called El Cid (land El Cid Resorts owned) had stunning white, huge mansions which we saw on a Christmas light tour by car and later by dinghy (sipping Sangria and tasting marlin).

The mansions at home pale in comparison as ours are small and less opulent. Of course, we don’t have armed guards out side our homes either! We got beyond tacos and enchelladas and had tasty pork, lamb and shrimp. The beef, well, we got frozen (from Alberta) from a meat “import” shop. Well rested, we were anxious to cruise again.

Events along the Way

Sailing to San Blas overnight, we gained extra crew. He first perched on our dinghy on the bow then flew to the stern rail to sit on one of the GPSs. He sat there all evening then at night, tucked his head under his wing and slept all night rocking back and forth on the GPS. He was considerate for he pooped overboard all the time. However, at night, he never took any watches. We think he is a Booby. And yes, the GPS worked through his feet.

A fish. This time a dorado (mahi-mahi) caught on a feathery red and pink lure. What a delious fish, he fed us for several days. We later caught a Torro (Spansh mackrel) that was tasty but not like the dorado!

The whales are mating in Banderas Bay now. And yes, we’ve been watching! Making sounds we hear through the hull, we watch them jumping with tails slapping. One night, two swam among the boats at anchor and hit one boat’s flopper stopper snapping their spinaker pole and bending a stantion.

San Blas

A light sail and motor on an overnight trip brought us to a small shrimp and fishing village (p.3000) that has existed as such for three centuries. Sadly, it once was the main port for produce but politics over the last ten years has moved the main port to the Manzillo area. This village no longer has money to fix its sideroads or homes. Work is limited and people either fish or travel an hour to Tepic (p. 300,000), the capital of Nayerit. As gringos, we were clearly a minority but treated nicely. Mangroves line one side of the town so at dusk, jejeunes (like no-see’ums) abound. Fortunately, we were at anchor in Matuchuen Bay and had few. A good contrast for us to see from Mazatlan, we were beginning to see more of Mexico.

Tepic

Another yachting couple and ourselves rented a taxi for the hour drive to this large, established, clean city. The drive, through tropical trees, was lush after the dry, red-beige land of southern California and yellow-beige of California Sur. Mango, bananna, avocado and lichee (!) plantations were along gentle, green hillsides. We gringos were definitely a minority and caught many staring at us. A tour of the city to old ruins of forts and churches took us also through the poverty outlying this city. A meager existence for these people compared to even the middle class in this city.

On our drive to Tepic, we saw baby crocodiles in the small lagoons. A jungle tour by boat takes you to see their mamas. The highway signs warn you not to swim because of the crocs in the area!

Chacala

A short day sail brought us to a palm tree lined cove with palapa bars on shore and a short cobblestone sandy street lined with some restaurants and several small concrete homes. Several small buildings were rented suites to gringos. No hustle, just a quiet sandy beach with gentle surf, these gringos preferred this to the more established places. We liked it. A rolling anchorage, we used our Flopper-Stopper (hung deep in the water to reduce the roll). It was a pretty, quiet place.

Guadalajara

After attending a talk on rigging held in the La Cruz Yacht Club, Tom followed their advice of washing our rigging in vinegar (removes the salt). He discovered a bump in the wire above the turnbuckle on our port lower shroud. These were the only bits of rigging not replaced in July as the busy rigger felt they were fine. The other lower shrouds were new so we felt fine about these “extra” ones. Well, a wire was broken. So, four new ones were ordered from a PV rigger to be delivered in Mexico time. Hence, the trip by deluxe bus to Guadalajara. Movies (in Spanish), food (sandwichs and drinks), and comfortable seats made for a nice five hour trip to this fascinating, large city. The capital of Jalisco and second largest city in Mexico (after Mexico city), it well deserves its reputation for history. Three large plazas, close to each other, were all surrounded by old, historical buildings representing colonial Spanish architecture, the Revolution, Independence and removal of slavery. We were an oddity as gringos and many would smile or stare at us. A very few, who knew English, would stop us in the streets (not to sell us something!) but wanting to know where we were from. They liked us! Mexican, Spanish and Cuban music was everywhere in plazas, street corners and of course, bars. We shopped in Tlaquepue, a suburb of Guadalajara, which is known for its high end shopping. Wealthy Mexicans and Columbians were strolling the shops and checking out furniture, pottery, paintings, leather and clothes. No tacky tourist fare here but the Rodeo Drive of Mexico.