Sailust

It took two days to sail from Los Cabos to Mazatlan. The wind was coming from the South and it was a nice beam reach almost due East. It was just the three of us: Gary, Larry and me. I thought it would be more taxing with less crew, but it wasn’t a problem. The wind came and the wind went. I can’t really keep track of what it does anymore. If it’s too slow for too long and we lose our patience, we motor a bit, but not too much.

From farther than 36 miles we could see a strobe light flashing on the horizon that marked Mazatlan. It was the quickest flashing frequency I’d seen. It gave me a seizure looking at it for too long. We finally made our way into the harbor at 2am. Gary checked in with the Port Captain via VHF. The free anchrorage is just on the inside of harbor, right by the breakwater. Anchoring wasn’t a problem the first night but the evening of our second night, we started to drag and boat next to us started hollaring. The anchorage wasn’t luxurious by any means. We were in the industrial part of Mazatlan, which is its own city, aside from tourism. On land the next day I could smell the stench of a nearby sewage plant. There are nicer options in the area, but they cost money.

Gary and I went to town to get some supplies and to use the Internet. We were meeting a new crew member, too. Gary wanted to stop by the port capitan’s office and check-in in person, which we did, but found out it wasn’t necessary. Radio was sufficient. We found an internet cafe where I fed my Facebook, Gmail and blog addiction. It’s good motivation knowing that there are a few people out there reading this thing.

Lynne, the new crew member called us while we were in the cafe. We arranged to meet her at the port capitan’s office in an hour. She offered to drive us to a grocery store with her car. Navigating by sense, we got lost on the way to port captain’s office. For a while I forgot where we were going and was making my way back to the boat. We were late, but it was no problem because Lynne was exactly as late. It doesn’t matter much if you’re late in Mexico. I lost track of the time when I left San Diego and I haven’t figured it out since; all these time zones and daylight savings.

We wound up shopping at Wal Mart, which is just like the Wal Marts in the States, except this one was a grocery store in addition to an everything-else store. Already Mexican Christmas tunes were playing on the speakers overhead and fake plastic Christmas trees were on display as you entered through the automatic sliding doors.

Lynne drove us back to the boat, then had to drive her car back home. She would take a bus in the morning and we’d head off.

In the morning, we had to leave abruptly because, after dragging, we had anchored in another boat’s spot. We used this opprotunity to leave the fuel dock and fuel up, a process, like any other in Mexico, that seems to take all day. Lynne ended up just meeting us at the fuel dock.

It took us about 3 days to get to Manzanillio. The wind came and went as usual. I’m happy when it blows, bored and restless when it doesn’t. I reeled in a 3lb dorado. It was barely big enough to cook. I had something bigger on the line before but it got away.

I’m at a fancy hotel with a marina called Las Hadas, but we’re, of course, anchored. We can use the pool and facilities as long as we patronize the hotel. As usual when we stop, I was all too anxious to get off the boat. Since it was a nice clean beach instead of an industrial cespool, I packed my clothes, wallet and phone in my dry bag and swam to shore. I found a wifi spot and I posted up with iphone.

Next stop: Zihuatanejo.