16th January 2008 Mazatlan at long last…… When we awoke after a very good night’s sleep my first job was to zero the log on the GPS as this was the start of Baja; we had come two thousand and six miles from Playa Coco in Costa Rica with the main objective being to reach this much touted cruising ground We had already been warned that the pristine appeal of this area was already vanishing and we would be getting a last glimpse of “Beautiful Baja” before the Real Estate Developers and Marina Operators move in en mass to “pave paradise and put up a parking lot”. We headed ashore early on a beautiful, clear, crisp morning wearing shorts and T-shirts, expecting the day to warm up gradually; this it did but not enough and we were sure to take jackets the next day! As usual we jumped onto the first bus that came by and let it take us on a cheap tour of the city; in Mexico you can cover a lot of ground for fifty cents. We had a great tour of the city passing through the centre, passed the Central Plaza, the Municipal Market and main street shopping, along the Malecon and through the Golden Zone where the tourist hotels front the beach; finally ending up at the Gigante Supermarket and an Office Max where we got off to do a little shopping and use the Internet. Paula managed to find a “fast” computer to update our Web Page whilst I went trudging about looking at local hardware stores trying to find ‘boat bits’. I couldn’t locate the hose pipe I needed, even in the “Home Depot”, it seems that they don’t carry the same stuff as they do in the U.S. and I was not keen on any inferior hose for internal onboard plumbing. One always has to remember that the thin wall of a hose pipe may be the only thing between you and the sea, failure could result in a major disaster! I did however find an approved service agent who would look at my life-raft and check that it was in good order for our Pacific crossing. Returning to the boat in the late afternoon there was a spectacular sunset where the sky was dripping red all over; of course, as is usually the case, we had no camera with us to catch the moment however it was symbolic as we had arrived in an area known for beautiful sunsets. As for weather predictions, it meant very little as the next day it was set to blow hard with us and even harder out in the Sea of Cortez; we were fast learning to ignore all the weather signs that normally apply and stick to what our local weather guru has to tell us each morning! Time passed quickly in Mazatlan; someone had once told me that if you want to get anything done in Mexico it takes a whole day, no matter how small the task; we now discovered that this was correct. Each shopping expedition to buy provisions took a whole day, an expedition to get some photo slides copied to a CD took a whole day and locating some anodes for the propeller shaft took a whole day; so it went on. There were however some positive aspects, transportation on the local buses was cheap, the people were friendly and helpful and if you had the time and endurance, almost anything could be located. The weather was fairly co-operative, the nights were cold, the mornings distinctly chilly and the days warm enough for shorts and T-shirts ashore. For three dollars a day we had the use of the Club Nautico where they had showers (mainly cold and draughty), toilets (emergency only!) and a safe dock to leave the dinghy. Tap water is not ‘potable’ around here but we could purchase drinking water from the Club for two dollars per five gallon container; they were making a hefty profit on this but I guess we were paying for convenience. Any vegetables that we purchased would all have to be well washed in a special solution as there are many diseases here that lurk to catch the unwary traveller; its not just us doing this, most of the Mexicans are doing it as well! We did enjoy Mazatlan, the city is a little spread out, however the busses cover the ground cheaply enough; the old part is very attractive and the locals were very friendly. We discovered a lovely cake and coffee shop and called almost daily to refresh ourselves after our endeavours around town; they quickly recognised our weaknesses and had the cake trolley on the move as soon as we walked in the door. We tend not to do the ‘restaurant cruise’, I don’t like leaving the boat unattended and frankly I find most restaurant food disappointing, I much prefer Paula’s great cooking within the comforts of our own boat. We do sometimes take lunch ashore and I try to cook at weekends to give Paula a break, it’s not fair to shackle someone to the galley continually so we try to share the workload in all that we do. Before leaving we motored around the breakwater to the south into what is called the Stone Island Anchorage where I went over the side to scrub the hull which was fouling up quite quickly, I was very surprised at how cold the water was, it seems that the warm waters of the Mexican Riviera are so close (only three days sailing to the south) yet the difference is ‘numbing’ to say the least! I got the work done in record time and seeing as this anchorage proved to be rolly we returned to the main harbour for the night so that we could get a good sleep before departing north. Next Stop Baja, Bay of Califonia. John & Paula |
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