So much has happened, it's hard to
believe it's only been a week. Made some great new friends during a
relatively short stay at Isla Mazatlan. Met a couple from South
Africa and had a very interesting conversation with them about what
life was like there. The woman grew up on a remote ranch and all her
childhood friends were from the local tribes. As a consequence, she
speaks five languages, three of which are tribal dialects. Also met
a fascinating guy (Peter) who designed and built a variation of the
Spray (Josh Slocum's famous boat). He gave me a tour of Bertie (his
boat) which was also fascinating. It's more of a ship than a
sailboat. He was a shipwright in Sausalito when he built her, and
knew Sterling Hayden and Spike Africa. Later, he was a model builder
for Lucas films. We enjoyed being part of his 70th
birthday celebration at a dock party.
We also finally made it into the
central district of old Mazatlan. Took what looks like an oversized
golf cart (gasoline powered) along the miles-long malecon to get
there. Did the same on the way back and had a gratifying
conversation with the driver (in Spanish) largely about Trump. I got
to use some Spanish profanity finally! We walked around town a bit,
saw a couple of cathedrals, did a little shopping in the central
mercado, and wound up walking through the large flower district.
Came across a great little jazz band apparently performing as a
school fundraiser. Walked all the way to the malecon and a ways
along it, stopping at a restaurant/bar on the sand to enjoy a couple
of enormous margaritas. Made for a happy ride back....
With the weather window opening and Jim
needing to get back home, we prepared for another gruelinng 35
hour/200 mile passage to Puerto Vallarta. We left at first light
Tuesday morning, just barely making it out of the slip without incident.
A spectacular sunrise silouetted the highrises of Mazatlan as we
skirted the off-lying islands. Later in the morning we were able to
get in a few hours of very pleasant sailing before the wind died
completely. The rest of the passage was a motorsail, but the sea was
calm so it was comfortable at least. The late night watches are a
drag, but the sky is amazing. For the first time in my life I
marveled at a planet so bright it's reflection painted an orange
roadway on the water. We saw many seaturtles along the way as well
as three whales and one lone dolphin. No boat problems other than
the tach going wacky, but it cured itself later. We finally made the
entrance to Nuevo Vallarta mid afternoon, but the tide was pretty low
which made getting in more exciting than I would have liked, even
though the swells were relatively small. Surfed through the very
narrow channel at surprising speed. But we made it safely and were
guided in to the slip by marina staff in a panga. The slip is way
in the back, which makes it very quiet and stable, but relatively far
from the many amenities of this 5-star resort, Paradise Village.
Have only just scratched the surface of the local area so far, and
not yet gotten into Puerto Vallarta proper. Even so, it's clearly a
very exciting place to be with lots to do. Although it's very
American, you are clearly in the tropics. Coconuts are floating in
the water, the channels are lined with mangroves, large iguanas are
common, and signs warn of crocodiles. (And the iguanas CAN swim!)
Oh, it's pretty hot, too, even though its the middle of winter!
Look carefully and you will see a mother and baby whale.
Yeeeeehaaaaa!!!!!
It's tight!
