Sleep Deprivation, Diarrhea and Delirium: From La Cruz to Mazatlan

With the new autopilot dialed in and working well after the sea trial, an acceptable weather window and Carol scheduled to arrive in Mazatlán, it was time to say goodbye to La Cruz and make my way north.  I had planned stops in Chacala, San Blas and Isla Isabel.  The passage from Isla Isabel to Mazatlán was 93 miles or about 18 hours, which meant leaving before midnight to insure arriving outside the hazardous approach to Mazatlán Harbor in daylight.  However, the anchorages at Isla Isabel are often unusable, so I knew there was a possibility I would have to continue on to Mazatlán nonstop through the night.  Of course that's what happened.  The consolation prize was seeing a bunch of whales near the island.  What I hadn't planned on was being sick.  It made what would have ordinarily been a tiring and unpleasant passage an exhausting, stressful and miserable one.  But I made it, and only hallucinated once.  I suddenly awoke from one of my 10-minute naps to see the red and green lights and huge bow of a freighter directly in front of me.  In a panic, I turned off the autopilot and cranked the wheel all the way over.  When the freighter's lights didn't move, I knew something was wrong.  I gradually realized I wasn't seeing a freighter, just my own red and green bow light illuminating the pulpit.  Eventually my heart rate returned to normal, but the incident didn't help my already tenuous bowel control.  After a very long night, I arrived outside Mazatlán.  But it was still dark, so I waited outside the entrance dodging ships until there was enough light to find my way behind one of the islands just outside the harbor.  I was too exhausted to try to negotiate the shallow and narrow harbor entrance and get into a slip.  It would be easier to drop anchor in an area that didn't require precision.  After a day of rest, I went into the harbor and got a slip with some help from my buddy Curt.  First thing on the agenda was finding a doctor and lab to see about treating my 'problem.' (Because it didn't respond to the usual antibiotic, which I carry, I knew it would need some lab work and professional assessment.)  Luckily there is a new modern hospital near the marina.  Service was fast, professional and amazingly inexpensive.  I've started taking the four prescribed meds, but it's too soon to tell if they will do the job.  Stay tuned....

Not Harry; just a baby green iguana doing push-ups 

on the malecon in La Cruz

Mexican humor at the La Cruz market

Unintended humor at the La Cruz Shipyard

A send-off dinner at Fonda Coqui

It's tough saying goodbye to friends like these.

Heading out of La Cruz harbor

Evening in Chacala Cove

Chacala Cove

There are a lot of these fishing trawlers (shrimpers?)

along the coast.  They are usually moving slowly,

but their course is often unpredictable and erratic.

They show on radar, but usually no AIS.

The frigate birds find them a moveable feast

Frigates are pretty impressive in flight with a wingspan

over six feet.

After an easy passage from Chacala, 

I made it into the anchorage in the 

estuary in San Blas without incident,

although it was very shallow and I had

to squeeze in between two other boats.

Having spent 10 years in the Sacramento

Delta helped.

When one of the other boats left, I moved a safe distance

from the one remaining and re-anchored.

Nice flat water, and luckily I had no

problems with the infamous 

jejenes (no-see-ums).

Boarders!

 

Sunset from the boat

The San Blas lighthouse from the boat

This poor guy made a mistake and ended up

aground across the channel from me.  He will

be waiting a few days if he expects the tide

to lift him; it was pretty minimal tides for 

the next few days.  He had been anchored in 

Chacala when I was there.  Pretty boat.

In the historic town of San Blas, made 

famous by Longfellow's poem

"The Bells of San Blas."  This is the old

customs house, now a cultural center.

Unfortunately it was closed.

The old church off the town square

Thar she blows!  Whales spotted of Isla Isabel

Since I couldn't anchor safely at Isla Isabel, I had to 

suck it up and prepare for an all-night singlehanded

passage while sick.  While the sunset was beautiful,

it becomes more foreboding as darkness sets in.

With no moonlight, this is about all you see from the

cockpit all night.

Except when you see lights.  Where are they?  How

far away?  Will we clear safely?

Although it was a VERY long night, eventually the

dawn came as I dodged shipping outside Mazatlán.

Sunrises are often beautiful here, but never more so

than after an overnight passage.

Safely anchored behind Isla Venados

The sun setting behind some of the many islands and rocks

outside Mazatlán harbor as seen from behind Isla Venados.

 

The sun rising over Mazatlán the next morning.

Coming into the very narrow harbor entrance 

was nerve-wracking as it shoaled to the point of showing 

no water beneath the keel.  But I made it into a slip 

before 10 am when the dredge would block access.  

It was really nice having Curt and Mary on the dock 

to help out as I pulled in.

It was great to see my dear friend Curt again after several 

months.

First outing was a walk to the nearest hospital.

Clean, modern and with some English-speaking staff.

Within an hour I had seen a doctor, gotten lab tests 

done and results back, and a prescription for  four

meds.  Total bill:  less than $100.  The cost of the

four prescriptions, about $43.  

Now if they will just work!

December 8, 2018

A busy week!  Worked hard to complete the installation of the new Simrad autopilot only to get stumped trying to configure it so it would actually function.  The technician knew what the problem was immediately.  It turns out that contrary to the manual, you can't let it automatically configure settings that usually work because this model is newer and the computer assumes it is the older model.  Once we manually configured the settings, it seemed to work fine.  Hopefully we will do a sea trial and final tuning on Monday.  But, hey, it's Mexico, so quien sabe!
I did manage to squeeze in some fun with friends and get up early enough to capture the best sunrises.

Sunrise from the aft deck (aka, "back porch)

Same view, different day

The converse:  sunset looking the opposite way

Sunset at the beach

Time lapse of the sunset

The marina

Banderas Bay from the La Cruz beach

Sheep grazing on some government waterfront property 

Street Sounds:  If you've got an old pick-up, you've

got a business!

Booty from the weekly market:  local organic coffee,

mangrove flower honey, substantial bread from a

35 year-old Chilean family recipe.  All excellent!

Tod with the owner of the Fonda Coque Restaurant

(he's the guy on the poster).  Excellent food, family 

operated, good prices and amazingly friendly folks.

Off-menu treat: spaghetti mole from his grandmother's

secret recipe.

Went to a dinner concert with Tod and Donna to hear

Cheko Ruiz and his group cover the Gipsy Kings

at the Octopus's Garden.  

But, there's still boatwork!

Installing the rudder angle transmitter for the autopilot

is always challenging because the arm must always move

exactly in parallel with the rudder arm.  It has to be

mounted at the correct angle and the connecting rod

adjusted as needed.  I also had to improvise an extension

to the arm to allow a reasonable mounting position.

Of course I also had to make the mounting bracket.

Here you can see the relationship between the rudder

angle transmitter arm (left) and the rudder arm (right).

The extension of the transmitter arm:  two polyethylene

stirring sticks bolted to the original arm.  Easy, worked 

great and looked great.  Gotta love the small victories!

The new motor and pump.  Not as powerful as the 

old WH, so not as fast turning.  Should use less 

power though.  The sea trial should give a hint about

whether it's fast enough to handle rough water.

In order to connect the rudder angle transmitter and

pump motor to the computer, I had to run cable

through the aft cabin, creating only a slight mess.

This is the main computer, open to show

power, ground and network connections.

Cover in place and mounted on the bulkhead

in a locker.

Interestingly, the autopilot does not have an on/off 

function, so I had to buy and install a 30 amp breaker

switch.  It was a tight squeeze, but I got it done.

The slight mess created in the forward (main) cabin

when routing the network cable for connecting the

electronic compass.

The Simrad autopilot compass resembles the

saucer section of Startrek's Enterprise.

Lawyers.  You have to first figure out how to scroll down

to read the whole thing before you can accept and

actually use the autopilot.

Working!