Random Comments and a FAQ Response from Mazatlán – January 19 - 25

Greetings from Mazatlán.  It was windy and cold (well, “Mexican-cold”) when we arrived from La Paz and for several days we swaddled ourselves in fleece and made our dining decisions based on whether the restaurant had indoor seating.  But as of last Friday the weather seems to have turned -- we now have hope that we can put the sleeping bags into deep storage without regret.  Today is spectacular – low 80 degrees and sunny, with a kind breeze.  YES – this is what we came for!
Aside from the (generally) good weather and the nice swimming pools at the hotel adjoining the El Cid Marina, we enjoy Mazatlán because it’s a real city.  While here we have had the opportunity to enjoy: 

Classical (aka Dead European Guy) Music:  On Sunday we attended a performance by a local chamber orchestra of two Mozart and two Vivaldi concertos.  Two teenaged soloists from Mexico City (DF) were featured.  The music was very pleasant and the soloists were quite impressive for their ages (16 and 17).  Best of all was that we got a chance to hear the music in the historic Angela Peralta Theater in Viejo Mazatlán.  We sat in one of the tiny nineteenth-century wrought-iron balconies and imagined that instead of looking out at a sea of norteamericano retirees in flowered shirts and sherbet-colored pants outfits, we were peering down on the upper crust of Mazatlán circa 1880 (about the time the theater and Ms. Peralta were both in full swing).  

The View from the 2nd Balcony.

The Camarata.

Museums:  After the concert we visited a little museum above Plazuela Machado – Museo Casa Machado Circa 1846.  The museum is an eclectic collection of furniture, domestic artifacts and old pictures, many of which are much younger than the reported date of 1846, along with a room of costumes and pictures from Mazatlán’s Carnival.  The Mazatlán Carnival is quite famous as carnivals go, and we are very sorry that we seem to always be sailing away before or returning after the week-long party. 

Bryce on the Casa Machado balcony.

 

Casa Machado Balcony.

Carnival Preparations:  We have enjoyed seeing the Carnival preparations – there are huge statues along the malecon and at Plazuela Machado.  We would include the one of Marilyn Monroe but this is a family blog.

Carnival is Coming!

 

                Haute Dining:  We dined at a new restaurant in Old Mazatlán: Lauren’s - quite Euro in design with lots of glass and concrete floors and leather chairs.  There are a few bugs to work out at the restaurant.  Our first waitress didn’t think they had a wine list (?) and couldn’t say whether the chef tended to poco hecho (little done) or tres-quartos (medium well) in cooking steak.  And, because the menu didn’t specifically offer sides for purchase and the majority of the salads included meat, we were surprised when our beautifully presented steaks came with only three potato waffle chips and one spear of asparagus; a carnivore’s dream, and an omnivore’s dilemma.  When we mentioned our surprise at the lack of vegetation to our third waiter (we never figured out what happened to one and two), he said that of course they would have served us vegetables if we had asked for them . . . and I guess we’ll know that for our next visit.  But, the steaks were terrific, so we’ll go back when we’re in town in the spring to see how things have progressed – and remember to ask for some vegetation!

                Yoga:  We’ve reconnected with the yoga leader we enjoyed practicing with last year and have practiced yoga three mornings a week.  Living in a tiny space can really make one appreciate the benefits of yoga!

                Spanish Lessons:  Molly has found a drop-in beginners class, and Bryce has joined a conversation group.  We’re only sorry we are here for such a short time – these exercises could greatly improve our respective Spanish skills.

We also like Mazatlán because we now know several boats that make El Cid Marina their base, and we’ve gotten a chance to catch up with some friends from last season.  AND we have seen Ever Gleam (which we mistakenly thought was Ever Glean).  You may recall that when we last heard from Ever Gleam they had run aground off of Puerto Altata.  It was great to find out that all was well with them.  They were helped off the bar by pangueros and were shown the new way into the estuary leading to the bay (the old way points having become dangerous due to heavy rains).  The crew of Ever Glean had a great time in town and seem to have survived their frightening experience without scars to either Ever Gleam or the crew's psyches!  Importantly, we were able to get information on the new approach to Puerto Altata.  Note that these recent rains have changes approaches to a number of places in the Gulfo!     

* * * *

FAQ:  Doesn’t it make you crazy to be with your spouse 24/7 in such a confined space for such a long time?

As with previous FAQ’s we’ll each answer this separately.  But we do agree on the short answer:  Yes, on occasion, it does!

Molly’s Answer:  A transient lifestyle makes it difficult to form anything other than casual acquaintances.  So one’s spouse is called upon to perform the function of primary (and sometimes sole) social companion as well as all the other roles he or she promised to perform when the original agreement was inked.  By times that’s too much to ask.  For example, Bryce patiently explained just the other day that I didn’t need to read aloud everything I found interesting in the New York Times.  . . .

Add to this burden the effects of living together in a space smaller than the average bedroom.  In self-defense we are working at establishing a sort of personal concentration isolation – being in the same space but not engaging in the same activity, and ignoring the other’s activity.  For example, I am working on being able to wash dishes while Bryce is on the computer – without talking to him.  Likewise I try to ignore what he is saying to his boat bits (they seem to fit better if he coaxes or threatens them) while I’m reading.  There is such a thing as too much interaction.

That said, to date, we have managed not to throw the other overboard, and, for the most part, are enjoying being with each other – even in this tiny space that is Abracadabra.

            Bryce’s Answer:     Just to set the record straight, I normally wash the dishes.  Molly is chief cook; I am chief bottle washer.  But I digress….

I am just thrilled to be with someone who enjoys travelling and sailing.  We are both enjoying this point in our lives (edit: Molly agrees).  I doubt either one of us will want to continue this way of life forever but for now life on a (smallish) boat is good.  One just has to try a little harder not to push those spouse buttons than one does in a larger space.     

I also think men have an easier time adapting to this environment than do women.  The boating community is slightly male heavy, for one thing.  Mexican society tends to become more informal more quickly towards a visiting male than a woman (maybe many cultures??). And I happen to speak more Spanish than Molly.  So, I have the opportunity to interact with more people than she does, which makes me rely on her for social interaction a bit less than she does on me.  So – help us out and write her an e-mail now and then – I’ll enjoy hearing her read them to me!   


* * * * *

Off to La Cruz.  Tomorrow we depart for La Cruz de Huanacaxtle a village on the southern end of Bahia de Banderas (known as the bay on which Puerto Vallarta is located) - a trip of some 170 miles.  We have been joined by our friend and fellow sailor, Jim Thompson. 

The last few days have been spent preparing for the trip, including provisioning and preparing the food for the trip.  Because sanitizing vegetables takes so much water, its something done in bulk before a long trip:

Still Life: Drying Vegetables.

Fruit - Clean and Ready to Eat.

We'll be in touch when we arrive in La Cruz! 

2013 Begins: La Paz to Mazatlán – January 10 - 13

Our 230 mile crossing of the Gulfo de California from La Paz to Mazatlán was a very “full menu” journey.  We experienced calm seas with gentle breezes and 23 knot winds with 6 foot swells.  We motored, then worked at keeping the big genoa full and finally zipped along double reefed.  We saw a whale that saw us too and had a couple of spectacular dolphin sightings.  The nights were both starry and pitch black.  The sea packed a lot into 48 hours!  Alas, we have no pictures of our trip.  Perhaps some well-meaning friends should take up a collection and send one of us to remedial nature photography school?

The Calm. 

We departed Marina Palmira in La Paz at 08.30, motoring into a very tranquil sea.  We motored . . . and motored . . . and etc. down the Canal de San Lorenzo and north of Isla Ceralvo in breezes too light to keep the sails full.  The serrated edges of the Sierra Gigante mountains receded behind us.  To the north the sky was filled with wispy, geometric cloud designs that looked like brushed Chinese calligraphy characters.  We tried to find comfort in (rather than be annoyed by) the sound of our now-faithful diesel engine. 

After lunch we spotted Ever Glean, a pretty little green hulled sloop that had anchored near us in Agua Verde.  We talked briefly by radio, but they were sailing to Puerto Altata some 50 miles north of Mazatlán so we didn’t expect to hear anything further from them on this trip.  [note: foreshadowing!] 

Our first night started out very dark because the moon was new and there were lots of clouds.  It is disconcerting to motor into such darkness.  Even five knots feels fast when you can’t see where you are going – imagine driving in the pitch dark without headlights.  The brightly-lit Baja Ferry passed several miles from us.  A few stars peaked among the clouds near midnight.

Around 01.00 we were finally able to sail in soft, 8-9 knot breezes.  Each of us had a night watch visitation by dolphins swimming through boat-side phosphorescence (greenish sparkles in water created when microscopic critters called dinoflagellates are disturbed by the movement of a boat).  The dolphins rushed by underwater, outlined in the shiny green sparkles.  Bryce called them “x-ray dolphins”.  Abracadabra trailed phosphorescence most of the night, prompting Molly to think of Peter Pan flinging open the shutters and inviting the Darling children to fly away into a starry night.  Since our trip we’ve seen Life of Pi – see it for some great movie phosphorescence! 

On our second morning, the wind began to build and Bryce put one reef in the genoa.  Dawn spread orangishly rather than rising red, due to increasing cloud cover.  The sky was a virtual sampler of cloud designs: bunched up cotton balls; wispy; grey trailing smoke; big billowing – all manner of clouds.  We were out of sight of land.  Abracadabra sailed on in 12 to 13 knots, accompanied by the sound of the filling sails, the swish and gurgle of small swells, and the occasional static of the radio.  It was as if the sea gods were making up for almost 20 hours of motoring!

The Not So Calm. 

In the afternoon the winds reached the low ‘20s and the occasional swell topped 6 feet.  Abracadabra began to rock and roll.  Bryce double reefed both sails to gain better control and to avoid arriving in Mazatlán before daylight and high tide. 

As we began to prepare for a less than tranquil night, we heard a radio distress call from Ever Glean (remember Ever Glean?).  They had run aground - we think on the entrance bar at Puerto Altata.  We radioed that we were at least 10 hours away and couldn’t be of any assistance, but that we would attempt to relay their distress call.  Bryce put out a radio call and received no response.  We were too far from Mazatlan to be heard.  It was a horrible time, thinking of running aground in rough seas in a place where rescue involves something more complicated than an expensive call to Vessel Assist.  Fortunately within about 15 minutes we heard from Ever Glean that they had been pulled off by some pangueros and no longer needed assistance.  We will keep our eyes open for them as we travel south, and wish them the best.

When night came it was moonless, starless and really, really black.  Our only neighbors were a sailboat represented by a tiny red light far to our starboard and something represented by a tiny white light far to our stern.  It was cold and the ride was rough.  Night watch was spent holding on to avoid falling down.  Our greatest concern was not that Abracadabra would let us down, but that we’d wrench a shoulder or lose our grip and fall, arriving with an ignominiously broken or pulled fill-in-that-body-part!

In the grey of day (there was no real dawning – only a lightening of the clouds) we could see Mazatlán in the distance.  We were not going to arrive too early but we still had to enter the yacht harbor channel in 20+ winds and rough seas.  It was not an appealing prospect. 

Nature decided to divert our attention by putting on a show:  a juvenile humpback whale jumping out of the water perhaps a mile or more away in front of the rising sun.  He seemed to spot us, raced over, and began spy-hopping some 100 feet to our starboard side.  Spy-hopping is when a whale raises from the water and holds a position, much like when a human treads water, in order to observe something.  Something like Abracadabra.  He (she?) swam closer, each time rising and peering at Abracadabra, finally rising about 70 feet from our stern.  A few more full body jumps followed near our stern!  Apparently realizing we weren’t going to engage in any fun type of play, he departed -- of course before we had wits enough to grab the camera.  Then came dolphins, perhaps a hundred of them, racing along beside and past us - a real Gulfo de California welcoming committee.  

Welcome to Mazatlán.

A couple of hours later we started the engine as we approached the breakwater.  The swells were setting us for the breakwater and we dared not think about what would happen if our (now) trusty engine failed.  When Abracadabra cleared the breakwater the crew let out an audible sigh of relief and Captain Bryce announced in his best fake airline captain voice:  “Welcome to Mazatlán, Ladies and Gentlemen.” 

Inside the breakwater was a different world.  The wind was still high but the swell was gone and on the dock were friends from Calliope and Two Pieces of Eight waiting to catch our lines.  They had been monitoring the radio and had heard our approach chatter with the marina.  That evening Maureen and Ted from Tarry-A-Bit and Lynn and Debbie of Dolphin Tales shared some of their wine, listened politely to our passage story and brought us up to date on some of our other Mazatlán friends. 

It was the perfect welcome to Mazatlán.  Friends - as good as dolphins!