Puerto Escondido and Loreto

Puerto Escondido is a nearly landlocked harbor fourteen miles south of the town of Loreto. “The hidden port” features a small but modern marina and a large number of mooring balls that can accommodate over one hundred boats. It provides excellent protection from the winds and the seas that can make many portions of the Baja peninsula rolly and uncomfortable. The marina complex also features a small store, restaurant and cruiser club house with a large lending library and DVD exchange. We booked a one week stay on one of the secure moorings giving us the opportunity to catch up on a few boat projects and tour nearby Loreto and the surrounding area by rental car. Anne and friends were pleased to hear of a large, open-air produce market that operates every Sunday and a group of us combined a shopping run there with lunch at one of the town’s quaint restaurants. A few days later, while sharing a rental car with friends Howard and Lynn, we drove for nearly two hours up a steep road into the nearby Sierra Gigante mountains to visit a large Spanish mission built in the 1600’s. It was from this impressive facility that missionaries ventured north establishing the many missions that are currently found north of the border in California. Little else of interest was found in the small community near the mission and we found ourselves amazed that such a rugged remote location would have been chosen so many years ago. The next morning, Howard and Lynn joined us for an exploratory hike up a canyon near the harbor written about in John Steinbeck’s “Log of The Sea of Cortez”. What started as a hike quickly became a rock scramble and then a more serious climb requiring careful hand and foot placements. At times Mark wished he had brought one of his climbing ropes that he keeps aboard “Blue Rodeo” for ascending its mast. The beauty of the canyon was truly amazing and, even though it was the dry season, we could clearly imagine the raging torrents of water that sculpted the canyon during the summer thunderstorms.

One of the unexpected pleasures of our stay in Puerto Escondido was the opportunity to connect with three of Mark’s old friends from the Ventura marina. Anne and Jeff aboard “Outrider” and Ken aboard “Bungee” have been cruising Mexico for a number of years and were happy to answer many of our questions about their travels and favorite places. After an enjoyable stay in the area, we topped off our fuel tanks and headed east across the channel to the Bahia Marquer anchorage on Isla del Carmen. There we found the clearest, warmest water to date and, unfortunately, hundreds of pesky bees. While lounging in “Blue Rodeo’s” cockpit, we had to laugh at the irony of the first bees arriving while our stereo played the Beatles song “Let it Be”. From now on, in our minds, the word “Be” in the song title will always be spelled with two “e”s. The next day, after listening to weather forecasts that warned of possible strong northerly winds within two days, we studied the charts and agreed on a strategy to move along to another anchorage better suited for north wind protection. As we conclude this blog entry, we are anchored off the town of Loreto itself where we will visit the produce market one last time tomorrow morning before continuing up the coast. The wind is currently blowing from the south and we find ourselves rocking and rolling a bit with no protection from that direction. We’ll see what the rest of the night has in store for us.

Isla San Francisco to Agua Verde

While at Isla San Francisco we joined forces with other cruising couples for a climb up a rugged ridge overlooking the picturesque anchorage. In places the arete narrowed to just a few feet in width with precipitous drops on both sides. Even though it was hot and arid, Mark said the view of those climbing ahead of us conjured up images of Mt. Everest’s Hilary Step. We were rewarded with spectacular views of the sea around us and our boats anchored peacefully a thousand feet below.

With so many recommended places to visit still ahead of us to the north, our wanderlust prompted us to move on after our second day and motor sail across to the Baja Peninsula and the quiet, little fishing village of San Evaristo. The little community there is inhabited by about twenty full time families and has a school, desalination plant and a small tienda (market). Even though we did not need much in the way of provisions, it was fun visiting the small store. Housed in a tiny concrete block building, the market had an ample selection of the basic needs including a few boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables. We even found Best Foods mayonnaise, an item on our short shopping list. We visited the store with several other cruisers and we all discussed the need to be conservative in our purchasing so as not to deplete the stock for the local families. Across the peninsula from the anchorage is a small cattle ranch and salt evaporation ponds where sea salt is harvested. As our group hiked over the hill to explore that area, we came across numerous grazing burros and skinny cows. The ranch itself was located in a small canyon with a water source and many large date palm trees. We could only imagine how hard the ranchers must work to tend to their livestock and make a living.

From San Evaristo we continued up the Baja coast to Bahia Los Gatos, another incredibly scenic spot that features red sand stone and pock-marked, volcanic rock formations. After settling in at anchor, we felt a little like we had sailed “Blue Rodeo” into Utah’s Lake Powell. It was here that we were first bothered by what would become a pesky nemesis. Before long, dozens of honey bees began swarming our boat in search of even the tiniest drops of fresh water. Fortunately, the bees had no interest in us and, even though they covered the stern of our boat near our exterior shower, any articles of damp clothing left out to dry and even our sink faucet and sponges in the galley. We did our best to co-exist peacefully with the critters but eventually closed the screens on all of our hatches and took refuge below. The next day, after exploration on foot along the rocky shore and some snorkeling in the crystal clear water, we chose to continue our journey in hopes of escaping the bees.

Another short sail brought us to Bahia San Marte, an anchorage protected by a reef that extends well off shore. As we approached, we used our GPS to carefully monitor our progress and proximity to the reef. We have often commented about how modern electronic navigation aids make adventures like this so much easier and safer than just a few years ago. Howard and Lynn, our friends from the vessel “Swift Current” joined us in the anchorage and, anxious to cool off and enjoy the cool, clear water we all inflated our swimming pool-style lounge chairs and drifted about the anchorage with adult beverages in hand. The company was splendid and the scenery around us sublime. What a great way to end the afternoon! Before leaving the next morning, we took our dinghy to a portion of the reef about a mile away and snorkeled among an array of multi-colored fish. Mark carried with him his pole spear and managed to get a shot off at a fair sized candidate for our dinner but sadly, the wily fish was too quick and the spear bounced harmlessly off its gill plate as the fish darted away. Though not as bad as Los Gatos, fresh water-seeking bees prompted us to leave the anchorage early and continue to our next stop, Bahia Aqua Verde.

Aqua Verde is a lovely spot and cruiser favorite that features a protected bay, a shoreline mixed with rocky cliffs and white sandy beaches and clear, emerald green water. We anchored there with added excitement over the news that cruisers had the opportunity to swim with a large whale shark just the day before. These amazing plankton feeders can approach 30 feet in length and, though resembling other carnivorous sharks, are harmless to humans and seem unafraid of sharing their watery world with us. The next day, we joined friends for a trip ashore to explore the village. What a treat! Although less populated than it once was, the community of Aqua Verde features many simple homes, two schools, two tiny markets and a cinder block police station with a tiny jail cell. As we explored the town, the guys in the group took great pleasure being photographed behind the jail cell bars while being guarded by the local sheriff. It appeared as if the sheriff had as much fun posing for the pictures as did the guys. After buying a few things at the small markets, Anne led the way to the home of a women who made fresh tortillas to order. While some of the group waited outside the small house, Anne visited with the woman while she worked just a few steps from where her fisherman husband napped, fully clothed on a simple bed. As we have experienced everywhere in Mexico, the local people were charming, warm and friendly. The high point of our walk through town for Anne was seeing the numerous goats, cows and pigs. In fact, the town is known for its two goat milk dairies and we were able to buy a large chunk of fresh cheese from one of the tiendas. Later that evening, while relaxing in “Blue Rodeo’s” cockpit, Anne became aware of the bleating of a goat coming from a shoreside cliff. Being the animal lover that she is, she feared that it was in distress and sped off to the rescue in our dinghy. She returned to our boat after determining the cries were coming from one of three goats high on a cliff and it appeared to be in no danger. In fact, it’s probably a nightly occurrence as the goats venture around the area nibbling on tiny plants that somehow manage to grow in the inhospitable terrain. Our days at Aqua Verde were filled with snorkeling, swimming and socializing. One evening, couples and families from most of the nearby anchored boats gathered on a beach to share snacks and beverages. Its hard to imagine a better life than to be sharing such an adventure with so many great people. Our next stop would be Puerto Escondido, another cruiser favorite, where we would be able to explore the town of Loreto and the surrounding area.

La Paz northbound

Our first stop north of La Paz was the rugged and beautiful island of Isla Partida. The largest bay, and most popular anchorage on the island, Caleta Partida, was formed by the erosion of a portion of the walls of a volcanic crater. The beach at the head of the bay features a small fish camp where local fisherman live for days in tiny, crude huts and speed off each morning in search of fish. Often, the sound of their outboard motor powered pangas can be heard as they returned well after dark.

We spent several enjoyable days there snorkeling and exploring by dinghy and on foot. One morning, we joined friends Karen and Larry aboard their boat “Phanta Rei” and traveled a short distance to the island of Ispiritu Santo. Our guide book told us of two ship wrecks there and we were anxious to explore them using SCUBA gear. Another friend, Dave from the vessel “ Taking Flight” came along to tend to the boat while the four of us dived. The wrecks were medium size cargo ships intentionally sunk to create artificial reefs after being confiscated by the Mexican government while attempting to smuggle illegal Chinese immigrants into the US.

After anchoring at the GPS position of the first wreck, Mark and Larry jumped into the water with snorkeling gear in hopes of finding the wreck and marking its position with a buoy. Mark made numerous free dives to over 50 feet in depth but unfortunately, due to limited visibility in the water, was unable to located the wreck. We all soon agreed that the reported position might be off a bit so we motored a short distance to the coordinates of the other one. This time with Dave’s guidance from a hand held GPS receiver, Mark was able to locate the wreck on his first dive. Soon after, he had secured one of our dinghy’s anchor lines to a piece of the wreckage about 35 feet below the surface. Along with Larry and Karen, we quickly donned our SCUBA gear and spent an enjoyable 45 minutes exploring the wreck. The sunken ship had become home to a large variety of fish and we occasionally parted huge schools of them as we swan through the structure.

After another day in beautiful Caleta Partida, we motor-sailed 6 miles north along the island’s rocky shore and anchored alone in a delightful cove barely large enough for 2 boats. Our plan was to leave “Blue Rodeo” in the cove and travel by dinghy to nearby Isla Islotes, a couple of small, rocky islands where we were told we’d find a sizable seal lion colony. When we reached the island, we were greeted by scores of the cute and inquisitive animals and we quickly jumped into the water to swim amongst them. What a thrill! The sea lions treated us to quite a show as they performed their acrobatics around us. Most of the young ones seemed friendly, but a few of the 800 pound males made it known that we weren’t entirely welcome with high speed passes just a few feet from us and by barking, grunting and displaying their teeth as they surfaced. We kept a respectable distance and, when we started to feel the chill of the water, climbed back aboard our dinghy and zipped back to our floating home. As we continued the short distance to Isla San Francisco, our intended anchorage for the night, we reflected back on what and extraordinary day it had been. The Sea of Cortez is world famous for its rich and diverse marine life and we knew that the weeks to come would provide more opportunities to interact with its inhabitants. Ah, if only we had gills!

Ups and Downs of Cruising

Our 3 day stay at beautiful Bahia de los Muertos included several long beach walks and snorkeling on the nearby coral reefs. One afternoon, our group of 8 took our dinghies ashore to a charming, modern hotel and restaurant. Before treating ourselves to a delicious lunch on the hotel patio, we toured the facility’s mezzanine that featured, of all things an enormous model train layout with scale model towns complete with working lights. We all felt our “inner child” surface as we stared in awe at the amazing display. After lunch, and before another snorkeling session to burn the calories we consumed, we had a nice conversation with 4 friendly folks in the restaurant lobby. Dennis, Susan and Bill were cruising sailors from La Paz and Brian was a La Paz resident who owns both a helicopter and Cessna Citation jet. They have flown in for lunch and a tour of the beautiful bay. We had a nice conversation with them about sailing and flying. We shared with Brian the fact that we were retired airline pilots and happy to have left that part of our lives behind. In a few days, this chance encounter would prove to be quite fortuitous for us.

One afternoon, an impromptu late afternoon beach party was organized and couples from most boats in the anchorage dinghied ashore to share appetizers and drinks. While meeting new friends and engaged in lively conversation, the subject came up as to the date of Anne’s birthday. Not wanting any special attention, she tried to bluff her way past the subject but our friend Lynn put 2 and 2 together and asked Mark to confirm that it was April 19th. When Mark glanced at his watch and realized that it was already that date and that he’d forgotten it, he became the subject of some good hearted ribbing. The next morning, Lee, Kathy and Bob from the boat “Sirocco” came by with a David Letterman “Top 10 List” of things Mark should do for forgetting the event. In the Letterman style, they had managed to come up with suggestions that made us laugh out loud like “ standing Anne’s watch (lookout) during passages for a whole year”.

We left Muertos later that day bound for our next stop, the anchorage at Puerto Ballandra, not far from the city of La Paz. Ballandra was another beautiful place with dramatic terrain and long, white sandy beaches. We enjoyed our time there snorkeling in the clear water and paddling our SUP surf boards. Ballandra, like many areas near La Paz is often subject to fierce southwesterly winds called Coromuels that can blow during the night. They are most common in spring and early summer when the waters on the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula are still cool and the interior deserts begin to heat up. The temperature differential can fuel the extreme winds. These winds blew hard through our anchorage both nights that we spent there. Even though we were protected for the wind-driven swell, the gusts sent us swing to a fro and caused one of our snapped-on, cockpit sun covers to blow away during the night. The next morning, we were disappointed to see the important piece of shade gone and spent over an hour snorkeling around the bay looking for it. Knowing how strong the wind had blown and the potential for the fabric to fly a great distance, we eventually deemed the search futile.

From Ballandra, we motored the short distance to the city of La Paz and took a slip in Marina Palmira. This gave us the opportunity to give “Blue Rodeo” a fresh water bath and provided a base of operations from which to explore. Many of our cruising friends joined us and we shared dinners in the local restaurants and many long walks through town. We also took advantage of the opportunity to re-provision at what will be our last large shopping venue for a while.

It was here that our chance encounter with Brian, the helicopter and jet pilot proved fortuitous. A call for “assistance needed” went out one morning on the cruiser’s VHF radio “net” (sort of like an audio news paper/ want ads) for a commercial pilot to help fly a jet to California. Mark responded by radio and within moments, he and Brian remembered their previous meeting. After a brief discussion, it was agreed that Mark would fly as co-pilot and Anne would come along for the ride. This gave us a perfect opportunity to make a quick trip to the States to visit Mark’s family and pick up some boat parts and supplies. The trip north began in style when Brian picked us at the marina with his helicopter and gave us a scenic tour of the area on our way to the airport where the jet was parked. 4 friends of Brian joined us there for the first leg to San Diego where we cleared customs. The flight was smooth and enjoyable and Mark had a great time sharing memories of his corporate flying days with Brian. As it turns out, they had a number of common friends and acquaintances from those days From there we flew the remaining 40 minutes to the Van Nuys airport, just 8 miles from Mark’s mom’s house. After parking the jet there, Brian kindly drove us to the house where we arrived feeling a bit like we’d just be featured in an episode of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”.

After returning to La Paz and finishing provisioning and projects, we topped-off our fuel tanks and headed out of the bay toward the spectacular desert islands to the north. Unfortunately, we had gone just 5 miles when Anne commented about a subtle change in our engine’s sound. Mark went below and quickly discovered that a threaded stud on one of the four motor mounts had broken. Disappointed, we had no choice but to return to the marina where Mark quickly removed the broken mount and set off into town with the help of a friendly, local sailor to try to find a replacement part. After 2 unsuccessful stops, they located a threaded metric bolt that was long enough to cut off and be used as a replacement. After 3 hours of sweaty labor, Mark had the motor mount repaired and we headed for the showers and a trip into town for dinner. As we write, we are preparing to depart La Paz once again and will be in remote areas for a while. Hopefully, our next blog will feature photos and stories of swimming and diving with the diverse marine life that the Sea of Cortez is know for.

Copper Canyon to Baja Peninsula

Day 2 at the Posada Barranca Mirador Hotel on the rim of Mexico’s spectacular Copper Canyon began with an excellent breakfast in the hotel’s dining room that featured enormous windows facing the canyon. We had made arrangements the day before to take a tour of the nearby village of Divisedero, ride the zip line into the canyon and take the newly completed aerial tram back to the rim. Knowing that we couldn’t possibly do it all, our group of 6 split up with Mark, Anne and Howard doing the zip line and Dave, Marisa and Lynn taking the land tour. Our zip line adventure was quite a thrill as we sped along the steel cables suspended high above the canyon and crossed several suspension bridges on foot (think Indiana Jones or old Tarzan movies) to connect the 7 legs of the ride. We couldn’t help but squeal with glee each time we left the loading platforms on the cliff edges and rocketed toward the opposite side at speeds that filled our eyes with tears. After our morning adventures, our group compared notes over lunch at the hotel and made plans for an afternoon hike. Before we knew it, the day was done and a restful sleep in our rooms awaited us. After breakfast the next morning, part of our group took another hike into the canyon before packing for the train and bus trip back to the coast. While checking-out, we made a special effort to thank the incredibly friendly staff at the hotel. It was, once again, a great example of the genuine warmth of the Mexican people.

While waiting at the platform for our train down the mountain, we were able to observe several Tarahumara Indian women and children selling beautiful, hand-woven baskets made from pine needles, tree bark and cactus. The appear to be a very solemn people, rarely smiling and unwilling to socialize with outsiders. Once aboard the train, we found the ride to be quite comfortable, aside from the occasional banging and clunking of the train car connectors as the engineer applied the brakes. We had made to decision to take the train all of the way to the town of Los Mochis and spend the night there before continuing by bus back to our boats in Mazatlan. Our Copper Canyon hotel staff made reservations in las Mochis for us at one of their sister hotels (Hotel Santa Anita) and upon exiting the train, we found the hotel’s bus already waiting for us. We looked at each other in disbelief, again amazed by how smoothly this entire trip had gone. Surely, someone’s compound fracture must be lurking around the next corner. After another pleasant hotel stay we walked about 10 blocks to the bus station confident that busses to Mazatlan would be running every hour. We arrived at 8:40am to find that a 9:00am bus was available and that the next one was not until 8:00pm. How long was our luck going to continue? Prior to boarding the bus, we had just enough time to scurry to a nearby taco stand for chorizo, scrambled eggs and fresh tortillas to go, yum.

Our bus ride took just over 6 hours and we were treated to 3 terrible movies with dubbed Spanish dialog. Even though the movies were awful, it gave us all a chance to improve our limited Spanish as we strained to understand what was going on. By mid afternoon we were stepping off the bus in Mazatlan and within moments climbed aboard a waiting “red truck” for the ride back to the marina.

Wow, what a great trip... good friends, spectacular scenery, delicious food, warm Mexican hospitality and flawless logistics. It could not have worked-out better. And no, there were no compound fractures.

Even though we all had a marvelous time, we were happy to return to our boats and get underway on the next leg of our journey, a crossing of the Sea of Cortez to the Baja Peninsula. We all hustled the next day provisioning and doing pre-departure boat chores. When the following morning’s planned departure time arrived, we found the harbor shrouded in fog and would wait 90 minutes until we had adequate visibility to safely negotiate the harbor’s narrow entrance.

Our overnight crossing to the Baja was quite pleasant due to smooth seas and a brilliant full moon. In the evening after dining on Anne’s homemade chili, we took turns standing watch while the other napped. Our only complaint was the the winds we so light that we had to motorsail all but 4 hours of the 28 hour trip. By afternoon of the following day, we were safely anchored in crystal-clear water off the beautiful, sandy beach at Ensenada de los Muertos (Bay of the Dead). The bay features a modern hotel and golf course in a development called Bahia de los Suenos (Bay of Dreams). It’s easy to imagine why the resort’s marketing people changed the name as foreign travelers would likely be a bit put-off by the literal translation of a name that is characterized by a celebration in Mexico.

We spent a peaceful night anchored there while planning our next-day’s snorkeling and hiking activities. Like many nights before, we drifted off to sleep, gently rocked by the ocean swells feeling so fortunate to be living this dream.

Mazatlan to the Copper Canyon

On Sunday April 9^th we departed Marina Mazatlan for our bus/train excursion to the“Barranca del Cobre” (Copper Canyon). The system of canyons is located in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains. Our group of 6, including Dave and Marisa from the vessel “Pacifico” and Howard and Lynn from “Swift Current”, arranged for one of Mazatlan’s ubiquitous red trucks to pick us up at the marina at 6:30am and take us to the downtown bus station. Red trucks operate as taxis with bench seating in the bed and room for up to 8 passengers. While probably not the safest or most comfortable means of transportation, the trucks are inexpensive and efficient. We were pleased to find it waiting for us at the appointed time and by 6:50am we were at the bus station, arriving in time to catch a bus one hour earlier than planned. The ride to the agricultural and industrial city of Los Mochis took 6 hours with a few stops along the way. It was a first class bus so they showed movies in Spanish and the seats were quite comfortable. We noted that they were more comfortable than airline seats and had considerably more leg room. Arriving in Los Mochis, we walked several blocks to another bus station where we would connect with a local bus for the short ride to our planned overnight destination, the quaint town of El Fuerte. Arriving in El Fuerte, we strolled along a few quite streets looking for a hotel for night. Before long, we came upon the Rio Vista Hotel on a hill next to a replica of a Spanish fort. Nacho, the hotel’s proprietor gave us a quick tour of the facility and we all agreed it was a perfect place to spend the night. We quickly settled-in and were soon enjoying beverages and a snack on the hotel’s patio overlooking a meandering river. Nacho (Mark confessed that he was very uncomfortable calling a person “Nacho”) was a perfect host and made our stay very enjoyable. The hotel itself was built into the old fort so it was very unique and had wonderful views of the river and surrounding valley. We would later stroll into town in search of dinner, finding the town to be extremely quiet, perhaps due to the early hour or lack of tourism this year. Later, back in our rooms, we concluded the evening by watching a few minutes of, always entertaining, Mexican TV. Our rooms had two double beds, air conditioning, a nice shower, 2 geckos and a rather large spider. We chose to ignore the other occupants until sometime after midnight when the geckos started barking at each other. It’s hard to imagine that such small reptiles can produce such a substantial bark, loud enough to wake us from a sound sleep. The following morning, Nacho served us a delicious breakfast on the hotel patio and provided us with a ride to the train depot where would catch the first class, Chihuahua-Pacific Railways train up into the mountains. So far, everything about the trip had gone so well that we began to joke that it was all too good to be true and that some major misfortune, like a compound fracture was waiting for one of us around the next bend. Traveling with such good friends that share our warped senses of humor is truly a delight and we often find ourselves laughing until our sides ache. We found the train to be very comfortable and managed to all get seats together. The journey to the canyon took 6 hours as the train climbed from sea level to nearly 8,000 feet. We wiled away the time reading, conversing and looking at the scenery along the way. We rode for hours in the nearly empty dining car enjoying the view from its larger windows. Our intended point to disembark was Posada Barranca and, upon arrival, we were surprised to find just a train platform. While the train made a short stop, we quickly gathered up our bags and stepped down onto the weathered, wooden platform. As we stood there, looking wide-eyed and rather lost, were approached by a gentleman from a nearby hotel who asked if we had reservations. When we replied that we didn’t, he gave us a questioning look but responded, “no problem”. He offered to drive us to his hotel where could check it out with no obligation. When we reached the hotel, we were immediately taken by its spectacular location, right on the rim of the canyon with views that were absolutely breathtaking. Upon seeing the Hotel Pasado Barranca Miradorl, we realized that it was the same one highly recommended to us by other cruisers that had been there just a week before and where we had planned to stay all along. Normally, arriving here as we did, without reservations, would have been foolish but, like most other areas in Mexico, tourism here is way down and we would find that we were among just 25 total guests at the hotel. Once again, our good fortune was making everything fall into place. While checking in, we were a little taken aback by the price, as it was beyond our budget, but it proved to be a good value. As it turns out, all meals were included and they were of excellent quality. By the second day, we agreed that if we were to stay there very long and continue to eat the 3 course gourmet meals, would could roll back down the mountain rather than take the train. After checking- in, we headed up to our rooms and, upon entering, noticed our private balcony. When we stepped outside onto our small deck, hanging over the canyon’s rim, our breath was taken away by the majestic view. We quickly settled- in and excitedly scampered downstairs to check out the rest of the hotel and the surroundings. We met up with David, the gentlemen who had rescued us from the train platform, for a guided walk into the canyon and around several “Tarahumra” Indian residences. According to history, the “Tarahumara” retreated into the canyon when the Spaniards invaded Mexico and have been there ever since. The “Tarahumara”, or as they call themselves “Raramuri”, meaning “foot runner”, dwell in caves or under rock ledges with wood or adobe houses attached to them. They are known as extraordinary long distance runners and for generations have used narrow footpaths in the canyon to travel swiftly between villages. Wearing only huarache sandals, the men have been known to beat ultamarathon runners in the States while even stopping to take a smoke during the event. After our short hike, it was time for “happy hour”, which we enjoyed on the hotel’s large deck overlooking the canyon, followed by a delicious dinner. Plans were made for more canyon exploration the next day and 3 of us signed up for a zip line (steel cables strung between canyon walls traversed by riders wearing climbing harnesses and suspended from a pulley attached to the cable) and, before retiring to our rooms for bed, we had another good laugh thinking that maybe that activity would lead to the compound fracture that was waiting for one of us. Pretty sick sense of humor, eh?

La Cruz to Mazatlan

Our trip to the States was a whirlwind of activity including administrative chores, visiting friends and family and shopping for boat parts. We spent a total of 9 days in McCall, Seattle and Los Angeles and found the weather to be rather depressing. After so many months of sunshine south of the boarder, we were unaccustomed to the overcast skies and cool temperatures in the northwest and were soon anxious to get back to the boat. Upon returning to La Cruz, we quickly set about readying “Blue Rodeo” to continue our migration north. Our friends from the boats “Swift Current”, “Pacifico” and “So Inclined” were ready to depart and we were looking forward to traveling as a group with them. We quickly provisioned and completed a few boat chores before setting out for our first stop, the small but bustling resort town of Guayabitos. Departing Banderas Bay, we were treated to a great view of a small humpback whale calf frolicking near it’s enormous mother. By afternoon, were anchored in the scenic, but somewhat rolly, anchorage just off the town. We stayed two nights there and enjoyed walking the beach and a dinner ashore with our friends. The town was alive with tourist activity, most of them Mexican, and we were entertained, but a bit annoyed, by the outboard- powered pangas pulling banana boats (long, inflatable banana-shaped tubes ridden by soaking-wet passengers) as they screamed by our anchored boats. We were close enough to shore that the loud music and announcements from activity leaders at the pools of the nearby hotel soon had us longing for the quiet and solitude that we’d find at our next stops. Many beachside resorts here are suffering greatly from the poor US economy and the exaggerated fears many from the States have regarding travel in Mexico. It was nice to see that, although it wasn’t quite business as usual, this area appeared to be doing fairly well. Our next stop was Matanchen Bay. We had stopped there on our way south and, once again, spent two nights anchored in the beautiful area. One day, we took our dinghy ashore with friends and visited the town of San Blas, finding it to be very quiet this time of year. San Blas/Matanchen Bay is famous for it’s pesky mosquitoes and, despite being anchored well offshore, the noseeums (nearly invisible relatives of mosquitoes) found us aboard that night and ate us alive. By the next day, we were suffering from their numerous nasty bites. The morning of the third day found us headed for Isla Isabel. This would be our second stop at the island and we were looking forward to seeing what had become of the blue-footed booby eggs we had seen there in December. We dropped our anchor at a spot next to the rock pinnacles off the east side of the island after threading our way into the shallow water through the usual maze of fishing nets rather poorly marked with plastic floats. As we anchored, Howard and Lynn, our friends from the sail boat “Swift Current”, took some excellent photos of us next to the rocks. The next day, the “Swift Current “ crew, along with Mike and Karen from “So Inclined”, joined us for a dinghy trip to shore and a bird watching expedition. We were delighted to see all of the down-covered chicks, most peeking out from under their mother’s feathery skirts. They were at the awkward stage of having grown almost as large as their protective mothers but were still lacking feathers and looking somewhat gawky. We got quite a few chuckles out of watching them. Later that day, we snorkeled and swam and Mark finished the boat bottom cleaning that he started a few days earlier and replaced “Blue Rodeo’s” sacrificial, below-water zincs. Plans were made for a “first-light” departure for Mazatlan the next morning and we finished the evening by watching a few episodes of “24”, the TV show that Mark hates but can’t stop watching.

The next day, after a pleasant, 13 hour sail, we motored into the Stone Island Anchorage just south of Mazatlan Harbor’s main entrance. We dropped our anchor in the fading light and watched with interest as swells, rolling in from the southwest, formed breaking waves in the shallows not far from us. “Swift Current” had already arrived and, after dark, we were joined by “Pacifico” and “So Inclined”. The next morning we awoke to see two surfers riding waves close to our boats. After a quick “pow wow” with our boating friends, we raised our anchors and motored about 7 miles up the coast to the narrow entrance to the channel leading to Marina Mazatlan. With a fairly large swell still sweeping -in from the southwest, we had to time the arrival into the mouth of the entrance because large waves were occasionally breaking all the way across the channel. It was rather sporty as we watched “Swift Current” abort one entry attempt and finally make it in after being lifted several feet by an overtaking wave. Taking advantage of the same lull in the waves, we followed close on their heels and managed to make it in without incident. We would later find out that a dredge is often working in the shallow, narrow channel, making entering even more exciting. After checking-in to the marina, and giving “ Blue Rodeo” a thorough fresh water bath, we joined the gang for dinner at a harbor-side pizza restaurant. Our group had decided to take a highly-recommended bus/train trip inland to see the spectacular Copper Canyon, a natural wonder much larger than our Grand Canyon. The next day, we would travel by bus to downtown Mazatlan where we would do some site-seeing and purchase bus tickets. That day ended with hurried packing after a peel-and-eat shrimp feast hosted by Mike and Karen aboard “So Inclined”.