Finally, we will share our trials and joys at being back in Mazatlan .
We had a textbook perfect first 12 hours on our crossing from Bonanza towards Mazatlan .
The winds were a constant blow off our beam, monitor was working well and life
was good. We expected a bit of increase in the winds but nothing too exciting.
We reefed down before dark as a routine safety measure and prepared for our
night watches. All went well until around midnight
when the winds really started cranking at around 25 – 28. The seas became 6-8
ft with a 6 second interval. In short, it was nasty. We felt like we were in a
Maytag washer. The heavy rain cells that were forming looked like huge globs of
fat on the radar. We ended up fully reefed with the stay sail helping to balance
the boat. The foresail was furled. That strategy
worked beautifully as Talos settled down and maintained 6 kts with monitor on
the helm. We realized during the crossing that our house battery bank was not
maintaining a charge, dropping down to 9 volts. OUCH! The end result was that we
arrived in Mazatlan at first light and
immediately started planning on how to replace the batteries without having to
modify our battery bank vault. Paul determined the age of the AGMs to be 9
years so we certainly got full service from them. In hind site we should have
replaced them last year……
The marina at El Cid welcomed us like old friends. We had
lots of visitors to the boat once we docked. It seemed that most cruisers had
returned within the last week or so. Mazatlan
is booming with new construction including some new restaurants which are now
some of our favorites. The cruise ships are coming back into port. There is a
new elegant fashion mall north of town which has a mega cinema and a “Liverpool ”
dept store. It reminds me of Nordstroms. We walked over for our morning
exercise and a coffee only to find the facility was still closed but due to
open in an hour or so. The perimeter was heavily guarded with men and assault
rifles. I used to find this a bit unnerving, but now it seems so normal…just
life in Mazatlan …….Anyway, the
Starbucks was posting their hours as 10AM
open. Since it was 10:30 I was a bit
confused and asked the young man with the machine gun standing close by if he
could confirm the hours for me. He confirmed that they should be open. I
suggested that maybe he could use his weapon to nudge the lock. He laughed and laughed
and said “no, there would be BIG TROUBLE” if he were to do this. Oh well…I think
Starbucks has changed their gun policy.
We have discovered some new galleries and a new
bakery/butcher/organic market type food court in old town. It holds lots of
promise for future development. We were able to get some nice looking steaks
for the BBQ for our trip to Bandaras Bay.
So, back to the battery problem. Paul finally found some
batteries in Phoenix AZ. We decided it was smart to replace the starter battery
as well. Paul rented a car from AVIS and made plans to drive north. Once word
was out that he had wheels and heading north the cruisers started coming forth
with wish list items and pesos. It is hard to buy boat stuff here, so any one
going north presents the cruising community with an opportunity for stocking
up. He will be home tomorrow and has stated that he will be glad to get back on
the boat. I don’t think he is a Ford Focus kind of guy.
During Paul’s absence I was busy socializing. I was able to
go to a small village outside of town called Callita for breakfast with a group
of friends. One couple has a motorcycle and side car that they rode. The
village was all dressed up with colorful homes and lots of greenery. There is a
world famous breeder of game cocks in the village. We walked to the ranchito to
take a look at the roosters. There were big dogs camped out within the pasture
keeping the coyotes away. On another day, I was able to go with one of the ladies to the
“Golden Zone” on a shopping trip. Without the boys we had lots of fun going in
all the jewelry stores and shopping around the galleries.
Paul called mid trip with word from the road….he had a
blowout on the rental car tire and was delayed until he could get a tire the
next day. Thankfully it happened on the US
highway where they have shoulders.
Ok…Paul returned safely, the batteries are installed and
life is fully charged. The head security guy for the marina helped him get the
batteries from the car into the boat. He took our bead batteries and the
questionable starter battery and was happy for the option. He is using the deep
cycle AGM starter in his car.
Our friends Mark and Emma have joined us here in Mazatlan
for a sail along the coast south to Bandaras
Bay Bandaras
Bay
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| Janet enjoying a dip in the El Cid swimming pool. |
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| Paul found a place near the bar. |
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| We made several trips into the center of town to visit some of our favorite places. This is the shrimp ladies who line both sides of the street selling freshly caught shrimp. |
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| We also stopped by the old Mercado Pino. |
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| An of course any trip to Mazatlan must include a stop by Plazuela Machado. |
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| Janet perfected her salsa making technique. These are jalapeno peppers and tomatoes roasting on the BBQ. |
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| While Paul was off to the US to get batteries, Janet went to a small village near Mazatlan for breakfast with some of the other cruisers. |
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| The cock ranch. |
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| Our friends Mark and Emma enjoying a juice at the street side juice stand near the old Mercado. |
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| Another visit to the old Mercado. |
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| We stopped by the Angela Peralta Theatre. |
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| Janet and Emma enjoying the view from the malacon. |
