03/20/2010, Mazatlan
After leaving San Blas we had an overnight sail to Mazatlan. After we rounded the first point we had a 15K wind so we hoisted the main and rolled out the jib, set the Hydrovane and sat back while the boat sailed herself at 7K all afternoon. What a great sail - I LOVE the Hydrovane!
We narrowly missed a couple of black flags indicating fishing long lines and Jeff had a speechless moment when a massive (I mean massive) whale surfaced about 20 feet in front of the boat and took his sweet time diving. We both held our breath as there wasn't enough time to tack out of his path. Since the Ha Ha we are always really wary about keeping our distance form whales, a close encounter with nature could easily put us in the liferaft.
As usual the wind started shifting in the early evening, right about the time I had a couple of dinner pots on the stove downstairs. Jeff, as usual, was trimming the sails trying to turn every last breath of wind into speed and I, as usual was yelling obscenities up through the hatch to him as pots of boiling water tried to throw themselves across the galley in response to the heel of the boat. Good Times!
Sails lowered, engine on, dinner done, Carden in bed and we motored at a steady 5.5K through the night. It was a nice overnight without too much incident. There was a little action at about 10pm when I looked up and saw that Merlot, another sailboat who had been travelling the same direction but 5 miles away was now attempting to raft up to us. After calling them on the VHF they changed course and fell back a bit to give us some sea room.
We made landfall in Mazatlan at around 9am and pulled into a nice little marina with a pool for Carden. For dinner we had the Sierra (Spanish Mackrel) that we caught on the way to San Blas, and it turned out to be one of the better fish we have caught down here - yum! We cooked it up with some fresh prawns being sold here on the dock and I have to say these were the best prawns I have ever had, really plump and juicy, we were really spoiled.
Mazatlan is a big Mexican city. It's really spread out, similar to PV in that it has a hotel district and then a Malecon and town centre. The difference is nothing is within walking distance. We went into town yesterday and drove by the Hotel district with has a fair amount of Starbucks and McDonalds scattered in the tourist shops and taco stands. We hopped off the bus in the town centre near the Cathedral and Mexican produce market but then had to take a taxi down to the Seawall to have lunch. There was only one restaurant and nothing else down there so after lunch we taxied back to the town centre and then caught the local bus all the way back to the marina. The taxi's here are pretty cool, they are like open air golf carts like an elegant version of the Bangkok Tuk-Tuks.
Carden's exciting news is that after I bought him a pair of goggles yesterday he spent four hours in the pool diving for pennies. He can now swim without a lifejacket, but only underwater, not on top. He can hold his breath and float, swim and dive for about 5-7 seconds and is already bragging to Luke about how many lobster he is going to dive for when we get over to La Paz!
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03/19/2010, Chacala
Here are a couple of videos we finally downloaded.
This one is of our first breakage - the Hydrovane coming into Chacala
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This is a walkaround of Rockstar
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03/17/2010, San Blas
Before we left San Blas Meg and I cooked up a sushi roll extravaganza with the Bonita we caught on the way in. We went a bit overboard and had so many leftovers we had to walk down the dock to give it away. It wasn't hard, there was a couple of sailors who had just arrived after 2 months at sea (sort of) on a 27 foot boat that had lost a rudder and they were more than happy to see Meg and I walking toward them with 2 plates of sushi!
We left San Blas on Wednesday and I have to say I have never been in more of a rush to get out of somewhere. There are so many "no see um's" in San Blas, day and night. Bug spray doesnt seem to repel them and Carden and I were covered in hundreds of itchy bites. Wednesday morning I had the hose coiled and the ac cord stored, engine on and all the dock lines ready to go before Jeff had a chance to get dressed. I was pretty desperate, we were being swarmed getting the boat ready to go and there was no way I was going to sit and BE breakfast! These bites are insane, they are massive welts that itch like mad for 5-6 days. Carden and I have covered ourselves in every home remedy possible; toothpaste, vinegar, zinc, cortizone, lidocane ....the list is endless.
The only funny thing is that now we are in Mazatlan we dont need to ask other boats if they are heading North or South, you just look at their arms and legs and you can tell if they have headed North from San Blas by all the no see um scabs.
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03/16/2010, San Blas
We had planned to leave PV last week but the weather didn't cooperate so we stayed in Paradise Village Marina and took advantage of the pool, beach and playground. We left Sunday and has a calm motor to Punta Mita where we met up with Luke and Meg for some beach time and to explore the tiny village, it took all of 3 minutes. On Tuesday the weather cleared and we had a 10 hour motor with a small head wind up to San Blas. On the way we saw a family of whales, had dolphins join us and caught 3 fish.
San Blas has a nice modern marina and its pretty inexpensive to stay. Tuesday night we met up with Sapphire, Black Dragon and Jesse's Girl (who we hadn't seen since Frailes) for a drink in town and some yummy street tacos. San Blas is a medium sized town, there is a produce market and fish and meat stalls, a couple of local restaurants, an ice cream store, several vendors around the town plaza and a gorgeous little church. We went in again for lunch yesterday.
This morning we got up early and joined Luke and Meg for a Jungle River Tour. It's very similar to the Tenacatita tour except its in a guided panga, not our dingy and we saw crocodiles and turtles in the river which was neat.
Our plans are to leave tomorrow morning and do an overnight sail up to Mazatlan and then wait for the earliest weather window to cross the Sea of Cortez to La Paz.
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03/05/2010, PV
Today we got up early because we had an appointment with Dr Laura Garcia, a OB here in PV. We stopped at the Starbucks so Grumpy could get coffee and then cabbed it into town. Dr Garcias office is on a quiet side street near Old Town. She has a small clean office and the best reputation in town.
We heard about her from Pat and Ali, fellow sailors who a couple of years ago sailed their catamaran around the world. Jeff and I followed their blog daily. Infact, back in those days the only thing Jeff and I argued about was who got the laptop in the evening to read the blog first. Pat and Ali have ahd some amazing adventures since they got back including a cross country porsche race and another extended tour in a vintage VW van. For a great and addicting read go to www.bumfuzzle.com, or better yet, buy their book. Anyway, Pat and Ali came down to PV to use the Mexican medical system and give birth to the beautiful Ouest in December and they recommended Dr Garcia to us.
I had a hard time getting the appointment. I dont have a phone, I dont speak Spanish and Dr Garcia was booked for 3 months. But, I found a fairy godmother at www.healthcareresource.com and I emailed Pamela for help. If you are ever in PV, have friends here or need/ want elective or necessary medicine check out the website and sign up for the newsletter - the services offered are useful and interesting. Pamela answered my desperate email within 5 minutes and 10 minutes later she had booked me an appointment with Dr G, sent me directions to the clinic and included her cell in case I got lost. Amazing! Thank you Pamela!
Dr Garcia is just as Pat and Ali described, she is young with 2 children and boy does she know her stuff. She took her time making sure she asked all the right questions and explained things to me I didn't know, even though this is #2. I'm used to being catapulted through the Canadian Medical System at warp speed, in and out in 10 minutes so the doctor can make their daily quota of patients. She also had an ultrasound machine right in her office with an extra big screen on the wall for us to see the pictures. She spent a good 20 minutes showing me 2 arms, 2 legs, good spine, good facial structure (looks like a dinosaur still) and the cord etc. She said it would be another 2 weeks before she could tell the sex but her guess was a girl. At the end I got glossy prints and summary for my next OB back in Canada and a copy on disc for me. Total Bill: $600p ($50)
Next stop was the hospital for bloodwork. Jeff was getting a bit anxious, bored and hungry by this time and we wern't looking forward to a big wait. But, when we arrived at the lab the receptionist took my name and info, led me into a room and a nurse walked in and stuck a lolly pop in Cardens mouth and a needle in my arm. I swear I didnt even feel it. Total time: 5 minutes. Bill: 400p ($35) I love the Mexican medical system!
To celebrate, Jeff and I decided to go for sushi (again). Okay, I'm going to tell the truth here. We were not celebrating the ultrasound. I was celebrating the fact that the doctors office weighed me at 56K which is 123lbs (I checked the math 4 times). The last time I weighed 123lbs I was 25 and had just returned from living in a Thai kickboxing camp and the only reason I am going on and on about it is because I will probably never again in my life get the opportunity to brag about how skinny I am given my love for chocolate.
While I'm shamelessly plugging people and websites, check out www.northvanfitness.com. It's Sam's (my friend, roommate & trainers) new website and I know she's got some squats and lunges with my name on them waiting for me to get back. (Just to punish me for bragging)
(Okay I'm done)
We were in such a good mood I managed to get Jeff into Walmart for some last minute provisions and Carden got to play in the kid's zone at the mall and ride on the little train - the highlight of his day! (Carden not Jeff so much)
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03/04/2010, PV
We have had a great week. Luke's sister Erin and husband Jeff visited Sapphire for a few days this week. It was great to have guests, we had heard so much about them so we tagged along as if they were our family, visiting us!
We had a lot of fun afternoons by the pool and chucking ourselves down the crocodile slide and on Tuesday we went to Sayulita for the day. It's a little boutique surf town about 30 minutes up the coast. Carden and I played in the sand while everyone else went surfing for an hour, the beach is beautiful right out of a postcard. Then we went for lunch at the Fish Taco Co - Great fish tacos! and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the town. It's very up market compared to the other little villages we usually visit. Lots of little boutiques and small designers, US and European trying to make a name for themselves with clothing or jewelry and very expensive. There is a giant tree on the corner of a street that has a ton of iguanas living in it, they are so well hidden in the tree but once you spot them you can see how huge they are. We also had to wait to cross a road when a dozen horses came trotting by, not really a cultural "wow" but definitly a novelty.
It was really nice to do something different for the day and Sayulita is up there on our favourites.
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