04/30/2010, Mazatlan, Mexico
Well it all went like this. Russ checked the tides to find out when we could leave the Singlar Marina for Old Harbor. He got a little scared, when we came in there was a pretty good swell and the depth sounder read 0.0 under the keel in the shallowest part. We did not hit bottom. So the next morning at about the same time we put the dingy over the side into the water, placed the motor on and with sos suspenders (flotation device), depth sounder, he headed out the opening to check the depth of the bar.
Now he gets to check the tides and compare it to what we had coming in the other day. While he was gone I went and checked in the marina and paid for three days.
Well we had to leave a day early in order to get out through the bar or be stuck inside. We will have one day credit for next time since they do not give refunds.
Today is the day we leave (April 30th, Friday). I got up this morning to do laundry before we leave. Russ wants to be underway by 10:00 am. Only half the laundry made it to the complete dry stage, because Russ heard from a cruiser that there was a big swell running and we would have to time it going out.
There we were casting off dock lines when over the radio we heard that the port captain has closed the entrance. Now I am begining to think that we are stupid or something. Russ brings the RPM's up and we are hightailing it. As we pass El Cid Marina there were two guys at the flag pole taking down the yellow flag and putting up the red flag. I guess we are ok since the red flag was not up (yeah right). We get to the entrance and I am praying for a lull to get through the shallows. Well he listened because we had flat calm over the bar with .4 under the keel. Now after the bar we motored out into a 5-6 foot swell. I took the helm and Russ put up a reefed main.
I asked what the anticipated arrival time at old harbor was and he told me we had all day. Well he now knew I was a little unhappy about this. I have wet laundry to air dry, a fridge that has water in the bottom and a bed that needs to be made and that is just a few things that had to be done today. We head Southwest to get sea room and then exit stage left. As I sit here in the aft (back) cockpit I am watching the depth sounder and the wave heights are 5-7 feet some are 8 feet. It took about three hours to get to old harbor. The entrance is so narrow that if a cruise ship were coming out or in there is literally no room for a boat along side. Before crossing or entering the channel you have to call the port captain to make sure it is safe to enter. We heard that the port captain closed the old harbor entrance for a few hours and we were lucky that it was not closed when we wanted to come in.
We got in and the anchor was down and held fast in about three and a half hours. The weather we have here is do to a Norther on the outside of Baja that is making its way here. We had a great evening until about 4:45 am when the wind was blowing twenty knots and we got up to check our position to make sure we did not drag anchor and that everyone else was in their position.
The wind has been blowing all day today until about 5:00 pm. One boat drug anchor from the anchorage out in to the entrance channel and had to have a panga tow him back to re-anchor. The other boat was dragging ever so slowly and they did not know because they were doing projects down below. Rich on Third Day called us and asked us if we thought that boat was dragging. Rich decided to jump into the dingy and go over to tell them. They picked up anchor and re-anchored.
That is the drama today and it appears that it is over for now.
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04/28/2010, Mazatlan, Mexico
The dock lines were secure at 7:00 am and we hit the bed at 7:45 am for a well needed nap. I woke up at 8:30 am and gave Hot Spur a call on the VHF radio. Mari was headed to town so we met up at the Singlar office, walked to the bus stop. I was headed to Tel Cell and she was headed to the TV repair shop. We parted way at the get off stop for Tel Cell since that stop was first. It is always interesting to deal with businesses here in Mexico.
The Tel Cell Representative in San Blas said that I had to go to Tepic to give them my passport number for my Banda Ancha 3g internet modem to work. I elected to wait until I got to Mazatlan. So the saga continues. I go in and tell the information counter lady what I need and she hands me a printed piece of paper with the sim card phone number on it and tells me to go stand in line. My wait was short only two people in front of me. It is now my turn up at the counter. I ask if the representative speaks English. The answer is a little bit, so I explain that the 3g does not work and what the representative said in San Blas. Now he looks at me with a confused look, tells me I do not have to register my passport number to this type of device and that maybe that their was a system problem when I was trying to activate it. He took my passport to check the numbers with what was given when I purchased it. All looked good. He then put the sim card into a cell phone and activated it and said it was good to use. I thanked him and went on my way. That had to be the easiest problem to solve. I wished all would go so smoothly.
Now down to the real fun stuff. Two blocks down is a MEGA. In case you don't know what a MEGA is, it is a SUPER Grocery Store. It has almost all the items you miss from home. Yes Real Swiss, pepper jack, cheddar cheese not to mention real chips and Salted Butter. I purchase so much I had to take a taxi back to the marina. And now I end the day with this blog.
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