We'd been hearing chatter since o' dark 30 from all the boaters who left going to La Paz. Guess it's still a bear trying to go north against the seas and the winds. There are only 3 boats left in the anchorage, including us, and we headed out before dawn. It's a beautifully warm morning and we have lots of sparkle in our wake (don't know what it is but it's pretty). Jim is trolling already as we make our overnight passage to Mazatlan (unless the winds /seas are nasty then Puerto Vallarta).

We finally have an excellent day of sailing, surfing up to 9 knots on the waves, 7/8 knots in general. Not even halfway there, Jim notices our jib halyard is severed. What the hell! So there goes our sailing day/night as we furl it up to a kite sized sail. Even so, it's still a nice day. We keep communicating with Passage II to let them know where we are (they're catching up fast but to the north of us since they are going to the marina harbor).

Lots of stars again tonight and not many boats. Jim saw a couple of shooting stars (I didn't). Then the motor started acting up. Now what? Jim checked the racor - yep full of crap so we changed out the filter, bled the system and we were up and running again in no time (really have to finish the second racor system so we can avoid mid-passage filter stuff).

12/18/09

Pulled into Mazatlan harbor and anchored in 30 ft (charts say 9-12 ft) near Club Nautico. Check in was super easy (mostly English thank God) and not many boats here, surprisingly. We lost Passage II after they pulled into Marina Mazatlan so we'll have to go up there to see them. We rowed ashore ($3 dinghy dock again) and walked/bused to the Mercado area. Our first visit to the open markets in Mexico, where they sell every kind of food/meat-things you would see at a butchering building, not food market. I don't think I'll be trying pig snout or chicken feet anytime soon, but you never know! If you think about it, I guess we (as in Americans) waste a lot of useable food but it geez, I still think you 'd have to make it and not tell me what it was! Yuck! Lots of flies and bees around everything. The vegetables and fruits are a lot better than I thought they would be and really cheap (like tomatoes 8 pesos/kilo)

We got tacos (7 pesos each) from one of the vendors on the street which I'm pretty sure was just beef (but don't tell me if it wasn't!) and walked around the church next door. There are a lot of people on the street and the sidewalks are so small that you end up walking in the street to get around. I like walking the streets of the neighborhoods better than these big markets, just too many people. We hopped a bus back to the boat (8 pesos or so per person ) and hung out for the rest of the day.