We were finally splashed down on Saturday 29th December after spending just Friday night sleeping on Jabula.


Good as new!

It was like sleeping on a slope as the boat was angled downwards but at least it was not three weeks worth! Bruce managed to fix several things such as the rudder, wind vane (essential) and install the piping for the water maker.

We sailed for about an hour to a little bay called Bahia Falsa . It is a beautiful little anchorage, well protected and quiet. We were given an anniversary present of fresh prawns from Mr Bercovich as we left his boatyard which was greatly appreciated gesture. That night we dined on fabulous peri peri prawns with a decent bottle of French Beaujolais. We also opened our Christmas presents !! We really wanted to celebrate on the water and this was just the perfect setting.


Beautiful Bahia Falsa

We stayed two nights there and left early the next morning for Ensenada de Los Muertes on our way to Mazatlan on the mainland . It was a beautiful sunny day with a fresh breeze to help us along. However once we got into the channel the wind picked up to 20 - 25 knots and we rollicked along. It was a great sail and a wonderful start to our journey. When the wind picked up to 33 knots and the self-furling line broke while pulling in the Genoa we still felt that it a was fun if a little wild!! Once we rounded the point things settled down a bit and we sailed into Los Muertes to celebrate Old Years Night with copious quantities of rum.! This is a quaint little cove with a beautiful beach and a little pub called the Giggling Marlin but little else (what else would one need?)

We stayed one more night (was it perhaps due to the delicate state of our heads from the night before!!?) and left at 9.30 pm for Mazatlan. We had been listening to the weather forecasts and we knew that we would have good winds but that further down South a Tuanapec wind was blowing 70 knots and the sea was just a mass of white breaking waves. Thankfully we were way too high up to be affected. We sailed across the Sea of Cortez for two nights with steady winds of 15 - 20 knots with our wind vane keeping a straight course but 7 hours from Mazatlan at midnight (what's new - if anything untoward happens it always seems to occur in the early hours of the morning) the wind suddenly died and we had to motor. The conditions were less than ideal with a dank mist and cold night air and we had to sit in a freezing cockpit and steer. Bruce and I took turns of 30 minutes at a time wrapped in a thick blanket and huddled down so only our noses froze. This went on forever so it seemed! However as we approached Mazatlan at first light things got better. The sun rose and we entered this lovely city through a man-made breakwater to the Marina Mazatlan.

We stayed three days at the marina (not our favourite place to be) and then moved over to the "old" anchorage in the city harbour.


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This is a tourist city with many quaint little shops and restaurants. Taxis, buses abound and they have a cute little vehicle that looks a lot like a golf cart called a Pulmonia which one can hire to take you places. There is also the worlds highest manned lighthouse with 400 steps (it takes you 30 minutes to walk up and 30 minutes to walk down!!). We plan to stay roughly a week and then it is off to Isla Isabella.