We headed north for Mazatlan. It was a smooth, fast and very pleasant trip of 180 miles, with a two-day stop mid-way at Matanchen Bay, near San Blas. The longer, overnight trips have become noticeably easier for us. They don't feel like a big deal any more. It's not the sailing itself, it's the rhythm of activities during the day and night. We also altered the schedule of our watches from making the change at 12, 4, and 8 to switching at 6, at 10, and again at 2. Somehow this works better with galley duties and with sleep.

We had a long-awaited appointment with Eric's mom and her husband in Mazatlan at the beginning of May. They would stay in a nice hotel while we stayed in its attached marina, and we would rent a car and spend a few days together, visiting historic mining towns and a fishing village to the south. The swine flu threw a monkey wrench into that picture. The timing couldn't have been worse, as the hysteria peaked five days before they were due to fly to Mexico, and the two dears opted to postpone their trip until later in the summer. Our hearts were heavy with sadness as we passed the breakwater into Mazatlan's El Cid Marina, where their hotel reservation had also been made and cancelled. As we came into the dock an employee tied our lines and handed us a form inquiring about our health: High fever? Red eyes? Runny nose?

Mazatlan sits on the mainland Pacific coast across the southern Sea of Cortez from the tip of the Baja peninsula. The "old" town spreads around a couple of hills and an industrial harbor, and a new colony of hotels and condominiums sprawls along the beaches to its north. The city is relatively modern. Even though it was founded by conquistador Nuno de Guzman in the 1530s, it was not really populated until 150 or 200 years ago. The most influential early settlers were Europeans, particularly Germans and French, and between them and its position as a port city it is a cosmopolitan little city. The city has a lot going on - a beautiful cathedral, a large central market, the Angela Peralta Theater (named after the 19th century "Mexican Nightingale" who died there of yellow fever, along with 70 of her touring opera company of 75), and live music in the plazas on weekend evenings. Its Carnaval parade in February is the second-largest parade in the world, and its lighthouse is the second-highest manned lighthouse.

An important additional feature of Mazatlan is the home of the original Pacifico brewery, founded of course by Germans. We did not manage to visit the Archeology Museum or the Art Museum, but we did go on a tour of the brewery. There we met another Czech person, also in pursuit of free beer in the morning.

Here's a notable fact about the growth of the Mexican beer industry: The Pacifico brewery in Mazatlan, built in 1903, occupies 2.5 acres. There are six other breweries belonging to its parent company, Grupo Modelo. The largest of these, in Zacatecas, occupies 165,000 acres!

We stayed in Mazatlan for two weeks. Our friend Gary of "Dash" showed us around, and we enjoyed some time with Marnie and Peter of "Two Pieces of Eight", who made the passage from Matanchen Bay with us.

By this time we had been in Mexico more than five months already and our tourist visas were about to expire. We dutifully found our way to the Immigration Office, expecting to be granted a six-month extension. There they told us we could only extend our paperwork by one month. This left us with an appealing option: Take a little holiday, leave the country and get a new visa at re-entry. So we did some quick research, bought flight tickets to Guatemala, and signed up for Spanish classes in Antigua.