We woke up a little after sunrise and sat in the cockpit having coffee and getting a look at our surroundings in the daylight. Isla Venados, to the west, is green and inviting, with a rocky shoreline that suggests good snorkeling. The tourist pangas that began arriving before we left confirmed that. The hazy skyline of Mazatlan, to the east, is an interesting collage of buildings - some old, some new, some tall, some squat, some half-finished - as well as some beach palapas and radio towers.

We called Marina El Cid to confirm that we had a slip and were requested to tie up to the fuel dock to discuss our slip options. We pulled up SCOOTS' anchor and motored north toward the breakwater that protects Mazatlan's marinas. The wind was still light, and while the water where we were was relatively calm, we noticed that some swells had set up, coming from the northwest.

These swells, we observed, were actually quite large, rolling in unhindered from the Pacific, and smashing themselves against the beaches. We were glad that we weren't doing any dinghy landings on those beaches today!

But as we approached the breakwater, with its rocky jetties and its dogleg path, we realized that the swells were not only breaking on the beaches...they were also breaking on the jetties and across the mouth of the breakwater! This was going to be another exciting breakwater entrance, a la Santa Cruz last September. As we neared the breakwater, I was particularly glad to have had that prior experience.

The ebbing tide opposing the incoming swells at the harbor entrance caused them to bunch up and break, pushing walls of green water toward the southern jetty; not what you want, as you're negotiating your boat through the narrow channel between two rock walls. But that was where we needed to go, so in we went.



We goosed up the throttle, and steered through two of these breakers during our transit of the breakwater entrance.



Then we were through!



At the fuel dock, a man approached us and said that he had taken photos of our transit through the breakwater, and offered to send them to us. I hadn't even seen him standing there, on the shore, as I was at the helm at the time and was intently focused on two things: the breakers and the rocks. He did send us the photos, some of which I've included here. In the photos, the waves look smaller than they actually were; you'll just have to take my word for it.

Once at Marina El Cid, we were given a slip on C Dock, where we met some other cruisers on the boats Slappey Two and Gypsy Wind. We'd seen Slappey Two sporadically as we transited the California coast, and had done the Baja Haha with Gypsy Wind, but hadn't met their crews until we all arrived in Mazatlan. Mike from Pelagic and Richard from Sarita also came by to say hello- we'd seen Sarita in Half Moon Bay, and had done the Haha with Pelagic, but hadn't met their crews.

We spent the first afternoon giving SCOOTS a thorough washdown, which she so rightly deserved, and definitely needed, after her previous days of saltwater dousing. We now know that squid prints come off the nonskid deck material much more easily than they do off the smooth deck surfaces. Ah, the things you learn!

There is quite a bit of surge in the marina, the result of those breakers at the entrance, and also the boat traffic. SCOOTS danced in her slip day and night. Eric kept adjusting - and then readjusting - her docklines, to control her movements.

The staff informed us the next day that SCOOTS would have to move to A Dock, so we made plans to move her the following morning when there would be a high tide (timing is important because this estuary gets a good current going during tide changes AND there's not much water in the marina at low tide) and calm winds (it's always easier to move a large sailboat in tight spaces when there's not much wind).

The move was a piece of cake, and we are now tied up in Slip A-14, recently vacated by Pelagic, and next door to Sarita. We've also already met some of our new neighbors, who are quite nice. The slip is roomy, close to the resort pools, and away from the 24-hour security light near C Dock that had shone in our cabin hatch. The surge, while still present, is much less insistent than it is on C Dock. This was definitely a step up. I think we'll stay for awhile.


The entrance on a calm day