Club Nautico, Old Harbor Mazatlan

We moved South Trail down to the Mazatlan municipal anchorage with the help of our dear friend Capt. Jack Hinely and his fiancé, Elvia. We spent the day “moving” from our slip at the Isla Mazatlan downtown via this great little anchorage at Deer Island where we slipped in for a swim. The municipal anchorage is much more to our liking than the Marina portion north that we spent two weeks at. First off, it is an anchorage and therefore feels much more cruisin’ than a slip. You have to get your dinghy to shore and that requires a little effort. Once on shore, it is a quick jaunt via Pulmonia (indigenous taxi’s of Mazatlan. Picture a golf cart with a VW engine. Good times!) to downtown which is just so fabulous, unique and picturesque. Jack and Elvia live just a few blocks from historic downtown and about a 20 minute walk from where were anchored. They took us to all sorts of fabulous places. We ate at the old town square with Dover. We bought fresh shrimp from the outdoor tiendas and went to a local cantina to have them prepared for us. We went to the historic downtown cathedral. We went to the municipal Mercado where we saw beef and pig heads. Elvia informed me that folks do actually cook these items and they are delicious. After tasting Elvia’s fabulous cooking, I do not doubt that she could make a pig head that I would savor! Instead though, she made me and Craig Chili Rellenos stuffed with shrimp. The best Chili Rellenos we have ever had. Dover got a bowl of Mexican rice from Elvia and now she is his absolute favorite person. It was a very nice dinner for all three of us at Jack and Elvia’s casa. It was on a Saturday night and when we left to walk home to the anchorage all the neighbors were in the streets with tables and chairs and food and music on almost every block! It was magical. Craig and I are not night people. Heck, sometimes we are not day people either. This was a rare look, for us, at the neighborhood, local night life of this amazing city.

Craig and Dover after a meal at one of the lovely cafes in the old town square...  Dover tried to jump on top of the table when we arrived!  Not a practiced city dog!  He was very good after that and sat under the table without so much as a peep while we finished our meal... 

Jack, Elvia and Dover sailing into Mazatlan Harbor on South Trail after spending a few hours swimming and marveling at the sites on Deer Island.

Elvia, Craig and Jack purchasing local shrimp on the street.  We then went to a local Cantina around the corner that cooks the shrimp for you.  Elvia, who was born in Mazatlan, was our designated haggler.  She knows what the prices should be for just about everything and will not let vendors get the better of her gringo friends!  All Hail Elvia!  She really showed us an amazing time in her city! 

Tails from Isla Gato, Mazatlan

"Cats and dogs living together...  Mass hysteria!"  Was that Caddyshack or Ghostbusters?  Definately Bill Murray...  It has been an odd week here for all of us, especially Dover, which I will get to shortly.  First and foremost though, Craig had been long battling a bout of Montezuma's, or so we thought, and was very dehydrated and weak upon arrival to Mazatlan.  He has been for weeks, but we just kept chaulking it up to the demands of the trip.  As soon as we got into Mazatlan and got the boat settled, we took him to Sharp's Hospital.  Long story short, he had contracted amoebic dysentery, we think in Ensenada during all the storms.  The doctor, who we liked very much, put him on IV fluids, took blood tests, etc and had us out the door in a little under three hours with three presciptions for a little over $100.  Craig just finished his prescribed treatments today and is feeling much better.  He is also happy that he can now start to resume eating his favorite local dishes and cervesas again, as part of his prescription was a bland, no alchohol, no spices, no fried food diet.  Not very fun to have to do on vacation in Mexico.  Thank goodness it is over!  Hopefully, we will never have to repeat that fun again.

We are currently in a slip on Isla Mazatlan which is part of a small marina harbor resort area just north of the main municipal harbor in Mazatlan.  Our friend and colleague, Neill Randle is berthed here as well.  We delivered his new solar panels into Mexico for him, which he was thrilled to finally, after months, have in his possesion!  He met us at the harbor entrance, which is teeny tiny, via his dinghy and led us to our slip for the next two weeks on the Isla.  First thing we noticed upon pulling in was our neighbors with whom we share a common finger had two cats on board and did not look happy to see our barking, overly excited Dover.  As soon as I disembarked South Trail with Dover on leash to get him a walk/run after our 32 hour transit across the Sea of Cortez, I noticed everyone staring at us like we were from a different planet... and we ran into more cats on the docks.  I take him up the ramp to the island and we give it a walk about.  There are some new developments and construction also going on.  Everybody though is staring at us and I'm beginning to feel a bit self-conscieous.  Do I really smell THAT bad from the trip?  Does Dover have blood coming from his mouth?  We stopped in an open, undeveloped area of the island and I let him off leash to run some of that energy off.  Workers from some of the high rise construction stopped and watched him.  It was like they had never seen a dog before.  After a good run, I called him back and on our walk back to the boat, we saw more cats.  Cats were everywhere.  There were no other dogs...Welcome to Kitty Island!  After two days of being here, that is six dog walks in dog owner speak, we got a letter from the marina saying that "even though we don't allow animals on the island, you can walk your dog off the island per instructions from the security staff".  Nobody mentioned that they didn't allow animals when they took our money for two weeks of moorage?!  After two more days walking Dover directly from the boat to the shortest distance off the island, the security staff stopped us.  Apparently, they didn't like us walking him by the pool area (the shortest distance)  Now, we walk him pretty much over half the island to get him off the island.  It is crazy- making logic, but hey, as long as the powers that be are happy.

We are slowly getting out of the Island area and exploring as Craig starts feeling better.  We found the local beach access here for Dover and it is a nice little hike to get there for all of us.   The beach is taken-up by hotels and condos.  We took some pics of some of the cooler looking condos.  What is so great is that they have these huge yards in the back of the condo, as well as the beach access.  I love the use of color too!  For Valentine's Day Craig really rallied and we went to a local restaurant, Gus Gus for very nice Arachera Platillos.  We are still trying to find out what cut of beef Arachera is.  All we know, is that we really enjoy it.  We also have been staying aboard and playing Master and Commander which is a board game based on the movie and actually quite fun.  You can only move your boats based on wind direction.  Craig has been kicking my ass at it, but Admiral Swack may lose the battle, but not the war!  Thanks to our neighbors Bill and Kathy for putting this one at the recycle area...  We love it!

We made very good time on our crossing from Puerto Los Cabos to Mazatlan.  It took us 32 hours door to door thanks to a consistent 15-20 knot breeze for the bulk of the crossing.  We double reefed the main, rolled out about 70% of our working jib, kept Goldie, our diesel cranking to help push us comfortably through the trough and had a pretty good ride.  Neill Randle, dinghied out to the breakwall to lead us into our new slip and home for two weeks, Isla Marina, Mazatlan on Wednesday morning.  We will be in this slip on the Isla until Feb. 25th and then we are hoping to head south to Isla Isabella, San Blas, Chacala, Punta Mita, La Cruz, Puerto Vallarta...  Here are some pics from our crossing to Mazatlan and life on Isla Gato...

"Dover, we are not in Cabo anymore..."

Dover is beyond happy as we pull up to the breakwall at Puerto Los Cabos. He knows this gig. Breakwalls and jetties mean boat slips, and boat slips mean walks and potentially, his absolute favorite, beach runs. His wildest dreams were coming true.


We pulled into this new marina development which is about 15 nm from Bahia Cabo San Lucas. We got a deal on a slip for 2 nights while we provisioned, rinsed the boat with fresh water, and generally took a break from living on the hook. The slip was still on the par with transient slips in SoCal, but man was the clientele different. The security guard showed us our slip via quad from land, and we were greeted by marina staff driving a golf cart who whisked us away to the office for our check-in. Dover enjoyed riding in the cart, which was a first for him. This new development is only partially completed, but the parts which are completed are filled with some pretty impressive motor yachts and sport fishers. We definitely did not fit in re: our “yacht”, and there was only one other cruising sailboat in the whole harbor that we could see. They were very nice to us though, and the little village that was up the ramp from our dock was very quaint and nice.

We had some tacos and cervesas at this little hotel café up the block. The following morning we went to another local restaurant down the street called Ali’s International Café, which was a house with a palapa restaurant section. The woman who ran the place was very nice. They didn’t have menus and so we just asked for café, huevos con frijoles y harina tortillas and she made this fabulous scrambled egg dish with veggies and peppers that was simply amazing. The coffee was some of the best and strongest (Thank God) that we have had the pleasure of enjoying here in Mexico. We ate with the company of her black dog, Baghdad, and her calico cat who were both respectful of the eating time, but when that was not happening, really wanted to be petted and we indulged!

Dover had a huge beach to run and swim at, and he loved the fact that we didn’t make him wear a leash when we were going into town. None of the other dogs had leashes. It seemed unfair to do that to him. Also, with his zapper collar on he heals pretty well when asked to if a car is coming and we want him to be close. He greeted the local town dogs with great enthusiasm, and they really just didn’t react like American dogs do. They were very laid back, very into conserving their energy, and didn’t quite know how to react to the little hyper black dog. Dover seemed a little disappointed, but didn’t let their lack of wanting to play deter him from enjoying his shore leave. He got a lesson in cactus too as he rambunctiously ran through the well coifed desert landscaping. Nothing horrible, but got pricked a couple of times and then we noticed him watching his distance to plants and smelling a bit more cautiously.

On Saturday night they had this comedy show on this little island across the channel from our boat. It was quite the scene when these big yachts pulled in just for the show. We watched the sunset and tried to hear from our boat, but it just wasn’t loud enough so we popped in a movie and called it a night. It was a peaceful, no wake or roll night, and worth every penny!
It is Monday afternoon now and we are getting ready to untie from this dock and head out to sea at night for a Wednesday morning arrival in our first port on the mainland, Mazatlan. We are very excited. Mazatlan is a new port for us, and we have a slip lined-up courtesy of our friend Neill, at the Isla Marina for about half what we are paying here. We plan to stay for Carnival in Mazatlan which by all accounts is something to be experienced. We also may try to go inland and take a train ride through the Copper Canyon. I digress. First, we must cross the Sea of Cortez safely tonight and tomorrow!

Hangin' at The Horn of Mexico

Cabo San Lucas...  Lot's of folks here for their vacations staying at the over abundance of beach hotels or on the cruise ships trying to pack in a lot of FUN! FUN! FUN! All that activity turns this very peaceful anchorage at 6am into a raging cauldron by 10am with more potential than the open ocean for death or dismemberment.  Dover is on deck warning every banana boat, Seadoo, parasail boat and seemingly taunting sea lion population that he is watching and ready to defend his vessel.  We came into the harbor last night at 9:30pm completely blinded by all the hotel and bar lights.  We have been in this harbor twice before in '05 but I do not remember the amount of hotels, condos and developments.  It looks like it has grown to twice the size that it was. 

Our leg from Bahia Santa Maria to Cabo started out wet.  We left on a cloudy Tuesday morning which turned into rain about an hour outside the harbor.   Craig is borderline fanatic about checking the weather before we head out anywhere, which is a very good thing.  He usually checks the wind and wave forecasts though, not precipitaiton.  Somehow we were both under this blissful delusion that the "weather" portion of our journey was over.  It wasn't a driving rain.  The light wind forecasts were correct, but it was very wet and produced a fetch and albeit light, wind that was heading us.  We were going approximately 3.5 knots motorsailing on a presumably downwind, downswell run...  Welcome to El Nino!!!!  The rain lasted about 7 hours and then just partially cloudy skies.  We hugged the coast down so as to minimize the cape affect.  It was still pretty rolly at 20 nm from the cape, but we got a NE shore breeze at sundown which enabled us to get in pretty tight around the cape.

Once again we saw a huge amount of Grey Whales on our trip.  We have nicknamed Dover, Ensign Ahab, because he has displayed the uncanny knack of smelling the whales minutes before we see them.  He's basically The Whale Wisperer.  They are amazing creatures and at times we had dozens surrounding the boat.  Seeing a full body whale breach the surface of the ocean never gets old...  We just say a little prayer that they don't inadvertently do it under our boat.

We are here for 2 days and then will trade the washer machine anchorage for a quieter slip up the road about 15 nm in San Jose del Cabo.  Once there, we will provision and get ready to cross The Sea of Cortez headed for Mazatlan and our friend Neill who is waiting patiently for the solar panels of his that we are bringing onboard with us.