Still in Old Harbor

Beautiful Day in Mazatlan

We were supposed to leave on Sunday around midnight to head north and to make our way to La Paz but the weather started to look poor for that three day journey. So, we have postponed our trip to a better weather window, which is this Friday.

 

Cyndi posing like the mural behind her.

Marcus and Cyndi

Cydi and me

Since my last post we have done a few things outside of the boat but a lot of things on the boat. One afternoon we took the bus to the other side of town to visit our friends Cyndi and Marcus at their Marina and went for a swim in the pool. We also used the marina showers, which were spotless and had excellent water pressure. This was the first shower we had had in almost a week. Such a treat! After getting cleaned up we all took another bus even further out and had dinner at a place that came highly recommended. The setting was gorgeous…an outdoor restaurant overlooking the beach, but the food was a total let down! Rick’s dinner had disgusting tasting meat in it that was supposed to be chicken. And he found a toothpick tucked inside his food and almost choked on it. I ordered a fish taco that tasted horrible. The fish was chopped up in little pieces and was sort of an orange color. It definitely looked like it came out of a can; a can that had been opened and left out for weeks. We alerted the waiters of our dislike but they just made jokes about it and never apologized or took the meals off of our bill. Cyndi and Marcus had perfectly good meals.

Rick and I made the long journey back by bus to our anchorage at Old Harbor. As soon as we got back onto the boat we scavenged the boat for food!

I forgot to mention that prior to us going out to visit our friends a Catamaran had come into the anchorage and practically anchored on top of us. Rick was livid. As you can see in the pictures he’s ridiculously close.  Rick almost did not want to leave because he was nervous of what might happen when we were not there. Would his anchor drag and drift right into ours?

Too close for comfort!

So all-night Rick was awake watching to see if our boats would collide.  As soon as the sun came up, Rick got into the dinghy and talked to the owner of the Cat to ask him to move. He seemed putout by Rick’s request but said that he would later.  Well, he did move his boat but ended up even closer than he was the first time. Rick again asked him to move (this time he only needed to talk since they were in talking distance).  The man scoffed and said that he had 200’ of chain out so not to worry. That makes it even worse! Anyway the man left his boat in the dinghy and Rick was left to worry while trying to get work done on the boat. I was at the market during all of this. But as soon as I got back from the market, Rick and I decided to pick up our anchor and move further away from the catamaran.

We’ve met all of the other boaters around the anchorage all of which are very nice. And, I think all of us are headed north as well. All of us waiting for that weather window. We plan to leave Friday and they plan to leave Thursday evening. The only reason they are not leaving when we do is because there is some superstition about sailing on a Friday. Apparently it is widely believed throughout the world that to sail on a Friday is to invite disaster. This old rule may have originated with the crucifixion of Christ, which occurred on a Friday, but the belief is common among other sailors of other religions as well. 

On Sunday, Cyndi and Marcus were going to the Juarez Market and invited us to go along. Rick really wasn’t excited about going because he had a list of things he wanted to get done on the boat. So, I went alone. I had to take two different buses to there and not really know where I was going. I arrived in a part of town that I had never been. It was very rough and very poor.  I stood on a corner right in the middle of the market, which was two blocks long by two blocks wide swarming with people and tents with food cooking, used shoes and clothing, pots and pans, etc. There was an indoor area with butchers chopping meat and throwing fish on ice. Flies were buzzing around all of it. I could hardly stomach when I walked by a display of whole pig heads and pig feet, cow liver, tongue etc… It seems like the people of Mexico use (for example with the cow, they use the hide for all types of leather goods) and eat every part there is of an animal and leave nothing to waste. 

 

This one is already cooked. :(

Notice the protective gloves while meat handling??? Not!

Cyndi overwhelmed by all the stuff at the Juarez Market

Cyndi, Marcus and I walked through every nook and cranny of this Market and finally had enough of walking through crowds of people. Either we needed to take a break and get a bite to eat or leave. I opted to grab a bite to eat and then leave.  So we ate right there in the midst of the Market. Cyndi and Marcus had shrimp tacos and I had a Chile Relleno. All was delicious. We left shortly after, each going our separate ways.

The next day Rick and I did not do much until the afternoon. I got on another bus and went to search for a Mega (Supermercado) and Rick stayed aboard to Cetol the wood on the boat. This was about a four-hour journey for me. I actually got a little lost while riding on the bus, so I got off at another store that was similar and that I knew would have some of the things I was looking for. After shopping I jammed all of the food in my dry bag and threw it over my back. It about knocked me down it was so heavy! Then I had to walk to the bus stop. My knees were buckling at times beneath me.  I ended up back at the dinghy dock where Rick & Harley picked me up.

This morning, Rick and I thought we’d walk Harley up the hill to El Faro again, but I thought going back to the Plazeola Merchado would be more fun. It’s still a good walk and it’s such a cool part of town. We had a nice time walking around walking in and out of some really cool shops and art studios. While walking down the street admiring the buildings, a woman, in her early 70’s, wearing a little housecoat, came out from her doorway and motioned us to come inside. She said she would show us the way most homes in Mexico are designed. She said there is a courtyard in the center of most every home and the bedrooms, kitchen, living room etc are all built around the courtyard. Her home was LOVELY! It had a gorgeous kitchen…very authentic Mexican style with pottery sitting on the cupboard shelves, tile floors and high ceilings with large ceiling fans. She had a beautiful crystal chandelier in the living room with comfy oversized sofa’s, very stout hand crafted wooden furniture and colorful artwork on all of the walls. She had turned her home into two homes. She said that she was born and raised in this house and was getting too old to take care of it all so she turned it into two homes. She rents out the other part of the house. She was very sweet; I was so moved by her kindness to bring us into her home.

The doorway to the house of the woman who let us into her home

A little restaurant where we had lunch

Set of tools seen on a gallery wall

Streets of Mazatlan

Inside of a little gallery

Nice little courtyard

Plaza Machado area

After walking around some more and having a bite to eat in the Machado Plaza we walked back to the boat by way of the Malecon. We stopped on the way and sat on a cement wall overlooking the water. We even let Harley off her leash to have a swim. As soon as we took her collar off she leaped off of the wall, which was about 7’ high with a bark of excitement, and ran right into the surf.  This was the first time we have let her in the ocean since Puerto Vallarta. It was fun to watch her having so much fun.

Now we are back to the boat on our computers.

Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico

At the top of El Faro

Today is our fourth day anchored in Old Harbor in Mazatlan.  We plan to be here until Sunday night.

View from El Faro

A view of Notre Isle through Rick's fingers. (the picture didn't quite work out the way I wanted)

The Mazatlan Harbor Entrance

The day after we got here we put on our running shoes and walked/jogged up the mountain that leads to El Faro (the lighthouse), which is right behind our anchorage. It’s about a 35-45 minute climb in the hot sun. It’s pretty steep and Rick, Harley and I were a little out of breath. But the effort is worth it once you reach the top. The views are amazing! We saw a lot of other people huffing and puffing up the mountain but there were others that were running up and down with ease. One young man in particular really impressed us with how many times he ran up and down the mountain. He ran up and down at least 5 times in Rick and our first round. This inspired Rick so he decided to run down the mountain. I was not that inspired and walked and sometimes jogged. Once we got to the bottom we were both complaining of sore knees and calves.  But that did not stop us from walking further into town. We walked over to where the Cruise ships and Ferryboats are docked and had a cold drink at a fish restaurant on the water nearby.  We soon walked back to the boat.

Our Lady of Guadalupe statue just around the corner from the Ferry Terminal 

Later that afternoon we took a bus into town to meet our friends Cyndi and Marcus for an early dinner. Marcus gave us directions on which bus to take and where to get off of the bus, but none of that happened as easily as he described. First of all the bus was going so fast you could not even begin to read a street signs and if the bus slowed down enough for you to actually read a sign, the sign was all rubbed off and unreadable.  We realized along the way that we were way beyond where we needed to be, so we got off the bus and crossed the street to get on another bus going back the other way. Just as I was getting off our original bus, a motorcycle that was speeding by between the sidewalk and the bus almost lambasted me.  If I’d stepped off a second later I would have been smooshed. Fortunately Rick grabbed me just in time! After my close call, we crossed the street and ended up getting on another bus going the opposite direction. We finally ended up close to where we were supposed to be and got off the bus. We walked a block from there over to the Machado Plaza where we met Cyndi and Marcus and then walked together to the restaurant. The restaurant they had wanted to take us to was closed. They serve Pappas Rellenas (stuffed potato’s), which are supposed to be the bomb. I’m actually glad it did not work out, because one, potatoes are not on my list of things to eat and two; the place where we ended up eating, El Tunel, was really good! Their food was very fresh and simple and the prices were very low which we like. When we were in Puerto Vallarta area, the prices were pretty high compared to all of the other places we had been eating. Even to buy food for provisioning was high.

 

Inside the church in El Centro

Church in El Centro

Plaza Machado

Where we ate dinner with Cyndi and Marcus

Vegetable Tostada

Angela Peralta Theater - Located just off Plaza Machado in Centro Historico - Hosts important theatre and musical performances.

The Plaza

Getting a ride home (back to the boat) in the Pulmania

The streets along the Plaza Machado

We walked around the plaza after dinner for a while before parting ways. Rick and I did not take the bus back, but we did try out one of the Pulmania’s. A Pulmania is a taxi that looks like a cross between a golf cart and a Volkswagen Thing. The doors are missing and the roof is just a fiberglass awning/canopy. You almost feel like you are riding in a carriage. The price is negotiated at the start of the trip after you tell the driver where you want to go.

We made it home safely…back to the boat. After we got onboard we had to hoist the dinghy up and out of the water by the halyard and leave it hanging out of harms way. Apparently there have been a lot of dinghy motor robberies of cruisers in Mazatlan, amongst other things. The thieves are very bold and seem to stop at nothing to get what they want. Our friends on SV Enchanter got their dinghy motor, two SUP boards & two bicycles stolen from their boat when they were anchored at Stone Island, which is also in Mazatlan. The thieves came on board around 1:30 in the morning (while our friends were sleeping), grabbed what they could on deck and cut the lock that was holding the motor to the side rail.  We have heard of lots of thefts here so we are trying to be as careful as possible with our belongings. We hope that Harley will also alert us if anyone climbs on board!

Day three here, we got up and took the dinghy to the dinghy dock, locked it up and walked to and along the Malecon into Old Town. We came to a crossroads and had to choose between walking over the Machado Plaza (a few blocks away) or continue walking on the Malecon as far as it would take us. I wanted to do both but chose the Malecon. I’m not sure if it was a good choice or not. We ended up walking a total of 17 or so miles; me wearing flip-flops and Rick in his boat shoes. The Malecon alone is a 13-mile walk from start to finish. But we walked a couple miles to the Malecon and then we walked a couple miles past the Malecon. We took a Pulmania from that point to Marina Mazatlan, and then walked to Marina Fonatur where Cyndi and Marcus are docked. We stayed for a few hours visiting with them in their cockpit and didn’t leave until 5:45p.m. We did not walk back to the boat for obvious reasons; we took a Pulmania back to the boat. We attempted to take a bus but that didn’t go too well.  Out of the group of people we were standing with waiting to get on the bus we were the only ones the driver would not let on. He actually shut the doors right as we were about to get on and then drove off! Rick and I assumed he did not want Harley on the bus and didn’t want to deal with it so avoided it all together by driving away.

Took a break at the end of  the 13 mile walk along the Malecon

Stopped to watch the fisherman feed their leftover catch to the birds

Stopped for Mahi Mahi taco's at Dock 9 at Mazatlan Marina

One of the lovely bronze sculptures along the Malecon

A spiral staircase that takes you to a slide which plummets you down into a pool of seawater

After getting back to the boat in the dark, the winds had piped up and so we let a little more rode out just to be safe. We heard the winds were supposed to get up to 30kts, but they only got up to 20kts. I’m glad the winds died down; otherwise we would have been awake all night with worry. And, after our long day of walking, we really needed the rest.

Today, day four, we woke up feeling tired and very sore, our legs especially! We have not gone for any walk into town yet. We are just getting some things done on the boat for our trip up north. Rick had to fix the Tiller Pilot, which he did and now he’s working on taking the staysail boom off and rigging up something else so we will have more room on our deck. I managed to take Harley to shore by dinghy earlier this morning but then came right back after she did what she needed to do. This was my first dinghy ride without Rick. I did fine except for when it was time to come back to the boat, I could not get the motor started. I wasn’t pulling it hard enough or something. I started to panic for a moment but fortunately there was a nice man on the dock doing some maintenance work that I asked, “Por favor, puede ayudarme?” (Please, can you help me?). I guess I asked him correctly because he jumped into the dinghy and started the motor for me in one pull.  He also untied the dinghy and pointed me in the right direction. 

Later today we hope to go to the Machado Plaza and then to the Mercado in El Centro.  

Stay tuned…

Leaving Paradise

Harley's favorite spot is on top of the companionway 

On Sunday, April 3^rd, we finally cast off our dock lines from Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta. I was feeling a little nervous to leave for fear that I might not fully recuperate from the way I’d been feeling and may relapse to feeling poorly again, but on the other hand I was ready to get going North and to see some new places. Rick had been going stir crazy and so he was more than ready to move on.

We had heard several different weather reports and weren’t sure of which one to go with so we went with the more conservative report stating that the weather would be reasonable for sailing North up until Tuesday afternoon.  In order to make it to Mazatlan by Tuesday morning, before the supposed strong winds and big seas hit, we needed to leave in the afternoon. So we did just that.

We headed out and into Banderas Bay with a reefed main and a Yankee. The winds were blowing nearly 20 kts but we didn’t seem to be moving very fast. We figured that there must have been a strong current moving against us. So we ended up taking down the jib, centering the main and just motoring. The wind ended up on our nose soon anyway so there was no point in really trying to sail. So basically the entire 3 days of our trip we motor sailed because the winds were on our nose and 15 kts at that. With the engine running hard we could only get up to 3.7kts at the most. We were planning to go at least 5kts most of the way. But that never happened.

Some Almond Butter I was dipping my celery into while on watch. I read the container before putting it away….Hhhm. It was good, but not THAT good!

Sunset

Before going to Mazatlan, we stopped at Isla Isabella. This is where the Blue Footed Boobies congregate which I really have wanted to see.  We arrived there Monday morning and motored around the island looking for a place to anchor. It did not look like an easy landing on shore once we anchored and we only had a few hours to kill. And it’s such an ordeal to get the dinghy off of the boat and into the water, attaching the motor and so on.  We decided that we would come back next season when we have a couple of days to kill. That was fine by me. I was more worried about beating any storm that was coming than to see the Boobies.

We continued motoring the rest of the day and into the night still fighting wind, current and swell.

That night when I was on watch, I started hearing slapping in the water next to the cockpit where Harley and I were sitting. I thought it was just waves slapping on the side of the boat, but took a look anyway. When I got a closer look, I realized the noise was coming from dolphins swimming and jumping out of the water. What I had been hearing was them diving back into the water. What was even cooler about having the dolphins swim with me was seeing them underwater as their bodies lit up with the bioluminescence moving fast as freight trains.  Harley and I were mesmerized for quite sometime. I wanted to wake Rick but he had at least one more hour of sleep left before his watch and I figured he might see some of his own later.

One thing that I found interesting about night sailing alone is that I have no fear whatsoever. Of all of the things I felt I would have been afraid of before we left on our journey, 5 months ago, was sailing at night in the dark alone. But I’m finding it’s not so dark if there are stars out and especially if the moon is full.  I’m not really alone either; because Harley is sleeping right next to me and Rick is just down below if I need him. I also find the darkness and the movement of the boat quite soothing and peaceful. The only hard part is fighting off heavy eyelids and feeling tired. But with our two-hour shifts it’s not so bad.

Rick attempting to take a little nap before nightfall

Anyway, just after Rick’s watch and just as I was coming on mine, he informed me that the Tiller Pilot was not working. He tried to jury-rig a line to the tiller to hold it on course, but to no avail. I ended up hand steering for the next two hours. I didn’t realize how fortunate I was to have an autopilot until it wasn’t working anymore.  We have another double overnighter coming up when we sail to La Paz, so I’m hoping we can get that issue fixed before then.

As we quietly approached the Mazatlan Harbor entrance in the stillness of the morning, I came out from down below to a sea as smooth as silk and a sunrise lighting up the sky in hues of pink, yellow and grey. Good morning Mazatlan!

We entered the channel and turned left past the breakwater and anchored in the Old Harbor Anchorage. Not too soon after we anchored, our friends Cyndi and Marcus on SV Rebecca called and welcomed us to Mazatlan. They are at a marina about 6 miles away from where we are. We have plans to meet up with them tomorrow in downtown Mazatlan for dinner.  Unfortunately for them but fortunate for us, they are still here in Mazatlan. They arrived last week and have been stuck here due to engine problems. They are waiting for parts from the U.S. to be delivered.  If their parts come and their engine is running perfectly by the time we plan to leave, we will most likely buddy boat with them to La Paz.

Anchored at Old Harbor. El Faro in the background

After tidying up the boat after two nights of sailing, we put the dinghy in the water and took Harley to shore. She could hardly wait to go but was being very patient. Anyway, once to shore and finding a patch of grass for Harley, we continued walking. We walked into Old Town by way of the Malecon. It was really a beautiful walk along the water with waves crashing on the rocks that backed up to the wall that we were walking on.  We stopped for a bite to eat at the only place that looked open. The food was not that great and sort of a let down.  I’m afraid Rick is suffering from the lunch at this moment (7 hours later). He said while he was eating his lunch that the meat in his tortilla tasted like fish, not like they made a mistake in the order, but that maybe the meat was not good. It would be nice if we both could be feeling well at the same time. I am thankfully feeling pretty much back to normal as of yesterday. Thank you GOD! But now Rick is feeling crummy. I’m praying it’s only temporary!

Tomorrow we have lots of walking and exploring in store.

A Day in Puerto Vallarta

  

Friday morning, Rick and I took the bus into PV. The bus we took was one of the bigger more comfortable buses that have air-conditioning (a real treat). It costs 15 pesos rather than the 7 pesos that you pay on the smaller vans. And it’s a more direct route.

We made it to Lepe's home/museum

Signs leading to the museum, getting my hopes up

Parked in the courtyard

After we got dropped off as far as the bus would take us, we had to transfer to another bus that would take us closer into old town. As I mentioned in our last blog I am on a quest to find the Casa Museo Manuel Lepe. So I plugged the address into my phone’s Google Maps and off we went on foot. Google Maps had us walking up hills, in circles and ending up on dead end streets. We turned off the phone and just started asking people for directions. We were getting so frustrated with misinformation that we almost gave up feeling the whole thing was a hoax. Finally a police officer was the most helpful with his directions and we made it to our destination! I was so happy we found it, I almost cried! We walked up a driveway and around the back of an old looking white brick building that opened up to a courtyard with a smaller building in the very back with a sign saying, Manuel Lepe Museum - Gallery. Yahoo! This smaller building looked like someone’s home. It was a cute little building with views of the city and the ocean.  I imagined this must have been the place where Lepe painted. A lot of his paintings are of this view. We walked to the door, which was shut and protected with bars. I was thinking the museum was closed or something and almost turned away. Then Rick saw a doorbell and pushed it.  Voila! A small cute little woman opened the door. I asked her if this was the Museum. She shook her head and said, “no, no existo”.  I looked over her head and into the house and saw some of his works. So I pointed to them and said…in the best Spanish I could muster, I can see his paintings. She just kept shaking her head saying no, no, lo siento (i'm sorry), and closed the door. My heart sank and tears welled up in my eyes, and a lump formed in my throat. I was so disappointed.  Rick gave me a big hug and then we walked slowly out of the courtyard, down the driveway and back on the road. I was thinking, had it been my mother in this situation, she would not have taken no for an answer and would have weaseled her way into the home and gotten a tour. But I am not my mother. There was a reason that the woman did not want me in her home and I needed to respect that. Maybe the museum was really non-existent as the women said and she was just a family member who was now living in Lepe’s home and able to keep his works to enjoy, to keep private.

View from Lepe's home

So, now what? We didn’t really have any plans to do anything else. So we decided while we were here to do a little exploring and maybe find a place for lunch. We didn’t walk too far until we found a place to eat. The food was ok, but not as good as the people watching. After lunch we continued walking around really enjoying the sights. We even walked through a few art galleries even though there were no signs of Lepe. This part of PV had an entire different feel from our first impression when we were at the Malecon.  Rick and I both looked at each other and said, why haven’t we been hanging out here more? I guess you just can’t come here during Semana Santa! There were still signs of Holy Week present when we walked down to the beach. Literally tons of people were on the beach and in the water.  My guess was that it was still the crowd from Guadalajara enjoying their vacation.

 

Walking over a bridge in Old Town

Grafitti or Wall Art I like to call it

The Streets of PV

Interesting way of wiring

Love the Mexican art! So colorful!

The beaches were wall to wall umbrellas

Along the Malecon

Love interesting Doorways!

We slowly walked back through town to catch a bus back to Nuevo Vallarta. We had to make a pit stop on the way at the Walmart to get a few provisions. Food at our Marina is very expensive almost like being back home prices.

We got back to our boat, barbequed and settled in for the night. It was a good day.

I’m starting to feel better so we may leave either tomorrow or Monday for Mazatlan. We have a short 3-day weather window. If we don’t leave soon, like by Monday, we will be stuck here for another week at least waiting for softer seas & winds.  That’s not that much of a problem because we do like it here, but we are starting to run out of time to get to San Carlos by May 1^st. San Carlos is where we will leave our boat for the summer when we head back to Sacramento. We originally wanted to stop at Punta de Mita on the way so we could surf, and then stop at Isla Isabel to see the Blue Footed Boobies. Then of course stop in our first favorite spot, San Blas/Mantachen Bay and then end up in Mazatlan before going into the Sea of Cortez.

We will not have Internet until Mazatlan so stay tuned.