Alive and Well in Mazatlan

Finally, I am surfacing. Many of you , not having heard from me for some time, may have thought I died, but alas I am still alive and having the best time of my life.

I wanted to stay in Mazatlan until after the annual Carnival celebration which just concluded this week. I have also used this time to do maintenance on the boat and to install an auto pilot that allows be to get some power naps as a sail the seven seas by myself. However I am still looking for a hottie to be my first mate. There are however some benefits of having an auto pilot. Auto doesn't complain and does not need food or beer to stay happy.

I do have one first mate ready to join me so I thought I would share a photo with you.


While waiting for the scheduled Carnival, I went to a baseball game with the owner of one of the cafes here in the marina. Baseball in Mexico is just like baseball in the states with one major advantage here. You can buy BEER while at your seat. They have beer dudes and dudetts.




























With friends, I climbed to the top of a hill near the main harbor entrance where the lighthouse is. The lighthouse is reportedly the highest on the eastern Pacific. It was a little smoggy that day from fires being burnt on nearby farms but you can get an idea of the shoreline in Mazatlan.










































Around the year-end holidays and before the Carnival, one of the marina businesses sponsors a benefit show put on my children from a local children's home. The Salvation Army houses these children that have been thrown in the street and or abused by their parents. Many are of ill health and need medical care. These are small children from a few months old to young teenagers that put on the show. They dance and sing in their native costumes and all of them are cute as bugs. I helped at the last one they had on the first day of the carnival by serving beer. Money raised by the selling of beer as well as other donations go to the home. Due to my participation we raised a record amount at the marina of around 10,000 pesos. That may not seem a lot of money to use but it goes a long way down here. Through intimidation, embarrassment (What do you mean that is all you can give?) and peer pressure I was able to get most people to come across with more money than they had planned. Someone was later quoted that I should have been given a mask and gun.

































































It is now time to share photos of the Carnival parade. As a courtesy and recognition of a great holiday, I first dressed up Dolce Vita for the events that followed.






















Mazatlan is alive with dancing, parties around town, small bands playing up and down the streets during the seven days of the Carnival. They enjoy fireworks here so you can imagine the large fireworks displays during the holiday. Easter is also a large event around the city. I won't be here for that but will have a chance to experience the festive environment on La Paz for Easter. The biggest event during the Carnival is the Parade. They have two days when the parade occurs so everyone has a chance to be there. It is colorful, noisy, festive, several beautiful women and girls and attractive men for the women to see and larger than life floats. Also for my friends and family back home that have seen the parades in Okabena, Minnesota there are some tractors pulling the floats. I will share one that shows a large John Deere.



Sun setting just before the start of the parade








This should give you an idea of the size of the crowds. This photo should a small crowd compared to what you see during the peak of the parade.


































































































































































































These are but a few of the photos I took during the parade. They are too numerous to share all on the blog but these should give you some idea what we all were able to see and experience.

I am now leaving Mazatlan on the 10th of March which is next Tuesday at 3:00 in the morning. I am sailing alone to an anchorage called Bay of the Dead. It was recently renamed to Bay of Dreams given the new development of condos along the beach. This first leg will last 38 hours and if my speed is what I have estimated I should arrive the next day around 5 in the afternoon. I will rest up until the next morning and will take the last 8 hour leg to La Paz.

I hope to see a lot of sea life and hopefully catch one yellow tail tuna to eat along the way.

I will be doing 1 or 2 days sails out of La Paz until I return from Robin's wedding on May 9th. Then I will spend the summer sailing up and down the Sea of Cortez.

Sorry it has been so long since my last blog but I had to wait to share something new with you instead of boring updates of what I have been doing. Boring for you to read but great fun for me to experience.

The offer is still and always open on invitation for anyone and all to come down to sail with me in and around paradise.

Until next time, be safe out there.

Denny

Mazatlan, Mexico

Dolce Vita and I became restless in La Paz so we decided to move on after nearly 6 months. The Sea of Cortez starts getting colder in November and the winds shift from the north so it is not the best time to cruise north in the sea this time of the year. So where do you go when you can't go North? You go south, and south I did, to Mazatlan on the mainland of Mexico.

I interviewed the guy in the photo below for crew to sail to Mazatlan but in the end I decided it was best to have Rich Orr from San Francisco as crew since Rich and I knew each other back home. Popeye, who goes by the name of Doug, insisted that we stock six barrels of spinach on the boat if he was to crew. I just didn't have the room for the rum that I wanted to stock if the boat was full of spinach.

















So off we set for our next adventure. We sailed the first day for about 8 hours before anchoring in the "Bay of the Dead". I was familiar with the anchorage since I had stopped there on my way to La Paz back back in May. The bay has been renamed by the state governor to "Bay of Dreams". The developers that are building million dollars condos and homes thought the old name might scare people away from buying a place. You think?

















Mazatlan is much larger than La Paz and many of the things that La Paz did not offer can be found here. The people here, as they were in La Paz, are very friendly and helpful. The prices here are cheaper than in La Paz given that most goods can be moved by land rather than my boat across the sea. Transportation here is also much easier to understand and use than it was in La Paz. Cab fares run between 50 and 70 Pesos for most of the places you need to go. In dollars that is about 50 cents after the exchange rate.

There are many modes of transportation around town as the photos below show. One of the public transportation modes not shown is a Police car. Yes it is true. One of the modes of public transportation are pickups. It is Mazatlan's version of the San Francisco's Cable Cars.






















































The women in Mazatlan are beautiful. Several people will tell you that the most beautiful women in Mexico are here. It is as if I died and went to heaven. However, just like anywhere, a few not so attractive women make it into town unnoticed.
















Since I am on the subject of the market, let me give you a few photos of the typical large market you find in larger cities. You can find anything you need here to feed your family and it is all fresh.
































































Near the market there is a large cathedral and a park or square across the street. A few block away is another square which is surrounded by restaurants and shops. This is a very popular place for tourists and locals alike. The square, or Machado Place, is empty for the most part during the day and livens up after 9 in the evening with people and small bands that play for those that are visiting.




























































This weekend is a religious holiday for the Catholics. Virgin of Guadalupe Day is celebrated all over town and is very festive. Go to the following link if you want to read the history of this day which is marked every December 12th. http://vivasancarlos.com/virgin.html

What is most enjoyable walking around the Cathedral is watching the small children dressed in the period cloths and having photos taken of them by their parents as they sit on a small donkey or in front of an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Here are some photos I took.



I went for a three mile kick along the Malacon which is the street and sidewalk along the beach. As in La Paz, there are several sculptures along the walk and also a fleet of fishing boats. I didn't realize that AAA has sponsored one of the fishing boats that you see in one of the photos. You may recognize a pattern of the photos I captured. It is not my fault. These are the sculptures.


I went on a dingy raft-up with friends up a small estuary near the marina we are in. Every Friday boats that want to participate meet at a time and place and ride out to a location that the organizer has chosen. Everyone bring an appetizer along to share with the other boaters and of course beer or wine for yourself. On this Friday, we rafted up near a small island where hundreds of birds come to each late afternoon to sleep for the evening. They all start arriving around sunset.


That is all for now. You may not see any new blogs from me for a while. I am having some repairs done on the boat and will likely go sailing for a couple of days after everything is back to normal. Friends on Gypsys Palace, a boat next to me, have invited me over for Christmas dinner. I will attempt to bake an apple pie to bring along. Wish me luck. We have also signed up for a New Years Eve party in town. Food, music, dancing and drinks are provided for the total cost for the evening of $30. Try that back in California!

Until next time, be safe out there and good luck to friends, Jim and Juanita, back in San Francisco on their planned departure for the start of their cruise to Mexico.