Proud Dad

Many of you know that I returned to California to give my daughter away at her wedding. This is the first official photo taken of Robin and Hector as husband and wife. Everyone had a great time and the bride was as happy as I have ever seen her and as you can see she make a beautiful bride.

I am very proud of both of my children, Steve and Robin. Steve is married to a wonderful woman, Jessie, and they have two wonderful children that I enjoyed visiting while I was home. Now it is Robin's and Hector's turn.

I will start sailing through the Sea of Cortez in the next week so I will not be updating the blog for some time since I will not have any internet connection. I will however have many photos and adventures to share when I return to the marina in August.

Until the next time, be safe out there.

Denny

Back in La Paz, Mexico

Well, I made it. My first single handed voyage. For those that don't sail, single handed means that the skipper of a vessel, sails or motors his/her boat while there is no one else as crew on board. However in my case I truly was not alone. My buddy Wilson is still on board but he is of little help to me other than to sit there to listen to my chatter.

There were a number of boats leaving Mazatlan within the same week that I left. I can only assume they did so since life around the docks without Dennis would be too boring. Also the mothers of young daughters are happy and relieved now that I have moved on. I was afraid to tell them I would be back in November.

Boaters don't need much for an excuse to party and sense many of us were leaving, we decided to have a dock side party to wish everyone well.


Even the dogs were sad I was leaving. I always had doggy treats in my pocket to give to them when we met on the dock.



These are a great couple from Seattle. They have two young boys, their sons, with them. One of which enjoys the sailing life and the other want to return to get his driving permit. They were one of my boat neighbors in Mazatlan.


Bill and Jean were boat neighbors back in California. They started their cruising life a year before I did.

This couple were my next door (boat) neighbors in Mazatlan and we did many things together while in town. A great couple and lots of fun.

I enjoyed my time while in Mazatlan. It is a great city to visit and experience the people and their culture. Mexicans that I have met while I have been down here have always been wonderful, loving, helpful, friendly and always happy. We could learn a lot from these people on how to enjoy life and to be more helpful to each other.

I selected a day to leave when there was a full moon. It is a wonderful time to be sailing during a full moon. It also helps you to avoid fishermen in small boats that are within 10 - 15 of shore. It is not fun to dive under your boat to remove a net that is wrapped around your propeller.

This is what sun-up looks like in the ocean. I wanted to arrive at my first anchorage while it was still light so I scheduled my departure at 3:00 in the morning. That meant I needed to get up at 2:00 to prepare for push off.




Now that the sun is up, you can see forever. The seas are calm but the winds are too slow to make any headway on the sails. So I needed to motor, which any sailor hates. My new first mate, auto-pilot, is doing a great job so I am going down below to make myself some breakfast. It is going to be a long two days and one night before I make it to my first anchorage. It will take 36 non stop hours to reach Muertos which is the first anchorage. During the evening when normal people are sleeping, I set the alarm for 20 minutes. I wake-up, check all of the systems and traffic if any on my radar and if everything looks good, I set the alarm and start the process all over again.


This is about all there is at the first anchorage other than more boats that are also anchoring here for the evening.



After I put stuff back in its place and cleaned up, I made dinner and settled down for the evening. Before going to bed, I decided to have one shot of tequila and smoke a Cuban cigar while looking at the full moon over the quite waters in the bay. Don't worry Steve. There are still some left to smoke when we get together after Robin and Hector's wedding.



The next morning I get up a 4:00, pull the anchor up at 5:00 and I am off again. I did not need to wait too many hours this time before sun up but to kill some time I tuned up my ham radio and was talking with people in L.A., Minnesota and Wisconsin. Around 8:00 I made myself some scrambled eggs and another pot of coffee. This time the winds were good enough to set sail and turn off the engine. I am now in heaven again.


I am now turning the last corner and can see La Paz off in the distance.


Those not familiar on how to find your way across a ocean let me be the first to point out that you have options other than having to use a sextant. Their are virtual highways in the water that you set up on your computer and you follow them as if you were headed for Lake Tahoe. They can take you right to your slip if you want them to.


The winds were light now and behind me so I thought I would put the Big Bertha up and fly the colors. I am really in heaven now. I caught the attention of one of the local sea critters who had to come up for a look.


Here are a couple of movies and songs that I wanted to share with you. They both are appropriate for the moment.








Here I am, entering the harbor at La Paz. The city front along the water is nothing like Miami Beach but there are many people that are thankful for that. La Paz, by most comparisons is a small city but not without its charm. It is difficult to describe the many benefits of La Paz in this short blog. La Paz can be best experienced by coming here for a visit. That is what is called and invitation.

These are a few photos of the beach front along down town La Paz. The next two photos are of an area that is being built up as you approach downtown.



This is the downtown area. Notice that there are no high rise hotels or office building.





Well that is it for this blog. There have been two blog postings in a short period after a long delay. Sorry for that but their may again be a delay before I post my next one.

In the mean time, be safe out there and as always you are all welcome to come down to sail with me.

Denny

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