San Blas

Our delayed departure from Mazatlan for Chacala gave us a chance to spend more time with David Winter, the owner of a cutter named Gambol. David is a long time resident of British Columbia, originally from near Cambridge, England, who has spent the last several seasons sailing in Mexico. This season, he had been in San Blas, 25 nautical miles closer to Mazatlan than is Chacala, for three months. Because we were concerned about the San Blas reputation for the small biting insects called jejenes (no-see-ums), we had avoided that pueblo last year and intended to do so again this year and head straight to Chacala. We have no mosquito nets for our portlights (windows) and hatches, and we had no desire to experience bothersome insects, itching and, in the worst case, a possible tropical disease.
 
David convinced us that San Blas' bad reputation for insects is undeserved, that the bugs are only really around at sunup and sundown, and that with a little effort you could avoid them at those times. In any case, Sally had bought some wedding veil type netting in La Paz and had some ideas for rigging it up in the hatches and portlights. So we decided to visit San Blas, if possible.

Why might it not be possible? San Blas is located at the point where a river enters the sea and it is necessary to cross a sandbar in order to enter the river estuary and harbor. At times that the ocean swell is high, it can be dangerous to cross this bar.

Fortunately, the sea was quite calm when we arrived early Monday morning, after a 24 hour passage from Mazatlan. On David's recommendation, I had downloaded a short "San Blas Cruiser's Guide" which contained a list of five GPS waypoints for navigating the bar. I entered these waypoints into our chart plotter and they lead us into the estuary without a problem.

On the journey from Mazatlan we saw our first whales of the season. Two sightings, in fact -- one in the morning and one in the evening. And during the moonless night we experienced an amazing new delight. A group of dolphins played in our wake, diving under our bow, making passes in pairs over and over again. We would just think they were gone when there would be a nearby "whoosh!" and yet another pair engulfed in phosphorescence would swoop by. They accompanied us for a full 15 or 20 minutes. Dolphins often seem drawn to boats -- we speculated that perhaps they were further encouraged that night by the phosphorescence that already surrounded Norwegian Steam.

San Blas has an interesting history. Although the Spanish arrived here in 1531, for almost two centuries the area remained nothing more than a place for ships to reprovision and to get fresh water from the nearby Tovara spring.Then in 1768 the Spanish recognized a need to protect their interests in Alta California and the Pacific Northwest, in response to the Russian development of Alaska. They chose San Blas as the base for colonizing their territories to the north, and established a naval base here. The town grew quickly, eventually reaching a size three times that of the current population. In 1810, early in Mexico's war of independence, the town was taken by revolutionaries and a long slow decline began. Today San Blas survives on agriculture, fishing and tourism.

On Tuesday, we went on a "jungle tour" into the Tovara National Park with David and Betty Lou Walsman from SV Decade Dance, Marie Hoiland from SV Saben and Molly and Steve, two of David's friends from his Peace Corps days in El Salvador. With Jose, our very knowledgeable guide, we motored slowly in a panga through a large mangrove swamp full of protected wildlife. At close range we saw a number of crocodiles of varying sizes, from babies to a large male that must have been a dozen feet long. We also saw, and photographed enthusiastically, dozens of different kinds of birds, including great gray and great blue herons, boat-billed herons, and egrets. The panga tour finished and turned around at the Tovara spring, which pours fresh water into the swamp. Some visitors opt to travel at a higher speed on the tour, preferring a swim in the spring to ogling the wildlife. We think our leisurely trip was the most interesting choice.

After the jungle tour, we walked to the top of a hill called Cerro de San Basilio. First we explored a cemetery with many colorful graves and mausoleums, then toured the ruins of the El Templo de la Virgen del Rosario, a church built in 1769. With the decline of San Blas, the church was abandoned in 1872. The church bells that had rung for many years from the site on the hill were first moved to a church in the pueblo, and then were consigned to storage, hanging from a crude timber scaffold. In 1882 a travel article in Harper's magazine about San Blas mentioned the bells. A line drawing depicting the bells hanging from the wooden timbers illustrated the article. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, nearly on his deathbed at the time, was so moved by the article and especially the plight of the beautiful church bells now stilled and languishing from disuse that he wrote "The Bells of San Blas," in their honor. It was to be Longfellow's last poem -- a few days later he died.


At the top of the hill are the remains of the fort built in 1770 as part of the Spanish expansion of San Blas as a center of naval power. From the fort's hilltop vantage point we could see for miles into the countryside, down the river and out to sea.

Having always avoided eating at the golden arches in our travels, we can now say we ate at McDonalds in San Blas. This McDonalds, however, is a local San Blas eatery established by a Mexican family named McDonald in 1952. We also ate at Chef Tony's La Isla restaurant, which houses a fabulous collection of sea shell art. We felt we were dining in a veritable octopus' garden, as the song goes. All the shell collages, "chandeliers," mirror frames, and hanging planters  were created over a 30 year period by the grandfather of the people who currently run the restaurant.


Tomorrow morning we leave for Chacala, 25 miles to the south.

Our current position is N 21 32.642, W 105 17.569 (GoogleEarth format).

Unexpected Delay

We planned to depart Mazatlan for Chacala early Friday morning, but it is now Saturday afternoon and we are still here. We knew that Sally had a small infection on her leg but assumed that it was no big deal. A call to the consulting nurse service at Group Health changed our minds. They said that Sally should be on an antibiotic called clindamycin and that the infection should be treated with great respect because the bacteria might be MRSA.

Sally has been taking oral clindamycin for about 24 hours now. She also applies hot compresses frequently while keeping the infection site elevated. The infection, which is something like a boil, has "deflated" and diminished in size significantly since she began treating it.

We plan to leave about 6:30 tomorrow morning (Sunday).

Mazatlan

Robert, Sally and Alan at the Lighthouse (El Faro)

Feeding Pigeons in the Central Plaza

We've been in Mazatlan for a week now, and tomorrow we leave at first light, headed south to La Cruz, just north of Puerto Vallarta. On the way, we plan to stop at Chacala, a bay that we visited last year, while heading the other direction. The first leg, from Mazatlan to Chacala will be an overnighter. We plan to stay two nights anchored in Chacala in order to catch up on sleep, then head for La Cruz, which we should make in a single day.

The high points of our stay in Mazatlan were the walk on the malecon, a hike up to the lighthouse which sits on top of a little mountain and affords a great view of the entire area and the meal that Robert Rackl treated us to at Topolo, a simply wonderful restaurant.

Sally and Alan on the Mazatlan Malecon

A meal at Topolo starts with a salsa created at your table to the liking of everyone in your party. The waiter with his cart of a dozen ingredients asks about the likes and dislikes of each guest. Sally, for instance, cannot eat avocados, Robert cannot eat anything very spicy and Sally prefers her salsas very mild. The waiter built the salsa progressively. At the stage that there were still no avocados and nothing spicy, he served Sally's portion to her. After adding avocado, he served Robert. I, of course, wanted the works. We all agreed that the salsa was fabulous.

The meal finished with "bananas foster", again created at the table, with three liqueurs, lots of flame and even sparks from cinnamon thrown into the flame. What a show and what a delicious desert!

Alan and Robert in Plazuela Machado after a Great Meal

In the courtyard of Topopo is a sizable avocado tree that is over one hundred years old.  It produces avocados as big as cantaloupes. The waiter said they do not use these avocados for the guacamole served in the restaurant because guests are not prepared for the taste of the big avocados, but he personally loves them and makes them into guacamole for his own family.

The Crewman Departs

Robert Rackl flew back to Seattle on Monday, having been with us for two weeks. He told us that he had a fine time and that the voyage from La Paz to Mazatlan was especially memorable. We are grateful to him for all the help he gave us and for bringing some needed boat parts down with him from Seattle. Before he left, Robert produced seven hand-written pages for his memoirs.

Skipjack

Robert Rackl, Clipped In and Ready

Yesterday, February 1, at about 5:30 PM Robert Rackl caught a Mexican black skipjack, trolling a silver spoon from the deck of Norwegian Steam. This was a first for both Robert and for NS. While hove-to waiting for the opportunity to enter Mazatlan during daylight hours, we cleaned, cooked, and consumed the catch. Delicious. The flesh is dark and tastes a lot like tuna.

We were hove-to for eleven hours until it was light enough to see what we were doing. By the time we got under way again, the wind had almost died.  At daybreak we were moved smartly by a land breeze, two hours later were becalmed for a short time, then finally carried to our destination by a sea breeze. Classic!

Nice to take a shower and looking forward to a meal in one of several excellent restaurants at this marina.

Our current location in Marina Mazatlan (in GoogleEarth format) is  N 23 16.286, W 106 27.275.

Southern Crossing

The Beach at Bahia de los Failes

As I write this we are about two-thirds of the way from Bahia de los Frailes to Mazatlan, on the route known as the Southern Crossing of the Sea of Cortez. We left Frailes at 7:30 yesterday morning, in very light wind. During the day the wind built considerably, but not enough to provide a fast passage. Our ETA is 10 PM tonight and given that we do not want to enter the harbor in the dark, we plan to heave-to offshore for about eight hours. Bad timing, but that's the way it is with the wind.

Leaving Frailes at Dawn

This has been a pleasant crossing. For the first eight hours the wind direction was Northeast, which was fortunate, because NS could close-reach, her best point of sail in light air. After the wind strengthened, the direction shifted to the north and she has been on a beam reach ever since. The wind has never been strong enough to get us above 6 knots for any appreciable length of time, however.

We have fishing gear on board for the first time. In Mexico, if there is as much as a single fish-hook on a boat, everyone onboard must have a fishing license. Sally and I bought licenses about a month ago in anticipation of carrying fishing gear. We asked Robert to get a license as well, so that we would be "legal." Naturally, he wanted to do something with his license, so together he and I rigged my new offshore rod, reel, line and lures for the first time. Once everything was configured, Robert got the first "crack" at a fish and he is now trolling a lure behind the boat. He is hoping for a dorado (mahi-mahi).

Sunset at Sea

Our current position (in GoogleEarth format) is: N 23 30.307, W 107 17.720.
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