Norwegian Steam: Mazatlan

Thursday, February 9, 2012

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.

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Norwegian Steam, the vessel

Norwegian Steam is the name of our 35' sailboat. She was designed by Ted Brewer. About 40 hulls were constructed by Miller Marine on Bainbridge Island, Washington between 1976 and the early 1980s. It is rumored that additional hulls were constructed in eastern Canada. Because many of these boats were completed by owners, there is a very great diversity in the fleet. To learn more about the basic design, you can find information about Ted's Jason design on his web site.

NS was completed by Alan with the help of friends, some of them professionals, over many years. She has been sailing since 2001. She differs from most (perhaps all) other instances of the Jason design in that her mast is 6 feet taller and she is rigged as a racing cutter, with large overlapping staysail. This rig design was inspired by the work of John Illingworth, the great English yacht designer and sailboat racer.

Norwegian Steam, the name

The phrase, Norwegian steam, may originally have been somewhat pejorative. When a vessel was powered by sails or by oars instead of by a steam or diesel engine, it was said to be powered by "Norwegian steam", the implication being that the Norwegians were so poor they could not afford engines for their boats. As time passed, the Norwegians themselves adopted the phrase to indicate a "can-do" attitude or doing whatever it takes to get the job done, even with limited resources or under adverse circumstances.

During the great era of America's Cup racing in J-Class yachts, the term took on a slightly different meaning. Many of the American defender boats had Norwegian crews and thus were said to be powered by Norwegian steam. A website has been dedicated to this bit of history.