Mazatlan

We left La Paz around 8am and decided to do the 230 mile crossing to Mazatlan in one go rather than spend a couple of days stopping at Los Frailles and Los Muertos first and then having a bit shorter crossing. The forcast was for no wind later in the week and I did not want to motor all the way across. The wind was for 10 to 15 then 15 to 20knots and then up to 25 by Monday. But apparently the forecast changed.
We motored out of the channel and then started sailing in a light wind as we turned the corner. By about 5pm the wind picked up and we were sailing along at 7 knots with 2 reefs in the main and half the genoa out. The wind just behind the port beam. At dark I put in the 3rd reef and a bit later rolled the genoa in completly and we were still sailing along at 4.5 to 6 knots. Any faster and this boat ships alot of water on deck in the big steep seas we had. In the early morning I took down the main completly as did not have a 4th reef and just put out a bit of genoa. The seas had got large and steep and some of them seemed to have a 10 foot hole under them. Had a number of big breaking crests crash on the boat putting a lot of water in cockpit and on side decks. Side decks were often under six inches of water. We got no water in the boat as I keep the door closed and the boat had no deck or window leaks unlike a lot of boats. By about 1pm the wind was still the same, but the seas had spread out and seemed less mean.

I managed to get some of Don Andersons weather forecast for the Sea of Cortez this morning at 7:15am on 8122khz. on the short wave receiver. He said the forecast was for a Norther of 30 to 35 knots with some 40 knots and would last 3 days. But it would not get as for as Mazatlan on the E side of sea.
It seemed to get even windier for a couple of hours then back of slightly during the 2nd night out. I had slowed the boat down to 3.5 to 5 knots just to have the motion a bit more comfortable. Dorothy had got fairly seasick as this was about the worst conditions we have been in.
A small bird landed on the side decks for a rest then flew off before it could get washed off by a wave. I saw a large sea turtle swim by boat yesterday morning. During nights I saw small white birds dodging above the waves, small turns??
By about 3:30am the wind started to die down about 50 miles from Mazatlan and soon we had no wind which is what was forecast. We motored the last 45 miles to get us off the entrance to the marinas 6 miles north of Mazatlan harbour at about 4pm.
I called up the marinas on the VHF and asked if they had any room, yes they did, great we could get in for a good rest. Not likely. A sailboat had gone in just ahead of us and heard us on the radio and called up and said he had got spun around coming in and the next wave, a 8ft surf wave had broke behind him. We motored up to have a go and saw large surf right across the bar and after a couple 100 feet crash on the rocky shore. To negotiate the channel you have to turn left off the wave to get in the channel which can be difficult if you boat is surfing on a wave. I took one look at everything and said sorry Dorothy no way and we turned and headed South. Later we heard it had been closed for the previous 2 days. In La Paz it was rumored that main Mazatlan anchorage was full and as it was close to dark we anchored in the bay just South of the harbour which was quite pleasant

The following morning we went and looked at the Mazatlan harbour and found room to anchor which was better as the other place was open to the South and not as close to the services. We found showers at the dinghy dock where you pay a small fee for use of the dock which includes showers and garbage drop off. The showers I would give a 3 out of 10, not great. No internet nearby. So doing this on our last day here sitting in an open square, in the hot sun. Will do our emails at next stop with service. Hard to find internet around here that works.
We had a long walk around town playing tourist and buying fresh fruit and veggies. The other cruisers in the anchorage said they were putting on a potluck tonight on the dock. So we went to that and met most of the people in the anchorage, about 10 boats. A bunch of nice people with a few musicians in the group who put on a bit of a show for us with singing and instruments. A great way to end the day
The next morning we took a hike up the 550 foot hill with the supposidly 2nd highest lighthouse in the world on it. We will probably leave Mazatlan Friday and then be out cruising for 8 days to 2 weeks before getting to Peurto Valharta our next big stop.

Mazaatlan coming up

We will be leaving the marina here tomorow or the next day and anchor out in the bay and then leave Saturday to head down to Los Muertos for the first night and then Los Frailes next and then head across to Mazatlan all depending on the weather forcasts we get over the next couple of days. It is about 160 miles across to Mazatlan from Los Frailes so entailes one night at sea.
I went up the mast 2 days ago and found that one of our lower shrouds had a broken strand so had to replace it. Spent some time finding a rigger who had the parts and wire I needed and could swage on some new ends. I then went up the mast to replace the wire and then readjusted all the turnbuckles for the lowers.
Our raymarine charlplotter display has also failed, so we will be sailing without radar and using the handheld gps for a while and paper charts. When Dorothy flys back to toronto we hope to get another one. I like the old saying that sailing is fixing boats in exotic locations.
We got our propane tank filled at the marina, they have a pickup ounce a week to fill customers bottles. We find that one tank lasts close to two months, and we have 2 tanks although have not touch the second one yet. We have been getting quite a bit of cycling in every day doing our errands as this marina is two or three miles from the center of things, and there is a nice paved walkway to cycle along the waterfront to get into town. Going out and about doing errands is not really a chore as it is really a holiday as we are seeing new things exploring the town seeing the locals and local attractions as we go about finding our grocery stores etc.
Not sure when we will get internet next when we leave here, could be a week or two before next update, although sometimes can get a connection at Los Muertos.

Back to La Paz

We arrived back in La Paz yesterday about 4pm and anchored out. We had a great trip up the Sea of Cortez, and had a nice suprise waiting for us. Our mail finally arrived, our friend Peter had mailed it for us almost 2 months ago. Now we know why most of the cruisers are using boats or people flying north to take the mail to the states to have it mailed.
We spent 16 days in the Sea of Cortez. Many of the anchorages we visited were part of there park system. The whole Baha is a very dry desert like place with lots of cactus of every type and beatiful sand beaches. It almost never rains in the winter, we saw one day of rain since we left Monteray California. It is also very rugged with many sheer rock faces and steep mountains. There seems to be lots of sea life and fish around and many many birds. Pelicans, gulls, comorants, frigate birds, vulturs of some type some kind of huron and others I am not familiar with.
Our favorite anchorage up the sea was Isla San Fransisco just North of Espirito Santo. We spent 2 days there and got some good hikes in, and one long hike over the island to the North beach. We also had our first rain since getting to Mexico here, it spit off and on for a few hours and then poured hard for and hour or so during night. We also Enjoyed Punta San Evaristo where we spent 3 days and sat out a Norther here. There was a tiny village here with a small store where we get some drinks and one or 2 veggies but not much else.
At Puerto Escondido which is as far north as we got, we spent 3 days their before turning around. Since there is no safe anchorage or marina at Loreto, We got a ride from an American lady who lived nearby for the winters into Loreto to see the sites and buy some fresh food. It is a bit dusty in the city as not all roads are paved. Dorothy liked looking at all the mexican crafts that was sold along the main drag. The grocery stores there are small and a bit disapointing. We took the bus back to Escondido 14 miles away.
The trip back was nice with some great sailing and stopping at some of the anchorages we missed on the way up. The last day before coming back we did another trip to Los Islotes for snorkling with the sea lions. The crew of Jatimo joined us on our boat to go snorkling there as it was a calm morning. Dorothy got brave enough to touch one young sea lion this time that was stopped in front of her staring at her.
We will stay here in La Paz for 5 days to a week getting errands done and boat ready for a trip across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan. It will be our first over night sail for a couple of months.

Puerto Escondido

We arrived in Puerto Escondido yesterday afternoon, it is about 100 miles north of La Paz. We were suprised to find we could get internet access here for a few pesos, so can do a quick update. We stopped at many beautifull, rugged anchorages on the way up. The North winds are very persistant, so it was slow going with constant head winds and steep seas.
The real windy days when the 'Northers' were blowing we stayed put and got some good hiking in up the nearby hills with terrific views.
We will probably stay here for 3 days and then head back to La Paz. We did a hike this morning up Steinback Canyon which had steep canyon walls on each side as we got further up it and pools of clear water as it is the dry season and no water was running until we got further up.