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.