Back in Mazatlan

Same marina, new slip....Way better

Whats that boat in the background....?





When I arrived back in Mazatlan it was sooooooo hot as to be almost unbearable.....Actually it WAS unbearable. The daytime temps were in the 90's with humidity running 85%. Sure glad I had added A/C to the boat. It ran 24/7  for the first two weeks, then just during the daytme after that. I have made the committ, committ, commitment (Tom, that joke is for you) never to return till Oct. 15th or later. 


After the first two weeks I began to venture forth and re-connect with all the people I had met here the season before. Coffee at Calypso, dinners out and even a baseball game to see the local semi-pro team. It was still blazing hot, but mostly bearable.


My friends Wally and Steve talked to me about making a trip south to La Cruz for thanksgiving  and they finally talked me into it. It's an overnight run (24hours) for me so I volunteered to take crew. Wally took Colleen, Steve took Joanne and I took Kathy and her daughter Kathryn who are Canadians who live here full time. Kathy has no seagoing experience, but her daughter has crewed on a large sail boat, so I had deck boss with me on the trip south, plus a very good cook to man the galley. (note to all, Kathy is married and I'm a friend of her husband. Kathryn is 22)

We sailed with the tide on NOv. 18th to find flat seas and no wind. As wally and Steve we on sailboats, I gave them several hours head start as I planned on catching up with them someime at night. As soon as I cleared Deer Island, out went the riggers and in went the lures. After a few hours and two Dorado and two Bonito I reeled up and had the other two boats in sight. Wally , who was in the lead , radioed that he had run accross a long-line, but had cut himself free before he fouled his prop. He radioed his exact location, so Steve and I knew where to cross.


Next morning we all arrived in La Cruz.........

Driving California to Mazatlan

I left Ojai September 30th in my car for Mazatlan early in the morning. I had promised Rick (Mazatlan Yacht Services) I would stop in San DIego and pick up a "few" boxes of parts for him in San Diego.
This turned out to be 12 boxes and about 400 lb. of Zincs, varnish and other assorted things.
The first day I made it all the way to Nogales, Arizona, just accross from the Mexican border. I stayed in a cheap hotel next to a Mexican auto insurance office, where I got my policy.

The next morning I crossed the border and did the usual stop at Km. 21 where I got my car import permit and tourist visa. For some reason I failed to declare the US $3000.oo worth of parts I had aboard. DUH!!!
Mexico has great toll roads. Almost as good as the California "freeways". There are just a lot of toll booths along the way, but it's a lot better than taking the back roads through every little town. After a another day of driving ( you don;t want to drive at night, as cattle can wander onto the highways) I stopped in Los Moiches for the night.

Bright and early next day I set off again heading south only to be pulled over at another toll booth by the local "revenue agents" or customs officials. They happened to see all the boxes in my car and began to tear everything open for a look. They found the reciept for Rick's supplies and I had no proper import permit for all that stuff. NOTE: I DO have an import permit (for 10 years) for misc. stuff for MY boat, but NOT for as much as I was carrying. After they suggested I return to Nogales, Mx to obtain the proper permit, we agreed that 1300 Peso's would smooth the way south for me if I paid them directly.
SO, I paid the bite and took off. Bad news was I paid them almost all the Peso's I had on hand and I had several more toll booth's to cross before Mazatlan.
I scrounged every peso coin I had in the car till I ran out. Then switched to US dollars (which they are NOT supposed to accept) to finish my trip south. It was a bit stressful, but I made it that afternoon...WHEW!!

I don;t have any pictures of my drive south and I'm waiting for some folks to Email me ones of my adventures since I returned. I'm working on that now........

My "Next big thing"

Update 12-13-2010...Owen Alexander was born and now I have a grandson!!!!!!!

2011, another summer of love

Alex and Kaitlyn's new house in Chile Reno

Me, Ron Hungate and Steve Mussio

Michael working on the road crew

I flew back to SoCal mid-June for a family visit, so much needed work ($) and to escape the heat of summer in Mexico. Father's Day was great!!...It also gave my ribs a chance to heal a bit more, although they still remind me from time to time, what happened.

While back in Southern California, I took time to do a road trip and  visit  Alex and Kaitlyn in Reno, Nv.

Father's Day 2011...Missing from poto is #1 Son Mark

They had just bought a new house and are expecting my first grandchild (a boy) in December. After spending a week with them I drove north to Portland to see some friends I had not seen in a good while. I drove to Portland Ore. and saw Ron and Toni Hungate, Steve and Martha Mussio. I had last laid eyes on all of them in 1980. Steve and I had played in a band back in the late 1960's with my cousin Raleigh and both Ron and Steve had worked for me when I was in the trash business. What a trip to get the hang out with them for a while. Also living in Portland was my x business partner and good friend Tom Morton. Tom had helped me deliver my boat from SoCal to Puerto Vallarta late last year.

Lady Stylish (Ronelle)

Most of the rest of the summer I spent working and staying at Ronelle's and my sister's house. I worked some, layed around a lot and entertained Ronelle's friends with my shaving cream routine (Don' ask!)

October 1st rolled around and Mexico began calling. I decided to drive my car back down to Mazatlan.......But that a whole other story, LOL........Stay tuned.............

7 weeks later.........

Chillin at the hospital

Well, it sure went slow, but I'm about 84.273% back to normal. In two weeks I'm flying home for the summer. It was a really slow recovery. I read about 20 books, watched a bunch of videos and went stir crazy. Actually the past few weeks I've been venturing out mornings for the coffee social at Calypso's.

Now  that I'm feeling well enough to have some fun in Mazatlan before I fly home. I have hired an Englishman (Tony) to look after Godzilla while I'm away. He currently has about 55 clients here in Marina Mazatlan, so I feel confident she'll be well taken care of in my absence.

We are comming into rainy season, and that meens tropical storms and hurricanes. I'll be taking most everything off the deck including the dingy and motor, bimini top , canvas dodgers and anything else that can be blown off by high winds. WHen a storm is imminent, Tony's crew doubles everyones dock lines, check fenders, etc. He also comes aboard monthly to run engines, air conditioners, check bilges, etc.

I had planned to haul the boat while I was gone, but I haven't heard a peep from my insurance company about paying my hospital bill, so that may have to wait till fall.

Dinner at a sidewalk cafe

Update 6-8-11....I took some pictures of Old Mazatlan on my last excursion into town and will post them here. Not sure how long I'll be home this summer, but I plan to write about whats going on there after I get settled in there....Also, the first hurricane of the season is on it's way. I can;t think of a better time to head north, LOL

Old Mazatlan

Tony and Mary @ Pedro & Lola's

Old Mazatlan has a colonial feel. Much of it is from the 19th century. The streets are clean and there are lots of sidewalk cafes where, on weekends, live music of all types is playing.

The whole rib story......

Ok, time to write the story of the rib deal and let everyone know the gory details. I was not going to elaborate on the event, but changed my mind. Not sure why, but maybe I'll get a kick out of reading it one day. Just not THIS day

I left my regular boarding steps in Channel Islands Harbor becuase I didn't have room aboard to carry them around. So, I either used the swim step at the stern, or found something to step on over the port gunnel if the boat was tied up bow first. At the time I had been using a half-full 5 gallon bucket of used oil as a step crawled aboard, put things away and lay down. For some reason the pain was bad, but at that time I had no idea of the damage. I actually slept most of the night but woke up the next morning not able to breathe very well. Word gets around the dock pretty fast and several people came by to enquire about me. I knew I had broken some ribs by that time and friends Joe and Joanne took me to a clinic for Xrays.

Xrays confirmed I had broken 4 ribs and the Doctor there prescribed some pain meds and told me to just refrain from any activity for 3-4 weeks and they would heal. At that time there appeared to be no bleeding or punctured organs. Back to the boat I went to do nothing, but the meds she had prescribed did not a bit of good to ease the pain. I started looking on line for information on rib injuries and found that the only treatment was pain managment so that one could breathe normally.

I put out a call to my fellow cruisers for something a bit stronger to ease my suffering and was given some Oxycodone. WOW, it was the 60's all over again, LOL. I took a small amount and began to feel some serious relief. By Friday late afternoon I was feeling much better, but sudenly started to get dizzy. I tried sitting in different positions but kept getting worse. I started to sweat a lot and my vision began to blur. By this time I sensed I was in some serious trouble and got on the raido and called for help. Within what seemed like a minute I had 10 people outside my boat ready to help. One of my dockmates (Rob) was a fireman/paramedic who came aboard and took a look. After about 3 seconds he said it was time to get to the hospital. BY then I could hardly stand and they used a dock cart to wheel me up the ramp to a waiting taxi. Another dockmate Karen took the taxi ride with me to the hospital along with my passport becaue by then I was a little out of it.

At the hospital the Doctors rushed me into the emergency O.R. and stuck a tube into my chest to drain the  blood that had started to pool. ( 1.5 liters by that time) My blood pressure was 40/60 and I think I was circling the drain by then.

6 days later they let me out with a bag and the tube still attached. A week after that they removed the tube. 2 weeks after that Im here writting about all of it. I'm almost back to normal now although I still sleep semi sitting up.

I think the most amazing part of this whole event was the speed and willingness of my fellow cruisers to spring into action. I had so many visitors at the hospital every single day. Even from people I hardly knew. WHen I got back to the boat I was brought food every day. People monitored the radio night and day in case I needed anything. People went shopping for me anytime I needed something. I have no doubt that had nobody asnwered my call for help that Friday nite I wouldn't be writting about this now.
I will never forget that, ever. It;s like a debt I can never repay.

By the way, I ordered a set of compact docksteps...DUH!!!

Mazatlan!!!!...(Part 1)

Isla Isabella

Rock at Isla Isabella

Tim and I left San Blas at 6 am March 27, with a planned stop at Isla Isabella. I did this so as to not arrive in Mazatlan at night and to cross the bar at San Blas at near high tide. Isabella is about 40 miles north of San Blas, and 90 miles south of Mazatlan. There is nothing on the island except birds!!!..Thousands of them. We got there at 11am and dropped the hook, planning on leaving for Mazatlan around 9pm.

During the day I noticed pangeros laying drift nets around the island. By 5 pm I was in danger of being encircled. The thought of trying to leave in the midle of the night with all those nets around prompted me to up anchor and get outta Dodge.

The weather forcast was for moderate winds and seas that evening, but it was an uncomfortable ride north . Smack dab on the bow. A steady fifteen knots and 4 foot chop. I set our speed at 6.5 knots, which I hoped would bring us into Mazatlan at daybreak.

13 hours later we spotted Isla Creston at the entrance to Mazatlan's commercial harbor entrance on the radar. The sky had just begun to lighten and we pressed on towards the entrance to Marina Mazatlan 8 miles further up the coast.

The marina entrance has a bar, but not nearly has shallow as San Blas. So even though it was low tide we powered through, past the newer El Cid Marina to Marina Mazatlan. This is where most of the cruisers I had met along the coast recomended. It was a good choice. A little older, a few less amenities, but cheaper. So many of the people I had met and talked to along my journey were here, I was amazed.
It seems to be a jumping off point for cruisers either heading into the Sea of Cortez for the summer, or leaving their boats here and flying/driving north to the U.S and Canada. There are also some cruisers who have moved ashore and live here year round. All in all a very friendly place. Perhaps more so than any other big city I have visited so far.

I first came to Mazatlan in 1971 with my Dad and some of our cousins. Wow, what a different town. It has expanded far north and modernized a great deal. Here in the marina, a lot of cruisers meet for coffee at a place called Calyipso. There, and on the net much discussion goes on as to the days events. It's hard to walk off the dock and not find a group of people, sitting at a sidewalk cafe, you have met and not sit for a spell and yak it up. Very socialble!!. The bus schedule is a lot easier to navigate than Puerto Vallarta's, it seems.

Tim and I after being up for 32 hours

Looking north

Mornings at Calypsos

Fish Market

Shrimp dinner with new friends

Godzilla resting in Marina Mazatlan

Marina Mazatlan

Island off Mazatlan

More on Mazatlan later, but here are a few pix for now......

San Blas...the Mosquito Coast.

Hard to Port!!!!!

San Blas actually turned out to be  bit of a suprise. Somethings good, somethings...well.

The first day I arrived, I anchored in the estuary, across from the marina. Although a free anchorage, it's right up against a mangrove swamp. At sunrise and sunset the no-see-ems come out to feast. I had planned on closing all windows and ports during these times and running the A/C, but suprise...The Genset would run for 15-20 minutes and then die. After filling the coolant tank a few times , I figured out that the heat exchanger had an internal leak. I'm growing weary of genset issues!!!..RRRRRRR!!!

Marina San Blas across from the estuary

Next morning I moved to the marina and sent an E mail to Jeff in Channel Islands Harbor for a replacement heat exchanger. This is the least expensive marina in Mexico. It's nice enough, but the bugs will eat you alive!!!

Shrimper "Docked" in San Blas estuary

My first night there I forgot to close the windows at sunset and work up the next morning looking like I had the measels. Luckily they didn't itch too badly so off to town I went in search of some repellant. As I walked into town I spotted a local restaurant/bar called BIlly Bob's. I walked in and it was another pleasant suprise. Mostly an Ex-Pat hangout and everyone there introduced themselves. What a cast of characters!!!. These were not cruisers, but people who lived there. And everyone had a story. This would make a great movie.  Even better was the advice I got for insect repellant!!!

Marina San Blas

Billy Bob's became my hang out for the week I was there. I met another captain named Tim Ray who volunteered to go with me for the 125 mile run to Mazatlan. He lives in San Blas, but said it was cheap to take a bus back, and he was interested in visiting Mazatlan anyway.

San Blas turned out to be a really nice place (except for the bugs). It was also incredibily cheap!. I had gotten used to Puerto Vallarta prices and was blown away by how much less expensive San Blas was. I think it was that it's not a huge tourist town. I re-porvisioned there. Two bags of fresh veggies (verduras) $1.50 US...!!!

After a week in San Blas it was time to get moving again. My new friend Tim signed on for the trip to Mazatlan....Next stop, Isla Isabella.......

Back North...

On Thursday 3-17 I left La Cruz for the short run north to Chacala.  My plan was to get to San Blas on Monday after spending a few days in Chacala. This was the place that Ronelle, Alex and K.V had enjoyed so much over New Years golidays.

That afternoon after doing a weather check I realized a bit of weather was predicted for later that weekend. Nothing serious, but it meant I'd have to either move north before I had planned or remain in Chacala longer than I wanted to. I had been talking to another cruiser on a boat at anchor next to me and he was planning on moving north the San Blas the next day.

San Blas has a bar across the entrance with multiple shoals in the channel, and since he had been there before, I thought it would be a good idea to follow him thru the entrance. We planned to leave Chacala at noon on Friday so we could arrive at the entrance to San Blas during a high slack tide. Since he was a sailboat and a few knots slower than me, I gave him an hour head start.

When I left Chacala the weather was glorius. Sunshine, calm winds and a flat sea. After an hour or so the wind started to rise.  I was following my new friends on radar and they were about 4 miles ahead of me at the time. As I closed on him the wind continued to rise until we were about 15 miles south of the harbor entrance. It was now blowing 25 knots off the port bow. Still not a huge issue since it had just risen and the waves were mearly a short nasty wind chop. But it had slowed us both up and I was beginning to worry that we would get to the bar after high slack water.

"Verdia" enroute to San Blas

When we arrived at the harbor entrance we both stood off and watched the breakers at the entrance. By that time it was rough outside and the tide was falling. I was about a hundred yards behind Verida and in between wave sets she took off for the entrance. I had a bit of catching up to do, so I shoved the throttles to the stops and off we both went. As there was an outgoing flow it slowed the much less powerful sailboat more so than it did me and in a flash I was right on her tail. It was a real E ticket ride and we plowed our way into the channel. I was really glad to have followed someone inside becuase the channel markers are NOT correct and there was another sandbar inside the channel INSIDE of the green markers where there should havae been deep water.

Next stop, San Blas..............

TSUNAMI!!!!!

La Cruz is NOT a hurricane hole

Busted up marina slips

Anchorage at La Cruz..23 knots of wind during surge

I woke up early on 3-11 , slammed some sub-standard coffee and checked the news via the internet. UH OH!!. I read about the quake in Japan , turned on the VFH radio and it exploded with chatter about what was being predicted locally. Reports were still vague and I needed to check out with the Capatainia de Puerto as I had intended to head North to San Blas Saturday morning.

I put the dingy in the water and hauled ass back into the marina to the Captain's office. After convincing him I was anchored outside the marina , he signed me off .  This was because, by then the Port Captains and the Navy had closed all harbors, but boats were leaving the marina anyway. Lots of them.

I returned to the boat and re-stowed the dingy and begain listening to the radio(s) for info. Everyone was waiting to hear what had happened in Cabo San Lucas.  As I was anchored in 25 feet of water, I thought it best to get to deeper water. I headed out towards the middle of the bay to 250 feet and watched the bay fill up with boats with the same idea.

Interestingly I had left the marina the day before to anchor out. During the surges that rolled in while I was in deep water the dock where I HAD been tied broke free inside the marina drifting around carrying a few boats with it...... damn, I'm a lucky guy!

It's currently 6 P.M. here. I re-anchored in a bit deeper water outside La Cruz. The harbors are ALL closed and the surge continues, although not out where I am. During all this the wind kicked up to 20+ knots, which is not helpful!!!!

So far, the floating dock is the only damage I've heard about (except for one 70' sailboat going aground outside the harbor) and everybody has been in good sprits, with all helping each other in any way they can.

Here is a copy of a report I received from a boater in Paradise Village, 5 miles south of my location:

"Yesterday afternoon, starting about 1PM and continuing to after dark, the water level in Paradise Village started fluctuating about 2-2.5 feet from peak to trough every 15 minutes or so. Currents in the marina were stronger than normal but not strong enough to break anything. 

The narrow entrance channel was a different story. Late in the afternoon I saw a sailboat try to enter under power. It couldn't make it in, so the current was probably above 7 knots. And it reversed every 15 minutes. 

The reversal process was interesting. The water didn't slow, stop and restart in the opposite direction. The edge of the north side of the channel would start flowing in the opposite direction from the main flow, and the counter current would expand southward over a 2-3 minute period. At one point there would be two strong currents flowing in opposite directions. That set up eddies and whirlpools and standing waves.

The port captain declared the entrance closed but didn't do anything to block it. (Not sure what he could have done.)

Probably 15% of the boats in the marina went out to deep water before the tsunami effects arrived. A lot of them were planning to race in the Banderas Bay Regatta, and had taken their only anchor off the boat. I heard anchor-lending conversations on the radio so I hope all of them were able to anchor outside of LaCruz.

I hope someone will report from LaCruz. I heard a story of a dock breaking up there."


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I took the dingy into the marina the next morning to take a few pix of the damage. There is still a lot of surge in the harbor and whirlpools at the entrance. The channel markers have all moved!!!!!!!


I plan to go to San Blas tomorrow via Chacala........More later!!

Back home and then a Tsunami......

In late Feburary, feeling a bit homesick and needing to pick up some boat parts back in the states, I flew home on Feb. 22 for 2 weeks.

Wow, culture shock!!. It was cold and rainy when I got home. I hadn't realized how much I had gotten used to the warm weather.  But it sure was nice to spend some time with Ronelle, my Sister and family. My son Michael picked me up at LAX and we headed north to Ojai.

I had a long list of parts I needed so I jumped on that right away. Most were just misc. items I wanted, except the new voltage regulator for the genset. I ordered that from the east coast as soon as I could and it arrived a few days before I left to return to Puerto Vallarta.

My Dad was glad to see me and I visited with him three times while I was there. My sister and I took care of same family business and it was great to catch up on local news and gossip.

About this retirement thing: Seems like forever I have heard of people retiring and not knowing what to do with themselves. I used to chuckle to myself thinking how I'd never have that issue. I have been busy for the most part in Mexico, but I started to feel that way back in California after I had completed most of the tasks I had planned on doing. Guess I'm NOT terminally unique after all.

After 15 days in the frozen tundra of southern California, I spent the final night at Michael's house, eating pizza with the kids and watching a movie. Had a great time and was off the following morning.
When I got to the airport and tried to check in, the electronic boarding pass machine said it had no reservation for me. WTF!!!!

I got back in line and talked to a clerk, only to discover that my flight had left the day before. After some checking we discovered that I had written the date of departure incorrectly on a piece of paper while still in Mexico. $100.00 later, and feeling like a dork I was on my back back.

Now I know why I wasn't too harsh with Ronelle for having snaffuz with HER flight(S) a few months before. Old age is a bitch!!!

I arrived back in Puerto Vallarta on March 2 to find that almost nothing had been done to my boat since I had left. I had hired a guy to keep an eye on her while I was gone. He was supposed to keep the dock lines tight ( lots of surge in La Cruz)  and wash her right before my return. The lines were slack, the boat was filthy and I was NOT a happy camper.

As I'm writing this a Tsunami warning came over the radio......I think I better go, but I'll write about it in my next post!!

Stay tuned...........

La Manzanilla Pictures

Tenacatita Raft-up

Tenacatita and the return north.....

I left Barra de Navidad late January for the trip to Tenacatita, having heard lots of wonderful things about this place. It's about 20 miles north of Manzanillo. It's a good size bay appx. 3x3 miles overall. During August of 2010 a developer in Guadalahara made a land-grab in one section of it , bulldozing palapa restaurants, small hotels and displacing all the locals and some expats who lived in particular portion of the bay. The main anchorage , 2 miles east, was not affected. There are still a few hotels around, plus one really good palapa restaurant.

Going ashore requires a beach landing here. Every day at 2 p.m. most of the cruisers gather for some beach games and social time at the beach palapa. As each dingy comes ashore thru the surf, they are given a grade as to how they landed. My personal scores will NOT be recounted here, LOL
One day, a fellow cruiser named Don (Aussie) set up a beach Cricket game and we all play on the beach. Interesting game, but I'm not sure how it would stack up with the origional!

On Friday afternoons there is a dingy raft-up where one person anchors their dingy and the rest tie up to them. It's quite a sight and sometimes there are 60 people, all tied together having a great time, talking about whatever the topic is for the day.

By early Febuary I was starting to feel the tug from home. Plus , someone had crashed into the fuel dock in Barra de Navidad so diesel fuel was only available at the Pemex station nearby. Since I need a LOT more than can be hauled in 5 gallon jugs, it was time to head north while I still had enough to return to Puerto Vallarta.

First I made the 30 mile run north back to Chamela on Super Bowl Sunday. While I wasn't able to watch the game, I DID follow it on-line. Amazing how technology was made this available, even while at sea!!! Next day I left at first light for Ipala, 47 miles further north. Ipala is , or was, a good place to anchor up for the day so that one could round Cabo Corrientes in the early morning, when wind and sea are calmest. So far the wnd had been fairly light, but there was a big swell from the north, which made the ride fairly uncomfortable.

When I arrived off Ipala at 2 p.m., I found the small cove completely filled with Oyster pens. It's a really small place to begin with and having all the pens there was NOT what I had hoped to find. That forced me to continue north toward the cape at the worst possible time of day.

As soon as I left Ipala the wind began to increase. I closed all windows and ports, went into the main cabin where the ride would be dryer and have less motion and crossed my fingers. I figured, since it was only 13 miles to the Cape, and I had little choice, that I'd just plow on. And plow I DID!!!

By the time I was 8 miles off the cape, Godzilla was pretending to be a submarine. Wind was gusting to 25 knots and the seas were very steep. Along here the wind is from the northwest, but the current is from the south. Not the worst seas i've encountered, but it was a rollercoaster ride for the next two hours.

As soon as I came level with the cape the seas and wind dropped and I altered course for La Cruz, arriving there just as the sun set. I radioed as I approached the jetty and the marina staff told me where an empty slip was. I was dead tired, but happy to be tied to a dock for a while!!!!

Tenacatita Pictures

At anchor in Tenacatita

Palapa restaurant

Chowing on the beach!!!

Daily cruisers gathering on the beach

Waiting for the next surf victim

Cricket game, Tenacatita style!!

Rollo del Mar...YUM

The parking lot

Party on Godzilla