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.......