Hurricanes, Storms and a night at the Mambo...

Dry Mambo......three days later.

Broke-back Taxi @ the Mambo

T

A bit on the warm side....

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my adventures. It was a difficult summer in some ways and really nice in others. But thats another story for another time......

Anyway, late September I split from SoCal and headed down to Baja. I had left Godzilla in La Paz for the summer. I had hired a local captain to do some work on my boat, and almost none of it got done. In addition, some of my expensive tackle had be stolen. Of course nobody knew anything, and I was very happy I have theft insurance.  I called the police, but to no avail. I finally had to bribe them (300 pesos) to come and make a report. I suspect the marina security and the captain I had hired knew more than they were telling.

When I arrived in La Paz I made contact with my friend Captain Jack, who I had met in Mazatlan the previous year. He had just sold his boat and was living ashore. Every morning a few XPats would meet as his house for coffee and conversation. News was comming in of an approaching tropical storm (Norman). On the day it was due to arrive, I had been at Jack's till late afternoon avoiding boat chores.
On the way back to the boat it started to rain a bit. I stopped at a little tienda (market) and when I got back in car to leave it would'nt start. I tried for a bit with no luck and sat there for an hour as the rain slowly increased. After the hour the car started I took off for the boat post haste!!...After almost exactly 5 minutes the car stalled . It did this in a busy intersection, and out I came to push it around a corner, out of traffic. This same scene repeated itself 3 more times as I tried to get back to the boat before the streets became flooded.

The final time the car died I was on the main road to the marina and as I pushed her around yet another corner, in calf deep, fast running water, I was accross the street from a little mini mart called the Mambo!!!! By then it was about 10P.M. and the main highway was totally underwater. I knew if I sat there for another hour the car would run long enough to get to the boat. But what if it died while on the highway???...The water might get so high I would get flooded!!!!......

I sat there for a bit then waded over to the Mambo (I should have had my dingy by then) and asked the two young kids working there to call me a taxi. They tried and tried but could find none who were working with all the flooding. One of the young girls working there even went outside with me in the rain to try and flag down a taxi who might be up and running. Around midnight we finally reached a taxi who agreed to come out. Sometime later he pulled into the parking lot and promptly stalled out.
I waded back to my car , resolved to spend the night there. 30 minutes later I got a tap on my window. It was the security guard from the VW dealer next to the Mambo who had been watching our plight. He had flagged down a passing taxi. This one ran fine and after some hydro-planning we made it to the marina around 1a.m.........WHEW!!!!!.....I was never so happy to see my boat. By then it was raining so hard that water was streaming out of the freeing ports. Wind was howling!!!

It rained for another day and then I got back to work, getting Godzilla ready to cross back to Mazatlan. Mid-October Wally arrived in La Paz to crew with me for the crossing (225 miles). Shortly after he got there we received warnings for Hurricane Paul. By then Jack had taken my car (now repaired) back to Mazatlan on the ferry. So I was without transportation. Lucky for us, Paul passed north of us and slammed into Puerto Escondido, so all we got was more rain and some wind. Not as bad as Norman, though. One thing that DID happen was a power spike on the dock that blew out my inverter and battery charger.

So, Wally and I were marina-bound for a few day while it poured. Watched movies and thanked our stars for air conditioning.

The trip to Mazatlan was a nice milk-run and we arrived 31 hours later, well rested and well fed......

Jack's back yard

Jack says W.T.F....over!!!

A video of the ride from La Paz to Mazatlan.......

Godzilla vs The Cartel and other adventures......

When I arrived in La Paz one thing I noticed was the absence of any Cartel activity. I could only assume they had been alerted of my arrival and had fled the area. Not knowing for sure, I set sail at the end of April for parts north to see where they had gone.

San Evaristo

My first stop ut of La Paz was Isla San Francisco, about 40 miles north. It's a really small island but with a great anchorage called "The Hook". Well sheltered from north winds, I dropped the anchor in 20' of water and relaxed with my Kindle for the everning. At 5 a.m. I was awaken with the boat rolling a great deal. Looking outside I could see the wind and swell had shifted to the southwest. I promptly hoisted the anchor and moved nine miles north to San Evaristo which had a bit better protection form the rising wind. For the next 2 days the wind howled and I was stuck. I saw 35 knots of wind and I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of the weather in that anchorage.  Evaristo is a small village of maybe a  hundred people at the most. They have one little tienda (Market) with basic supplies and not a lot more. Not much English spoken, but very friendly people.

During a lull in the wind I took the dingy ashore to search for any signs of Cartel activity but once again, found they had moved still further north to escape the wrath of Godzilla..!!!!!

Bahia Agua Verde

Bahia Agua Verde

After the wind died down I moved north again to Agua Verde. This has to be one of my all-time favorites. Beautiful green water, warm weather and good friends. I met my friends from the sailing vessel Oya.... Kiki, Craig and Joanne there. They were moving in the same general direction as I was and we had been communicating via VHF radio for a few days. One evening while I was visiting aboard Oya they introduced me to a dice game called "Farkle". A great game, we would continue to play it every time we met up in an anchorage for the rest of the season.

Agua Verde, like San Evaristo , has a small village, tienda, water distilation plant and fishermen

Loreto Fest

Craig at Loreto Fest

Kiki and Joanne at Loreto Fest

I stayed there a few days then got talked into going still further north to Puerto Escondido for Loreto Fest. Loreto Fest is sponsored by the Hidden Port Yacht Club. Puerto Escondido is a huge, nearly landlocked, natural harbor. It has a very narrow entrance, but once inside, you could put in several hundred boats with no problem. The have a marina office, market, restaurant and cruisers lounge. There a about 10 slips , but almost everybody either anchors or picks up a mooring ball.
Loreto Fest had music, dancing, games and booths with all kinds of worthless stuff and was a blast.

When Loreto Fest was over I moved a bit north of Loreto to Isla Coronados. This another small island with the clearest water I had yet seen in Mexico. Oya and several other crews/boats I had met in Puerto Escondido were there and we all enjoyed the warm water (82F.), snorkling and of course more Farkle.
While in some very shallow water I had fun chasing large Rays in the dingy. It was like herding cattle.

Isla Coronados

Isla Coronados

Chasing Stingrays at Isla Coronados

Earlier in the spring my friend Jody has expressed a desire to visit and so near the end of May, she flew into Loreto to make the run back to La Paz with me. I met her in Loreto and we provisioned the boat and taxied back to Puerto Escondido where I had left the boat after returning from Isla Coronados. The next morning we hoisted anchor and set sail for Agua Verde, retracing my steps south.  Once again the wind was from the south and we had a windy and wet ride heading for our next anchorage. We met up again with Oya and enjoyed a nite of laughing and farkle. One of the wornderful things I enjoyed was not having to be the cook!!!...Jody is a great cook and I ate like a pig.

Jody in La Paz

Marina Palmira..La Paz

Roughing it in the Cortez


As Jody had only 5 days to spare, we had to move every day in order to make her flight home from La Paz. So, next day after enjoying Agua Verde, we headed south for the Hook. Last time I had been there I was almost the only boat at anchor. This time the anchorage was loaded with boat of all types and sizes. Sailboat, power boats and really big charter boats with jet-skis, tubes with big tenders pulling them and people picnicing on the beach. We Bar-B-Q'd some New York steaks I had brought from Mazatlan and spent out last night at anchor.
Next morning it was time to head to La Paz. We had flat seas, calm winds all the way and pulled into Marina Palmira in the ealry afternoon.

Isla San Francisco..."The Hook"
My origional plan was to return the boat to Mazatlan for the summer. Due to weather and other considerations, I deceided to leave her in La Paz instead. Marina Palmira is VERY expensive, so I leased a slip in Marina Fonatur. This marina is a very long way back in the bay with narrow channels in and out. Not the kind of place you'd want to base out of if you used you boat often. But, it's a good hurricane hole and the price is right. Plus NO CARTEL!!!!

Next up....Wally and I do a 27 hour drive home!!!!!!!

Adios Mazatlan, I'm heading.............

NORTH!!!!


My cousin Robert and I had been communicating since summer of 2011 and he, being an old hand at Mazatlan, had expressed an interest in doing some fishing this season. So, in late March we set a date . He will be flying into Mazatlan, and returning home from La Paz. This gives us the opportunity to fish while we cross the Sea of Cortez and do some exploring along  the way once we reach the Baja side. But that will be the the next post once that trip is over. In the meantime, there was much more to do in Mazatlan while I waited  for his arrival.
Mazatlan is such a great, fun place. It is sooo easy to get stuck here. I have made many friends, cruisers and landsmen alike. 


Robert arrived on April 15th (I'll assumed he had already paid his taxes) and we spent a few days in Mazatlan, saying goodbye and getting the  boat ready to leave. On the 17th we headed for the fuel dock, took on 200 gallons of diesel and headed out. 

Robert in Mazatlan

The ride accross was uneventful except for the constant headseas. It was a bit bumpy going accross and after 25 hours and 190 miles, we arrived in Ensenada de los Muertos on the Baja side, 58 miles south of La Paz.  During the passage we had seen whales breaching, flying fish and Dolphins.

ALL HANDS ON DECK...!!!!!

Cerralvo Channel

Marina Palmira

The Shack

Shack Burgers

Muertos

Malecon de La Paz at sunset

Ensenada de los Muertos

The next morning we rose at O-dark thirty and left for La Paz via the Cerrvalo Channel. The seas were completly flat and we made 8 knots. About 1pm that afternoon we closed with the San Lorenzo Channel, which is a narrow passage between two reefs at the eentrance to La Paz Bay. 
La Paz Bay is very shallow on the south side, which is also the channel that lead towards the city itself and the marinas. We radioed Marina Palmira and were issued a slip.


I had been to Marina last in 1998 and there were some changes. Many new buildings, a restaurant and even a small store with some VERY expensive boating supplies. But mostly it was the empty shops that got my attention.



While Robert and I were having breakfast Friday mornig at the local restaurant, several friends/cruisers from Mazatlan, Ed and Anette, Alan and Christine, showed up and recommended a local burger joint called "The Shack" in town. Not having had a great burger in sometime, we headed into town that evening aboard the shuttle that is provided by the marina. 


The Shack is owned by an Expat named Travis and his Mexican wife who make a truly remarkable burger. It's a challenge to get one's mouth around it.


After stuffing our faces, we walked down to the town square and down to the malecon' for some foto-ops for Robert's wife, Denise, as she is a watercolor painter of some note. 


The next day was Saturday and at noon it was time to say adios' to Roberto at noon for his flight home, with a promise that he will come back for another visit. Nothing better than having family visit and catch up on old times.......


The weather on the Baja side is quite different than the mainland. It gets warmer but the humidity is far less. I have cabin doors that refuse to close on the mainland, that shut themselves when in Baja. I think I prefer the dryness, but thats just for now.


So, now I sit in La Paz, soon to be changing marinas, awaiting what/who is next..And then I'll head further into the Sea of Cortez to see what further adventures await..........


Next up,  Captain Sam takes on the Cartel..!!!!!

North or South.....???

After I returned to Mazatlan Jan 5th. the decision on my next destination had to be made. I really love Mazatlan and all the new friends I have made here. But the winds of change have started to blow, and I need to go someplace else for a while. Cruisers frequently get stuck in one place...their boats becomming nothing more than floating condos. I need to snorkle, fish and live on the hook (anchor) for a time. Away from marina life till it's time to go back to the U.S. this summer......

My choices are: Head back south to the places I visited last year, but go a bit further to Manzanillo. Santiago Bay is supposed to be very nice. Clean, clear water and an great anchorage. Along the way, I can re-visit Chacala, La Cruz, Chemala, Tenacatita, and Bara de Navidad. All familiar places I enjoyed. I can make this run solo, like I did before and return to Mazatlan in June to put Godzilla to bed for the summer. It's about 400 miles each way. I know there will be a lot of other boats crusing this area then . I'll get to re connect with people I have met along the way from Mazatlan and my time down there last year.

Or....Wait  till the end of March and go north in the Sea of Cortez. This is the earliest time to go, as winds and cold weather prevail up there before then. If I choose that direction I'll probibly stay till a bit later in the season to enjoy the incredible diving and fishing. It's quite a bit more isolated in the anchorages, so I think I'll try and convince some unsuspecting crew to go with me for company, LOL

Elvira's Party

Elvira

In the meantime , Elvira, our marina manager had left us and we through her a huge party at Christie's. Elvira had been one of the reasons so many cruisers keep their boats in Mazatlan. She speaks perfect English and does so many things that most managers wont do. It was a great event, and about 85 people attended.




Before I coud even think about leaving, we HAD to have a Super Bowl party......Heres a few pix from that event.....Go Giants!!!

Donna and Kathryn

John and Ed

Captain Sam

Jack trying to dance

Julie Mazatlan and her sister Sue

Kathy, Sam and Mara, who owns Calypso, where we all hang for morning coffee





Next post: Which way did he go?....Which way did he go...?

Owen Alexander Agajanian (Nander #2)

Uncle Mark

Uncle Michael

About a week later the countdown began for my first grandchild , and on Dec.13th he arrived!!!! After a while I regained the use of my legs and emotions. Alex and Kaitlyn had produced my grandson, Owen. I'm sure every grandparent feels his or her grandchild is the most wonderfull, but they'd be wrong. MINE IS!!!...LOL

Merry Christmas, Granpa

New Parents!!!

On Dec. 22nd. I flew to Reno to have Christmas with Alex, Kaitlyn and Mr. Owen. What a great time. Ate like a pig, marveled at the new arrival and froze my ass off. But it was all worth it.

On dec. 27th I flew to L.A. to spend some time with my sister and two other sons, Mark and  Michael

Thanksgiving 2011 in La Cruz

We all arrived in La Cruz the week before Thanksgiving and managed to find empty slips on the same dock. Everyone took the rest of the day off to rest and clean up the boats. 


After that , the party was on and every nite we were somewhere listening to music or enjoying the different cuisine. Two people had cars or vans, so we were abole to go into downtonw Puerto Vallarta a few times to enjoy the malecon and sample the nightlife down there.


While we were there, everybody piled aboard Godzilla to take a trip to La Tres Mariettas, a group of small islands in Bandreas Bay


Thanksgiving was spent at Philo's, where we had a great buffett and live music. We also had a BBQ  pot-luck aboard Godzilla, then a dock pot-luck where everybody made something for tacos...!!!!!!


Two weeks after we arrived Wally and I left for Mazatlan. Some of the others stayed in La Cruz while a few prepared to head south towards Manzanillo and Bara de Navidad.

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What a wonderfull way to spend Thanksgiving!!!!