unexpected catch of the day!

"Mhm, we have a boat issue", Tod says when his girls came back to the boat after a swim.  I'm thinking "what's new", we needed a new problem, as he just fixed our solenoid starter issue. For the record here, I'm very lucky to be married to an extreme handyman/ fixer, and can't imagine  passage making without that very helpful skill set. While at sea you need to be self sufficient, in contrast to being at the dock in a marine where you can hire people.

We got ourselves a snake on board. What??? Yep, a live snake. Tod discovered a sleepy snake on the front deck when he removed our kayak bag. Now it's not so sleepy anymore, and we are all alert. Tessa is excited and wants to have front row seat near the action, I'm less excited about that idea. Dock neighbors want to come see the show. Tod grabs our boat hook and Tessa's old bath tub. With his bare hand he grabs it, and throws it in the bath tub. It's not as active now, maybe due to lack of water? He and Tessa bring it to shore, where the security guard wants to have it as he has never seen a snake like that before. When did it decided to come along for the ride? Our best guess is when we were tied to the fuel dock in San Blas for the night, a few days ago.

We are now enjoying Banderas Bay, and are staying at marina la Cruz, with plenty of cruising kids for Tessa to play with. Yesterday Tod and I had just dinner alone aboard, while Tessa was eating at our neighbors boat, playing with kids she just met that afternoon.

it's not big, but for sure glad it's off the boat!

the joy of sailing into Banderas bay, it's the San Francisco Bay
without fog and with whales, dolphins and sunshine

Preparing for Sinterklaas's night visit by steam boat

  

Lucious Marina La Cruz

with fish market in town we eat well

Marlin

ah, the joy of having 2 loads washed and folded for less than $5

home work including food and cards

helping to decorate the chrismas tree in the cruisers lounge

making ornaments with materials collected from the beach 

iguana's around the town plaza

driving in the pick up bed, mexican way with friends to dinner

Swimming in the Pacific Ocean and sea life!

Sadly we had to sail by the “mini” Galapagos aka as Isla Isabela in the early wee hours, as the easterly wind didn’t give us good anchoring protection on the East side. We marched on to San Blas to check out the place where Bliss will be stored out of the water in the New Year. Underway the girls had a blast jumping into the Pacific Ocean (no worries oma, we were both tied to the boat, wearing life jackets, and no sails were up), watched bottle neck dolphins playing near our bow, and whales a few boat lengths away. The Baja Peninsula is no longer on our West side, it's the vast Pacific Ocean, and it's tempting to sail South West. Something to look forward to in 2 years!

We have been very lucky with wind conditions this season so far, we get to sail a fair amount. Luckily we are on a sailboat and not a power boat, as our latest boat issue is related to a sticking solenoid! Tod is trying to fix it now. It basically means that Tod is  hammering the starter solenoid  down below while I push the engine start button above decks.  So far it has worked but you never know when this trick will stop working, likely in the most inconvenient place! Good news, our fresh water leak is fixed (hot water tank), so off course we were due for a new boat problem!

sailing by Isla Isabela

reference guides can keep her busy for quite a while

the bird poop rock

hard to catch a good pics, but we saw 4 whales

In the fast lane...another passage under our belt

Mexicans love their music loud! After a 44 hrs passage, where the only sound you hear is coming from birds, winds, and our iron lady if we use it, we have arrived in the touristy part of Mazatlan. We are treating ourselves to the El Cid resort with 2 pools, cause it’s hot and humid, amigos, we are no longer in the dessert with dry heat but in the humid tropics. For $35/night  for our slip we get to use the resort with all its organized stuff, and I can stand all the buzy ness for about 2 days. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not above any luxuries, for sure not after a somewhat rough passage. We sailed 50% of the time, but the wind came directly from behind, and that assures you a rocky passage, where sleep does not seem to come. But we spotted our first whale, migrating north.

Tessa is observing that Mexican streets have a lot of trash, and that’s true, and for sure not very appealing. In resorts like this though, you don’t see it, as they have a gazillion Mexicans catering to mostly Americans and Canadians. Another observation is the general condition of sidewalks. Big portholes are common, and in our last town I almost bumped my head into barbed wire along the side walk.  I’m just to tall for this country, which lacks the annoying lawsuit culture, so just walk at your own risk.

Today we visited old town Mazatlan again, which we like a lot. Tomorrow, we will plan to set sail to Isla Isabella, the "mini Galapagos of Mexico". We loved it 2 years ago, and want to share it with Tessa again. The tricky part will be weather, but so far it looks good for a overnight stay there. In case we don't make it, and want to get a feel for it, you can read about our last visit here.

For now, I’m just parting with some pics of our last harbor Topolabambo, the dusty working town, and the world second largest deep water harbor. Really it’s hard to believe as it seems so sleepy. And some pics of colorful, old Mazatlan.

bus ride to Los Mochis, large town 30 min away

cocina economica, your choice for very simple meals

more money is spent around marinas

ah, the joy of pastries after an overnighter

Tessa trying to hail the shrimp boats on channel 16

 

Feeding the pigeons near the Basilica in Old Mazatlan