Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta

December  6, 2019

Norman here.  Usually I am the primary author of our blogs but I’ve been in a bit of a rut lately (I think a bit of culture shock plus the heat is only beginning to let up and this will be our second year in the tropics for Christmas – not even a sliver of a chance of snow here).  Thankfully Clarice took up the electronic pen and wrote this month’s narrative and we should still be in internet range long enough to get it posted.  I will say that the past couple of days have helped me get back to feeling better as 1) we started gathering photos we might use for our talk at the Seattle Boat Show on January 24^th which forced me to go back and review all of the wonderful places and experiences we have had in the past year in Mexico; 2) Feeling a bit more of the spirit of the season with attending Sunday Mass at the cathedral (which was overflowing for the first day of Advent AND the first day of the celebration of the Virgin of Guadelupe and this is her designated “official” cathedral) where I was finally able to follow enough Spanish in a printed missal to follow the service; 3) enjoying the beauty of the hike Clarice describes below; 3) enjoying a true fiesta atmosphere as we watched the procession of the Virgin on day 4 of 12 celebrations; 4) and finally finding a way to carry out a personal Christmas tradition of mine when I realized that the local Woolworths (yes it even smells like the Woolworths of our youth) does a major layaway business for Christmas – I used the opportunity to play “Christmas Angel” after much explaining to the manager.

We left La Paz after Dia Las Muertos. 

A young girl dressed as a Catrina

Catrinas take the role very seriously, one must never smile and must walk as if in a fog

Numbers are for the contest that all of the Catrinas are part of

 Jarvis got into the act by dressing up as Dante from the movie Coco for the celebration.

Jarvis' friends Autumn and Michelle help him with his makup

A doggy version of a Catrina 

Jarvis poses next to a traditional Dia Las Muertos altar

A woman and her dog in dressed up together

So with that, I will gleefully let Clarice carry on with our story:

Before leaving La Paz, Norman had met a Finnish woman who was biking on Baja. (This is the time of year when the Cruceros Cruisers Club has bikers requesting rides over to the mainland from boaters. We have been reluctant to take on strangers as even 46 ft can be too cozy if the people are not a great fit).Norman asked the woman if she was looking for a ride to Mazatlan and she said she was not, but a Dutch cyclist was hoping to catch a ride across the sea. We contacted Rinskje and said we were leaving La Paz in the next couple of days and heard she may need a ride. Norman asked her to come to the boat so we could meet each other and see if this might work for both of us. Long story short, Rinskje was a great fit. She has been cycling for the past few years ( Asia, Europe, etc) and her current trek has brought her from Anchorage Alaska. She was a joy to spend 36 hours with. She was very independent, so pitched right in to help with daily chores…she did a night watch with me. We all had the opportunity to learn about each other and their cultures.

Rinskje joins the crew for the crossing from La Paz to Mazatlan

We left La Paz on 11/03/2019 with the ultimate goal of crossing to Mazatlan. We decided since we need to not reach California prior to January 1, 2020 and the weather is starting to moderate we may as well go see some of the mainland while we are in Mexico. We had a fairly smooth 36 +/- hour run to get to Mazatlan. We decided to stop at the first marina, El Cid. It’s a resort complex north of town and close to the entry channel to the Mazatlan Marina district. Two rivers empty out of this channel and there’s quite a current, so moderate amount of surge at tide changes. Part way through our stay, the sailboat next to us discovered they were resting on the bottom at low tide and we then realized what the “Thumps” we’d heard were… we were hitting bottom at low tide. After doing some reconnoitering with the portable depth gauge, both boats moved to the next docks further inland to give some breathing room under the keels. We were in the lap of luxury with a pool at our disposal, so totally enjoyed it.

We did a bike tour of Mazatlan the day after we arrived…or tried to.  The drivers weren’t too good about giving bicyclists room in the lanes..it was very crowded. We ended up going over a grated road without success. Norman shredded an inner tube; I managed to fly over the handlebars. Thank goodness no bodily harm, but we ended up taking a taxi truck back to the boat. Next we opted to hike to the top of Lighthouse hill ( El Faro in Spanish). Grabbed an open air taxi to the bottom of the hill and slowly worked our way up to the top. We definitely live at sea level, but the workout was worth it. Great views of Mazatlan and the surrounding area. 

El Faro lighthouse at the entrance to Mazatlan Harbor

Mazatlan from the top of El Faro hill 

El Faro is the world's highest lighthouse based on a hill

One day I decided to try and find the quilt shop that I had found on line. I was so excited to find true quilting quality fabrics. Great shop run by an expat. It’s a training venue for local women to learn how to become business women. She gets 10-20 women together for a period of time. They get sewing machines, learn to sew and quilt and take classes in business management. They also make items to sell in the shop. As I checked out, I asked the cashier what I should see since I was downtown. She mentioned the Cathedral and then said there was a new little shop of weavings from Oaxaca. I was the Cathedral and then came across the weaving shop. Luis, the shop owner, proudly showed me the small wooden loom his grandmother had given to him to use in the shop. He showed me a weaving he was working on and what it represented. He has larger looms at his home that the family all use to produce beautifully woven goods. I ended up purchasing a bedspread that I will convert to a Duvet cover once we get back to colder climates. Later we purchased a hand woven wool rug to go at the foot of the bed. The story of the weaver of the rug and his extended family are told here: Wool weavers of Oaxaca part I ... Wool weavers of Oaxaca part II  .

Hand woven bedspread by Luis

Hand woven rug by Evencio Vicente

Norman jumping in for a moment: Clarice forgot to mention our amazing overnight trip to the town of Durango high in the mountains east of Mazatlan.  We were asking some other long-term resident cruisers over breakfast about renting a car and driving to Durango and one couple suggested we borrow their Chevy Suburban for the trip but pointed out that we should plan to stay the night in Durango and suggested a pet friendly hotel.  Durango is a lovely old Mexican town with narrow cobblestone streets and the requisite amazing cathedral but the real eye candy for this trip was the drive to and from the mountaintop.  The original road was a winding two lane mountain road requiring a 6 – 8 hour drive.  That road is lovely in its own right and due to a serendipitous missed turnoff we drove on it for about 3 hours. The road surface was well maintained but like many mountain roads it followed every crook and curve of the hills as it wove its way up and down through valleys and over ridges while passing slowly through very small villages along the way.  We eventually got back onto the main toll road which required some phenomenal engineering and construction (all proudly Mexican) to create continuous grades that go on for miles rather than following the natural terrain up and down and up and up and down again.  To achieve that goal required 88 tunnels (several over a kilometer long) and 115 bridges including two cable bridges one of which is the tallest in the world. As a side note we are often asked about travelling through Mexico with the “Cartels everywhere” – this route definitely took us through historically active drug production areas but as tourists the only thing that might have been related was that our large vehicle (which could have carried a lot of contraband) was stopped by the State Police.  The two officers checked my driver’s license and were completely polite and professional.  After practicing their bit of English vs our poor Spanish they sent us on our way with a “buenas dias”.

New road to Durango (from old road) 1 of 88 tunnels and 115 bridges

Old road to Durango

The mountains that need to be crossed and climbed to get to Durango

A corn field clings to a hillside along the old road while a horse munches below

On the old road looking at the new road where it crosses over a village

Scenery along the way reminded of the Black Hills of SD

Hay being stored in shucks

The Chevy Suburban stopped for a photo op on the way back down the mountain

Mountain Scenery

Tallest cable stayed bridge in the world

View crossing the tallest cable stayed bridge in the world

Smaller of the two cable stayed bridges followed by another tunnel

Inside the Durango cathedral

Durango cathedral from the village square

We left Mazatlan on 11/13/19 with the plan to spend the afternoon anchored at Isla Venado, just outside the Old Port of Mazatlan, until about 4 pm. This would allow us an overnight passage to Isla Isabela with an arrival at daybreak (We prefer to not enter new places in the dark the first time, especially with the charts being inaccurate at times for Mexican waters). We arrived at Isla Isabela as the sun broke over the horizon. We opted to anchor at the south bay due to the direction of the winds. Its not a very protected bay and the underwater area is filled with boulders ( some are huge). Jarvis was not allowed on the island, much to his dismay, as it’s a sanctuary for frigates and boobies. Norman and I went ashore and watched the frigates doing their mating rituals. Quite elaborate with the males inflating a bright red pouch on the front of their neck and of course making some noise along with this demonstration of virility. We then walked to an area where boobies were nesting on the ground. We saw eggs under the adults, newly hatched chicks and goofy looking teenagers. However, none of these were the elusive blue footed boobies that we were supposed to be able to see. We looked with the binoculars on the cliffs surrounding the anchorage and managed to locate the blue footed birds. The island is also home to LOTS of Iguanas. The number of birds was pretty amazing.

The next item of business was a good cleaning of the hull, including the keel cooler, props, etc. We both were down 1-2 hours and got the job done. We also had some air left in our tanks so decided to check the anchor since the guide book states and anchor trip line was recommended to hopefully prevent getting stuck in the boulders. Since we knew we were leaving at oh dark thirty the next morning, we wanted to avoid a night dive if possible to unstick a stuck anchor. The anchor was situated in such a way that we weren’t going anywhere and we now knew the angles to try if we got stuck. Unfortunately we were too tired to grab another tank and do a pleasure dive. Lots of beautiful fish were around us and it would have been fun to explore the rocks.

Moonlit crossing to Isla Isabele

Boobies are not at all shy about checking out the boat

Thousands of frigate birds inhabit Isla Isabele

Iguanas by the hundreds live on the island as well

A lady frigate can't get any rest from suitors even while she is on the nest

A brown footed booby shows off her egg

A teenage booby taking a stroll

Salish Aire at anchor on Isla Isabele

On 11/14 at 330 am we pulled anchor without a hitch and headed towards La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. It is called this due to a living cross on the hill carved from the Huanacaxtle tree, but most people just refer to the village as La Cruz. The Huanacaxtle tree is a huge tree that would be fantastic for tree houses.

As we made our way to La Cruz, we discovered the fishing lines we’d been warned about as we approached La Cruz. These are yellow polypropylene lines that are very very long. It appears they are long line fishing. They are inconspicuously marked with 250 ml ( 1 pint approximately) clear soda pop bottles – yep not really easy to see until you are on top of them. Most of the time there’s a panga at one end of the line and in the dark they even sometimes have a light on the panga. We slow down, maybe honk if the panga fishermen are asleep, and wait until they show us where the end of the line is to allow safe passage without damaging their fishing set up. We got a little cocky and thought we were through the gauntlet at one point when to our dismay a line was right under out bow. We discovered if we went over them at a right angle, they just rolled under our full keel without any problem. FINALLY, as we saw La Cruz come into view we were out of the gauntlet of fishermen.

We are now on the jungle looking side of Mexico after spending the past year in the desert side.  La Cruz is a small village with cobblestone streets for the most part. NOT conducive to bike riding in the least. We attended the market that is held on Sundays the day after we arrived. It is huge…not really a farmers market as there is little in the way of produce. However, lots of food ( Indian, Mexican, bread, jams, paella, sausages, meat pies, etc.) and you can literally eat your way through the market. There are lots of arts and crafts booths as well. This is all along the malecon on the side opposite  of where we are moored. And then there is more in the town square. Pretty amazing.

The La Cruz fishing pangas bring in their catch (including tuna 4 feet long!)

We also had some boat projects – these never end, you just go down the list from high to low priority. There is a fairly large “high end” chandlery in Puerto Vallarta, so we took the bus or taxis in a couple of times. Of course “high end” means something different here than in the states, but all in all it was pretty fun to see some quality products and a fair assortment of items. After a week in La Cruz, we were ready to move on to Puerto Vallarta, which we did on 11/29/19.

It’s only a few hour cruise ( the Gilligan’s Island theme is playing in the background) to Puerto Vallarta. There’s no real anchorage here, so we are in a marina. This would be an awesome Hurricane hole. It is in a little keyhole and everyone in this marina, pangas included understand the concept of hull speed. We don’t rock and roll at all. It’s an experience that we’ve not had for a long, long time.

Puerto Vallarta is big, but not as noisy as Mazatlan. Cruise ships ( humongous ones) come in regularly and lots of tourists abound. Lots of busses and Uber to get around with, as well as taxi’s. We spend the first few days meeting up with friends, checking out the marina district and relaxing. Again, we had access to a pool. This is such luxury!!! We explored Sam’s club and Walmart and a few other close by places. Ate some great food.

December 1-12^th Puerto Vallarta commemorates Las Senora de Guadelupe. There is a cathedral by this name in downtown. Each of the twelve days there is a procession from 5 pm to midnight of the religious faithful that participate in that leads to the cathedral. We decided to go watch one evening for a few hours. True to manana time, the procession started very slowly with 2 groups passing us in an hour…then it started picking up. The procession is a mix of Catholicism and native cultures. Young girls were given the honor to portray the Senora on floats ( thankfully they were tied to the trailers as the floats were quite wiggly), Women in white culturally appropriate clothing walked while carrying candles and flowers, groups of children processed while singing , there was a band and a group of dancers that appeared to be Aztec ( or native group) in nature. LOTS of street food that was great tasting. We proceeded to the cathedral and it was overflowing with flowers.

A stand in for the Virgin de Guadelupe (tied to the float for safety but she still looked pretty nervous)

All of the floats and groups have a sponsor and come with gifts - this group was sponsored by Oxxo (think Mexican 7-11)

An indigenous dance troupe

 

Enjoying the plentiful street food

Inside of the cathedral of the Virgin of Guadelupe

The cathedral of the Virgin of Guadelupe has a very unique stone carved crown

Fiesta street scene

There is an every Thursday night market at the marina that included dancing by these VERY talented young folk

One day we opted to try a hike we had read about. We took and Uber about 1 to 1.5 hours to Boca de Tomatlan. Once there, you find the bridge across the river and proceed to follow a trail around the ocean edge towards Las Animas. We were drenched in sweat within a half hour, but the hike was beautiful through the jungle, past secluded beaches with  beautiful views of Banderas Bay. Lots of stone steps as we climbed up into the jungle and clambered    over areas that are in need of some maintenance. Just before Las Animas was a jungle resort where we stopped and had a fruit plate and some Limonada. We placed our order and the waiter asks if we need ice for Norman’s head. We both couldn’t figure out what he was referring to and said no. I then looked at Normans head to discover that the tree he had whacked his head on near the beginning of the hike had left quite a sore spot. He had blood running down the side of his face, but we hadn’t noticed. The nice young man brought some first aid supplies for me to clean up the wound and then we rested as we ate and drank  our order.

A pocket beach and stream along the trail offered a nice rest stop

Clarice trying to control the sweat from the rain forest humidity while hiking

Amazing beach near the end of the trail

We were told we were only 10 minutes from Las Animas at this point so we headed onward. Las Animas was a beautiful little indent in the shoreline. We headed to the pier to wait for a panga to give us a ride back to Boca. The first person said 250 pesos so we declined. A boy in a panga came up and we asked his fee : 50 pesos each . SOLD.. we  boarded and headed back to the beginning of the days adventure. We arrived back at the boat very tired, a little sore and very happy we had spent our day doing this.

We are getting ready to leave P.V. tomorrow, December 7^th. Norman checked engine room fluids yesterday. We topped off water, secured the topsides (tender, bikes), rigged paravanes for easy deployment and went on a provisioning trip. Probably the last provisions until Ensenada or San Diego ( since we cannot take fresh stuff back into the states, we’ll need to use it all up before San Diego). I have learned however that to not waste food ()when we are approaching another country, I boil eggs up, make all the vegetables into a salad, or stew/soup and clean and process all remaining fruit.

I think we are both getting dock fever and ready to get moving again. I prefer anchoring and will enjoy being away from the hub bub that towns bring. I long for the peace and tranquility of remote bays so am excited to be out of here, even though it’s been a fun week.