Month: February 2019

Across the Sea and Far Away (2/10-2/21/2019)

We’ve really enjoyed our time in La Paz. The city, the people, the marina, the sunsets.

But we’re cruisers now, so with distant ports calling, it was time to move along. We decided the next major stop should be Mazatlan, especially since we’ll be getting there just before Carnival, and Mazatlan is reputed to have a Carnival that rivals Rio’s.

But on the way, we stopped for some sight seeing. First, at Isla San Francisco.

Where, despite the namesake-like cold and rainy weather, we hiked up to the top of the hill. While there, we saw a bunch of manta rays leaping out of the water way below (sorry, no pictures).

We were joined in the bay by a National Geographic cruise ship with 100 passengers. In fact… We went to bed with a Nat Geo cruise ship anchored next to us. We woke up the next morning with a Nat Geo cruise ship anchored next to us. We just assumed it was the same ship. Turns out they swapped them while we were asleep! That led to a rather confused chat with one of the guides from the boat…

Next stop was Bonanza bay at Espiritu Santo.

Then back to Ensenada los Muertos, which we had stopped at on the way to La Paz. But we loved the place so much that we said we’d return, and return we did.

We took the dinghy to shore to have lunch at the local restaurant (the one with the giant train set). As we neared the beach, we noticed a posse (or maybe a gang) of pelicans hanging near the ramp. They didn’t move out of the way. When we dragged the dinghy ashore (so it wouldn’t wash away if the tide came in while we were eating), they didn’t leave. Instead they followed us, and we realized they were pretty tough looking hombres and very persistent. Fishing boats often launch and return there, so we assumed the birds were just used to getting a free fish or two. But they seemed pretty intimidating. We definitely didn’t turn our backs on them.

While in Muertos, we met a pair of friends (a firefighter and a gymnastics coach) who had recently arrived on their boat from the US. After an infestation of seals had nearly destroyed their boat while they had it moored near San Luis Obispo, they rebuilt it almost entirely themselves, then sailed it down to Mexico. They came over for drinks and conversation — it’s always interesting to exchange notes with other cruisers of all kinds. As they were leaving, we realized they were both younger than our daughters…

After a weather delay of a couple days, we made an overnight crossing to Mazatlan. Unfortunately, Suzana got sea sick on the way — something we thought we’d gotten over. The sea was rather bouncy (four feet at five seconds for those of you who know what that feels like). But she recovered and was fine for the rest of the trip.

The entrance to the Mazatlan marina area — where there are several marinas, including the El Cid marina that was our destination — is like something out of the Odyssey: a narrow passage with occasionally crashing seas guarded by a sea monster. (Photos below were taken after we arrived, as we were too busy to take them as we arrived.)

The sea monster was a dredger, which takes up most of the channel when it’s dredging. The photo below is the dredger resting in its lair. It looks much scarier when it’s threatening to force you onto the rocks.

(Though in fairness, the dredger operator was really nice and helped direct us through the narrow passage.)

El Cid marina is pretty rough. Besides the marina, it’s a full service hotel/spa, with pools (including in-the-water bars), a gym, a beach, and, worst of all, bingo! Not our usual sort of place, but we’ll survive somehow.

Found Art (Jan/Feb 2019)

Neither Suzana nor I spoke any Spanish beyond “hola” and “gracias” when we started our adventure. Shortly after arriving in La Paz, we discovered that a cruising family neighbor in our marina were all taking private Spanish lessons. Their teacher, Sergio, came to them for the lessons. That sounded great, so we decided to give it a try, and hired Sergio to teach us. We’d meet a few times a week in the marina, often on our boat.

A month or so later, we’re up to “me llamo Harry,” “desculpe,” and “aqui esta bien” (said mostly to Uber drivers). Limited but measurable progress. (Actually, as usual, Suzana is way ahead of me, having conversations with locals and making friends with everyone.)

As we’re getting ready to leave La Paz, we decided to take Sergio and his wife out to dinner, both as a thank you, and to get to know them better and discover more about Mexico and their life, etc. We already knew that he’d had a varied and interesting life, doing accounting, music, teaching, and more.

During dinner, as often happens around here, a small band of musicians approached the table to ask if we’d like them to play music (for a price). To our amazement, Sergio greeted them warmly — it turned out that he had sung with them during his musical career. And he offered to do a song with them there and then.

And the food was great too!

This serendipitous bit of art/music reminded me of our experience a couple weeks earlier: Suzana had been walking around town, going to the farmer’s market and such, and came across an announcement for an art opening, with three artists presenting sculptures of whales.

We appeared on the appointed night in the appointed place to find a group of people milling about in a very charming courtyard, drinking (free) beverages. No sculptures, but giving the impression of a pre-opening soiree (what’s Spanish for “soiree”?). So we drank and milled and waited.

After a while, some people made speeches. In Spanish, of course. Our new Sergio-powered Spanish understanding let us catch about a tenth of the meaning. But everyone applauded, so we did as well.

Then everyone went up the stairs to view the exhibit.