| Mazatlan Carnaval Mazatlan hosts the third largest Carnaval – only behind Rio and New Orleans. Four nights of activities were planned; including the carination of the queen and king and two full blown parades. David, Lynne and I headed down to Olas Altos for the “burning of the bad humor man” and fireworks. The street along the Malecon in the community of Playa Olas Altos was blocked off for the festivities. The areas contained numerous food and beer vendors (the Pacifico brewery is located in Mazatlan). There must have been a dozen bands playing different types of music at the same time. David and Lynne were busy taking photos. Entire families gladly posed for David. They really enjoyed seeing the digital photo previews of their families. David also befriended two older guys and “Manny” took a quick liking to Lynne. I guess we were centrally located, because soon the “the bad humor man” appeared. The crowd, including us, danced behind the bad humor guy for more than a block. Soon he stopped and literally blew up. Blowing up a huge paper mache guy being carried by a crane through a massive amount of people wouldn’t fly in the US – but it was perfectly acceptable in Mexico during Carnaval. The next day we headed back to the Malecon. Lois and Gary, friends of Lynne, graciously invited us to join them in viewing the parade from their second story hotel room at the De Cima. For more of Lynne's incredible parade photos visit Carnaval 2007 |
Muertos
We got into Muertos at 4:15 pm February 6th after a journey through the San
Lorenzo and Cerralvo Channels. San Lorenzo Channel is located between the
Baja and Isla Espiritu Santo. It's about 3 miles wide with a large amount of shoals,
shallow water and rocks.
The navigation guides show two helpful lit navigation buoys. Unfortunately, these
navigation buoys were nowhere to be found. This is not unusual for Mexico.
We plowed forward. Of course, we were constantly plotting our course on the
chart, checking our chart plotter and starring at our depth sounder.
Muertos to Mazatlan (the Southern Crossing)
Through contact via the vhs radio, we connected with several boats in the
anchorage that were leaving the next morning for Mazatlan. We left at 4:00 am
along with our "buddy boats” RedWitch (Bo, Brenda and Charlie) and Waif (Jack
and Diane).
No wind had been predicted for the next couple of days and we motored for 31
straight hours arriving in Mazatlan's Marina El Cid in the "new" harbor.
The crossing was so glassy, you could of water skied all day long. David spotted
two Marlin "feeders" and one Marlin "Jumper." He boated two Dorado off rod &
reel and farmed a dodo off the "meat hook." He had a double hook up of Skip
Jack on the “meat hook” and pole. The Skip Jacks were immediately released to
live on (not good eating in David’s opinion). That night David made sautéed
Dorado and wild rice.
David navigated a fairly tricky slip entrance, we secured the boat and slept for a
couple of hours.
We got into Muertos at 4:15 pm February 6th after a journey through the San
Lorenzo and Cerralvo Channels. San Lorenzo Channel is located between the
Baja and Isla Espiritu Santo. It's about 3 miles wide with a large amount of shoals,
shallow water and rocks.
The navigation guides show two helpful lit navigation buoys. Unfortunately, these
navigation buoys were nowhere to be found. This is not unusual for Mexico.
We plowed forward. Of course, we were constantly plotting our course on the
chart, checking our chart plotter and starring at our depth sounder.
Muertos to Mazatlan (the Southern Crossing)
Through contact via the vhs radio, we connected with several boats in the
anchorage that were leaving the next morning for Mazatlan. We left at 4:00 am
along with our "buddy boats” RedWitch (Bo, Brenda and Charlie) and Waif (Jack
and Diane).
No wind had been predicted for the next couple of days and we motored for 31
straight hours arriving in Mazatlan's Marina El Cid in the "new" harbor.
The crossing was so glassy, you could of water skied all day long. David spotted
two Marlin "feeders" and one Marlin "Jumper." He boated two Dorado off rod &
reel and farmed a dodo off the "meat hook." He had a double hook up of Skip
Jack on the “meat hook” and pole. The Skip Jacks were immediately released to
live on (not good eating in David’s opinion). That night David made sautéed
Dorado and wild rice.
David navigated a fairly tricky slip entrance, we secured the boat and slept for a
couple of hours.
Copala
Our friend of many years, Lynne Stevens, invited
us to join her on a road trip to Copala. Lynne has
been cruising Mexico for about 7 years. Copala is
a wonderful tiny village, founded in 1565, located
in the mountains approximately 50 miles from
Mazatlan. A former mining town, Copala has two
restaurants, one Cathedral and one cobblestone
street. Lynne’s friends had purchased a really
tiny house on the hill and we were able to see the
great improvements they have made.