December 11, 2017
This adventure is supposed to be about sailing, right? So when the winds picked up after motoring out of Chacala out came the screecher. Motorsailing along we decided to put out the fishing lines even though the freezer was looking good in the pescado department. Fish on! The wind was from a good angle so up came the main sail…
December 10, 2017
Could I live here? I’d definitely put it in the very firm maybe category. Which is saying a lot from me. This town is top of my list for the mainland. Gorgeous beach, check. Kick ass food, check. Nice locals, check. Not too big, check. Good ratio Mexican/Gringos, check. Sign me up for a few days in this slice of…
December 6, 2017
My initial thought was to dinghy to shore and then grab a bus into San Blas for a look around. Vicki suggested we just take the dingy straight to San Blas. I was a little apprehensive but figured this was a chance to expand the envelope of my comfort zone (I get nervous once past the distance that would be…
December 5, 2017
We heard horror stories about the jejenes (little biting bugs) so while in Mazatlán we bought some black veil material and Vicki slaved over needle and thread to fashion us bug screens for the large saloon windows. And yes we absolutely needed them. But let me back up a bit. Matanchén beach from Strikhedonia We arrived in the afternoon from…
December 4, 2017
We departed Mazatlán around 6:30pm for our 100nm overnight passage to Isla Isabel, which has been called the Galapagos of Mexico. The passage was mostly motorsailing, which isn’t a bad thing since visiting Isla Isabel is only suitable in calm weather due to poor holding over a rocking bottom with patches of sand. We did manage a few hours with…
December 2, 2017
There is something meditative about climbing up a hill for me. So every place we stop, I look for places to go hiking. The lighthouse (Faro) in Mazatlán is a famous spot to capture pictures of the city from above. Easy to access from the centro district, it takes maybe twenty minutes to walk to the base of the hill.…
December 1, 2017
The main reason we stuck around Mazatlán was to get the boat washed, polished, and waxed. After Louis and his guys on dock 4 at Marina Mazatlán finished, the fiberglass on Strikhedonia was shining better than any other time we have owned her, and all for a very reasonable price. Our boat wasn’t the only thing that needed work done.…
November 30, 2017
After getting our bearings and organizing the boat following the passage, it was time to go off exploring Mazatlan. The “green” Sabalo Centro bus picks up just outside of the marina and for 11 pesos will take you to the heart of the downtown district.
November 26, 2017
Crossing to the mainland is all about timing. It can be a tranquil thirty hours or a hair-raising, humbling experience. I am willing to wait for the former, however we were lucky and our schedule lined up perfectly for a mellow crossing. We pulled up anchor at 5:00am to snuck out of the anchorage while everyone else was asleep. There…
November 25, 2017
I like an early start to the day, even more so when there is fun stuff to do at the destination. So just before dawn we pulled away from our slip and began navigating the long exit La Paz. It was nice to sail to the San Lorenzo Channel but after our turn southeast it became a motorsail. Oh well,…
November 24, 2017
I had reached out to Club Cruceros via email about buying tickets for Thanksgiving dinner but they needed cold hard cash. Our friends on MoonDrifter were going but they were getting in close to Thanksgiving as well. So with an early start from Caleta Partida, we made it close enough to La Paz to join the morning net and get…
November 22, 2017
I’ll admit it, I fell for the marketing. Backing up, I knew we would use Predict Wind along with an Iridium Go! Reading around on Predict Wind I found their recommendation of an Iridium dealer in Florida. Armed with a credit card I placed an online order and shortly had a shiny new toy. I opted for the external antenna…