AdventuresAboardAvatar: Christmas 2015 in Mazatlan

We had two days of beating to weather (tacking against the wind) to get up the coast from Bandaras Bay to Mazatlan. It is not the most comfortable point of sail, but we were on a mission to be with friends for Christmas. Sophie did not like the bouncing up and down too much either. She found her favorite spot to be on the floor of the aft head where she could wedge herself in from the motion of the boat. And thank God we had the full enclosure around the cockpit as some waves were quite big in the 20 plus knots of wind and splashed all the way over the cockpit to the aft deck! Wet and Wild was Mike's description of the trip. When we got close to Mazatlan there were lots of shrimp boats out fishing and we had to weave and dodge our way around them. The tallest lighthouse on the Pacific coast of North America can be seen from about 25 miles out, guiding us into Mazatlan. The entrance to the estuary where the marina's are located is quite exciting too. You aim strait for a beach in front of a hotel, then make a sharp left and sharp right and try not to run aground or into the dredge that is permanently anchored there to keep the channel clear from the moving sand. Mike decided to take up the challenge and sure enough we stopped short in the sand, but backed off easily. I yelled to the guys working to the dredge now they know where they need to work!! They watched us bump the bottom!
Thankfully, our old boss Ray, had pre-arranged for a slip for us at Marina Mazatlan, so we knew right where to go. Then we had to move to a new slip as there was no electricity available at that first one. Why be in a marina if you can't plug in your yellow umbilical cord for electricity?!? We got all checked in and soon after our buddy Edy came by to welcome us. He has worked for us in La Paz for the last 5 years and we could honestly not be sailing without his amazing help. He wanted to go home to Mazatlan and be with his family, so we helped to arrange for a job with the local marine repair guys. He loves the new job with benefits like health insurance for his wife and kids and he gets to drive a golf cart around the huge marina to get to what ever boat he is working on. Pretty cool!
We spent several nights at Ray's house enjoying his home, garden and yard. He just got a new big screen tv and he let us copy a lot of his CD music collection he had left over from working in the music industry. We spent two whole days making chocolate chip cookies trying a few different recipes. Of course the taste testing was the best part!
Mexican's celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve night, having a special dinner and opening the presents at midnight. Edy's parents, Ricardo and Margarita, had invited us to be with them on this special occasion, Edy's first Christmas home in 6 years!! We were quite honored to be there. We bought all the younger kids presents, not just Edy's. Margarita and younger sister Kimberly fixed up a delicious shrimp dinner (what else would you eat when you are from Mazatlan, the with the biggest shrimp fleet on the Pacific?). They let me help stir too! One of the older boys played guitar and we sang a few songs for fun. When his older sister Blanca and cousins showed up the feast was on. Margarita made a special desert too which is like a crispy sweet crunchy thing with cinnamon and sugar. Yummy.
Edy took us on a tour of old town Mazatlan along the steep hills where the cliff divers jump off and some fancy statues too. We had a bite to eat, and when we came out of the Tunnel (name of the restaurant) all of the Christmas lights were on. It was so pretty. Even the church was all lit up. On another occasion, just before we departed, Edy took us down to where the shrimp ladies sell their wares. You can buy shrimp of any size, from tiny to as big as your hand! You can buy them headed or not, peeled or not, what ever you like. Then we went to his house for a bon voyage dinner with Brenda his wife, and Itsyana, 4, and Joanna,2, their daughters. We had a fun time playing with them and the new toys they got for Christmas.
Sophie is not too fond of fireworks, so we decided to go anchor by Isla Venado (Deer Island) in front of the resort beach of Mazatlan for new years eve. It was a great idea, as we got to see the fireworks shows all over town from our view point and the noise was muffled from the distance. The next morning, new years day, we hoisted the anchor and started the bash back to La Paz. It was two more days of beating to weather again to get home, but we made it with out too much fuss, just uncomfortableness. We passed through the San Lorenzo Channel and decided to anchor out one more night to make the trip last one more day. By chance, our friend Pedro was out sailing on his boat Jade with his daughter Valentina. She lives in Mexico City and had not been out with him for over a year. They were so excited to see us, not knowing we would be in the same anchorage. Instead of taking a nap, we invited them over for steak dinner. We told stories and drank wine and thoroughly enjoyed that last night of the trip!! We made plans with Valentina to meet her in Mexico City later in January. But that will be the next story...........