Mazatlan

Gentle winds and mellow seas provided and nice run from Puerta Vallarta to Mazatlan in just a bit over 20 hours for the 185 miles up the mainland coast. Not as many humpback whales as there were going south a couple of months ago, but the ones we saw put on a pretty good show. Lots of splashing and tail slapping before they dove down to something more interesting than a transient boatload of sailors.

Turtles were the big attraction this time. We saw easily over 200 of these big guys on the stretch from Isla Isabella to Mazatlan. Most of them were just floating lazily on the surface, many with birds sitting on them. Others were swimming just under the surface and a few had to dive or clumsily paddle away to avoid us. One apparently didn't dive deep enough and we bumped him with our keel. On an average we estimate them at about three feet across, and - like this one - often with a lot of algae growing on their shells...

We arrived in Mazatlan before the fuel dock at Marina El Cid was open, so we had an easy time getting tied up next to the pumps - not always a given at this busy location. Since we are only staying overnight, we decided to splurge and take a berth here instead of proceeding further into the estuary to Marina Mazatlan, Sea Story's home in January. Marina El Cid combines a very nice vacation hotel with the marina, and a berth here includes access to the two large pools, a couple of bars, an upscale restaurant and just a lot of other amenities that make the higher price easy to justify after a couple of long days at sea. And, sometimes you just have to suffer the burdens of luxury as Jim and Connie are doing here at the pool bar, a long stone's throw from our slip on dock A.

Tomorrow, we set sail for La Paz, 225 miles across the Sea of Cortez. Weather is a mixed bag, some wind and wave action from the northwest, but nothing that will slow us up too much. It should take us about two days, although we may drop anchor at Isla Espiritu Santo to do some snorkeling with the seals before we head in to La Paz.