Mexico … October - December 2015

The Day of the Dead celebration honors friends and relatives who have passed away, and it's a major event in La Paz. The many "Catrina's" are happy to pose with you for photos. This year Kathryn and two of her cruising friends decided to add their own Catrina makeup for the event. The husbands were the makeup artists … with a little more practice we'll do better next year.

A Catrina with Kathryn at Dia de los Muertos

One of our favorite stops in the Sea of Cortez is San Evaristo, about 50 miles north of La Paz. It's a well protected anchorage where we waited for one of the winter "northers" to blow itself out. This season there was a norther every week, and we sailed from one protected anchorage to the next to wait out the high wind and waves. 

Kathryn & Virginia from S/V Harmony in front of San Evaristo's restaurant

The restaurant in San Evaristo is Lupe Sierra's & Maggie Mae. It's rare in Mexico for a local business to do any marketing, but every day Lupe gets on the VHF radio to announce that they are open for business, a great service for new cruisers. This year one sailboat caught a marlin on the way to the anchorage. He called Lupe on VHF to ask him if he would clean & cook the fish & invited the whole anchorage to dinner. Thanks Brett & Marne on S/V Liahonna - it was delicious and a very fun evening.

Agave Azul's shell on the memory tree

We were getting tired of hiding from the Sea's northers, so we sailed to the Bahia de los Muertos anchorage during a break in the weather. It's a popular stopping point for cruisers heading across the Sea to & from Baja to the west coast of Mexico. We went ashore for a margarita and a snack. When we were heading to our dinghy to return to the boat, we met Steve & Pat from S/V Ahelani. We knew Steve & Pat from Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City, and we were on the same dock at West Point Harbor Marina. They had just sailed from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucas in the 2015 Baja HaHa, and were heading up to La Paz and into the Sea of Cortez. Small world, eh? Of course, we went back ashore to catch up and welcome them with a margarita.

Steve & Pat - S/V Ahelani in Muertos

The next morning we departed at dawn with two other sailboats for the 190 mile overnight passage to Mazatlan. This was our 5th trip across and our weather forecasting was right on … it was an uneventful crossing.

Dawn departure from Bahia de los Muertos

We always enjoy spending a week or two in Mazatlan. We like the marina and hotel, there are lots of boat services, and the historic downtown has lots of great restaurants. It was also a good place to wait out "Sandra", a late season hurricane, which weakened before it arrived in Mazatlan.

Marina El Cid

The trip south from Mazatlan is always interesting because December is the height of the shrimp season and there are always lots of shrimp boats working at night. This year was no different, and we spent the night focused on avoiding them.

Sunset on the way to Chacala

The reward for the overnight from Mazatlan is the small town of Chacala. It's a beautiful spot with a few palapas on shore & a great place to relax after the overnight passage.

Agave Azul at anchor in Chacala

Kathryn with her new paddle board

We didn't see much evidence of damage from Hurricane Patricia, but this palapa lost its roof. We watched  these workers putting on a new one - no evidence of OSHA in Chacala!

Putting on a new palapa roof

Birthday dessert at Masala in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

One of the highlights of this season was a visit from my son Mark. He flew in to Puerto Vallarta, bought a "beater" long board from another cruiser in La Cruz and surfed at Punta de Mita and La Lancha. Unfortunately, the surf didn't cooperate when we sailed further south, but he did manage to surf in both Canada (50° latitude & 0° Celsius) and Mexico (20° Latitude & 30° Celsius) in December.

Mark researching our next anchorage

Mark sailed with us on our first trip south from San Francisco Bay in 2011 and was looking forward to doing another passage. We had a sporty ride from La Cruz around Cabo Corrientes, anchoring just south of the cape in Ipala. The next day we had an easy sail to Chamela.

We spent a week with Mark at anchor in Tenacatita and in the marina in Barra de Navidad. Barra has some of the best tacos al pastor I've had.

Tacos al pastor with Linda & Mike, MV Trinity Rose

Before Hurricane Patricia arrived, the Manzanillo port captain closed the harbor and ordered all the commercial ships out to sea to avoid damaging the port. All but one made it. The 700' bulk carrier, Los Llanitos, was one of the last ships to leave and they only made it a few miles before being blown ashore just south of Barra. As you can see, the hull is broken and the ship is being dismantled for scrap. 

Los Llanitos on the rocks

Mark met some budget cruisers while we were anchored in Tenacatita; five 30-somethings on an aging 30' boat ... tight quarters. But they were the perfect recipients of Mark's board when he left. 

The skipper leaving with Mark's board

Yep, this is the dinghy they used to get to shore

We were in Barra for Christmas and there were lots of local celebrations. Here's one of the parades while we were in town.

Angels … 

& Santa's Helpers

We woke up on Christmas morning to see this boat arrive at our dock. What an interesting vessel … interesting crew, too.

SV Patricia Belle, Seattle

Cruisers always try to get together on Christmas. This year the pot luck dinner & white elephant gift exchange was at one of the restaurants in Barra overlooking the bay. As you can see, everyone was having lots of fun.

Deanna (S/V SpeakEasy), Kathryn & Virginia (S/V Harmony)

Kathryn's sister and her husband, Thom, visited us in Barra for some sailing, anchoring and time at the marina.

Lynn & Thom

They were onboard for a real fishing surprise. When a fish hits the line, the usual process is to take in the sails, start the engine, reel in the other line, then start trying to land the fish. This fish was a bit different. I asked Thom to reel in the other line quickly, but the fish was taking out line faster than he was reeling in. He got the other lure back onboard just in time, then the fight began. I saw the fish jump once out of the corner of my eye … all I saw was something white well behind the boat and I thought it might be a sailfish. When it got closer and I was finally able to lift it close to the surface (not easy), I saw it was a marlin. We've caught Striped Marlin before and this didn't look anything like one of those. Later we looked at the fishing book and learned that it was a Black Marlin. That species is much larger than either Striped or Blue Marlin and can weigh up to 1,600 pounds. They are seldom seen in this part of Mexico. This was a small one, only about 9 or 10' long - what a day!  It was his lucky day also as we released him back to the sea.

Our first Black Marlin

Lynn & Thom - sunset in Barra

Robin & Kathryn say goodbye to 2015

Road Trip − Zion & Bryce Canyon

We planned a road trip through Colorado on our way back to La Paz. We were especially looking forward to the drive through Utah. To whet our appetite, we listened to an audiobook of Edward Abby's Desert Solitaire. As we approached Zion National Park, the views from the car got better and better around every turn. 

Road views in Utah

The last time I drove through Utah was when I was in high school. My dad thought it would be a good idea to drive across country after my brother's college graduation − I remember it being a long, but great trip. Neither Zion nor Bryce Canyon have been spoiled by development and both are stunningly beautiful.

Zion National Park

We had no expectations for wildlife sightings, but as we rounded a bend, this bighorn sheep was standing in the middle of the road. It was well trained − it moved just off the pavement and posed for this photo.

Bighorn sheep

We only scheduled one day for exploring, so we hired a local guide to take us to some remote spots. We wanted to learn the about the geology, see petroglyphs and hike in slot canyons.

Kathryn and our guide, Bret

Although the slot canyons and rock spires are formed by water erosion, it was surprising to learn that many of the interesting rock patterns in Zion and Bryce Canyon were formed by wind erosion.

Teepee formations formed by wind erosion

We hiked along stream beds in remote areas, so the sand was firm, with no footprints or ATV tracks to soften the sand or mar the view. We saw lots of wildlife tracks.

Rattlesnake tracks

We hiked to one location to see "hoodoo's", which are formed when softer rock is topped by harder, less easily eroded stone. 

Twin hoodoos

Our guide took us to the Moccasin Mountain Dinosaur Tracksite to see dinosaur footprints. Thousands of tracks were found near a water source. The tracks were made as the dinosaurs walked through mud, then blowing sand covered and preserved the tracks.

Four equally spaced footprints in a row

From the Moccasin Mountain Dinosaur website: Paleontologists recently documented thousands of 185 million-year-old tracks from at least six different types of animals. They are well preserved in slick rock outcrops in an area about the size of a football field. Twenty five foot-long prosauropod dinosaurs, fifteen foot-long carnivorous dinosaurs, six foot-long carnivorous dinosaurs, a six foot land-dwelling crocodile, and other tracks can be seen here.

One of the larger dino prints

Petroglyphs were also high on our list. Not much is known about the meaning of the petroglyphs, so it was interesting to wonder what motivated the artists. 

Coyote

Bighorn sheep

The slot canyons were amazing with their colors, curves and layers of geology. Being in such a narrow space carved by flash floods was impressive. 

Slot canyon

We saw recent high water marks that were 20' above the canyon floor so we asked about flash floods. Our guide said both the park service and local guide companies provide warnings whenever flooding is possible. In fact, rains caused serious flash floods in the local area a few days after these pictures were taken.

Slot canyon

Kathryn was really impressed with our day exploring Zion and thought it couldn't get any better. She had no idea what was in store at Bryce though, and she was blown away by the intense colors and beautiful spires and hoodoos.

Bryce Canyon

Natural bridge

Our visit to Utah was impressive, but too short. We will definitely come back to spend more time camping and exploring the canyonlands.

Thousands of spires at Bryce Canyon Amphitheater

Zihuatanejo Guitar Fest - March 2015

In the spring of our first season in Mexico, we met Bob & Sherry on s/v Nirvana and Kenny & Betsy on s/v Alcyone. They talked about how much they enjoyed the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival. It's a 10 day music festival with top artists from around the world, so we decided to attend the following year. Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo share a major airport, so my daughter, Carrie, flew down to join us on Agave Azul for the festival.

Carrie & Kathryn on the beach in Zihuatanejo

The name Zihuatanejo comes from an Aztec word meaning "place of women". Throughout the town there were statues of women representing each of the seven regions in the state of Guerrero.

Costa Chica - Little Coast, coastal town south of Acapulco

La Montaña - The Mountain

Guitar Fest has 10 days of activities, starting with a Meet the Artists lunch. The anchorage in Bahia Zihuatanejo is in the background.

Nancy & Rob - Shindig, Katie & Mike - Pangaea, Kathryn & Carrie

Two of the artists I wanted to meet were from Cuba and they sat at the table right next to us. They played flamenco and classical guitar, and I was really looking forward to their performances.

Josue Otero & Magela Romera from Havana

Concerts happened every night, at small restaurant venues and at a large stage on the beach. Josue & Magela played together early in the week at Coconuts restaurant. As you can see, the food was excellent … obviously the margaritas were pretty good, too.

Carrie at Coconuts restaurant

Josue & Magela were my favorite artists at the festival. Both were very technical, but they played with lots of passion and joy. 

Magela & Josue

They performed together, then separately. To add some fun to their performance they played together on Magela's guitar … it was amazing.

Josue & Magela

Another group we met at the Meet the Artists lunch was Tres Hombres. Their music was an invigorating mix of flamenco, pop, rock & lite jazz. 

Tres Hombres from Dallas

Two very happy cruisers at the end of the evening's performances

We really enjoyed Zihuatanejo, but we wanted to give Carrie a taste of what it's like cruising in Mexico. We heard good comments about an anchorage just 10 miles up the coast, Isla Grande, across from Ixtapa. The weather was good for a short sail and when we arrived, there were only 2 other boats in the anchorage - perfect. The anchorage was beautiful and well protected from the ocean swell.

Isla Grande anchorage from restaurant Paraiso Escondido

Behind the palapa was the wood fired grill where they cooked fish. You pick out the fish you want, and about a half hour later the whole fish arrives at your table. 

Our chef

I'm missing Mexico and Mexican food as I look at this photo

As you can see, we picked the bones clean

Isla Grande was a great place to swim and kayak, too.

Robin & Carrie

A spectacular sunset to end our stay at Isla Grande

The alternative to the small restaurant venues were the concerts on the Playa la Madera beach. Like a regular concert, but with your feet in the sand and beverage and food stalls … a relaxing way to enjoy some great music. Four different artists performed each night at the Playa.

Diego Garcia, "El Twangero" Latin-Twang from Madrid, Spain

One night after the small venue concert, we all got in our dinghies and rafted up about 100 yards offshore from the concert on the Playa. The weather was calm so we could hear the music just fine. The added bonus was that Rob from Shindig brought his tequila tasting kit with him. What a fun night!

Tequila tasting courtesy of Shindig

Although the event lasted 10 days, there were different artists performing at different venues and lots to do during the day in Zihuatanejo.

Carrie, Kathryn & Katie at Loot restaurant

One night Kathryn and Katie were having fun and were maybe just a bit too spirited. As you can see they promised to be good.

"Katie" & Katie in Ixtapa

We asked the locals their recommendation for the best Mexican food in Zihuatanejo and Tamales y Atoles Any was it. We enjoyed it so much we returned several times. Here Mike from Pangaea, is enjoying Pizole, a delicious soup that comes with either a red or green sauce. Yum!

Mike enjoying Pizole at Any's

I didn't want to start our Zihuatanejo blog with a fish story, but it did start with one. The morning after our overnight sail from Manzanillo, we sailed into one of the most spectacular sights we have seen while cruising - a large school of feeding dolphin. They were having their own festival - thousands of dolphins jumping, diving and feeding on whatever school of fish was below. I went to get our video camera and just as I was ready to press go, our fishing rod bent over. Usually a fish will jerk the rod tip, letting you know it's there. This time the rod just stayed bent as the fish took about 200 yards of line off the reel. I tightened the drag on the reel, the fish stopped for a few seconds then took off again. When it slowed we began the long process of bringing the 100# tuna back to the boat. Two days later all our cruising friends came aboard for Yellowfin sashimi.

Robin's birthday Yellow Fin tuna