We enjoyed our visit with Murdo and sent him back home to a different weather system. Sorry!
It was indeed a joy to see faces from home. Lawrence and Carol Magis invited us to their condo for dinner and we returned the gesture with an invite back to the boat. We had a problem with the hot water tank so we opted to take everyone out for dinner. The following night we returned to the condo and used the pool facilities and enjoyed a great seafood dinner and wonderful company. Lawrence,Carol and Murdo

We opted for the new generator and it is on order to be picked up at the border at San Diego. The broker will drive up and do the paper work to get it legally into Mexico for us. It will be delivered back to La Cruz and we will head back that way for the beginning of April. The difference in price was enough to make us decide new as it is one piece of equipment we cannot do without. We consider it to be like furnaces back at home. You need it.

We left La Cruz at 1900hr for another over night trip. We had to go around Cabo Corrientes (Cape of Currents) rightly named. We dropped 2 knots that remained like that the entire 16 hours. Nadia and Alert, 2 sailboats that have travelled down the coast were also out this evening. We kept radio contact about every 2 hrs.

We arrived at Bahia Chamela. We decided to spend approximately a week here. Crystalis is also here with us. Chamela is a cruising ground with a large anchorage and a lot of tiny ones around the 8 islands that exist here. This area of Mexico is referred to as The Gold Coast. It is full of pleasant bays, lots of fish, great snorkeling and diving spots. The bays are now just short hops. No long days for awhile. We have 4 weeks until we need to be in Ixtapa for RJ.

Our boat consists of MUCHO teak, both inside and out. Vancouver weather does wear it down with the wet rain and snow. Since last April we have been saying “When We Get To Mexico we’ll do the work. We have been in Mexico for 3 mths now and Mexican weather does wear on it with the hot bleaching sun. Soooooooooooooooo, the time is here. The stripper chica (me) is scraping teak, polishing stainless steel and clean the canvass. The chico (Ken) is painting and glossing the teak. Not to mention the engine room stuff. We will be proud again of the Genesis all shiny and reflective on the water.

Well we had another first. Landing the sea kayak in the surf (no big deal) BUT getting out again. Ken was wet to his neck, I was wet to my waist. He had way more water in his kayak. It was fun. You don’t mind getting wet when its 90-95 during the day. Last night it went down to a cool 75. Our attempt in the dinghy the night before got me more than wet. It was like a ride at Disney World. The water cascaded over us and drenched us. I am sure we gave some locals a good laugh. I bailed water all the way to the boat then we put it up and drained it out.

I had a first and for those of you that play crib you will appreciate this. I got a 28 just not the right jack. I am sure it will never happen again but it was close.

Well I spent my break writing this blog and if I don’t get back to work I am liable to be thrown in the drink. Not bad as it is warm, but very salty.

Cock Fight San Sabastian Mascota from Above

As I write this Ken, Murdo and Mike are returning the rental car and exploring boy stores. Home Depot etc. Unbeknownst to him he has a new headache when he arrives back to the boat. My guess is the water pump however it might be a combination of water pump and hot water tank. I turn on the tap and rust like water is barely pumping out. That is why I have the pink jobs. I do know, it is not a cross of hoses and it is Not sewer.

We had a guy come and look at the generator and it will be costly which ever way we decide to go. New or fix. The verdict is still out on that one.

We jumped the bus into Puerto Vallarta and became tourist for the day. This so far has been the most Americanized area we have been in. There is no Real Mexican feel here. The streets are lined with authentic Mexican souvenirs made from China. The time share people are relentless, but Ken seems to have found the answer. We have a house here. They leave you alone with that answer.
However we checked out the Church of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. The steeple is suppose to replicate the crown jewels of the King of Spain. The church inside was filled with sculptures with gold etching. We continued on to the Rio Cuale. It is said that this river became so dirty in the 60’s that several Non Mexicans began cleaning it up. The towns’ people were so embarrassed that they joined in and to this day the river remains clean. Young families come here to enjoy swimming. We enjoyed the walk down the Malecon to watch sand sculptures being created. Unfortunately that’s about it for the sights that we enjoyed. The town is a Mecca for tourist. All inclusive hotels with the do not have to leave the premises attitude.

We rented a car and decided to head East and experience real Mexico. This adventure took us on a fairly new highway carved through the steep Sierra Madre mountain range.
We first got lost in the town of Las Juntas a bedroom community to Puerta Vallarta. It was a quaint town with cobblestone streets. Very busy with people everywhere. I stopped and asked a bus driver how to get to Ixtapa and he said follow me. As we winded through the town on a bus route he pulled over and pointed us out of town. We decided to stop at a typical road side kitchen. We ordered a pollo (chicken) dish not knowing what we really had ordered. It was basically a chicken soup with whole legs, and vegetables. A very good meal. Cheap.
We continued on to Las Palmas where we toured around the town taking pictures of the church and town square. There didn’t seem to be many people around but it was siesta time. Las Palmas is a cowboy town and the people we did see were on their horses. Rodeo grounds were at the south of the town.
The new highway crosses over steep arroyos, streams and rivers carved right through several granite passes as it crosses the Sierra Madres. We reached the turn off for San Sabastian del Oeste only to find it blocked with construction. No getting through there. We pulled over to the side of the road to ponder our next move when a very king gentleman in broken English asked us where we wanted to go. “Just follow us, we are on the way there.” We followed to a make shift bypass route with a cardboard sign. Unfortunately our friends were not going all the way as we wanted to reward their kindness with a cervesa (beer) each.
We entered the picturesque town of San Sabastian del Oeste. The structures are 100’s of years old that reflect Roman architecture, and many of the haciendas have been maintained and upgraded. The town is well known for its festivals and we just happened to be here to attend the festival honouring Saint Sebastian. January 20th. As we pulled up to what looked like a motel Ken hopped out to see if they had room. It was in fact a very large family dwelling. They unfortunately had many family members from out of town there and had no room otherwise they would welcome us into his family. He did however make a phone call to a family member with a motel in construction. We were now his 1st customers. We were charged $30 for the night. He kissed the money, said a prayer thn crossed himself. We were told because we were first this money was special. It turned out that he had more business afterwards as everything in town was booked and he had rooms, government people ended up with rooms.
As the evening progressed the festivities became greater. The Mariachi band played in the square. The vendors with their candy, games and wares to sell were throughout the streets. We wandered around and came across a building with music. It appeared to be a community centre and I figured there was going to be dancing. That would be cool to see authentic dancing. Ken and Murdo had a beer while I had a club soda. The music was fun. More and more men were coming into the building but very few women. There were women just not what you would expect for a dance. No young girls for sure. Ken went up to the bar to get another drink for me to be told that the fight began in 5 mins. Yup A COCK FIGHT. Not for me. Mi no gusto!!!!! I no like! I left the boys and went back to the square. So what I tell you is second hand. Ken’s . They weigh the cocks. They put green and red ropes on the legs to keep them tied to one spot. They then put spurs on the roosters legs. The two men get the roosters mad at each other. The crowd then bets on red or green. The fight goes on until one dies. It is a custom here. They raise the roosters for the sole purpose of fighting. Towns compete against each other. There is great pride in their cock ( rooster). I wanted real Mexico, I got it!
The bands continued and then came the fireworks. Nothing like I had seen before.
Now the real band under the tent begins until about 5 in the morning. All in all a wonderful time.
What I was able to find out about this town was that it was once a thriving silver mine town with 20,000 people until the 1930’s. It now has a population of 600. The festivals bring 1000’s of relatives back for a week. The homes are remaining intact as family members use the homes as retreats. This town is 4000 ‘ above sea level. Beautiful.

The next morning we ventured out to head higher into the mountains. First we dropped into a very fertile valley, to a prosperous town Mascota. It is a traditional Mexican town with cobblestone streets, a central square and a majestic church. This church took over 100 years to build and was completed in 1780.
The highway continues up to 6000’ above sea level to the town of Talpa de Allende. Thousands of pilgrims travel from all over Mexico to visit this church that is considered a shrine. It is believed that healing powers emanate from the shrine. Vendors sell crosses, pictures of Mary and canes all around town.
Talpa is also famous for the chicle tree that grows in the area. The gum from this tree was used by Mr Wrigley to make chewing gum and is the source for chiclets. Which were also being sold all around town.
It was a full 2 days but well worth the effort.

See the new pictures attached in the album....................................

We departed Mazatlan and headed out for another night time run under a full moon and plenty of stars. The seas were larger than we had had for awhile. We settled into our watches. Amazing how easy it has become to get into the routine.

We arrived in San Blas at about 1230 hr. Another new experience was to be had. Stern and bow anchoring. We discussed how we were going to accomplish this and set out to achieve. All went well when a fellow boater yelled from their boat "We are not stern anchored and you are in our swing room." So up came the anchors and we moved to redo the anchoring technique. Well we now know how to stern anchor. We didn't budge the whole night.

We have now reached Paradise. We are tropical, jungles, fresh tropical fruits.

San Blas is a small fishing village of about 12,000 people on the Pacific Coast of Mexico located between Puerto Vallarta and Matzalan.

In 2002 San Blas was hit head on with Hurricane Keena, a category 5 hurricane. The government have given the people infrastructure money to help but it is still quite apparent in many of the buildings. In 2006, three fishermen from this area were rescued on a lancha near the Marshall Islands after 9 months lost as sea. There is a plaque for their death crossed out in at the docks.

We decided to take go on the jungle tour. We saw crocodiles, iguanas, fish, turtles, and so many bird types it would take awhile to research. It was a lot of fun and at the end was a fresh spring fed watering hole to swim in. After seeing the crocs I opted NOT!

The next bay was Chalata. A beautiful place that you could spend a long time in just relaxing. Crystal clear water. But we must get to Puerto Vallarta to meet up with Murdo who flew in from Vancouver.

Our next leg has led to the best Whale watching expedition one could have.

Humpbacks are very acrobatic, often breaching high out of the water and then slapping the water as they come back down. Sometimes they twirl around while breaching. Breaching may be purely for play or may be used to loosen skin parasites or have some social meaning. Humpbacks also stick their tail out of the water into the air, swing it around, and then slap it on the water's surface; this is called lobtailing. It makes a very loud sound. The meaning or purpose of lobtailing is unknown, but may be done as a warning to the rest of the pod. Humpbacks lobtail more when the seas are rough and stormy. Slapping a fin against the surface of the water is another unexplained humpback activity.

The humpbacks migrate south to Banbera bay to have their young and teach them how to survive before heading back North. There had to be hundreds in the area. You would definitely not pay money and see no whales if you went whale watching here.

We are staying at a marina in a small fishing village North of Puerto Vallarta. The temps are now 90 during the day going down to 70 at night.

A fellow firefighter Lawrence and his wife Carol had us over for dinner. Again nice to see faces from home. We will have them down to the boat later this week and possibly take them out fishing.

We took the local bus into the airport. It was very interesting. A father and son got on the bus and started playing instruments and singing. (For money) very nice voices. Cost us $1.20 to take the bus for a 40 min ride. It would have cost us $45.00 for a taxi with no experience.

We have friends from the yacht club in Vancouver coming for dinner. They are down here for a holiday.

The plans are to rent a car and go inland to see the sights of the local towns this week.

Momentarily the company that I do the pictures with on the blog is under construction so I will add the pictures later on in the week.

Three Old Men and A Girl

Alter at El Rosario Church. Once the richest areas in this part of Mexico due to silver and gold mined.

The streets of Copula. Narrow , cobblestone. Houses made of brick, stone with gated walls surrounding large courtyards. Flowers blossoming everywhere

John's Birthday

These are just a few pictures for the blog below. I will spend the next week working on the pictures to upload to the photo album. I need to edit them all as the pictures are to large.

The mainland of Mexico is rich with history and traditions. We are currently staying in New Mazatlan. Americano hotels and resorts everything geared to the touristas. But if you follow the off roads the real Mexico comes alive. The traditions passed down from generation to generation.
Mazatlan is not your typical Mexican tourist town. With a population exceeding 600,000 people, it is a vibrant city quite apart from the tourist trade. If every tourist left Mazatlan, never to return, the city would continue to thrive. If you want to experience true Mexico instead of tourist Mexico you have to get out of the Zona Dorada (Golden Zone). Mazatlan is a city of beautiful beaches, beautiful buildings, beautiful statutes and beautiful views.
We ventured into Old Town by foot. Mexicans are fervent Catholics, and you can find their churches and cathedrals filled with pilgrims and devotees almost every day. One of the frequently visited churches in Mazatlan is its cathedral. It was part of the Old Mazatlan and thus may have been around since eighteenth century. Like other places of worship in the country, it is located right across the main plaza. You can hardly miss it with its two huge towers that are not only high but painted yellow. The interiors are full of giant statues of saints and the Holy Family. The streets in the area are narrow. The buildings have been restored to host boutiques or art shops, those that haven’t have fallen into ruins. It was explained to us that there is now a big push to restore many of these buildings. However it appeared to me that many will not be able to be repaired.
Neither the Indians nor the Spanish can take credit for developing Mazatlán, as it was a group of enterprising German immigrants who developed the port facilities in order to import agricultural equipment. This led to heavy international trading and turned Mazatlán into one of the busiest harbors for this region, with many cargo tankers and passenger cruise ships using the port facilities.
The area became popular with silver and gold. Pirates abound. Although the pirates were gone by 1800, legends persist of troves of stolen silver and gold.
We visited the public market and purchased our fruit and vegetables. This market was larger than the La Paz market.
We were fortunate to have a visit with Vancouver friends. It’s great to see faces from home. We ventured to their resort were the Canadian Beach Volleyball Team played. AKA Three Old Guys and a Girl (Ken, Mike, Neil and Heather) The game was over quickly. The women then ventured under the palapa to play bingo (in espanol). The men drank cervices to drown their sorrow from their loss. We were then treated to a wonderful dinner were shrimp cooked in Kaluha was the treat.
Jacquie and Mike rented a car and we four ventured out to tour the small towns surrounding Mazatlan.
El Rosario, a small town about 50 miles south of Mazatlán, is famous for the altar in the town church which is said to be worth over a million dollars. The alter alone makes a visit to El Rosario worth the drive. El Rosario was once the richest town in Northwest Mexico because of the local mining operations. This small town was the home of the famous Mexican singer, Lola Beltrán. A statue outside the church in the town square is a monument to her. They have built a small museum in her honor although the museum is open only sporadically. I found a person that enjoys cemeteries as much as I do so, Mike and I wondered through a very old impressive one in El Rosario.
We backtracked and continued on to The little mountain village of La Noria is just 40 minutes northeast of Mazatlán-- and well worth a visit. Nestled into its own little corner of the world, "La Noria," which means "The Well," is named for the shape it takes; entering the town means descending into a bowl-shaped area, giving the appearance of a town set in a well. Highlights include an old jail, which is still in use, the church of San Antonio. You can watch leather goods being made right in the shops.
The next town was my favourite. Copala is a delightful little town, founded in 1565 thanks to its rich mineral lands. Built into the slopes of a small valley about 40 miles from Mazatlan, its cobblestone roads, colonial style homes, flower patios, and provincial air has converted this town into a tourist town in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Copala will make you feel that you have just stepped back into time. For years Copala was a virtual ghost town. This village has been slowly restored and is once again thriving, now it is tourism that is bringing people to this charming foothill setting of what once was the ancestral home of former President Lopez Portillo. The impressive Church of San Jose , built in 1740, is one of the finest among its area. It was hard to believe that a town as different as this exists in this area.
The colonial town of Concordia, a short distance off of the Durango highway and is a side trip on the Copala tour route. Concordia is a town of furniture makers which sell their wares in small stands on the way into town. We didn’t stop but from the car window the furniture looked very nice.
Concordia also offers an abundance of locally made pottery in the pre-Columbian motif. There is an old style town square, built in front of the church. The church, is over 350 years old making it the oldest in the state of Sinaloa. This area produces a lot of Mangos which are for sale everywhere along the road, and they are delicious.
We decided to travel to a small village that had a lake in the mountains that we could swim in so off to Caralotan we went. Well it wasn’t really a village it was larger than that but it was very poor. The houses were made of adobe bricks. Many were sticks with tarps. Cooking was done outside with wood fires. We travelled up and down streets trying to locate the lake. We never did find it so off to more adventure.
We have come across gender profiling. At a major intersection of two highways the federal army had a road block. In Spanish we were asked where we were going. Well we were four white people with deer in the head light looks in their face. They tried their English on us then gave up and waved us on. We later asked a fellow that spoke very good English what they were stopping people for, his reply Drugs. This area is bad apparently for cocaine and marijuana.
We have had a very full week and I have just touched on two days in the lives of those aboard the Genesis. The rest are filled with chores.
Another wonderful surprise was a sailboat with 2 fellow Calgarians, Rosie and John Forsyth. We took our boating classes together over the years. It was John’s 65th birthday and we had them over for dinner. It is great to see them and I am sure we will be in anchorages together down the road.
We depart tomorrow weather permitting and are heading towards Puerto Vallarta with stops in between. Until next week.

We have crossed over to the mainland.

We left La Paz on Jan 02. and headed to Los Meurtos for the evening. We left with wild life showing us their skills. Flying mantas, whales and dolphins. We anchored with beautifully coloured fish swimming around the boat. This was nothing compared to what we would experience the next few days.

The trip to Mazatlan would take us 32 hrs of none stop boating. Mike and Jacquie are crewing with us so we are back to 3 hr shifts during the night run.

We started the day off by catching 2 Dorados and a Bonito.

This area lured Jacques Cousteau here 30 years ago to film this pristine underwater habitat. We saw a Hammerhead shark, whales, wahoo fish jumping 15 feet into the air, sailfish but more impressive three dolphins tail walking. This caused 2 fifty year old women to scream with delight. I have never witness anything in nature this exciting. Mike was in the galley looking to see what the screaming was all about when he saw the dolphin. He thought the dolphin would have to be added to the crew list.

Dolphin walking on tail.

Ken and I were on watch from midnight until 0300 hr. All of a sudden we see torpedoes coming at us. There were no stars or moon but the ocean was lit up like a Christmas tree. The dolphins as they played around the boat created a phosphorescent trail. Flying squid and flying fish leaped all around us. Next up would be a juvenile Boobie bird. These birds have blue feet.

These birds also have red feet or yellow feet.
The next morning while heading to Mazatlan, Mike caught a Dorado as tall as me but lost it at the boat. It put up quite a fight.

We are now staying at El Cid Marina with several other Canadian boaters. Pool, hot tub, a wonderful treat. It was also a pleasant surprise to see Forsyths boat but they are currently in Calgary. We hope they return before we head further south.

Tomorrow we are heading into Old Town Mazatlan to take in the sights.