Live Free 2 Sail Fast

Quincy’s Corner: Recommendations For Dogs

Quincy Dane is a 6-year old, 130 pound Great Dane who lives on a cruising sailboat currently out of the US.  Every Sunday that she has WiFi, Quincy Dane decides what kind of comments, recommendations or stories of the world of dog she wants to share with you.  Today, she’s decided to make recommendations to dogs during this time of COVID crisis….read on: (more…)

La Paz, BC In The Time of Corona Virus…Info As Of Today-

Reporting from somewhere in La Paz, real time: 

La Paz and Baja Mexico are different places today than when we left in December.  Here’s what you may want to know about La Paz as of today (Saturday, April 4th 2020): 

– The entire Malecon in La Paz is closed and patrolled by police as of yesterday (Fri) to keep everyone off it, especially as Mexico goes into the Semana Santa holidays (starting tomorrow- Sunday April 5th).  We went through at least two road blocks getting through the road beside the malecon but today there’s no road blocks cause they simply blocked the road leading through the malecon.  

– Families are to stay at home or on their boats and not to go out together (YES, this means that two or more of you CANNOT walk your dog!).

– Beaches in Baja Sur are closed. 

– Police and Military in Baja are enforcing the orders for closed beaches and no roaming the streets, meaning they’re serious about folks walking around, especially after dark. 

– All hotels, B&B’s and airbnb’s are closed until further notice. 

– All tourist tours, dive tours, cruises and fishing excursions are closed.  

– Malls, movie theaters..ect are closed in La Paz. 

– Baja Ferries have reduced their shipping and sailing schedule by 50%. 

– Starting Thursday, 02 April the Mexican Navy was interviewing OUTGOING sailboats for COVID related demographic information as sailboats left port. 

– The port of La Paz is open…but all recreational boats are strongly encouraged NOT to go out for daysails and NOT to go back and forth to the islands….as recreational boating can be shut down.

– Most large grocery stores are open but only allowing (1) one family member at a time to enter to go shopping.  In the grocery store today,,,,I identified the gringos easily cause they’re the only ones NOT wearing some sort of face shield. 

– As of today, (at Chedraui) you could only purchase (3) three bottles of any alcohol.

– Most stores are limiting the number of people inside the store…at the autoparts store yesterday…I stood in line to get into the store.  They didn’t have what  I needed.

– There are rumors of all alcohol sales in Baja shutting down…either tomorrow (Sun) or Tuesday.  

– Every afternoon there’s both Mexican police and military making announcements on the highways and by inflatable RIB reminding citizens to stay home after dark and reminding them that only one adult is allowed to go out at a time.  I’ve now heard this multiple times as the RIB’s come by the Marina and broadcast at high volume. (In fact, they’re coming by right now as I write…blasting techno music and telling us in very loudspeaker to keep off the streets and wear mouth covers!) 

– Bars and restaurants in La Paz are closed…with a few doing take-out or food deliveries but most places barred and shut down.  

– The fuel dock at Marina Costa Baja is still open, but because of the super-yachts taking on fuel….getting an appointment to fuel is highly encouraged.  This is the only fuel dock operating in La Paz that I know of…but jerry jugs work well too!  

– I’ve been out to several of the largest grocery stores in La Paz in provisioning and here’s the only shortages I’ve noticed: hand-sanitizer, medical alcohol, yeast, there was no flour at one store, batteries, eggs are being limited to one pack per family, toilet paper packs are being limited to three per family…but I’ve not noticed other shortages. 

– Most marine related business’s have been deemed non-essential and are now closed.  In La Paz this includes the chandleries, dive services, mechanics, cruising supply companies, riggers and outboard repair services.  Don’t come here thinking of getting boat work done…as it ain’t happening right now.

– Marina’s have closed thier gates and offices…email or call if you need services-

– Club Cruceros is closed until further notice.

– No gatherings, sporting events, outdoor activities or much other fun is allowed right now if you want to keep off the police radar.

– You will see increased presence of Mexican Military and Police in the La Paz area…they are not there to harass you but to enforce the orders of the Baja Government.

– Worst of all…Grupo Modelo (Ambev) announced it’s closing in Mexico due to being a non-essential business.  This means production of Corona, Modelo and Pacifico have ceased.  Anyone want to do a beer run for me? 

When we left the US, part of the draw to cruising was the opportunity for self-sufficiency and pioneer spirit that has started to disappear in our world of instant convenience and entitlement.  In the months of cruising we’ve done, we’ve noticed how seductive and easy it is to slip into a marina.  But most marinas here are in larger cities which mean more people and more opportunities to get sick…so these are the last places we want to be right now.  Both of us love being on anchor and look forward to getting back out into anchorages.  Our take on this is that we use what we’ve got on board and we’re responsible for what happens on the boat.  Communication and blogging won’t be as easy, but we’ll manage the best we can.  

Wanna help support us as we start the next 6-months exploring the Sea of Cortez?  FOLLOW us and buy us a beer on our Patreon Page….before all the beer dries up!  

Note: The info I’ve included in this post is as accurate as I could make it as of today but with things rapidly changing in real time, the situation could be very different when you experience it.  

Kids Corner: Cabin Fever…A Minecraft Solution

Hey guys!! I know that some of you may have cabin fever, so I’ll try to make it interesting. Did you guys like the Minecraft game interview thingy? Well, if you did or not, I’m gonna tell you some more about it. So, remember when I told you about mods (I didn’t. I had to go way back and look at stuff again)? So, like I said, mods are a world with something built in it, or different mobs (this is basically what we call monsters, animals, villagers, etc.). Sometimes there are mash up packs, which is new mobs to battle, skins to wear, epic music to listen to, an entire world for you to explore, and a texture pack (it makes the blocks and stuff look different). One of my newest favorite mash up packs is Viking mythology. They have THIRTY different skins, most of them Norse gods, and, I know that this is going WAY into the details, but I think one of my favorite things is that the boats, they are row boats, and they have little shields and a dragon on the prow, just like a real Viking warship! Okay, gotta go. Or, as they say in Viking, “my time is spent”. TEAGAN UP AND OUT.

Kids Corner is laaate today because this morning I wasn’t able to post…due to a rig tune and then getting used like the canary in a cage to go provisioning.  We’re waiting on a delivery of parts and packages from the US…then taking off up the Sea of Cortez.  Spring is one of the best times to be in Baja due to the warming weather, less northers, warmer water coming in and lots of pelagic animals around.  We’ll head up the sea slowly…taking in everything as we go.  

Tomorrow,,,I’ll report on the changes happening in La Paz in real time, a principal reason to go north! Here’s a website with current info about Baja: 

We’re LF2SF and the highest compliment you could give us right now is to follow us and if you already follow…reach out and give us some lively discussion when you have time.  Got concerns, comments or compliments…we’ll take those too-

Stay safe, you’re in our thoughts and prayers- 

The Curse Of Muertos…or Not?

“Does anyone think it’s ironic that we’re going to wait out a norther in a place called Muertos?”, I asked smugly as we review our travel plans and weather routing back to the Sea of Cortez.  Norther refers to the northern origin of higher wind patterns that in this case were forecasted to hit speeds of mid-20 some odd kts for a few days, necessitating being in a protected port such as Bahia de Los Muertos.  Now as I spend a third day in this anchorage with Tulum V rolling side to side, yet again listening to the wind generator howl, I believe less in the irony of the anchorage name and more so in the logical matter of timing…or is this place truly cursed for us?  Two out of three times we’ve been here we’ve had adverse weather roll in on Day 2 and when the wind wasn’t howling, we were rocking beam to beam making it challenging to sleep.  Muertos has been our most “rolly” anchorage where you sometimes wish you were underway rather than a sitting duck bobbing on the surface.  The other time however, was just beautiful…Timing is everything.

Every anchorage’s review is entirely subjective.  One boat’s heaven is another’s hell.  Beyond personal preference for what makes the perfect anchorage are a number of other factors beyond your control: How was the weather and seastate? What were the conditions under which you stopped there? What was your experience like with the local folks?  Did your neighbor anchor too close? – etc. etc.  Muertos is a great anchorage.  A huge open bay with a smooth sloping bottom that is easy to anchor in night or day (done both), beautiful sandy beach, great hike to the chapel for views of the bay, and a wonderful restaurant complete with a pool and waterslide, great food, accommodating staff and a huge model train set – I highly recommend the stop.  Despite the name, it does not come from being a “deadly” anchorage or because someone died here, but for the train axels buried here in the 1920s that  served as dead-man anchors or “muertos” securing barges that transported silver from the mines.

As we pull in for the third time, this anchorage represents a return to the point we left Baja three months ago and therefore, somewhat of a milestone for us.  We pull in just before sunset to see some familiar boats with whom we’ve crossed paths before, after beautiful glassy seas with light winds allowed for easy transit from Bahia Los Frailes.  I look at the familiar coastline welcoming me back when suddenly my eyes scan over to the place where my kids fell asleep last Thanksgiving which we have now dubbed “The Thanksgiving to top all Thanksgivings”.  Nope, it wasn’t the great restaurant I mentioned earlier nor resort chairs under a quaint beach palapa, it was the top of the panga launch ramp.  We all have our proud “mother of the year” moments – I challenge you to top this one.

The first time we anchored, we expected weather to roll in, but did not anticipate the rolling side to side.  We had heard about a great Thanksgiving dinner served at The Restaurante Centro De Trenes at the Gran Sueno resort that fellow cruisers planned to go to and thought it sounded like a great way to spend the kids first Thanksgiving away from home.  We barely slept the first night due to the rolling and had a spa and art day to divert attention from the rain and wind on the second day.  Chad’s homemade water collection system filled ¼ tank of water due to all the precipitation.  The next day we awoke to beautiful skies cleared out from the storm – Thanksgiving was off to a great start.

Quincy got to run on shore and we decided to try out this restaurant that we had heard so much about.  It did not disappoint – blossoming up in the middle of nowhere was this unexpected beautiful tropical oasis.  The restaurant was just what we needed after being cooped up on a rolling boat while waiting out winter weather.  The kids swam as we sipped margaritas and ate great food that for the first time in a while, we didn’t have to prepare – awesome.  We went back to the boat to feed Quincy and change into nicer clothes before dinner and returned through an easy surfline in time for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Dinner was great – we had a huge table with lots of new friends, the Wi-Fi server which had been wiped out after the last storm was restored and we were able to get messages off to family and friends, they even had football games playing on large screen TVs– all was good until we tried to return to our boat.

I had read stories of cruisers not being able to return to their boats due to powerful surf before, but thought – no way would I ever experience a situation that would prevent me from returning to my boat, my home.  If the surfline is that strong, why would you ride it into shore in the first place?  Suck it up, get a little wet as you push through the surfline and get back home…right?  Oh how wrong I was.  We sat for a good 45 minutes watching the surfline in the dark with other cruisers in similar situations all attempting to convince ourselves that we could get our dinghys through the wall of repeated sets of thundering surf until reality set in.  We were stuck.  All courses of action were considered from sleeping on the beach until the surf lays down to seeing if we could get a room at the resort.  One constant through it all was the realization that we were regrettably leaving our dinghy on the beach overnight, something we swore we would never do.  On this dark evening, with kids or even without, there was no other choice. 

Of the group, we had two dinghy’s moored beyond the surfline and a plan to get us (dogs, kids, everyone) back to our boats – began to materialize.  One cruiser who was a strong swimmer would swim out to his dinghy and meet us over at the panga launch ramp on the far end of the bay and shuttle us all to where we needed to go.  We would catch a ride from Christian, the kind manager of the restaurant who benevolently offered to drive us to the ramp at the other side of the bay while he still had a packed restaurant.  We watched as our would-be Uber dinghy driver swam out to the dinghy and started across the bay while we – a motley crew of 5 adults, 2 kids and 2 dogs – loaded up into a large passenger van and headed on the rugged dirt road towards our rendezvous point – I mentioned it had rained all day yesterday, right?  The kids, although tired and longing for their beds, were comforted to be around their new friend Ali, the Mexican mutt belonging to cruiser friends, during their adventurous ride through the desert.  We arrive to a bustling scene of boat trailers loading panga after panga in the dark.  Crew trying to match up pangas with their trailers and us trying to locate the tiny light of an unexpected dinghy interrupting this well-orchestrated operation.  Christian stayed with us and provided additional light and allowed the girls to rest inside the van.  We finally locate the dim light of our rescue dinghy and he took his wife and another cruiser back to his dinghy (also moored beyond the surfline) while we waited for the return trip.  Round one complete.  While awaiting the return of our two dinghy drivers, the kids fell asleep at the top of the dinghy ramp on top of a kind cruiser’s shawl protected by the ever-devoted Ali.  At this point I begin to draft my “Mother of the Year” acceptance speech – First Thanksgiving away from family and my kids are asleep in their party dresses at the top of a dinghy launch ramp in the middle of the desert on a nearly moonless night in Mexico awaiting a no doubt wet and rocky trip back to the boat well beyond their bedtime – nice.  We eventually locate the two tiny white lights of our shuttles home, load up in choppy surf and make it back to a very rolly Tulum V and a very concerned guard dog.  So good to be back onboard…yet there is this sickening feeling knowing that our dinghy, our “car”, is stuck on the beach until tomorrow morning…we hope.

We jump out of bed at dawn like kids on Christmas morning only instead of presents, we’re hoping to spot our dinghy on the beach.  Low and behold – we spot it through our binos with the outboard engine still attached – thank you!  We wait for a few minutes to hail our new Uber dinhgy driver (5 stars just isn’t enough for what he did for us) who agreed to take Chad and I back to shore early this morning for operation dinghy retrieval.  He promptly picks us up and shuttles us over towards the beach and we swim to shore through a much better, but still spirited surfline.  Our dinghy looks untouched and unaffected by her solitude– we missed you girl.  We time the surf and ease her back in the water hoping for a puttering engine on the first try.  No dice, the engine doesn’t start, the surf gets the best of us and we are suddenly soaked, sitting in a floating bathtub with all sorts of pleasantries being exchanged.  With a brief tow out beyond the surfline, some faith and perhaps a little pixie dust, our tempermental engine started up and we were enroute back to Tulum V – bailing the whole way of course.  By 9am we were underway bound for Caleta Partida at the beautiful islands just outside La Paz – an easy day hop – just what we needed.

We all have our stupid boat tricks (thank you S/V Follow You Follow Me for sharing), some are more complex and some so simple – how did you miss that!?!?!?!  We swore we NEVER would leave our dinghy ashore, always took precautions to keep the bow into the surfline so we would NEVER swamp the dinghy, and with rare exception, would NEVER have to navigate a surfline after dark.  While we consider ourselves to be cautious, conservative cruisers, we’re forced to take calculated risks out here and sometimes a bit less calculated when the time calls for it.  As newer cruisers, we’ve had more than our share of stupid boat tricks and are pretty open with sharing in hopes that you don’t make the same.  The reality is no matter how many precautions you take, you still may find yourself vulnerable to the wrath of Mother Nature, multiple systems and parts that seem to malfunction when you need them most, and of course…human nature.  We’ve pretty much thrown NEVER out of our vocabulary because life is just unpredictable.  It’s all too easy to call this place cursed, but the reality is we chose to come this direction during two turbulent seasons when the weather patterns were changing at the junction of the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean.  The first time described above, we were fortunate to have generosity shared by locals and fellow cruisers.  We have deployed the flopper stopper more than once since this visit to limit the rolling, carry an extra-long cable lock on the dinghy just in case we need to lock her up and limit our time on beaches where we have to launch our dinghy through any sort of surfline.

This time in Muertos we waited out weather with plenty to do –  science and art projects, movies, and spa day at sea (clearly a Muertos must).  When the wind and surf died down and all 5 crew were able to make it to shore, we were once again welcomed by Christian into our beloved restaurant although this time during a very different state of the world.  He wore a mask and kindly directed us to a large hand sanitizer pump and we were served food by waiters wearing latex gloves.  We sat outside at our usual table so we could see the girls in the pool and benefit from the open air environment.  Nothing is fool proof for this virus, but we appreciate the conscientiousness of the staff and continue taking our same precautions.  As we reap the benefits of a strong WIFI signal to catch up with the world, we look around and see only one other table seated.  We no doubt know that this place like so many others is taking a hit in light of COVID-19’s impact on travel and tourism and hope they make it through.  After lunch and wandering through the soft white sandy beach, we swim the dinghy out just beyond the little baby surfline and were on our way back to Tulum V.  I conclude that there is no curse, only timing.  Muertos a great anchorage that we will likely hit again next season before crossing to mainland Mexico.  We’ll see if we can get the timing right and enjoy ourselves without stupid boat tricks and unnecessary adventures.

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Muertos Is Open

Muertos is a spot on the southern Baja used by many cruisers as a jump point to go across the Sea of Cortez to the mainland or a target point when jumping from Banderas Bay or Mazatlan.  It’s protected bay is great if riding out northerly’s or just coming in for a night of sleep when doing a north or southbound passage, with good holding.  Most important….it’s two restaurants are open right now and they want you to know it.

Both Restaurant-1535 and Restaurante Centro De Trenes (in the GranSueno resort) are OPEN and want your business. They may have cut back hours a bit, but they both have strong wifi, cold beer and great food.  If you come to Restaurante Centro De Trenes, make sure to say hi to Manager Christian Nunez and enjoy a slide into one of the two flowing pools here.  Kids are welcome and the train museum and video games on the second floor are not to be missed.  The restaurants have also taken good precautions in today’s crisis; moving tables further apart, providing hand sanitizer and making sure all staff wear gloves.

Mexican Visa Advice

We came down to Mexico in November with the Baja Ha-Ha 2019, meaning to go back to the US in late March or early April to visit family and get our Visas renewed for another 180-days in Mexico.  With the descent of COVID-19 upon Mexico and the US, we decided not to go home (and there’s few safe ways to get home right now).  With this in mind…concern over our Visas expiring has prompted me to start thinking through what we’ll do as we get closer to our Visa deadline.  Many of these same concerns may be happening to other boats and families in Mexico (especially if you came down with the Ha-Ha) so I decided to make some inquiries into what CAN be done.  Reaching out to Agencia Barreda in Cabo San Lucas (who helped with Ha-Ha paperwork) we’ve been advised to see the Immigration Office in La Paz.  I think that no matter where you are in Mexico, this is sound advice that may help you get another Visa (possibly without going outside of Mexico) during this Corona Virus outbreak.  Of course, this is predicated on the fact that you need or want to get a current, updated Visa for Mexico.  But I suspect this may apply to some of the folks who were going to do the jump to the South Pacific and have now been forced to change their plans, staying in Mexico this season instead.   

Quincy’s Corner: Norther Blues

From Quincy’s Paws for your reading pleasure:  “We’ve made the crossing from Mazatlan and quickly had to hide from a Norther for 3-4 days as we tried to get up to La Paz.  This isn’t unusual for cruising life, but I’m really, really not happy about getting stuck on the boat as the Captain won’t let us off the boat in the big wind.  So what’s a dog to do in a Norther?  I sleep a lot….and sleep some more..then eat, poop, pee and repeat the cycle.  I’m just glad that there’s no combination of big wind and great big swells like we had out while we were out to sea.  Really makes me nervous.  Here’s some pics but they really don’t do the swells and wind justice”:

Here at LF2SF we’re sticking to our pre-COVID plan of going back into the Baja for summer, with a few significant alterations.  I’ll discuss more once we make La Paz and get some more facts about our rigging and the rest of work we think we need done….as we balance this against our need to bug out due to COVID. Stick with us….when we’re not on the net…we’re probably out adventuring-  

Kids Corner: Kid Crew Update

Hello peeps! I just realized that I have not updated you guys on what’s been happening, so I will do so in this post. We have moved on from la Cruz and went to Chacala with some friends of ours and after a very rolly night, moved on to Matanchen bay, a very pretty but buggy place. After spending a beach day in the sun and getting VERY burnt, we went on a river cruise via panga. It was actually quite cool. We went through a tunnel of mangroves, and then saw: crocs, several pretty birds, lots of catfish, and a ton of turtles. Our first stop was a croc sanctuary that had a lot of crocodiles behind a lot of tiny fences. We also saw some baby crocs too. There were also macaws, river deer, wild boar, coati, a bobcat, and, saddest of all, a jaguar, pent up in a tiny cage, searching for a way out. It was very sad… anyway, while were there, one of the coatis escaped and played with dad’s shoe! I don’t think he will be wearing it anytime soon.  Anyway, after that, went to the next stop, a restaurant, next to a fenced off crystalline pool, where you could supposedly see all the way to the bottom of 60 feet. I’m not sure it was 60 feet when we went there, but it was VERY clear, and they had a rope swing that you could hang onto and then vault yourself into the water! It was so much fun! Anyway, after Matanchen, we went to Isla Isabela, and snorkeled and scraped the hull. It was SO pretty!!! We saw Moorish idols, trumpetfish, puffers, and a number of others. After that we went to Mazatlán. Also, P.S., supersecretupdate: dad has been hinting that in La Paz, the place we’re going next, he’s gonna get me a hamster!!!

From The HelmsMistress- At Sea

Can’t give you my story this morning cause we’re at sea, hopefully about halfway across the Sea of Cortez or beyond.  Yep, this is what we do, so off we go-

Places We’ve Been: Mazatlan (Old Harbor)

Mazatlan Old Harbor, a great spot for a frugal cruiser.

Coming off an overnight from Isla Isabel and knowing we were soon going to stare into the teeth of a howling Baja Norther, we made the decision to prioritize fuel and crew rest over another overnight run.  Tulum’s no speedster and doesn’t go to wind all that well, so we’re pretty aware of what conditions will work or not.  Coming into Mazatlan, we both agreed that all the marina’s down the coast were not the right option for us…we didn’t have a slip reserved, we didn’t want to time the tides so Tulum would stay afloat going through the “ditch” into the marina channel entrance, we wanted to be able to socially distance ourselves and we wanted to save our pennies by anchoring.  Mazatlan has several anchorage areas that cruisers can pick from…two of which are pretty good in most weather.  These are Stone Island and Old Harbor Anchorage on the south side of Mazatlan.  We originally wanted to stay at the Stone Island Anchorage if we were just going to be in the area for one night, but since we were stuck longer due to weather…we wanted to be able to refuel and reprovision and Stone Island Anchorage doesn’t have access to those things without a lot of work.  So we headed into the breakwater and put a hook down in 26 feet of dirty water over mud, just outside of Club Nautico.  Despite what the guide books say…Club Nautico doesn’t have a Harbor Master and when we called the Port Captain on Channel 16 upon approach to the breakwater, they asked us a few questions and told us to have a great day.  Anchoring is free inside the well protected harbor, which has little fetch but does have it’s share of wind that howls in from northerlys.  This isn’t a big deal and didn’t really bother us.  Club Nautico has seen it’s share of age and isn’t a boatyard, yacht club or repair yard.  There’s no bar, restaurant, pool or showers.  Have I sold this place yet?  There is a safe dinghy dock where your dinghy’s are watched over by an always present Martin and about 20 cats.  For 90 cents per garrafon, you can have water delivered right to the dinghy dock and you can take jerry jugs to the local Pemex for diesel…as there’s no diesel available that we found except to jerry jug it.  There’s also a place for trash and always present cabs just outside the place to take you anywhere.  Buuut…all of this means you’re sitting in a free anchorage right underneath El Faro lighthouse (2^nd highest lighthouse in the world?) with multiple dining options within walking distance.  There are also numerous venues for exercise…as the hike up El Faro is semi-challenging and there’s lots of hills with sidewalks to run on if you choose.

Here’s El Faro Light House with the trail up it clearly visible:

Here’s the hike down:   

We used the open air cabs (and a truck) to reprovision and jerry jug fuel for Tulum (she’s a hungry beast) as we waited for a good window between northerlys.  We did not avail ourselves to the rest of the wonderful scenery and culture in this older part of the city or the rest of the attractions in the newer part of the city due to our desire to self-isolate as much as we could.

Reprovisioning Tulum: 

A few things to note about Old Mazatlan Harbor:

-I think the bottom is mud.  We anchored over about 26 feet and knew a northerly was coming through.  We did put out another 25 feet of scope when the wind went over 25 knots, but we never encountered a holding problem.

-Old Mazatlan Harbor is off the shipping channel for the harbor and Mazatlan is a fairly busy shipping port.  We saw at least two large ships per day coming or going.  The Old Harbor is also home port to a number of large tourist catamarans giving tours of the beaches and local areas.  They go right through the anchorage but never caused us a problem. 

-There is a sewage treatment facility upwind of the anchorage that some folks may notice if you’re sensitive to smell.  We noticed it a few times but it wasn’t really that bad.

-Club Nautico has a 50 peso per day fee that we gladly paid for a safe dinghy dock.

-Locals told us not to worry too much about crime in the anchorage, as they said the Old Harbor folks liked to stay on the DL, so crime was frowned upon here.  You can take that for what it’s worth.  However, despite all the traffic and fisherman in and out of the harbor….we never felt unsafe.

-Once you pay for the use of the dinghy dock, trash is free.

-There’s always a day or night watchman on the property, so if you go out at night, just let Tio or Martin know you’ll be back.  

We came to avoid a norther and stayed a few extra days to find a weather window to get across the Sea of Cortez safely.  We enjoyed the local flavor of the harbor and the fact it was a safe, protected spot to get ourselves together prior to jumping back across the Baja.  If you come here, I highly encourage you to use the services offered at Club Nautico if you have need.  The lack of tourism is already having a damaging impact on Mexico like you’d never believe…meaning businesses and services related to tourism are shutting down and unemployment is about to skyrocket.  This will have an immediate effect on Mexico, where so many living wages depend on tourists and cruise ships.

Mazatlan Harbor looking southeast, from the top of El Faro (Tulum is the last sailboat out in the anchorage): 

Mazatlan Harbor looking southwest: 

We’re out here on our cruising sailboat where no one really cares if we’re self-isolating or not…but we are.  The kids are doing great and we’re content to stay on the boat as it’s our floating adventure base anyways.  More and more of you guys all over the world are self-isolating and stuck at home…wondering how you’re going to survive not working…as more and more services and industries shut down.  One way is to FOLLOW various blogs (like ours)…get involved in the comments section and take an active part in the story of the world happening around you.  Even if you’re a social person now stuck on your boat or your home…continue to be social..from a distance.  We’re praying for the best while we continue to prepare to go to ground.

Life is still an adventure.  If you don’t believe me, google Cindy Whitehead and check out the website: Girl is  NOT a 4-letter word…and you’ll see there’s still courage all around you.  

Wanna help us out while we’re cruising and sheltering in place on our floating adventure base?  Please FOLLOW us and buy us a beer via our Patreon Site.