March 9-22, 2013, Marina Mazatlan

We ended up staying in Marina Mazatlan for 2 weeks instead of just a few days and it was our least favorite spot so far, even worse than Cabo San Lucas.    At least is Cabo there was lots of local color.  Oh, it is a nice enough place.  We are tied to a dock so we can just walk ashore.  No need to launch the dingy and worry about chaining it up.  There are hot showers and a laundromat, wifi and a grocery store and restaurants.  There is even a line dancing class 3 mornings a week.  But it has none of the charm of the old city.  The restaurants serve burgers and wings and have big screen TVs showing sports.  The wifi is impossibly slow and does not reach to the boat.  The water is so dirty we are afraid to run the water maker.  There is a layer of scum floating on it and at night it sparkles with phosphorescence. It is so calm here I almost forget I am on a boat. I miss the gentle rocking and rolling all night long. Worst of all, to us, everyone is American or Canadian.  They are all older couples who seem to have been here forever.  They got this far and decided that they liked it, or one of them got sick, and they just stayed here.  Some of them go home for the summer.  Some take their boats over to La Paz occasionally or up into the Sea of Cortez.  Some live on their boats and some are in the condos.  They are all very nice but there is no discussion of sailing adventure and where to go next (and they all wear ugly shoes, even to dance class).  For some reason they all seem much older than we are, although actually they are not.  It’s all in the attitude. 

The marina was created in open swamp land at the north end of town and it is surrounded by open fields, high rise condos and a handful of convenience stores.  The big box stores are all up at this end of town too, but the are all spread out and none of them are within walking distance of the marina or of each other.  There are no mercados or taco stands or charming art galleries.  No walking to town and wandering around for the afternoon.    Each shopping trip involves a long bus ride to a particular store and another long ride back laden with plastic bags that usually fall apart just as I get off the bus.  We would both love to go back to the all-you-can-eat sushi place or the pink taco stand that was supposed to be so good but was never open when we wanted to eat,  but we can’t face the thought of the long bus ride there and back after dinner, so we spend evenings on the boat reading trash novels and go to bed early

We came here to get the thru hill cleaned and checked and that was done quickly and efficiently.  We did not even have to have the boat hauled like we feared.  We also discovered on the way up from the old harbor that the alternator was not charging the batteries correctly so we need to have that checked too.  That takes longer and involves running the batteries down overnight but eventually a wire is replaced, adjustments are made the system is tuned up and we have plenty of power again.  The solar panels have been working fine but are not strong enough to charge the main engine battery.  While this is going on, I also manage to get several more layers of white paint on, from bow to stern along the rail.  It is all scrapped, caulked, sanded and painted.  Looks great .  There is lots more to do but that is enough for now.  I won’t have to sit and stare at chipped paint and bare wood as we sail along.

So, enough of my whining.  We are both ready to move on.  Alan needs one more day to download charts from the internet and I should make a last shopping trig since it could be several weeks until our next port.