Season Finale: Getting towed into Marina Mazatlán

Under tow, slow and careful

Well, life is full of adventures and we added another dimension to ours on the last leg of our sailing journey.

Our Perkins 4-154 engine had a ‘hard failure’ at 3am as we made our way north from Puerto Vallarta to Mazatlan. We spent a couple of quiet days in San Blas / Mantanchen Bay, seeing friends and buying the famous banana bread. From there, our route from San Blas to Mazatlan is 25+ hours at our pace of 5-6 NM / hour. We planned our arrival for the morning high tide. At 3AM, the engine had a different plan. I’d done my shift from 7 – midnight and Mike was midpoint on his when a startling noise came from the engine room. Let’s just say, ‘stuff’ ensued and we ended up turning off the engine.

As the adventure was unfolding, I realized we had a lot amazing blessings - all things considered, we arrived unscathed and safe. A few tidbits of our journey:

The first fortunate part was our location: only about 20 miles south of the entrance to the main harbor – think cruise ships, the fast-moving Baja Ferry, freighters and commercial vessels that move fast and always have the right of way (more on that shortly). Once past that harbor, our planned trip entailed a few early morning hours past Deer Island, Bird Island and voila!, we’d be at the entrance to the marinas at the right time for a safe entry.

Second, along with the relatively short distance to our destination, let’s talk wind. The wind pretty much stopped about 11PM, the main sail flopping in the "breeze", but thankfully, the wind picked up lightly before 3AM so we were able to make way under sail. Now, I know we are a sailboat; however, no wind means no go. And bobbing at sea is not a recommended hobby, as any boater will attest.

And so hours passed, northbound progress was made, conditions carefully monitored and at exactly 6:01AM on Sunday morning, I sent a text for help: we needed to be towed in to the marina. Luckily Mike is the smart one to suggest waiting for a ‘reasonable’ time to request assistance. Okay, okay. Nobody wants a text at 3 AM...

Marina Vallarta sunset, Puerto Vallarta

Marina Vallarta harbor at night

Back to the right of way and the commercial marina entrance. So we are tooling along slow and sure, and I am compelled to contact the marine control dude on channel 16 to announce Pura Vida is a sailing vessel with no engine crossing a busy entrance – can we pass safely? We get the OK but I have to say, shortly after we passed, a tiny dot I’d seen in the distance turned into a large freighter that within minutes zoomed behind us into the harbor. I guess it's kind of like ”objects in the mirror are closer than they appear” also applies to vessels on open water.

Beautiful but unknown desert flowers

Long story short (I’m not doing a good job of making this short, but it there was a lot of stuff going on), a longtime friend from our Guaymas dirt boatyard days arranged our tow. He knows the right people and arranged with Angel - a guy we already knew who cleans the bottom of our boat. We learned Angel borrowed a ‘lancha’ (motorboat) to haul us in to safety. Angel was to bring an assistant to manage the lines while he managed the vessel. As luck would have it, he brought the big guy who knows how to make a safe knot to secure our 37,000 lb vessel to their boat – and not his skinny brother who it was suggested wasn't as skilled or knowledgeable with knot tying. We see a fast-moving vessel depart the entrance toward us. Yeah! I grab the binoculars, and SCORE, we see a big guy at the stern ready to accept our tow line. He was ‘the man’. Stories!

This very nice boat was tricked out for fishing and had 2 giant outboards that cost more than Pura Vida, if you catch my drift, so we don’t want any physical contact. Just line tossing, shouting in Spanish about what to do, and, me not sure what they are saying but doing our best to cooperate.

Fast forward and a few mishaps later, a call ahead to friends at the marina brought a bevy of folks ready to catch our boat as Angel releases us, and we drift toward Dock 4. Thank you again to all for the safe docking and to our trusty Captain Mike.

Ruben made a new boat cover for summer storage

At the end of these adventures, happy to report Pura Vida is well secured in her slip in the water once again at Marina Mazatlan and we made our way north for dental work in Guaymas.

Tetakawi mountains at San Carlos, Sonora

Margs & sunset
at Charly's Rock, SC

Our sailing season

After Mike installed our new watermaker (fabulous) and various unending boat projects, we set sail heading from Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta, enjoying whale sightings and quiet days, exploring new places, even attending a Raicilla Festival in old town PV (Raicilla is a traditional agave spirit made only in Jalisco, featuring a complex, earthy flavor).  

We are thankful for the good times we had, just a different return trip than we anticipated, to say the least. Engine parts falling off making loud banging noises is not usually part of our agenda.

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Excursion with old and new friends to Pipi's in PV

Regional dancing at Raicilla festival

Vibrant dancing and costumes

Sunset at Mantanchen Bay

Whale strike warning poster!

We experienced an hour long whale
show around our boat, Punta Mita

North to Arizona

Now we are in the midst of 3 weeks of dog sitting in Arizona for our friends who went on a cruise through the Panama Canal - from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle! 'Hooker' likes us both so it's a good transition as her caretakers, but she’s particularly attached to me. Every move is tracked, including to the bathroom. Dog ownership is not on my radar – it’s more than having a kid.

We’ve had a great time seeing relatives and friends, hiked, biked and walked more than a few miles with Hooker, so she can sniff and chase bunnies. It’s been a good run and we are ready to make our way north shortly. After a couple more friend visits, we’ll arrive at our long-abandoned floating home on the Columbia.

And East to Germany

It’s been 20 years since Mike and I were in Germany before we married, so it’s time to revisit our mutual heritage. At the end of May, we will start in Munich and fast train to The Netherlands, where we'll spend some days with our Dutch friends to further explore that wonderful country. Then, we will meander upriver along the Rhine on boat, train and bicycle back to Munich.

 

Marina Vallarta - tight slip! The only
one available so we took it

Mantanchen Bay, San Blas, Nayarit

Hand stitched 4 fender covers

Nut case: Diving with Bull Sharks

Gearing up @ Tank-Ha dive shop

It’s safe to say not everyone desires to intentionally dive @ 90 feet with big Bull Sharks. I got to thinking what a nut case I am, hanging on to a safety line at depth, looking around 360 degrees to hang out with a bunch of carnivorous sharks.

From our dive boat, we descended a secure vertical line to the bottom, then crossed hand over hand to a horizontal line along the sandy bottom, hanging on to avoid being swept away by the strong current. During the dive briefing our dive master, Boris, was very adamant that if any of our group of 5 let go of the line and drifted off, we’d all have to abort the dive and miss our shark experience. Diving with the bull sharks is highly regulated, for good reasons: Stay tightly together and follow all instructions. No problem.  

I had a couple of pre-dive issues (my Nitrox tank didn’t get transferred onto the boat, my air hose wouldn’t connect to my buoyancy compensator and once I back rolled into the water with my gear on, the current was so strong I couldn’t make way past the boat to the safety float). So not a good way to start a dive of this nature. Boris addressed the issues and ensured I was OK before we descended – she was super calm and did a great job. I descended slowly, eager, anxious and trying not to suck up my air too quickly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

It was a spectacular experience. Several ~ 8’ – 9’ sharks cruised by including a mom and baby. Their dark gray masses contrasted beautifully against the white sandy bottom and the intense blue water. Our 30 minutes were up too soon. We ascended slowly up and away from the sharks and into the deep blue, that special experience already just a memory.

watermaker membrane prep

Backtrack to Mazatlán

installing the watermaker

installing a pump and wiring

We arrived in Mazatlán on December 1^st and Pura Vida was happily bobbing in the slip at Marina Mazatlán awaiting our arrival. Luis had kept an eye on the boat for us, and all was well. The humidity is intense here (most mornings start at 99%) so moisture, mold and heat can and do cause damage and problems. We have been working on … boat projects and having fun these past 2 months. I haven’t posted any stories because really, who wants to read about work. But here are few photos that demonstrate Mike’s boat yoga and mechanical skills.

head rebuild

installing the exhaust fan

Lest you think it’s all work, we’ve been having a great time hanging out with friends, exploring Mazatlán on Sundays (our day to take a break) and enjoying the holidays and winter in the sunshine. After weeks of boat stuff, Mike was ready for a break. Since we were anxious to dive again, the Caribbean coast beckoned and we decided on Playa del Carmen. We dove there in 2006 and 2018 so it was time for another visit.

2 classical concerts in Mazatlan

We flew to Cancun and taxied an hour south to the tourist mecca that is Playa del Carmen. It’s a loud, bustling place full of hustlers hawking everything from tours to T shirts to pot. With Mike’s ponytail, we often get offers of drugs (“hey long hair, don’t care”…they’d call after him since he ignored them).

every flight routes through Mexico City- off to Cancun

We arranged for 10 dives with Tank-Ha, the same dive shop as previously, and as repeat customers, we enjoyed 10% discount, free rental equipment and free Nitrox. For non-divers, Nitrox offers a higher level of oxygen to reduce fatigue when doing multiple dives.

funky but perfect - Santuario Playa Hotel

Bonus, the new dive shop location was literally a one-minute walk from our hotel, separated by a sex shop, massage parlor, pharmacy and OXXO (ubiquitous mini marts on every block - kind of like Starbucks in the US). Plus, the added interest of a shop being built out, Enzo’s Lavanderia (read on: there’s a story there).

cool staircase - not at our hotel

We selected Santuario Playa, a quaint, older bright pink hotel. Truly funky but functional, and a large apartment with room to relax and dry our dive gear. The location is great: right off 5^th Avenue, the main drag where the action is; near the shop and the beach. However, the music was so loud on the first night, we requested a room change. Score! The new room was so much better (no plumbing smells, a cushion on the concrete couch, better wall mural, views and several more items in working order). 

The Diving

One of the things I like about diving is the international community, encountered everywhere you go. We had dive masters from Uruguay, Argentina, Spain and Mexico - they each offer their experiences and sense of humor plus skills to enrich our dive excursions. They also know how to find the good stuff since they ‘know’ the reefs and dive sites. Divers we were with hailed from Austria, Trinidad and Tobago, Germany, France, Canada and the US. And that was just our little groups!

sculpture near the bus station at Playa del Carmen

beautiful tile work

There are often strong currents on the mainland side where Playa is and stronger currents on the walls and reefs on the island of Cozumel. So when you drop into the water, you start your journey at the surface and truck along – there’s no going back or stopping to check out a cool fish, shrimp or coral. And once again, stay with your group for safety. Our groups were between 3 and 6 plus the dive master.

welcome camel at the Turkish taco shop

The reefs are teaming with fish, thankfully, and we encountered many schools of fish – some probably 1000 and others, 100 fish. Since some of the dive sites are nature preserves, we’d see some pretty large specimens – giant lobsters, huge hermit crab, angel fish, parrot fish, box fish and so much more. On the large species, we saw lots of sting rays and other rays, eels, turtles, an amazing spotted eagle ray and a nurse shark. And in the tiny category, arrow and other types of shrimp, blue tangs – and the lists go on. They were good dives.

tequila tasting shops are everywhere - no thanks!

The weather was remarkably cooler, and the locals shared that this was the coldest it’s been in 20 years. That required wearing more gear above and below the waterline.

Enjoying a refreshing Pisco Sour

One day as we walked to a watch shop to get a new battery for Mike’s dive computer, we passed a sign that beckoned: when life gives you lemons, make a Pisco Sour. We chatted with the nice Peruvian owner and promised we’d be back. We enjoyed our tasty dinner at that tiny Peruvian restaurant on Pisco Sour day! We discovered Pisco Sours from our “evil neighbors” at the moorage, so we had to stop when we saw the sign in Playa.

Enzo’s Lavanderia

We walked daily past a storefront being built out and noticed an artsy mural at the entrance of a guy and a bunch of bubbles. We stopped to try and figure out the message, long enough for the guy represented in the mural to come out and welcome us in – it was Enzo. Same glasses, same hair, a good rendition. He explained he is creating a high- end laundry – we didn’t figure out what the offerings were going to be, except there was a foosball table in the empty salon. And the mural painter was busily creating yet another fabulous mural with spray paint cans, standing on scaffolding. He stopped long enough to wave as we congratulated him on his artistry!

Creating another mural at Enzo's

Enzo's Lavanderia 

Enzo offered us his biz card and entry passes to a beach resort where you can hang out for the day on rental chaise lounge chairs, under umbrellas sipping your beverage of choice. That turned out to be the perfect way to spend our last day – we had to decompress after diving for 5 days so why not relax? We’d walked a zillion miles over the course of that week so a dry and somewhat sedentary day was just the ticket.

Now we are back in Mazatlán, finishing up some projects and we hope to head south this week. Not sure yet where we’ll go.

But today is Carnaval here and Mazatlán boasts one of the most famous and large in the world so off we go to take the bus and wander around town, waiting for the estimated 4 hour parade this evening. Wish us well on that crowded outing!

iguanas at the marina- this 3.5' guy got on our boat!

marina sunset - life is good even when working