April 23, Spring Break

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Tacking to Punta Mita

On April 13th, my sister’s birthday, (Happy Birthday Jan) we finally got out of Dodge. We’d been delayed for two weeks but it was beautiful when we did leave. The sail to Punta Mita was brilliant; brilliant sun, brilliant blue skies, brilliant white sails, and a great starboard tack lift up the coast. We fairly scooted to Punta Mita.

Sailing in Banderas Bay is the best.

The cruise we take in spring is like a Spring Break. It is meant to be a break from the hectic four months of racing season that is just finished and all that is included in that: logistics of keeping the crew positions filled, the constant work repairing everything to be ready for the next day’s race, the daily stress of racing, and not the least, the expense. We love the racing, we can almost say we live for it, but after four months we need a break. We need to get out of town, get out of the marina and its costly fees, find some nice anchorages and drink a little scotch and read a few books.

This year we made a plan to go north, to explore some places on the mainland side of the Sea of Cortez, some places where cruisers rarely go. Friends would go with us on their boat. We’d leave on April 1. April Fool’s Day. We didn’t leave on April 1st as planned (April Fool’s day, right?) It seemed that Judy needed a new tooth and the tooth fairy was late.

The thing we have learned about Spring Break cruises is that they always don’t go as planned. This one got off to a good start with our first day’s sail and our stop at Punta Mita. We loved traveling with Judy (the other Judy) and Mike from Honu, but the second planned stop, at a tiny cove called Caletta Cuevas, had to be aborted. The swell was up that day and the waves charged into the tiny bay that Nikk said we couldn’t miss. The place was a washing machine. Both Honu and Wings retreated to Chacalla. It was somewhat better.

Next stop was Matachen Bay, a calm place but supposedly teeming with No See ‘Ums. Didn’t bother us we thought, but after a meal on the beach there we found we’d been eaten alive. Well, it was a nice lunch for both us and the bugs, and we took a taxi to the town of San Blas to see what was happening, and along the way, next to the road, we spotted some very large, very wild, crocodiles. Wow!

Next we arrived at Mazatlan. At this point I should mention that sailing was not very much a part of this trip any longer. It was a motor trip. Some days in the Sea of Cortez you get wind. Some days you get a lot of wind. But on this trip we got very little wind. Fuel was consumed.

Pedro and Lola's in Old Town

Mazatlan has changed, all for the better. The whole town has been spruced up and the historic Old Town is completely redone. The streets and sidewalks have new bricks, the buildings remodeled and painted, beautiful night lighting everywhere, and new trendy street cafes, restaurants, and music venues filled with young beautiful people also everywhere. Mazatlan has come alive. And we met more friends there. It was a great time.

Except for one thing: Our friend Judy, on Honu, got an injury on her hand which required medical treatment and would keep them in Mazatlan for an extra week and then their schedule would prevent them from continuing north. We had to part ways for our budget would not allow us to spend all that extra time in the expensive Mazatlan Marina.

So much for that plan. On April 23 we said “Adios” to our friends and headed off north alone.

We’ll carry on and let you know how it goes.

Laphroaig Scotch Whisky from Islay

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Fred & Judy, SV Wings