Topolabambo to Puerto Vallerta

 

        Sundown in Mazatlan

 

The 210 Nm trip, to the SE, from Topolobambo to Mazatlan was made non-stop in light to moderate NW wind interspersed with an hour of engine use from time to time. An easy uneventful sail. For much of the way we were sailing ‘dead’ downwind, a point of sailing on which junk rigged boats sail ‘wing and wong’ very well. To my bitter disappointment this is something that Taiko will not do in even a small swell. The press of wind is never great enough to prevent gravity from gybing the foresail to render it useless behind our large mainsail. In irritation and frustration the foresail gets sheeted firmly amidship to keep it quiet in such conditions. To our surprise this action does not diminish our boat speed greatly and has the unexpected bonus of reducing down wind rolling to a minimum. Our friends on the bermudan rigged Susimi complained of heavy rolling on this trip while Taiko remained fairly comfortable. 

After anchoring in the municipal harbour next to Susimi we explored Mazatlan with Hazel and Paul finding it to be a very colourful and enjoyable town at which to stop. Frequent public transport made shopping and provisioning relatively easy.

 

A walk to the light house hill summit gave us some pleasant exercise and panoramic views of the harbour and town with its curious fog banks. And, as is usual in the company of Susimi, the local ice cream parlour was found and judged to be excellent. 

 

With two crews to share the cost of car hire, an inland sight seeing trip was planned. The plan was to visit two small towns on each of our car hire days. It turned out to be more of a gastro-tour in the delightfully quaint and colourful towns of Copala and Concordia.

 

At one restaurant our dining was supervised by some rather large iguanas. 

Tequila is ubiquitous in Mexico and as such a visit to an Agave distillery was a must do. High quality Agave, that is not blended, is suburb. It has as many subtleties and complexities as one might find in fine wine or single malt whiskey. This of course puts it above the fire water tequila most of us experience and comes at a greater cost.

 

  

While at anchor in Mazatlan Harbour a large American yacht broke free from its mooring and then attempted to anchor upwind of Susimi and Taiko. The attempt was unsuccessful and the large heavy yacht began to drag its anchor and drift uncontrolled down upon Taiko and Susimi. 

 

The engines of both anchored yachts were started and engaged with helms put over to create a gap for the American to drag his gear through. Annoyingly, the owner made no attempt to keep clear by engaging forward drive and retrieving his anchor and rode, nor did he apologise. Without our quick action there would have been damage.

The time came to farewell Susimi. Hazel and Paul had decided to return to the Northern Sea of Cortez for the cyclone season and we Taikos were, at this juncture, intending to head southwards to Costa Rica.

 

Taiko’s sails were aloft and drawing on the 30^th of march 2021 bound southwards for Isla Isabel National Park. Our log records the 87nm trip as reaching and running in light to moderate W to NW winds interspersed with short periods of motor use. A maximum speed of 6.5 knots, an average of 3.5 knots and an elapsed time of 25.25 hours, that is, uneventful by sailing standards.  

The anchorage was found to be a little rolly, but judged by Marquesan standards it was flat calm. Jacques Cousteau filmed a documentary here decades ago, which we re-watched before our arrival. It felt like walking on hallowed ground when we went ashore at the fishing camp at the southern end of the island.

Those who remember Cousteau’s work will know that the island is a principally a breeding ground for two species of birds, namely, blue footed boobies and frigate birds. The population of both species seemed undiminished since Cousteau’s filming, the ground and trees were thick with guano and breeding feeding birds. It was a remarkable experience to be so close to these birds. Our presence occasionally causing a cacophony of squawking protest.

An early, 0600hrs, start saw Taiko headed for San Blas in benign conditions requiring several hours of motoring. Arriving in the late afternoon, at half tide rising, conditions on the bar were perfect for crossing. Before we proceeded up the river to the anchorage we noted that, it being Easter weekend, there were thousands of Mexican holiday makers on the beach enjoying themselves; so much for social distancing in a time of Covid. 

 

We also noted that ‘no see ums’ were already making a pest of themselves and that we were now in crocodile territory. Recently a woman had been injured by a crocodile further up stream from the anchorage. 

 

Our dinghy is small, but reasonably sturdy and stable, providing it is boarded with care. It was with some horror that I found myself swimming, in crocodile waters, after Renate had not exercised due care in boarding the dinghy following a trip into town. Some helpful Mexican men assisted us to get back onto the marina dock and to retrieve the up turned dinghy. I contemplated that nothing was injured but my pride as I rowed, a little sullenly, across the river to our anchored boat.

 

 

 After refuelling at the marina Taiko was underway down stream to take the bar at half tide rising with hatches and companion way closed. The incoming waves across the bar were higher than on entry, which made Renate nervous. The crossing was easy and Taiko took no water aboard as we made our exit from the river.

Being very aware that the official start of Pacific Mexico’s cyclone season was only a little over a month away Taiko was headed ever southwards, sailing by day and anchoring each night, towards Banderas Bay. Our first outing ashore in Banderas Bay was at the quaint town of La Cruz. 

 

A highlight here was watching Mexican dancing horses as we ate dinner and drank a couple of beers at cafe in the town square. The horsemanship was superb. The horsemen were obviously enjoying their performance, taking shots of Tequila and saluting the crowd after each dance. Afterwards, I considered such a joyous event could not happen in New Zealand without being ruined by those horrible plastic orange cones and tape, restricted alcohol sales and three or four police personnel standing around looking intimidating. 

Viva Mexico!

From La Cruz Taiko was headed across Banderas Bay to Puerta Vallarta. We generally avoid marinas but from time to time find taking a marina berth necessary in order to be where the action is. At Paradise Village Marina we had a great time catching up with three boat crews whose company we had much enjoyed earlier in our Mexican sojourn. It was fun sharing meals and socialising with Peter and Tom on Bohemia, Julian and Colin on Boundless and Tony and Diane on Dulce. It was especially good to be reacquainted with Tony and Diane whom we had not seen since our early days in Guaymas and it was a joy to play our favourite tunes with Tony, he being such an accomplished whistle player. I was just about able to keep up while we played Cooley’s Reel. Renate, having real musical talent, found it easy to go with flow and follow Tony’s lead. Two D-whistles playing together sounds wonderful.

While enjoying ourselves at Paradise Village Marina reports were coming in of early thunder storms in Costa Rica and of French authorities being difficult if boats arrived in French Polynesia 15 days earlier or later than authorised to do so. So it was decided to clear out of Mexico and head for French Polynesia while our authorisation remained valid. The final preparations were made in a hurry. After clearing out on the 20^th of April 2021 anchorage was taken in the greater Banderas Bay in order to check systems, complete our stowage and clean the hull below the water line.

  

At 1100 hrs on the 22^nd of April Taiko sailed away from Mexico bound for Nuku Hiva via Mexico’s Revillagigedos Islands.