Tom and Theresa's Travels

  Our First Passage:  Mazatlán to Banderas Bay/La Cruz (Jan. 27 to Jan. 31st) Trip Summary & Stats:   240 miles total; 58 hours travel time; Avg speed 4.1 mph; Max speed 7.1 mph.   Leaving Mazatlán Jan 27:   We left Mazatlán on Friday, Jan 27th at around 3:00 pm.  Leaving late in the afternoon was important so that we would get to Isla Isabel  after sunrise.  The crew consisted of Tom, me, and John.  Since this was our first overnight & multi-day passage, we wanted a another person to help & make me feel more comfortable with the passage.  John is an experienced sailor who lives on his boat in Nuevo Vallarta and knows the anchorages really well so it was great having him aboard .  John W. The swells out of Mazatlán were pretty big with a short period, so the boat was rocking and rolling.  All 3 of us took sea sick meds called Sturgeon (works great and no drowsiness!) as a preventive measure, which worked like a charm.  I saw a blow-hole spray of a whale off in the distance

  As we backed out of the slip, our 43 ft sailboat turned sharper than anticipated.   With rocks closer that way, we had a moment of fear, but she turned sharp the other way as we motored forward and into the marina channel.   El Cid Marina in Mazatlan lies near the mouth of an estuary that dumps into the Pacific.   The channel is narrow, and dredge equipment is parked on the north side, so we proceeded cautiously.   As we neared the Ocean, we met waves crashing across the channel mouth.   Depth was only 10ft, so there was concern we might rub bottom if we fell deeply into a trough. Once out of the marina, we kicked up 2500 RPMs on our 55hp Yanmar  and sped to 5.5 knots.   We were expecting better than 6.   Captain John informed us that even 3 weeks of growth on the bottom can slow a boat half a knot.   A ship in a harbor is safe from wind and waves, but still at risk from UV and barnacles.   Sailboats need to be sailed. That’s right.   We hired a captain.   No sense wrecking her t

  Hanging out at the beach club Living in Mazatlan Mexico at the El Cid Marina & Resort:  December 9 to January 27 2023 We stayed in the El Cid Marina in Mazatlán for about 7 weeks, although we did go home to Phoenix for Christmas.  I really enjoyed our time there although living at a resort is not what we planned on doing while cruising.  We could go out for day sails but could not leave the port of Mazatlán until we received our US Coast Guard documentation (took 5 weeks to get), which was required to get Mexico's TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for our boat (took 45 minutes to get).   The El Cid Marina & Resort is actually more a resort than a marina; it's a time-share all inclusive resort with 2 pools, pool bars, beach club, water taxi, restaurants, and fishing & booze cruise trips.  The marina has about 120 slips but feels smaller.  One of the things I love about marinas, however, is that there is always something going on during the day - whether it's fisher