December 9 - 12, 2006

We depart at ohdarkthirty (before dawn) heading on a direct route to Mazatlan 384 nautical miles on a bearing of 135 degrees. A gorgeous sunrise, and hot and sunny weather. Reading in the cockpit, with cocktails, yahoo! We actually have to steer a bit to the west to get around the headland of Topolabampo and to stay out of the shipping lanes and shrimp fleets, as this is a major Mexican port. The first 36 hours we motorsail in light and variable winds and average about 5 knots. At sunset two brown footed boobies via for a position atop the mast for an evening trip to ???? Dick's concern about the size of these guys sitting up there potentially damaging the aerial, my concern is more basic than that big birds = big poop. So, no damage to the aerial and no big poop, however, one of the big guys fell from his perch landing on the side deck, where Dick was dozing on watch and was startled by the thump of our passenger. Needless to say, he was wide awake for the rest of his 9-midnight watch.

The second day once again provided us with another spectacular sunset, and suggested another gorgeous day, not so, the wind and waves start to pick up and we hoist the ¾ jib to maintain speed and cut the engine to idle as we are using autopilot and radar and want to keep the batteries right up. Although we got a little sleep the first night, the second night it was only possible to get a little rest on the cabin sole. Next day continued as boisterously as the previous night and continued until late in the day.

We made good progress under sail alone. Conditions started to moderate after sunset the third day and as we closed with the shore the waves eased as well and the swell became more regular. Still not much sleeping going on and so by the time we were 10 miles out of Mazatlan, navigation became somewhat challenging. While we knew precisely where we were, (in the cockpit) the location of the marina entrance was somewhat elusive. We had a little man overboard drill as we lost a fender. Dick could do the math for a reciprocal course but just barely.

Another gorgeous sunrise as we approach Mazatlan