March and April, 2022

March, 2022 

March was a month of music. Mary Nell, Barry and I were playing a couple of times a week and doing a lot of rehearsing. We went to see Geo Uhrich and Julio Cabrera at the Treehouse. At first, I was disappointed that Geo didn't have any of his band with him but, after they did a stunning rendition of "Stairway to Heaven", the concert picked up momentum and ended up being very enjoyable.

Luna Rumba at Los Arroyos Verdes

Geo Uhrich

Full Moon for Concert

Geo had planned a CD release party at Los Arroyos Verdes for late January, but the government had cancelled it due to Covid. The concert finally took place on March 18th. It was more of a Luna Rumba reunion concert than a CD release. They played little music from Geo's solo CD, but treated us to a night of Luna Rumba favorites that was heartily enjoyed by 300 or so die hard fans. As usual, the surroundings and the moon did not disappoint. 

Batalla San Pancho in Chacala

The weekend of Benito Juarez' birthday, Karen and I went to Chacala for the Chacala music festival. It wasn't the usual stellar lineup. We missed Cheko Ruiz, who had played the day before, and Lobo's absence left a hollow spot in my heart. There was, however, a stirring performance by the Batalla San Pancho that made the trip worthwhile. Chacala is a beautiful location and always worth the trip.

 

March also saw the Banderas Bay Regatta. After three days of hard racing, the crew of Wings successfully defended our first place title in the PHRF

Charlie Was Part of the Crew

performance class. After two years without an awards dinner, it was reassuring to be able to hold the usual elaborate banquet on the beach at Paradise Village. 

We had suffered a shortage of crew and, as a result had been forced to add a small dog, Charlie, to our crew, as his father couldn't leave him alone on the boat while racing. In 38 years of sailing Wings, Fred had never had a dog aboard before. Charlie turned out to be a good sailor and stayed below while we were racing. His only fault was his desire to snuggle into the spinnaker bag while we were packing the kite. We all had visions of Charlie being launched into the sea when we raised the kite, but we managed to keep him disentangled. By the time of the Banderas Bay Regatta, Charlie was an established member of our crew, often sitting next to Fred as he steered while we motored. Of course, Charlie could not be excluded from the awards banquet, but the security guard wouldn't let us bring him in. His owner, Eddie, had to walk clear around the resort and back along the beach in order to join us, but Charlie was present when our crew photo was taken as we were presented with our first place award. 

 April, 2022 

 
At the beginning of April, I accompanied Blair on Progress One to the Sea of Cortez. Mark, singlehanding on Strange Bird, and Brad and two young crew members from White Wind came with us. We spent the night of the 2nd in Matanchen Bay. Remarkably, we were not devoured by jejenes. Aside from the bugs, it's a lovely anchorage and we passed a peaceful night, there.

Sailing to Mazatlan

The next day, we headed for Mazatlan. The weather cooperated. We arrived at Stone Island, where we had planned to anchor, about 10:30 in the morning of the 4th. The anchorage was a lee shore, so we called the port captain and received permission to enter the old harbor. I had heard nothing about the place other than that it was dirty and stinky, but we found neither to be true.

Stone Island Anchorage

Full House in Brad's Dinghy

The boys went ashore, four of them rowing in Brad's poor, overloaded dinghy. Mark and I stayed behind to keep an eye on the boats. It was peaceful there, with the exception of the constant radio traffic from tour boats. When night fell, the lights were gorgeous. 

Lights in Mazatlan's Old Harbor

 

Our departure on the morning of the 5th was delayed by the arrival of a cruise ship. The entrance to the harbor was very narrow and the port captain would not clear us to leave until the ship was well out of the way. One panguero just couldn't wait and snuck out between the ship and the breakwater while I held my breath. 

Panga Squeezing Past the Cruise Ship

Cruise Ship Filling the Entrance to Mazatlan

Our passage to Frailes was unremarkable. We arrived on the afternoon of the 6th and were greeted by crazy, tail slapping whales.

Brad had decided to make straight for Muertos, so Progress One and Strange Bird were the only boats in the anchorage. We rested the first afternoon and then set out to explore after breakfast on the second day. We climbed the peak overlooking the anchorage. We had taken our time over breakfast and ended up climbing the steep grade at the heat of the day. I felt my blood pressure dropping and stopped before reaching the peak. Blair and Mark soldiered on to the top. There was a clear view of the anchorage from up there and our boats looked small and lonely. 

Our Boats Looking Very Small in Frailes

Strange Bird in the Ceralvo Channel

The next day, we continued on to Muertos. White Wind had already departed for points north and we wouldn't see them again until May. We didn't go ashore in Muertos. It was starting to get windy and we didn't like the weather we were seeing. Our original plan had been to bypass La Paz and go straight to the islands. Coromuels were blowing hard, however, making the island anchorages untenable. Reluctantly, we arranged for a slip at Marina La Paz and arrived there on the 10th. The one bright spot of being stuck in La Paz was that I got to see my friend, Venus, who was rehabbing a boat there while waiting for a British passport. I had met Venus in El Salvador in 2014 and we had stayed in touch. She had divorced, married, and had a child in the years since I had seen her and it was good to catch up with her and meet her new family. 

Venus & Her Son, Harvey

 We spent five days in La Paz, waiting for the winds to die down enough for us to venture out to the islands. There is nothing to do in La Paz except eat and we did so with gusto. After having been on the boat for a couple of weeks, my foot was feeling good and I attempted to resume my morning walks. After one walk to Marina Palmira and back, I had to admit that my foot was NOT better. That was disappointing. Scout was out in the islands and White Wind had pressed on towards Puerto Escondido. We were alone with Mark from Strange Bird. I spent a lot of time practicing the guitar and staring at the weather reports. 

La Paz Malecon at Dawn

 Finally, on the 15th, we set sail for Isla San Francisco, arriving on the Friday of Easter weekend. The anchorage was packed with large motor yachts playing loud music launching jet skis to annoy us. Fortunately, most of the yachts departed on Saturday morning and the atmosphere improved. We went ashore and climbed the peak overlooking the anchorage. We got an earlier start and it was much more pleasant than our trek up the peak in Frailes. 

The Anchorage at Isla San Francisco

 We got back in time to make the short crossing to San Evaristo before dark. It was quiet in the anchorage and we enjoyed the full moon. Easter Sunday, we went ashore to explore. We thought it would be a good day to visit the church and, after many wrong turns, we finally located the place, only to find it locked and deserted. Apparently, San Evaristo lacked a priest.

The Church in San Evaristo Was Deserted on Easter

 The off roaders who had been clogging the restaurant earlier in the day had departed by the time we got back from our walk around town and we managed to get some shrimp quesadillas for lunch. The Semana Santa crowd had eaten most of the restaurant's supplies, so menu options were limited. They offered us an extra quesadilla to make up for the lack of beans. Only Blair had enough of an appetite to take advantage of their offer. Blair had ridden dirt bikes through San Evaristo fifteen years before and remembered a panoramic view from the pass over the mountains. We hiked up the road to the pass and, after admiring the view from there, decided to continue on to the top of the mountain where the view was even grander.

 

Blair and Mark Overlooking San Evaristo

We left San Evaristo before dawn on the 19th and made straight for La Paz before the next weather event arrived. There was no opportunity in sight to sail up into the sea as we had planned, so I decided to return to La Cruz until a weather window appeared to take Scout north to Marina Del Rey. 

Leaving San Evaristo

 

I returned to La Cruz on the 20th of April. The high season had ended and it was a pleasant time to be there. There was still music in the evenings, but it was no longer a struggle to get a table for dinner. Some friends had left, but there was finally time to enjoy the ones that remained. Once again, I tried to walk for a couple of days and, once again, I had to admit that my plantar fasciitis was still troubling me.

Dawn at La Cruz Marina