BANDERAS BAY REGATTA 2019

March 4-5, 2019

The DHL Office in Mezcales

Monday was a busy morning.  I cleaned my room, changed the sheets, and did a load of laundry before I went to the gym.  I went home, showered and changed, and then headed to the DHL office in the El Faro shopping center in Mezcales to return the printer ink I had purchased from Amazon in error.  That went amazingly smoothly and I was soon back on a combi and headed for Sam’s Club where I changed to another combi headed for Paradise Village.  I got to Scout by mid-afternoon.

Greg wasn’t feeling well, so Blair and I walked up to the mall and ate dinner in the food court.  Going to Paradise Village was like taking a vacation in the United States.  There was a Starbucks, a McDonald's, a Domino’s Pizza, and a Subway.  I opted for a local burrito place and had a delicious and only slightly overpriced shrimp burrito.  Blair opted for Subway.  We brought a frozen yogurt smoothie back for Greg.

Paradise Village Marina at Dawn

I got up early on Tuesday and ran around to the Port Captain’s office and back.  After a shower and breakfast, I headed back to the immigration office and successfully collected my green card.  I was officially a legal resident of Mexico. 

Greg was still recovering, so we didn’t do much.  Cliff and Ray from Sea Note came over, thinking we were going to practice.  They helped us reinstall the jib which had been out to have the sun cover repaired and restitched.  Ray climbed the mast.  With nothing much else to do, they returned to their wives in La Cruz.

When evening came, Blair wasn’t hungry and I scraped together some pasta for Greg from what I could find in the refrigerator.

March 6, 2019

Wednesday was the boat parade and practice day.  The theme for the boat parade was Saturday Night Fever.  I had gone to the party store and purchased what paraphernalia I could find.  The entire crew dressed in wild sunglasses and gaudy gold chains.  The guys showed off their chest hair and the women sported feather boas.  We all danced a choreographed routine for the reviewing stand and the judges. It was a lot of fun.

 

Scout Crew Dressed for the Parade

Greg and Me in Our Disco Attire

We failed to take advantage of the practice starts, being too disorganized to arrive at the start line with our class.  We had intended to practice gybing the spinnaker but decided against it for some reason.  As Blair said, “What could possibly go wrong?”  We got back to the dock early and most of the crew dispersed.

When it was time for dinner, Blair, Greg and I ordered a sampling of dishes from the Italian restaurant in the mall and then repaired to McDonald’s for ice cream.

March 7, 2019

McDonald's Anti-Straw Campaign

I went for an early morning run to the Port Captain’s office and then Greg and I went to McDonald’s for breakfast.  Fifty-four pesos got me eggs with ham and an English muffin with juice.  The McDonald’s in Nuevo Vallarta was on a campaign to eliminate straws.  I wondered if such a thing could ever happen in the United States.  Mexico also had very different laws regarding employment discrimination.  It was perfectly legal to specify the age and sex of the employee one was seeking, as well as their educational level.  At McDonald’s, only young men were hired to work night shifts and only middle-aged women were sought for cleaning.  Most positions were filled by high school and university students.

Mexican Help Wanted Poster

 All the crew had arrived by the time we returned from breakfast and we soon left the dock and headed for the starting line.  There were four boats in our class: Talion (a Gulfstar 50 with a substantial handicap and our nemesis), Agave Azul (a Catalina 47’ with a puzzlingly large handicap), Mermaid Magnet (a Jeanneau 54 with the same rating as Scout), and Scout (a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 52.2.)

We got off to a reasonably good, if uneventful, start and headed for the windward mark.  It quickly became apparent that, despite the fact that we owed them time, Agave Azul was the fastest boat in the fleet.  Mermaid Magnet withdrew early in the race when their electric winches failed, leaving us to duke it out with Talion for second place.  Cliff and Ray, the two brothers from Sea Note, turned out to be great crew and Cliff acted as tactician, as well as main trimmer.  I was on the foredeck, out of harm’s way, with Blair and Tom.  Greg drove and Ray, Lysa, and Cary trimmed.

Scout's Spinnaker

We managed to stay ahead of Talion in that first race, reaching the windward mark and setting the spinnaker without incident.  This was somewhat of a miracle, as we had not had a chance to practice together as a crew.  The sock on Scout’s spinnaker was a bit too short and a bit small in diameter, which often caused the fabric to jam when raising the sock.  The line was also a bit short so Blair, who was quite tall, could barely reach it.  We had clipped it to the mast with a light nylon line to keep it from flying up out of reach, but Blair was still concerned about the spinnaker taking him aloft like Tarzan.

Ray Trimming the Kite of Nuevo Vallarta

The day’s course required us to sail back to a mark off the beach near the starting line and then back to the windward mark before heading off to a mark near Puerto Vallarta.  We put up the chute a second time and reached off for the mark.  The other boats doused their chutes before rounding the mark, but we elected to gybe, planning to douse the chute later.  By the time we sorted out the gybe and prepared to douse the chute, we realized that the wind had dropped and we were carrying the chute just fine.  Carrying that chute all the way to the downwind mark allowed us to gain time on the other boats.  Agave Azul eventually put theirs back up, which permitted them to stay just ahead of us, but we left Talion in the dust and took second place for the day.

We were a merry crew as we sailed back to Paradise Village.  Greg had received two complimentary buffet tickets as part of his entry package and we elected to use them on Thursday night.  There was a reasonably good band and a nice seafood buffet.  Lysa went off to have dinner with Trisha and the Sea Note boys returned to their wives in La Cruz.  The rest of us spent a pleasant evening at the Vallarta Yacht Club party.

March 8, 2019

The Paradise Village Mall

Greg and I ate breakfast at the Moonstar Cafe and Pancake House in the Paradise Village Mall.  It was nice to sit down and be waited on but it seemed wrong to be eating in a modern shopping mall while cruising in Mexico.

After one day of staying home alone at the hotel, Trisha decided sailing wasn’t so bad after all and joined us for the race.  She didn’t want to participate in the sailing, but made sandwiches and acted as photographer.

  

Talion Squeezing Past Us

Mermaid Magnet was back for the second day of racing.  We squeezed them out at the start and they were determined not to be bested by their boat’s smaller, older sister.  They had no sense of humor.  We beat them to the windward mark, but they caught up to us as we reached towards Nuevo Vallarta.  They took our wind and then we took theirs.  This went on for some time with neither of us able to get clear ahead.  Agave Azul came up on the outside and passed us both.  Eventually, Talion caught up with us and got in between us.  Everyone was screaming and yelling as the boats were very close.  In the middle of that melee, a whale surfaced about a hundred feet in front of Talion.  They were so busy yelling at each other that they never even saw it.  I was sure someone would hit the whale, but it cleared out in a hurry.

The Happy Crew of Scout

There was another zoo at the mark and then we headed back towards the finish line.  The race remained close.  As we approached the finish line, it looked like Mermaid Magnet was going to best us.  At the last moment, we managed to get inside of them and tack over to cross the finish line half a boat length in front of them.  It was a very exciting finish and they were not pleased.  Due to the time we lost, messing with Mermaid Magnet, Talion edged us out for second place.  We came in third but felt like winners after having defeated Mermaid Magnet. 

The Sea Note bros headed back to La Cruz after the race.  The rest of us took a quick trip to the swimming pool to try out the crocodile water slides.  They were pretty amazing.  We whooped and hollered and generally made more racket than any of the children.  Then we retired to the hot tub at the adult “zombie” pool.

 

Trisha and Cary at Fajita Republic

For dinner, we took a cab to Fajita Republic, a lovely outdoor restaurant.  There were just a few too many of us to fit in the dinghy or we could have dinghied up there.  The restaurant was situated in the jungle on the river bank and featured an extensive menu of fajitas and other Mexican and American dishes.  I ordered a Mexican combo platter that was quite tasty.

It was almost Trisha’s birthday and the staff overheard us singing happy birthday and sent her a piece of birthday flan.  It was a fun evening out and we were sorry that Ray and Cliff hadn’t joined us.  Their wives weren’t interested in coming to Nuevo Vallarta for any of the festivities.

March 9, 2019

After another McDonald’s breakfast, we assembled the crew and set off for the last day of racing.  We had to beat Talion to hold onto second place for the regatta.  We were late to the start and had a tough time all day.  There was considerably more wind than there had been on the earlier days.

Rail Meat Going to Weather

 We doused the chute at the Puerto Vallarta mark but didn’t put it back into the bag because we planned to put it back up again after we cleared Nuevo Vallarta.  The thing was determined to fly away, so I had to hurl myself on top of it where the tack joined the bow to keep it from unfurling.  It was wet from a sloppy takedown and waves were breaking over the bow.  I was soon soaked to the skin.  I held it down nearly to Nuevo Vallarta before Blair took pity on me and gave me a respite.

Passing Georgia

Mermaid Magnet lost someone overboard and tangled their chute during their attempt to douse it.  The crew member was quickly rescued by the mark set boat, but the kite flew like a flag for at least an hour, causing them, once again, to withdraw from the race.  We charged along, nearly catching Agave Azul, but unable to get far enough ahead of Talion to beat them on corrected time.  Once again, we finished third.

Mermaid Magnet Flying Their Chute

We took a quick dip in the pool and hit the crocodile slide one more time.  Blair went down head first and skipped across the water like a stone upon entry.  Head first entries were not allowed and the pool monitor admonished him.  We were bad children.

The regatta concluded with a banquet on the beach at Paradise Village.  There was an Italian buffet and Luna Rumba played before and after the awards presentation.  We knew we were third in our class, but still harbored the hope that we had won the boat decorating contest from the boat parade.  Despite our superior choreography and great costumes, Agave Azul won that, too, with their inflatable flamingos.  We weren’t sure what flamingos had to do with Saturday Night Fever, but there was nothing we could do about it.  The Agave Azul folks were fun and friendly, so we couldn’t hate them.

The Scout Crew with Trophy at the Banquet on the Beach

Greg was still recovering from his cold and I hadn’t slept well the night before, so we left early.  I couldn’t believe I was walking out on Luna Rumba, but I could barely keep my eyes open and the beach wasn’t a great venue to hear their music.  Apparently, they played Happy Birthday for my housemate, Cherie, and I was sorry to have missed that.

March 10, 2019

I got up early on Sunday and ran north along the coast towards Mezcales.  We checked out of the marina when the office opened at 9:00 and had intended to take the water taxi across to the port captain’s office to check out and then eat breakfast at a restaurant on the other side.  Unfortunately, the water taxi wasn’t running, so the marina sent a panga to take us to the port captain.  We couldn’t expect him to wait while we ate, so we ended up returning and eating at MacDonald’s, once again.  I was thoroughly ready to get out of Paradise Village and away from fast food, although I did break down and get a latte from Starbucks.

Greg Riding the Panga to the Port Captain's Office

We had a relaxing boat ride back to La Cruz and then I took a load of stuff back to my house and spent the afternoon doing laundry.  I finished just in time to meet up with Blair and Greg for dinner at the Red Chairs.

ANOTHER WEEK OF MUSIC IN AND AROUND LA CRUZ

February 25-26, 2019

I did as little as possible on Monday beside going to the gym.  I spent the afternoon writing and practicing the guitar on Scout.  I was so tired that I even skipped a Cheko Ruiz show at Octopus’ Garden and spent the evening at home watching Netflix.

I ran on Tuesday and then headed to Nuevo Vallarta to pick up my resident’s card which was supposed to have been ready on Monday.  Fortunately, the line at immigration was not long because my card was still not ready.  I had forgotten to bring my paperwork with my case number on it and had to call Cherie to get her to send me a picture of it.  Of course, there was no signal in the building, so I had to go downstairs to call her and finally had to buy a cup of coffee to use the WiFi in the café so that I could download the photo.  After going through all of that, the card was still not ready. 

The Nuevo Vallarta Market

I consoled myself by going to the market in Nuevo Vallarta and buying myself a pair of palazzo pants.  The vendor tried to overcharge me and when I called him on it (in Spanish) we chatted a bit.  Once he discovered that I lived in the area and wasn’t a hotel guest, the price went down 25%.  I browsed through the very large market but it was too early for lunch, so I escaped the temptation of the food stalls.

I was in a bit of a rush to get back to La Cruz because I wanted to give Scout a good scrub before Greg returned the following day.  The sprayer on the end of the hose was broken so I couldn’t shut off the water from that end.  Washing the boat by myself, I had to constantly run back to shut the water off at the faucet.  I got plenty of exercise but the boat looked nice for Greg’s return.

February 27, 2019

Wednesday was my last opportunity to play music with Rick and Marilyn from Tortuga.  We met at the Poolside Deli and were joined, once again, by Jerry and Nick who really spiced up our performance.  It had been fun playing with them and I was sorry to see them sail away.

Greg’s flight got in at 15:30 and our ride to the Duende/Luna Rumba concert at Los Arroyos Verdes left at 17:30.   We were all concerned that Greg wouldn’t make it in time and might have to go straight to the concert, but he made it with twenty minutes to spare.  We arrived early and Fernanda had saved us seats in the VIP section, so we had a great location for watching the show.  Greg, who had missed lunch, picked up a sandwich at the bar.

Duende at Los Arroyos Verdes

Luis and His Students Joined Luna Rumba

I had always found that all the electronics involved in a Duende show distracted from the music.  That night, there were numerous equipment failures/errors.  It was still a great show but could have been better.  They cut the Duende set short and played more Luna Rumba numbers, blending members of both bands which was fun, even if it did result in a shortage of equipment when both the bass and the cello competed for the same set-up.  They really needed a technician on the stage instead of Geo digging through plastic bins, looking for a cable, when his wireless transmitter battery died.  Fortunately, they were all musicians enough to take the challenges in stride.  There was a wonderful moment when some of Luis' student drummers joined Luna Rumba for a song.

After the show, we stopped at Tacos Linda in Bucerias for dinner.  Tacos Linda has an impressive variety of tacos including squash blossom and corn truffle tacos.  I had a tasty, lightly breaded fish taco and a corn truffle one. The corn truffle consisted of strips of sautéed poblano chile with corn kernals and was delicious.

February 28 – March 2, 2019

La Cruz Anchorage at Dawn

The remainder of the week was largely uneventful.   At home, Cherie was preparing for her mother’s approaching visit by touching up the interior paint in our house.  In Mexico, the dampness often causes paint to flake off the masonry walls, especially near the bottom.  We scraped off the bubbled paint and our friend, John, covered the bare spots with three coats of new paint.  A plumber came to repair the hose bib in the front yard.  We had tried to replace the worn-out faucet but the soldered joint came apart before the threads moved.  The plumber re-soldered the joint but the new faucet had somehow disappeared, so the hose bib still leaked.  We went to see The Greatest Showman at the marina movie night on Thursday evening. 

Friday night, a big group of us went to the Black Forest to see Geo play with Latcho and Andrea.  It was the 20^th anniversary of the Black Forest.  They played many of the songs from the CD I had purchased the previous Sunday.  I still hadn’t had the opportunity to listen to the CD, as we had no CD player, but it was good to know that the music it contained was fabulous.   As always, I felt blessed to be able to see my favorite artists up close, for a reasonable price, and then hang out with them afterwards.

I spent most of the day at the boat on Saturday and then moved my belongings aboard in the early evening, as the boat was departing for Nuevo Vallarta on Sunday morning.  Blair joined us in the evening after seeing his wife off at the airport.  We went for dinner at La Fonda Cocqui, across the street from Tacos on the Street in La Cruz.  In addition to pork, BBQ beef, chicken, and fish tacos, they had quesadillas, sopes, and tamales.  The food was flavorful and reasonably priced and offered a nice alternative to Tacos on the Street where the meat was excellent but the menu very limited and a little pricey for tacos.

March 3, 2019

I spent a leisurely morning with Greg and Blair on Scout and then left them to deliver the boat to Paradise Village.  I was going to Riverfest in Puerto Vallarta with Karen and Marc that afternoon.

Piel Canela at El Rio

Karen picked me up on the lateral at 11:30 and we drove south through Puerto Vallarta and then took the tunnel road that bypasses downtown up the hill into the canyon of the Rio Cuale.  The Riverfest was a fundraiser for a center for special needs children.  It was held at a barbecue restaurant called El Rio.  They had a large outdoor seating area with quite a bit of shade on the bank of the river.  People could swim if they liked.  In addition to the music, there was a silent auction and some vendors selling clothing and artwork.

Cheko with Piel Canela

The Seating Area at El Rio

The first band of the afternoon was Piel Canela.  It was the first time I had seen them do a show without Amy Armstrong and they played Latin music which I much preferred.  Amy was a great singer, but I didn’t come to Mexico to hear American music.  Karen had never seen them before and was pleasantly surprised to see Mimi playing guitar.  Cheko played a number with Piel Canela, which was the first time I had seen any crossover between the (former) Luna Rumba and Tatewari camps.  The Tatewari boys were maturing.

Cheko Ruiz' Band

Cheko Ruiz’ band played second and the trumpeter captured the hearts of the audience, right away.  Karen pronounced Cheko’s new band the best band of the season.  While I might have accorded him a tie with Luna Rumba, Karen had not seen Luna Rumba at their best and I couldn’t disagree that they were hot.

Los Bambinos

I almost felt sorry for Los Bambinos who followed Cheko’s band. They were a band of brothers who played Latin, Beatles and Beach Boys tribute shows.  They were good and the singer did an admirable job of singing falsetto.  While we much preferred the Latin numbers, we had to admit that he did a great job of singing the other songs.  We hoped we would get a chance to see them at their regular venue before the season was out.

Johanna's Band

The last band was Johanna’s Band.  They were an international mix of Mexican and Caribbean musicians who played Cuban infused beats.  Johanna fronted the band, strutting around in a blue satin jumpsuit and stilettos.  We liked them but had to leave mid-way through their set because we had tickets to see Lobo and Jaguar (Esau) at the Octopus’ Garden later that evening and had a long drive back.  I barely had time to shower and change before rushing off again.  I would have been late had Cherie not given me a ride.

Lobo and Esau at Octopus' Garden

Lobo and Esau’s concert was not as emotional as the set at San Pancho had been, but we got to hear a greater variety of music.  Once again, they played a sort of flamenco blues during one number. I was pleased to see that they had developed quite a repertoire together and had even produced a CD which I was quick to purchase.  They played straight through, without a break.  The audience was quite enthusiastic and gave them a standing ovation.  I was tired and glad to go home, afterward,  and crawl into my own bed.  Splitting my time between the house and Scout grew exhausting and required too much planning.

BOATSITTING, IMMIGRATION, AND THE SAN PANCHO MUSIC FESTIVAL

February 18-19, 2019

Monday was just another day in paradise.   I went to the gym in the morning and spent the afternoon at Scout, taking advantage of Greg's absence to thoroughly dust the forward cabin.  Monday night, there was a screening of the documentary, Sonic Sea, about how human generated noise pollution affects whales and other marine mammals that rely on sound to find food and each other.  The screening drew a big crowd. I had never seen the amphitheater so packed.

The Crowd at the Amphitheater

According to the film, many seemingly mysterious beachings of whales and dolphins can be traced to noises so terrifying that the animals were trying to escape from the sound by heading for shallow water.  Something like 60,000 freighters ply the seas at any given time, generating a horrific drone that drowns out whalesong.  Even more disturbing is military sonar, which even the navy has accepted can cause whale beachings.  Perhaps the most horrifying case of all is the practice of prospecting for oil by setting off explosions at nine-second intervals and mapping the sea bottom using data from the reflected sound.  Sound can travel immense distances through water.  Using the navy’s listening technology, whales off the coast of Ireland could be heard in Virginia.

This constant noise makes it hard for whales and dolphins to use sonar to find food and scares away fish, resulting in as much as an 80% decrease in their food supply.  Obviously, that isn’t sustainable.  The only good news is that sound rapidly dissipates once we stop making noise, unlike other forms of pollution.  Quieter ships are also more efficient ships, so there is good motivation for improvement in that area.  The navy is doing what they can to reduce their impact on whales, at least while testing, although they continue to prioritize the safety of human lives and equipment over marine life during conflicts.  Only the oil industry has yet to make any attempt to mitigate the damage they cause.  I left the screening with one more reason to hate the oil industry and the hope that we make the shift to renewable energy as fast as possible. 

I ran early on Tuesday so that I could make a trip to Nuevo Vallarta to check on the status of my application for Mexican residency.  I had received a letter saying that they had resolved to grant me residency, but I had not received my resident card or any indication as to how I might receive it.  I needed to have it before I could leave the country, so felt I should check on the process.

A Surreptitious Shot of the Immigration Office

I took a combi to Mezcales and switched to another headed for Nuevo Vallarta.  It was market day in Nuevo Vallarta and the place was crawling with tourists.  It was a rainy day, so the Immigration office was quieter than usual and I didn’t have to wait long before my number was called.  It seemed that even though I had given them my fingerprints electronically back in Sacramento when I started the process, they wanted a hard copy.  I had to wait some time before the form was ready for them to use, but I left with a certificate displaying my official resident’s number.  They told me that I could return the following Monday to pick up my card.  I finally felt like I was making progress.

Seminar on Reading GRIB Files

I make a quick stop at the Walmart shopping center (otherwise known as Lago Real) for lunch and to pick up a couple of things and barely made it back to the marina in time to attend a seminar on reading GRIB files, the source of weather data received over satellite or single sideband.  I was tired after rushing around all day and stayed in to write while everyone else was at the Brittania.

February 20-21, 2019

Wednesday was music circle day.  We had a larger than usual group and two guys from Texas, Jerry and Nick (I think), made a great addition.  We sounded pretty great and drew a big audience for the Poolside Deli.  I took the guitar to the boat, afterwards, and read and napped the rest of the afternoon. 

Our friends, Blair and June, were flying in that evening and we had tentative plans to meet for a late dinner.  They were only planning to spend a couple of days in La Cruz before heading inland by car.  Blair would join us, after their return, to crew on the Banderas Bay Regatta and possibly help Greg return Scout to La Paz.  I was resisting leaving La Cruz before the end of the season and while the weather was still cold in La Paz.  It was the coldest year I had ever experienced in Mexico.  La Cruz had been cold and drizzly all week and there was snow in Tucson and Southern California.  I had no desire to go north before April at the soonest.

Blair and June arrived about 21:00 and I met them at the Red Chairs for a taco and a quick visit.  After dinner, we walked to the plaza for an ice cream and then I headed home.

Overcast Morning in La Cruz

I ran on Thursday but it was so overcast that the dawn was a non-event.  Paul, Carol, Blair, June, and I met for lunch at Tona’s Cocina Economica, the best deal in town for lunch.  While the place didn’t look like much from the street, there was a nice patio in the back with tables.  A complete lunch including agua fresca and dessert cost fifty pesos.  I had grilled steak with rice and salad.  “Dessert” turned out to be a hot roll with peanut butter, which was a little odd, but perfectly edible.  We had a nice, relaxing lunch together.

Tona's Cocina Economica

I spent the afternoon at the boat, practicing and reading.  We all planned to meet at the amphitheater, later, to watch the latest Mission Impossible movie.  There was a pretty sunset and all the buildings in Nuevo Vallarta were glowing orange as the sun set.  There was a good crowd for the movie and Paul and Carol brought popcorn.  It was a little chilly, but not drastically so.  I had never gotten so much wear out of my long pants in Mexico.  It seemed I needed them every day.

February 22-24, 2019

Friday marked the beginning of the San Pancho Music Festival.  I went with my friends, Marc and Karen.  Karen was kind enough to drive and bring camp chairs for us.  While the festival had provided mountains of plastic chairs in the past, they had not done so after 2017 and we had to bring our own.  We left La Cruz about 16:15 and headed up Highway 200 past Sayulita.  Huge swaths of forest on both sides of the road and been cut down and the trees lay scattered in the mud.  The land looked devastated and we wondered what lay behind the deforestation.  It was terribly sad to see what was once verdant jungle looking so dead and bedraggled.

The festival organizers had invited the Indians from twenty-five Huichol villages to sell their wares at the festival.  Vendor tables outlined the plaza, squeezing the attendees into a smaller space and adding to the crowding.  The festival grew larger each year but it was threatening to rain on Friday, which kept the crowd to a manageable size. 

Huichol Musicians

The first group was a Huichol band playing traditional Mexican music on traditional instruments.  They were unremarkable except for their fabulous, embroidered outfits.  Werther Ellerbrock played some nice fingerstyle guitar arrangements while the main stage switched acts.  The next act on the main stage was two women (Karen Bently Pollick and Oana Rusu Tomai) playing violin and piano duets transcribed from operatic arias, Gershwin, and Romanian folk songs.  It rained during their set and stage hands rushed to cover the musicians and instruments with beach umbrellas.  We almost had to run for the truck but the rain tapered off just in time.

Karen and Oana Playing in the Rain

One of my favorite things about the San Pancho Music Festival was the shrimp tamales.  One made a meal and they were a very reasonable twenty-five pesos, making them one of the cheapest dishes available.  The strawberry margarita I ordered was an expensive disappointment, but the tamale made up for it.  Later in the evening, I enjoyed a piece of cheese flan.  I can’t say I could taste the cheese, but it was good flan.

Craig Caffal played some solo blues while the Dave Fisher Quartet was setting up.  It was the day that Peter Tork of the Monkeys died and Craig led us in a bittersweet singalong of Daydream Believer.  On the one hand, it seemed like we had appropriated the plaza to celebrate American culture, but then I recalled Mexicans playing a tribute to Chuck Berry in the Chihuahua plaza on the day he died and realized that they liked American music, too.  Music respects no boundaries. 

The Dave Fisher Quartet

Dave Fisher seemed pretty low energy.  A young man that I think was his son played lead guitar and they also had a really good steel guitar player that I really enjoyed.  They got off to a slow start, but they warmed up and ended up being enjoyable.

The following act was a very commercial jazz group fronted by Gabriel Mark Hasselbach.  Jazz isn’t my thing and I was irritated by his constant self-promotion.  The previous act on the second stage had been jazz, too, and I was bored.

I woke up when PUG came on the second stage.  They were a young Mexican group playing original music.  They were loud and went a little overboard with their distortion, but they had potential.  If they could straighten out their sound, they would bear watching.

The Crowd Dancing to Cheko Ruiz' Band

The festival was behind schedule when Cheko Ruiz and his band finally came on about 22:40.   Between the late hour and the intermittent rain, the crowd had thinned considerably.  The diehards were rewarded with a great show.  Everyone was up and dancing.  They played a long set.  It was nearly midnight when the tired organizers finally convinced them to stop playing.  I didn’t get to bed until well after 1:00 on Saturday morning.

Having been up so late the night before, I did not get up to run on Saturday morning.  I stayed in and did laundry and concocted some coconut lemon meltaways that I had been threatening to make for weeks.  By the time I finished those two projects, I barely had time to check on the boat before it was time to report to Agave Azul to meet Karen.

Diego Chavez and Band

Julio Cabrera kicked off the festival on Saturday with delightful Latin music.  Then Diego Chavez took the second stage.  He played original rock songs in Spanish and he really grabbed my attention.  I was disappointed that he was not selling CDs, as I would have liked the opportunity to hear more of his music.

Caravane is always a crowd pleaser and this year was no exception. They took us on a journey through different musical styles from around the world.  Alfredo Muro played some very nice Spanish guitar on the second stage, but failed to capture the attention of the crowd who were still arriving, setting up chairs, and procuring food and drink.

Caravane

Beto, the MC, had heavily promoted Mariachi Tradicional the preceding night. They had received a UNESCO designation, but we found them somewhat painful to listen to.  They played traditional instruments, but the violins were out of tune and I could barely stand to listen.  The situation improved when the vocalist started singing.  He was good and served to drown out the tuneless scratching of the violins.

Mariachi Tradicional

Joe Hadlock, who produced the Lumineers, brought his band, Joe’s Garage Entourage, to the second stage.  They had a very talented Russian violinist who immediately attracted the attention of Geo from Luna Rumba, who had been sitting with us, went dashing off to listen to her more closely.  They played an interesting blend of musical styles including Middle Eastern.  I couldn’t get close enough to see them, but I did enjoy listening.

Jeff Oster on the Main Stage

The trumpeter Jeff Oster was next on the main stage.  He came out in a black jacket completely covered in what looked like Swarovski crystals that was worthy of Liberace or Elton John.  He was good, as always.  I am not a jazz fan, but I couldn’t resist a good trumpet.  Things went downhill after that.  Juan-Ted played the same tired set of oldies that they have played every year.  We weren’t impressed with the Rob Cavazzini Project and packed up to leave after two songs.  An excellent keyboard player joined them, directing their style from country to blues, as we were walking to the car. We probably would have stayed if that had happened earlier, but we were tired and already half way to the car.  It was nice to leave before the main crush of traffic left town.

Latcho & Andrea at the Market

I had no intention of going to the Sunday market, but Latcho and Andrea were playing, so I stopped by on the way to Scout.  I got there shortly before they took a break, but stayed long enough to purchase a copy of Los Ambienteros, the CD they had made in 2014 with Geo from Luna Rumba.

I was looking forward to seeing Soul Trip who were supposed to kick off the festival on Sunday, but they never arrived.  The organizers cobbled together a group to play for a few minutes before Norm Strauss and Tony Kovacic (the steel guitarist) came on the second stage at 17:45.

Ojo de Agua

The next band on the main stage was Ojo de Agua and they were enjoyable, as always.  They played a fusion of traditional Mexican and Cuban rhythms and had everybody dancing.  I bought a copy of their CD.

The Jokers

Steve O’Connor played jazz on the second stage while the Jokers were setting up on the main stage.  The Jokers were a Mexican band that played straight up rockabilly.  It seemed a bit incongruous, but everyone enjoyed them.  They were certainly energetic and it was fun to watch their stand-up bass player dancing with his bass.  Werther Ellerbrock was back for another set of fingerstyle guitar tunes while Tatewari was setting up on the main stage.

Tatewari

Tatewari is always great and they seemed very relaxed that night.  The crowd enjoyed them, although the Jokers were so energetic that they were a hard act to follow.  Charlie Pena, who had been playing with Tatewari all season, was playing with Ojo de Agua and the Orchestra San Francisco and did not appear with Tatewari, which made them sound a bit subdued.

Lobo and Jaguar

The surprise hit of the evening was Lobo and Jaguar (Esau of Tatewari) playing flamenco on the second stage.  They didn’t come on until 21:30, so the remaining crowd was mostly young and many of them had never heard real flamenco before.  They clustered around the stage and listened with rapt attention.  Lobo was thrilled and Esau soaked up the admiration, tossing his long, loose hair.  It was emotional for me to see how the crowd loved them.  They played encore after encore until the organizers began to get concerned that the last group would never get to take the stage.

The evening ended with the Orchestra San Francisco on the main stage playing Cuban style music that got everyone dancing.  It was another late night and I was relieved that the festival was finally over and I could finally slow down a bit.  I was happy to return to La Cruz.

The Orchestra San Francisco