A Little Magic Every Day: Hello Mazatlan!!

On Monday morning Magic's rail car started it's descent into the water, and just like the take out, we didn't know what to expect. No body came aboard to help with lines, they all stood around the big cable machine that let us, somewhat jerkily, inch down the ways. Again, the ride was in slow motion, taking more than an hour to travel some 300'. In the end, we floated off but ALAS it is a boat and the port engine started but without exhaust water. Kill the engine. So they side tied us to a "rusty bucket" and their Mexican mechanic came on board to help Alan sort it out. Alan was ready to pull and replace the water pump -- but the mechanic figured there was air in the line somehow and within a few minutes -- happy engine sounds and gushing water. You just never know on a boat. But we have come to really enjoy and trust the helpful nature of the Mexicans. Once again by the kindness of strangers we set off to sea.

We headed out from La Paz on an ebb tide, to the Puerto Lobos anchorage, aptly named for the ever present flies. After an afternoon of rest, minor projects, and dinner we pulled the anchor to start a 44 hour voyage to Mazatlan, going through San Lorenzo and Cerralvo Channels and then due East.

Have you ever started your motor and kept it running, without stopping for 44 hours? Sure, we aren't stopping to re-fuel, we carry our whole house with us (so no need for food or bathroom stops) and there are no stop signs or intersections. We negotiate around ships, trawlers and other cruisers both in daylight and night. Our only change in speed has been due to a boost from current. The few times we opened the jib with a hint of wind on the water added a bit of speed for a few minutes. But those light and variable winds were mostly not even worth the effort. This is a calm day or two before the next "wind event".

Our electronics have added to our peace of mind on this crossing -- due to the ship traffic heading to and from this major port. We use radar and a new system, AIS (automatic identification system), to know locations of other vessels; their heading, course, and speed. Our AIS comes through the VHF radio and we can contact them directly through this system (no more "big boat big boat this is Magic"). We can thus confirm our maneuvers to avoid collision, rather than the guessing game with radar. For the later part of the voyage we've been in a dense fog, so both these tools have been critical to our safety.

What has been amazing are the number and variety of sea life! At first daylight yesterday, what looked like trash bags, turned out to be seals, on their backs, with flippers held out of the water evidently to sun themselves. Then came the dolphins, thousands of them! We had at one time, a revolving group of ten on the bow waves, with their extended family as far around us as we could see! The smaller dolphins love to jump all the way out of the water and then make a big splash. Even one of the big adults jumped three times in a row right ahead of our bow, almost getting us wet! We were screaming and clapping. Great fun! We've also seen manta rays and many floating turtles and hundreds of birds. You just can't stay inside all day, for you'll never know who will float by and liven up the neighborhood.

The captain tried to fish and actually donated a "Mexican flag" lure, breaking 60 lb test line to a "big one that got away". Well, that would have been way too many fish tacos for the crew anyway!

We arrived safely about 3pm and the hook is down in the old harbor. Now the winds can blow -- they will moderate in a few days and we will continue south.