Mazatlan, MX

Mazatlan, MX

Having arrived in San Carlos, Tiffany and I left the ship and headed off to new adventures. This time is a bit different because Tiffany is heading to Florida and eventually the French Caribbean to teach a sailing class. Yes, people really pay people like Tiffany to do such things…never heard about this at career day huh?

(Greg got to do some awesome stuff while I was away, I’m sorry that I missed it! Although, I must say I would not have given up my trip either… Hmm, can I be in two places at once the next time? My one and only trip to Mazatlan was on the Coast Guard Cutter MUNRO back in 2001 as a cadet, and that was only for about 2 days. ~ Tiff)

So that leaves me with a month of time on my hands and all of Mexico to cause trouble in! I decided to head back down to La Cruz because that is where a lot of boats are getting ready for the Pacific crossing so perhaps we’ll find a boat to work on.

On my way down though, I needed to make a stop off in Mazatlan to see our friends on FLY AWEIGH and offload supplies. Evidently, Allan & Alison have a mild addiction to rice milk, raw walnuts and ginger candies, and asked us to pick some up from Trader Joe’s when we were in the States.

As thanks for schlepping their groceries half way across the country, they offered me the option to hang around with them for a few days. So now I have a month of time, all of Mexico in which to cause trouble AND a means of escape from local authorities…this is going well…

We started our visit with what I can only say was a truly tourist experience.

Speaking of tourist experiences, here is a popular one in Mazatlan I wish I had missed out on:

We got together with a bunch of other cruisers for a wine tasting where I discovered that John and Mary-Ann of s/v OLD MOON apparently have knowledge of Mexican wine! So I present to you our next “wine of the world”

And yes, yes I said “we decanted in a blender.” We’re on a ship. Sometimes you have to improvise and hey, now you don’t have to buy a decanter to have aerated wine at your own home!

After a few bottles of our blender wine we got into a debate on whether or not beer could be used as a life saving device. Don’t ask me how, we just did. As a former Coast Guard Officer I lent my expertise to the conversation but no one was satisfied until we established incontrovertible evidence through rigorous scientific experimentation.

At the end of our evening Rod, the guy I met in San Diego playing a ukulele, decided to entertain us with a little diddy called “the yacht club song.” Which, if you’re a sailor, you’ll either find extremely funny or highly offensive.

– Greg