Mazatlan
- Capt. Eric
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
With just over 210 miles to Mazatlan we left Guaymas early in the morning for an overnight trip. I had to push the engine just a little bit more than usual to ensure arrival before the marina office closed at 17:00 the next day.
Once again WIndy.com was very accurate and we had a great weather window. Being a little further South, and at the end of the Northerly winds winter season helped. After a full day of navigation, and far offshore, we were treated to a amazing sunset before a dark night enveloped us, thousands of stars twinkling above us.
As usual Di took the day shift, and then even more during the early evening as I took the night shift and arrival. It's a good rhythm, but we would benefit from longer passages to get into the full swing of things. That being said, since we prefer getting Princess ashore as often as possible, we avoid long multi day passages when we can. Boating is all about compromises they say.
The entrance to Marina El Cid, our chosen marina in Mazatlan is shared with all the other marinas all the way back into the lagoon. It's not a particularly pleasant run: It is best negotiated at high tide, but since the next high tide was at night, I chose not to wait.
Even in the excellent weather the remaining ground swell of the Pacific Ocean was pushing good sized rollers in between the narrow jetties, themselves guarded by a couple of nasty rocks at the entrance. Nothing terribly complicated to navigate, and https://www.myenfin.com/post/no-go-in-noyo Noyo still remains my most impressive Pacific Bar port entrance, but still an experience to go through.
I saw our sounder rush up to 8 feet as we were surfing the wave in. With our estimated draft being close to 6 feet that didn't leave us a lot of room for safety. Once in, the depth went back down to 14 feet and more.
To complicate things further, all sorts of marine crafts rush through the entrance, from powerful jet skis at full speed to huge tourist boats with full mariachi band or orchestra blasting their music at full power. To top things off, the canal is made narrower by a dredge that constantly maintains the channel open. Not a pleasant experience for the first timer there.
The marina had told us we had slip B12. I squeezed Enfin between 2 long docks (B and C) with little room to spare and we found B12. We might have been able to squeeze into that slip with a couple inches spare to our neighbor, but it just wasn't right.
The marina had clearly misunderstood our width, so I backed us out, doing a tight 180 turn against the now incoming tidal current. Luckily Enfin's articulated rudder, responsive engine with its big propeller and powerful bow thruster make this possible.
Di, at the aft was giving me distances to the boats behind ("a tender" she'd say. That's 10 feet!) as I was poking our nose into empty slip B12 and letting the current back us out. A couple of years maneuvering in the Columbia river in up to 5 knots of river flow has made me a lot more comfortable with strong currents, but some finessing was needed.
The port captain saw us and understood the problem immediately: His office had thought we were a narrow sailboat. He waved us to the only open tie-end berth, saying it was available for our stay. A short easy maneuver later and Enfin was finally secured.
Marina El Cid was very pleasant, in a gringo sort of way. It's part of a hotel resort, with beautiful landscaping, pools and Jacuzzi. Finding green lush vegetation was a welcome and surprising change after a long time in the desert of Baja California. Some intense greenery may also be due to some grass painting.
Di encouraged me to enjoy the pool and Jacuzzi. I am a water creature after all, so every morning and evening, I spent time at the adult pool, even treating myself to pool side restaurant service a couple of times. The good life for sure, and while it might not be a quintessentially Mexican experience, there is nothing wrong in simply enjoying a relaxing vacation resort for a while. It sure felt like a mini vacation. Even retired people need vacations?
Being back in built up "civilized" area also meant we could order food delivery right to the marina gate and as silly as it sounds, getting a monster bucket of KFC chicken after a couple of years away from fast food felt very decadent. It also meant Di and I had time for other things, whether resting or working on the boat, or provisioning.
Walmart was a short Uber ride away, so Di tackled her usual grocery runs, spreading the large amount of food and various items needed for what we anticipate will be about a month and a half at sea before arriving in Puerto Vallarta over a few days.
The marina had "unlimited" water, the first in a very long time, though still asked us to take some minimal preservation measures. I took the occasion to power-wash the boat in full a couple of times. Rivers of sand and mud came out! Hopefully, now that we appear to have left the sandy desert behind, we're also leaving the constant sand and dust coating behind?
A working vacation of sorts, more work for Di than for me, and a good reinvigorating stop for both of us. Next stop is Isla Isabel, just over 90 miles away. Our best bet for a day time arrival will be to leave just before sunset, so once again I'll have a night shift right as we leave.
Isla Isabel is known as the "Mexican Galapagos", a UN protected island too far away from land for predators to have taken hold. As a result thousands of nesting birds are not afraid of humans, who can walk freely on the trails right next to them.
The fishing is also known to be spectacularly good, so the birds have plenty to feast on and raise their chicks. Whales often show up to partake in the feast as well.
We won't be able to take Princess ashore of course, so won't stay long. In any case the anchorages look very iffy, offering little protection from the open ocean, so being able to stay for even a short period is not always guaranteed. The weather forecast looks good, so all systems are go!
Onwards!
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