Andalucia's return to Mazatlan

One of those great trips:

Mary and I set sail from La Cruz to return the Andalucía to its home port of Marina Mazatlan.  It is 200 miles, to weather, back to Mazatlan and Mary had never done an overnight sail before.  I should not have  worried, she was great. 

 Getting around Punta Mita was easy However, I decided to spend the night at the wonderful anchorage of Chacala about 50 miles to the north.
The sunset was ‘one of those’ with perfect weather and glassy seas.  The guidebooks’ all say "two hooks',,,, well what do they know.  That was a big mistake as we rolled all night long.  Well it was up early with a great breakfast by Mary and we were on our way north.  The only obstacle was passing Isla Isabella, in the dark, on Mary’s watch.  It was a huge spot on radar and we missed it by 5 miles, not a problem for the Admiral.

Except for the fog, it was an easy run to the slip in Mazatlan.  Our friends were at the dock waiting for us to toss our lines to.  What great crew for a great trip home and a wonderful 3 months in La Cruz.

The Andalucia Trip to La Cruz

The S/V Andalucia, with 3 other boats moved from Marina Mazatlan to Marina La Cruz in Nayarit (near Puerto Vallarta), Mexico and as you can see by the track below it was a straight motor sail all the way. If you play with the map you can zoom way in, look at pictures taken along the way and even some of the bars we hit right off the boat.

The Andalucia Trip to La Cruz

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Ana Banana is right up there with Philos for entertainment, some good and some even great.  But, the big thing to do is post your boat's name on the wall.  See if you can find it.

When Mary arrived for Thanksgiving she got to add her name to mine,,,, kind of romantic I thought as she was crew, for 6 days.  She got to take a day trip to the Tres Marieta Islands which I will post some pictures of later.  But the track was added to the map above.
I love this village of LA Cruz, it kind of grows on you.  When we arrived the music venues were just starting to open and bands were just hooking up but open mike nights were a major crap shoot.  Jeeeeez some nights were really bad.  But, last Saturday night was a spectacular night at Philo's and Sunday nights tribute to a harp player that had passed away, at Ana Bananas, was another night to remember for the hundreds of people that showed up.
The trip to the Tres Marietas will follow next, hang in there.

A rhetorical Question - Where is Steve?

I know I have lost a lot of readers of my blog due to my inattentiveness. I lost my wife and best crew in August after a 6 month, 24x7 battle with Hodgkin’s disease. So many neighbors, friends and family helped me along the way, bringing dinners, bringing in the mail, watching Edie while I went to doctor’s visits for myself and in a million other ways. I can't say thanks enough, and still do.  No way could I have gone it alone but there were many nights alone sleeping by her bed on the floor. 


She has been gone now over 3 months, though I have been grieving a lot longer.  As she slowly got weaker, I slowly came to the realization that we were loosing this battle. These last 3 months I have spent with family and friends, seeing the country and trying to find a level place for my mind.

I decided to take a crew position in October with dear friends Patsy and Walt on their Wind Rose, a fantastic Cabo Rico 40 sailboat. They were doing the Baja Ha-Ha for the first time and needed experienced crew (well I have done 1 and 1/3 trip). They had no idea how cathartic it would be for me. As I was crew  on someone else’s boat, standing watches on starry nights, alone with my thoughts, I came to realize not only was I helping them out, I was returning to the Andalucía and my home away from home for 33 years. Even though I was returning home, alone, I was getting some piece and closing the loop.

It took another week before the final epiphany and I wanted to share it with anyone that is still out there wondering how Steve is doing.

What happened last night in the life of Steve Hollen on the Andalucía, alone, in Mazatlan? No different than I/you would have expected. Brother and I went with another cruiser to a favorite outdoor BBQ place for Mojitos (sp?) which are boiling hot lava rock bowls, full of shrimp/beef/chicken (take your pick). Since they don’t have a liquor license you go across the street to the Mega supermarket and buy your bottle of wine or beer,,,, only on Sunday you cannot buy alcohol in Mexico, except in a bar,,,, so we just drank cokes, the food was wonderful and the night sky was full of stars and music. When we were done it was time to get a bus back to the boat. On the way though the Gold Zone I noticed a cover band we know playing at the Gus & Gus bar (an outdoor place)! They play at the marina also (60’ from the boat) but were playing here for Sunday night. Stop the bus! Steve is getting off. The band plays a great bunch of music from the Beatles to ZZ Top, just as they were played originally. Absolutely fantastic. I get to know the bar fly guy next to me and we talk between songs about music, women, life, and living alone in Mazatlan. Guess what happens next (good guess), a “BEUTIFULL” blond sits down between us! Yes, the same lady you knew from high school that you never could get close to (and can’t now either,,,,). So, sure enough she sells boats, wants’ to sell mine, wants my card, etc (they never change and now with lots more cleavage showing). The second set ends, the girl leaves alone (nothing different from high school, right) and the guy next to me (now with the empty chair between us) says, are you ready to go? He gives me a ride to the boat, it is a warm clear starry night, god it is nice, and guess what his name is? Timothy Patrick (same as my son’s)… A typical, wonderful night in Mazatlan and loving every bit of it. Finally some piece.

Where have you been Andalucia?

Cliff Divers Point

One thing we have learned is if a Blogger doesn’t post for more than a month, most people delete their blog and move on, so we are hoping we haven’t lost everyone.

It has been a long month of nothing to report. The first thing that happened when we got home from Mazatlan, January 11th to get boat parts, was I caught a cold and promptly gave it to Edie. I kept saying, “well you are only two days behind me so it will be over soon”. Well, after two weeks of a bad cough, Edie went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and a pat on the head. One week later, we were back insisting on more than a pat on the head and got some stronger pills. Finally, after 4 weeks of coughing it was decided she was getting better, so off to Mazatlan we go Sunday afternoon Feb.14th. We found an Ayres Hotel in Alpine around 9:00pm and after some Chinese food crashed. Up early Monday with some residual coughing, we were off for the border. I made the bad choice of crossing at Yuma. Why? Even at 75mph, it is a long way south of the border to get over to Mexican Hwy15 in Santa Ana. Next time, we will cross again at Sonoita (great place you found Dean) even though you spend more time in the US, but faster in the long run. We found another great hotel with a suite for $40US in Santa Ana. Up early and off to Mazatlan arriving about 9:30pm. Yes, we have heard the horror stories of driving at night in Mexico. We saw many cows on the side of the road (some with feet in the air) traveling 85-90 during the daylight, so we slowed down to 75-80 in the dark. Mazatlan is such a business orientated town, everyone is in bed early for the next day’s work, so there is never anyone during week days on the road and it proved itself again.

The new domestic water pump has been installed….the food and clothing put away….working on the steering cables and have settled into the Marina Mazatlan lifestyle (muy tranquillo).

Part of gangway conversations usually gets around to asking when you’re heading out. I can easily say “this season we’re not”. If you follow any of the other blogs of boats in Mexico, you will quickly learn that most are either already back here, heading up into the Sea of Cortez or trying to catch weather windows to get back at least to Mazatlan. El Niño has been wreaking havoc in most of the anchorages/towns up and down the Mexican coast….from rain to freak winds to tornados. So Velcro harbor has once again trapped another cruiser for the season…  This little guy forgot to get out of the wind in time.....

Sooo, it is time to head home and wait for the next cruising season to begin.  We can only hope El Nino is gone and the weather in Mexico is back to normal.

Wasting Away In Mazatlan!

Just a few pictures we took today while having a late lunch/early dinner on the malecon. It was just beautiful and even the locals were clapping when the sun finally set!

We left for Isla Isabella on Monday night @11:30pm and while rounding the first island off Mazatlan (Deer Island) we realized that "Hal" our autopilot wasn't holding a steady course. With 85+ miles ahead of us, we felt it was safer to turn around instead of hand steering that far. We're not sure whether it's a problem with "Hal" or the steering cable I fixed.  Tomo we plan on doing 360's in the harbor to try and re-orient the electronic compass to see if that will correct the problem.....so we're safe in our "Velcro-harbor" for now...obviously not wanting for anything from food to entertainment to local gossip!