Ahoy, from Mazatlan, Mexico. After a painfully long time of not having a workable web site to keep you updated as to our adventures, we finally seem to have this under control. Thanks for your patience. We will now attempt to place an update at least every month to log our travels, experiences and plans.(of course plans are as fluid as water) Just a recap….Lois and I left Long Beach Shoreline Marina July of 2002 to begin our life away from docks. We traveled to San Diego, via Catalina Island, where we spent the next three months waiting for November, the end of hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific. Upon departure, we joined in with the 115 boats traveling southbound with the Baja Ha, ha to Cabo San Lucas. After a short stay there, and checking into the country, we headed north in the Sea of Cortez to spend the next year enjoying the wonderful cruising grounds between La Paz and Santa Rosalia. The islands in this stretch of the Sea of Cortez are a cruisers dream. Things were pretty much like heaven until a number of hurricanes decided to pass through our paradise, having us run for cover in protected anchorages. The two worst ones, Ignacio and Marty tested our skills, body, faith and endurance. We survived winds in excess of 100 MPH as we fought to keep our sacred home off the beach. Lois and I learned allot about each other and we came through with much more confidence in ourselves as sailors. After spending a couple of months back in La Paz, where we hauled TEXAN to apply bottom paint and several other repair yard projects, we traveled to the other side of the Sea of Cortez to where we presently have been residing in Mazatlan. We intentionally decided to “park” here for a length of time to make an extended trip back to the states and ride out this summer hurricane season in the protection of the harbor. We made a number of inland trips by bus and by train and got a chance to really see a great portion of the interior sights of Mexico. This time here also gave us a chance to do upgrades to TEXAN of additional equipment installation. We are now confident we have TEXAN outfitted as we want her to be for our next voyage. In 4 days, on November 1, 2004, we are untying the dock lines and beginning our voyage south to explore the numerous coves, bays, islands and anchorages along Mexico’s gold coast with destinations such as Isla Isabella, Puerto Vallarta, Tenicattia, Ixtapa and Zihuatenajo. We plan to spend February in Zihuatenajo to participate in “Sail Fest” where money is generated by the cruisers to benefit the local schools. Last year’s event netted about $30,000 for the poor school district, a substantial sum of money for their budget. March will find us continuing our trek south to the Central American countries of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama before our final southerly destination of Ecuador. After some South American land trips, where we have previously visited before, we don’t have our next destination planned. We will just have to wait until that time to see what we feel like doing. That’s just too far down the road for our mind set. So that about catches you up in a thimble full. Beginning our next entry next month to this site, we will share more intimate details of our journey and the wondrous experiences we continue to enjoy. We hope this October finds you all happy and well.
Until next month,
Gary and Lois
S/V TEXAN
Lying: Mazatlan, Mexico