No, we did not forget how to dock. This is a great marina, and I discovered they have yoga outside every morning. I am really excited about doing that again - and it will help keep me in shape, something I am always interested in as long as it involves something I like doing.
Mazatlan is an interesting place on a lot of different levels. Yesterday after we got here we took a bus into town for a grand total of 20 pesos (less than two dollars) for both of us. Since the marina is north of the city proper, and a little too far for us to be interested in walking the whole way, that is a very good deal. We then walked a long way back, after sharing cerveza and chips and guacamole with a couple we met who are vacationing from Portland, Ore. We also stopped later for dinner, and then took a "cab" home, again for the whopping price of $7 American, which included a nice tip. I put the word in quotation marks because these are not actual cars - rather, they are golf cart like things that are open air. They call them Pulmonias. It is a LOT less expensive to live here than it is in Cabo, although as I have said before, you can do Cabo on the cheap if you put out extra effort and avoid the tourist spots right on the waterfront. Here, however, everything seems to be very reasonable. I am in the process of locating a spa. I am in dire need of a manicure, pedicure, facial, and wax.
It is also really beautiful here, with a coastline that includes long sandy beaches as well as places where the water crashes on rocks. There is a LONG malecon (waterfront walkway like a boardwalk) that goes all through the town, with palapa (thatched roof) restaurants all along the way right on the beach. This place is famous for shrimp, and that is all right with me! In fact, we discovered there is an employee here whose brother-in-law is a shrimper, and you can put in an order and have fresh shrimp delivered to the boat. There is a laundromat here, but you don't have to wash your clothes yourself - you can just leave them and they will do them for you for a very nominal fee. Who could ask for more?
Some of my friends back in the states have expressed some concern about my safety here - there have been recent articles in the papers up there about some incidents here that caused three cruise lines to stop coming here. While I do not have all the details of exactly what happened, two of those liners are supposed to start up again real soon. All I can say is that from what I have heard since I have been in Mexico, tourists and cruisers are in no danger from the drug wars unless they just happen to get caught in crossfire - which could just as easily happen in any town in the US with gang problems. And the serious violence is confined to border towns and not in the tourist areas. We have talked with Americans who have lived here for years, as well as to Mexican nationals, and everyone says the same thing. I really feel safer here than in parts of the U.S.A. And no public officials have demanded any bribes. Even when we screwed up the check in/check out process (a requirement for boats entering and leaving ports in Mexico) in Cabo, we did not get in any trouble at all. The port captain just told us how to handle it properly next time. I suppose he could have asked us to pay a fine, and we would have done it without objection, since we were in the wrong. In fact, the last time anyone was rude to me was a US customs officer when we went up to San Diego from Ensenada.
We plan to spend about a month here - but cruising plans are always subject to the vagaries of the lifestyle. It is still taking some getting used to. Last night I had a horrible dream that I was back at work, and everyone was giving me a hard time. Even in the dream at one point I said to myself "Why am I bothering with all this, I don't have to work." Getting a nice income for just having fun seems too good to be true. I keep waiting for someone to contact me and tell me it was all a mistake and I need to get my sorry ass back to work. (This is not unusual thinking for me - I am always faintly surprised when an ATM actually gives me the money I ask it for.) This kind of life (once you pay for the boat and its outfitting) is actually pretty low cost. We could not live in California for what we are paying here at this incredible marina, even in a tiny crappy apartment in a crappy neighborhood. Here, I am living right on the water with everything I could want. Amazing, really.
I plan to post some pictures in my next post - I forgot and used the computers that does not have my pictures on it. We have what appears to be reliable internet here, so we will see what happens. I am really eager to share the things I have seen with anyone who is interested. Life is great!
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