The goal, again was to out by early morning, in this Case 2:30 AM so we could cross the bar in daylight. Altata has a difficult bar and all reference material indicated that we should call the bar pilots and get an escort into the harbor.
2:30 AM came early but we were off and running again. Out the harbor and south. I was on my third cup of coffee before dawn.
The sea was amazingly calm except a long period swell which is barely noticeable while out in the open ocean. The afternoon rolled around and the wind picked up a bit but not bad. I had the course directly into Altata and all I could see was the back side of breaking waves as we approached the beach. They appeared to be 8-10 foot breakers continuously across the beach with no break. I was about 1 mile off shore and in 15 feet of water. I called the bar pilots several time and no answer. I decided that I did not want to risk that, so teh decision was agreed upon to bypass Altata and continue to Mazatlan. Just could not risk it. we made a U-turn back out to see and added another 15 hours to the journey. New ETA: 8:30 AM the next day.
When we finally pulled into Mazatlan, we were both exhausted and ready for bed after 30 straight hours of moving. We shared the shifts through the night but I just don't sleep well while underway. I would if I was on Matts boat, but not mine.
The next day, we went out to tour the city.
Mazatlan has a beautiful Malecon. It was recently carnival here, and some of the decorations were still out on the walk.
Every 100-200 yards there was a different sculpture that was colorful and interesting:
The beach in the background and the palapas on the beach made it a beautiful walk.
At the end of the malecon was the pool and lighthouse. This looked like a more permanent installation and it was beautiful.
After walking the entirety of the malecon we walked down the streets to the mercado. This is a bizarre style market with food and goods of all sorts. It is beautiful to see all of the fresh fruits and vegetables on display. The meat section was also interesting but not so colorful.
The downtown area outside of the tourist area is not so beautiful, very crowded and dirty. The guide book also said it was dangerous and should be avoided; especially at night, so we grabbed a taxi and went back to the boat to rest.
The following day we went to Walmart and Autozone to do some provisioning. I appeared to be a bit short of oil so I picked up a few extra gallons.
I returned to the boat and changed the oil. Time was up and it needed to be done. This is the 4th oil change since we left on the trip.
We hung out at the marina for most of the rest of the time.
Gary, (my brother flew in with a special delivery for me. I had read a number of articles about Starlink on a boat, and I ordered one since it looks like mobility was enabled making it a viable option. Somehow it was delivered to Gary's house the next week. I thought I would be on the waitlist for months but delivered within a week.
We cajoled Gary into bringing it to us and riding along with us for a week.
This is a temporary installation, but I am thinking what the right mount will be. I will do a full technical post on this after I have a chance to get a few hours on it. I am amazed on how small and light weight it is.
We decided to take Gary to a small island offshore for a relaxing anchor out. We set our sights on Isla Isabel.
Technical Data:
Time: 30 h 11 m ( 02:29 to 08:40 ) Distance: 221.29 nm
Fuel: 80.80 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.68 GPH Fuel Economy: 2.74 NM/G
Avg Speed: 7.44 kn Max Speed: 8.46 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 3448.85 Hours Runtime End: 3479.05 Hours Fuel: 80.80 Gallons Fuel Rate: 2.68 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 7.16 GPH Avg RPM: 1227.94 Max RPM: 1519.25 Avg Oil Pressure: 51.86 Low Oil Pressure: 31.33 Avg Temperature: 191.08 Max Temperature: 192.20
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