December 4th – Mazatlan – Jim’s Blog #5

The day after we got here in Mazatlan we heard that there was an event on the beach scheduled for 5 PM (just before dark) to release baby tortoises for their “run to the sea.” We took a bus into town and walked all along the Malecon (the wide avenue bordering the ocean where it is possible to observe the beach without a hotel getting in the way) watching the waves, the bathers, and the setup of a number of fireworks launch areas. We finally found the location for the tortoise run, noticing that there seemed to be a lot of birds checking out the situation as well. I have to admit I was anticipating the clash of nature – birds against turtles – that I had seen in nature documentaries. The beach was lined with at least a couple of hundred kids protected by a metal barrier from the onlookers. Each of the participants was given two or three small turtles by the local aquarium and instructed to release them on the sand all at once. It was quite a picture to see the little kids urging on the tiny turtles in their attempt to get into the water.

The birds stayed away – probably because of the crowd of people on the beach – and the turtles variously scrambled for the water or waited for the water to come to them. This was no real-life Jacques Cousteau documentary of the trials and tribulations of baby turtles trying to plod across yards of beach from their nests with birds and other animals picking them off one-by-one; so that only a few make it into the sea. The turtles were released a few feet from the edge of the lapping waves and it took them very little effort to make it as they were shepherded by nature-lovers all the way. Without natural predators interrupting their “journey” I wonder if we might not be causing an overcrowding condition for turtles in the future that will require us to introduce a natural enemy or allow humans to imbibe more turtle soup.

The tortoise launch area on the beach at Mazatlan - the small black specks are tortoises.

In this protected scenario the incoming waves flipped the tiny turtles up in the air and back up the beach; so it appeared that only a few were making headway. Some of the kids seemed to be crying that they had to give up the turtles, while others were coaxing them onward. One adult was bent over with his camera focused on a single turtle to record its first encounter with the sea – only to have an errant wave nearly flood his camera. I could swear that as he stepped back swiftly, he crushed a turtle behind him, but he may have just compressed it into the sand. I thought a photo of that would have been distinctive – which is why some people call me jaded. Frankly, I thought it would have been easier to use the turtles as skipping stones and have a turtle-skipping competition, rather than make them struggle on the sand and face a wall of water coming at them every few seconds – but what do I know of nature?

We learned that the fireworks displays had been set up along the beach to celebrate an international marathon scheduled for the next day, and the rockets were going to be lit off at 8 PM; so Ed and Cornelia Gould, Sheilagh and I joined some other cruisers for happy hour in an outdoor restaurant to await the action. A host of dignitaries was first introduced on the dais near us – bookended by a number of attractive young women in two-piece costumes (also wearing tennis shoes, and ball caps) who were identified as the “Pacifico Cerveza Girls.” It seems the marathon was being sponsored by the Pacifico and Modelo beer companies – I guess beer is as good as pasta to give the runners that carbo-loading to run a good race. The fireworks were set off a few at a time from about five separate places on the beach and all together they lasted for about an hour. We happened to be a few dozen feet from one of the firework setups; so it was as if we saw one entire set of fireworks "up close and personal."

Just another gorgeous sunset in the tropics – here in Mazatlan

The way home was equally exciting as we boarded a "pulmonia" jeep (a Volkswagen body with an open-air chassis, named for the “pneumonia” it might cause from riding in the open air, I suppose), for the wild ride home with a driver who turned up the music and used his horn to move the other traffic along. Three of us were wedged into the back seat holding onto the roll bar to keep from spilling out the side as we rounded various corners. The 250 pesos apiece to get back to the marina from the beach in the pulmonia was a bit more expensive (30 times more expensive) than the bus ride to the beach for 8 pesos, but how do you compare a Disneyland E-ticket ride with a drive to the store.

Yesterday, Sheilagh and I set out for the local shopping areas by bus, and discovered Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Sam’s Club, McDonald’s, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Radio Shack, and Baskin & Robbins – which goes to show that you can’t escape the large conglomerates from the U.S. We did our best to shop at local places, but we noted a distinct lack of air-conditioning in the local shops, and it was “tropical hot” most of yesterday. One is sorely tempted to go back to the known stores, particularly with sweat dripping from your brow while having difficulty communicating with the local shopkeepers who can only speak Spanish. Although, we carry along a dictionary, draw pictures, and try to communicate as best we can with hand signals, it is such a relief to encounter a clerk who can speak some English.

We also realized yesterday that it has been years since we have ridden in a bus as a main means of getting around. Now that we have more time and less income, we can take our time and actually enjoy the stop-and-go progress of a bus ride that costs us only 60 or 80 pesos – which is the equivalent of 60 or 80 cents. Why two prices? The $.80 charge is for an air-conditioned bus, although we usually just take the first one that comes along. Yesterday we noted that one young man stood up to let an old man sit down; so courtesy is alive and flourishing. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with Sheilagh’s response, when I asked her if I should stand up and let a middle-aged lady sit down. Sheilagh whispered that I was more decrepit than the lady; so I should keep my seat. How’s that for spousal support?

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We managed to walk at least two miles in the hot sun as part of our outing, and discovered a small outdoor-under-the-trees restaurant where we had pork sandwiches with a special sauce. We were directed to the specialty on the menu by a couple who had cruised all the way down to the south of Mexico in previous years and had decided to make Mazatlan their home. We’re running into quite a few cruisers who are making various Mexican ports their home. Apparently it is relatively inexpensive to buy a slip in a marina and just keep the boat there year around. Some go back to the states for the summer and return here for the winter. Since we already own the boat, we have an automatic second home that we can sail anywhere or ship anywhere.



One cruiser we talked to made it all the way to Australia and decided he didn’t want to continue around the world. He used a shipping method called “Dockwise” where a boat freighter is designed to be sunk, the sailboats are floated on, the freighter is raised back up, and the sailboats are lashed down to supports on the freighter. The freighter then brought his boat back to Vancouver, British Columbia, along with a number of other boats (both sail and motor) where he wanted to cruise in the Pacific Northwest for awhile. He didn’t have to unload his possessions from the boat, and the cost was just a few thousand dollars. So there are many options for us as we contemplate where we want to go and what we want to do in this cruising life. More later . . .