On Dec. 7 we left Marina Mazatlan around 9:15 for we knew that the channel dredge did not work between 9 to 10 A.M.  This was important for we would not have to worry about squeezing past the sea wall and the working dredge as we did on coming into the marina.  It was 9:25 A.M. when we passed through the channel to the sea.  We proceeded to the islands right off  Mazatlan and tried to decide if we would anchor there and snorkel; so that we would not be coming to Isla Isabella in the middle of the night, or proceed on with our trip.  We decided that we wanted to see San Blas and that the island could wait for our return trip.  We headed out to open ocean and we immediately began to bounce and roll as we left this protected bay.  Not having been at sea for about 3 weeks played a little bit uncomfortably on Betsy’s stomach which she helped by sucking on several ginger tablets.  Our winds were predicted to reach 20 knots but it didn’t start out that way and we were happy to have a good engine.  We did finally get to sail and proceeded through the night using the radar to be aware of all the fishing boats and pangas.  We were averaging about 6 to 7 knots and knew that we would reach San Blas in the early morning.  Hank and I took our three watch rotation and we would either experience a very quiet watch or a watch filled with traffic.  It is amazing how you can come off watch and immediately fall asleep knowing that you only have 3 hours before you are up again.  The morning watch dawned slowly and I saw dark clouds covering the coast line.  As we neared the shore the wind went from 1 knot to 15 knots.  On San Blas there is a retired cruiser named Norm who is the greeting committee.  When you call him on the radio, he will give you the conditions in the harbor and the bay. As we approached the beautiful coastline he told us that he would come down from his home and using the radio, making sure that we got anchored in a safe place.  We found that the boats anchor in the Estero del Pazo and that there were about 5 when we arrived.  Later it would turn out that there were only 3 boats in our anchorage.  Now after we had set the anchor, Norm asked us over to his house for coffee and pan dolce.  This meant that we quickly cleaned up the boat, lowered the dinghy and were off to meet the man who was so helpful.  Arriving at his house we sat outside, under the trees, enjoying his garden.  Norm has been coming or living on San Blas for 40 years and he is a true ham radio buff.  He loves being in contact with the cruisers.  Now Norm explained that we had arrived on a three day holiday weekend in the honor of the virgin of Guadalupe.  He gave us a map and an informational guide to the city.  We went back to the boat to rest up and then headed for town about 4 in the afternoon.  The streets are either paved with cobblestones or dirt until you get to the town plaza area where they are brick.  The main plaza is large with the church on one end and stores and shops around the other three sides.  We walked around and then looked for a place for an early dinner.  We had been told that a parade would be happening at 7:30 P.M. and we wanted to find something before that time.  Well the best plans don’t always turn out as planned and our dinner was great but when we headed to the plaza we found out from the other cruisers that the parade had already happened.  So we sat around the plaza and enjoyed the ambiance of the children in native costume and the feeling of Christmas.

We met a taxi driver Alfredo and talked about doing a tour the following day.  We headed back to our dinghy and to bed.  The night was never quiet for the music from the plaza could be heard out in the harbor.  At 4:00 and 4:30 A.M. the church bells rang and fire works sounded, this was a lively night and it didn’t calm down till dawn.  The next morning we got up and went to town to purchase a few groceries, a top for my mother, and to look at the shrimp.  We purchased several things but decided to wait to get the shrimp till later.  We tried to call Alfredo but met him in the Plaza instead.  We decided to take a ride up into the country for a couple of hours.  The vegetation along the road was thickly populated with all sorts or trees.  Alfredo and I conversed mostly in limited Spanish.  Some of the names of the trees we had never heard of so they escaped us after a few minutes.  Later we tried writing down all the information that we were getting and that was better.  We passed through several small little towns until we were into the coffee growing region.  This was an area further up the mountains past the banana, coconut and mango trees. We stopped up a dirt road and walked through a gate into a plantation. We found coffee growing but also avocados, lemon, oranges, grapefruit and bananas.  The coffee was still very green and the plants appeared to be just scattered about. The coffee processing plants were up the road in the town of Carlcocotan.  They were not in production at the time and from the looks of the buildings we were not sure how long it had been since they had seen coffee.  That is a very deceiving thing about Mexico, things work for a very long time with out much maintenance.  Alfredo drove us to a small sidewalk shop where we purchased two bags of coffee for 60 pesos.  The women selling the coffee said that it was her family that produced the product.  

We also drove around and looked at a tree that Alfredo called a yucca fruit, it looked like the Hawaiian breadfruit plant to us.  We stopped at a road side stand and purchased a small amount of the cut fruit.  It smells a lot like pineapple and sort of tastes like one too.  We brought it back to the boat and washed before tasting.  After the purchase we headed back down the mountain to visit the fort La Contaduria atop Cerro San Basilio.  The fort offers a gorgeous view of the whole city.  It is hard to believe that it is such a large area.  When you are in the town, walking around, you don’t realize how large the town it.  When we were on the mountain we realized that we could also see our boat in the harbor.  Right below in this picture you can see the outfield of the local ball field.  There was a game going on as we watched.  Down the road was the ruins of the Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Rosario with the bell tower that was immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his final poem, “The Bells of San Blas.” We walked around the church and Alfredo pointed out the date of the building that was hidden on a back wall.  This church was built in 1778.  Now it was time to head back to town and to see how we were going to spend the rest of our time in San Blas.  When we had checked in at the port captain’s office we said that we would be staying until the 12^th of December.  We wanted to see the fishermen’s procession that leads from the water to the church with everyone carrying candles.  This would take place on Monday night and then we would leave for Puerto Vallarta early Tuesday morning.  It would be a nine hour sail to PV.  We know that we want to come back here for we didn’t take the time to do the jungle ride or swim in the La Tovara springs.  We also have to get some Autún cream for our bug repellent did not keep the no see-ums away and so we have many bug bites.