A short day sail from Punta Mita, we set anchor in Jaltemba to break up our trip to Matanchen. There was one other sailboat in the anchorage off Isla La Pena and the island beach was crowded with locals during Semana Santa (Holy Week). We sat on the cabin top and watched water taxis taking people back to shore until the island was empty and quiet by 6pm. We fell asleep with birds circling overhead before heading out early the next morning for Matanchen.
We arrived in Matanchen mid afternoon to the same anchorage where we first stopped after our two night passage from Baja three months earlier. We paddled into the beach and taxi’d over to San Blas to walk town, an area we didn’t see when we were headed south. Similar to what we found in Perula, it appears that San Blas is also trying to attract cruise ship traffic. Inside the estuary they have built two large concrete piers and a large shade structure with small retail shops, a large garden area and pathways leading to town. Back at the boat, we enjoyed music from the numerous Mariachi bands playing along the beach while we swam and chatted with a cruiser we met further south in January who was also headed to the Sea. At night Matanchen Bay was lit from the full moon shining above the Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains and we watched a small fire in the jungle hills from the anchorage.
Leaving Matanchen we had a calm, moonlit overnight passage up to Mazatlan. The moon was full and a deep color red as it rose from behind us, almost like something you see in a movie. There was one other sailboat that followed our course all night. We felt well rested and night watches flowed easily. In the morning over a fresh brew of coffee from the percolator, we relived all the miles we’ve covered since the end of November and the places we’ve seen since leaving Los Angeles. Feeling incredibly satisfied and fulfilled from the last five months of sailing adventures, we decided to save the Sea of Cortez for a later date and end our cruising season in Mazatlan. We spent a week exploring Mazatlan by foot from Punta Cerritos to Centro along the coastline, an area that is growing quickly and every other building seems to be a new condo tower. We toured the Pino Suarez Mazatlan Market and old town in the Centro area. Some of the best food we found happened to be from the restaurants surrounding the marina, all serving a mix of elevated dishes.
In preparation for the upcoming hurricane season, Solitude has been stripped of all her sails and canvas, she is securely tied to the docks and is now under the watchful eye of our boat caretaker, Hector. We are grateful for the time we have had to take this trip and are looking forward to sharing more of our stories and adventures with family and friends.
SV Solitude 