We are back in Mazatlán and ready for another cruising season! Solitude is in great shape from the summer with only a few items to address before we set sail.
We scheduled a haul out to have the rudder packing redone and the dripless shaft seal replaced, along with some bottom paint touch up and all new underwater zincs. We were a few days delayed on the haul out when the lift went down, but when we were hauled out it was a quick 24 hr turn around before we were back in the water. The rudder packing is now in better shape than when we had it replaced in Cabo last season; which had a slow drip for several months. Rafa is the man! We also replaced the propane regulator and installed dinghy wheels. We are very happy to have the dinghy wheels this season and that we will no longer need to drag the dinghy up onto beaches.
We did have an incident the day after we arrived in Mazatlán when Lorin cut her thumb while making lunch. We walked over to the ER near the marina where they determined one stitch was needed. After a painful cleaning of the wound and direct shot of anesthesia into the cut, one stitch was administered and $64 later we were back on board. We went to a pool party at one of the condo buildings around the marina the next night and met several cruisers, one couple had their boat in Holiday Harbor in San Pedro, CA at the same time we were there. We had dinner with them another night and found we have mutual friends at Holiday Harbor and that they are also from Michigan.
During our first week back in Mexico we walked 40 miles to sightsee, collect boat parts and provision, stayed at a local boutique hotel during the haul out and tried various new restaurants. Some of the unbelievably good food we had was raw tuna tostadas, grilled pulpo (octopus) and shrimp chorreadas, Mahi Mahi ceviche, shrimp aguachile, arrachera, shrimp burgers and huevos ahogados (eggs poached in salsa). One thing is for sure, Mazatlán’s food scene is outstanding. We also walked to the Faro lighthouse, the highest lighthouse in the Americas and one of the highest lighthouses in the world. To get to the lighthouse we walked about one mile up a path and climbed 336 paved steps to over 500 feet in elevation. The lighthouse sits 523 feet above high tide on top of Mazatlán’s highest hill, Cerro Creston.
We are ready to go. We started watching the weather, provisioned, prepared an easy dinner for one night out at sea and got excited to be leaving for Isla Isabel the next morning. We woke up, sorted a few final details on the boat, refueled at the gas dock and as we headed out of the channel..we lost all engine power – forward and reverse. We drifted with the current and used the bow thruster to dodge other boats and docks. Eventually we were able to get enough forward momentum to get back into the main channel and idle our way back to our original slip. After some time assessing and using a Borescope camera in the fuel tank, we discovered that there’s a considerable amount of water in our fuel tank. So we are back at Marina Mazatlán waiting on a mechanic to pump out and polish 85 gallons of diesel. We are hopeful to be delayed only a couple of days.
SV Solitude 