The Dredge
This is the entrance to Marina El Cid, and to other Marina's as well. Due to storms with big rolling seas that bring with them large amounts of sand, the entrance can become too shallow. When this happens boats, especially sailboats with deep keels, can touch bottom or even worse, get stuck. For this reason Marina El Cid dredges the entrance of the harbour on a fairly regular basis. When the dredge is in operation boats are unable to enter or leave the harbour. It's really quite interesting to watch it in operation.
Christmas Karaoke
On December 23rd a large group of us went to karaoke at the Chill and Grill Restaurant to sing Christmas carols. We enjoyed singing carols and had lots of laughs together too.
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| Dinghy ride to the Chill & Grill Restaurant |
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| Karaoke with friends |
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| Douglas on Kim's lap taking it all in |
Sail to Stone Island
On December 24th we took our friends, Luc and Tina, and their relatives, Alin, Greg, Alex and Annie, for a sail over to Stone Island. Technically it is not an island, it is a peninsula located just off the south end of the coast of Old Mazatlan that can be reached by land from the east. Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra) is most often accessed by a short panga ride across the channel though, and definitely has a tropical island feel! It is about a 10 km sailboat ride from El Cid Marina.
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| Captain Kim and First Mate Douglas |
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| Tina enjoying the sunshine and the sailing |
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| Alex and Annie soaking up the sunshine |
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| Greg taking in the sights |
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| Annie watching for marine life |
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| Almost at Stone Island |
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| Douglas enjoying LOTS of attention |
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| Greg relaxing in the dinghy after a swim |
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| Stone Island in the background |
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| Tina and Luc at Lety's Restaurant on Stone Island |
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| Alin and Annie enjoying drinks on Stone Island |
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| Annie and Alex listening to a local musician |
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| Lunch arrived - many ordered the bbq'd whole fish which is a Lety's specialty |
Christmas Eve
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| At La Marina Restaurant for Turkey with all the trimmings |
On Christmas Eve Kim and I, along with twenty-one friends, got together at La Marina Restaurant for good food and great conversation. I was feeling pretty homesick so being with friends helped.
New Year's Eve celebration
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| New Year's Eve with friends |
Kim, Douglas and I spent New Year's Eve at Luc and Tina's rental condo which overlooks the beach. We enjoyed potluck snacks along with 10 other friends. It was really lovely as they have a wrap around deck which allowed us to see fireworks at midnight in all directions (from land and sea). Fireworks here are almost a nightly experience but they were pretty spectacular on New Year's Eve. Unfortunately Douglas, and Luc and Tina's two dogs, Casey and TK, didn't enjoy them at all and needed lots of love and support to get through them.
Crocodiles in Mazatlan?
Last week Luc and Tina saw what they thought was a large tree trunk floating in the ocean, right in front of their condo. All of a sudden they saw emergency vehicles and personnel arriving, and the beach and surf were quickly cleared of people. By the title I'm sure you guessed it! It was about a 12 foot crocodile! After hearing the story I did some research to see if there was a news story printed about it but found nothing. I did find out that crocodiles are most definitely known to be in the Mazatlan area. A week later another crocodile was spotted in virtually the same area. Hopefully we will not see one so will never be able to include a photo in our blog.
Iguana's, Pelicans and Blue Herons at El Cid Marina Resort
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| Iguana taking in the sights |
There are lots of Iguana's, Pelicans, Blue Herons and other interesting species around the resort. They are fed by staff and tourists so hang out where the food is, which is mostly by the pool and the fishing dock. Sport Fishermen clean their fish at the cleaning station and feed the Pelicans and Catfish the parts of the fish that are not edible. When the Catfish eat it's like watching piranha - pretty interesting. I'm just glad I'm not in the water when they're being fed!
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| Iguana by the pool |
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| Iguana's hang out in the strangest places |
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| Iguanas like to lay on the rocks to stay warm |
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| We lifted a lounge chair for this photo |
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| Pelican waiting to be fed by returning Fishermen |
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| Blue Heron at the end of the dock |
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| I took this photo of a Blue Heron out of the window of our boat |
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| Blue Herons are big but Douglas still likes to chase them off the dock |
Day trip to Al Faro Lighthouse and Stone Island
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| At the start of the climb |
On January 14th Kim, Douglas and I decided to get a bus to Al Faro Lighthouse so we could climb it, then take a panga boat ride over to Stone Island to play on the beach and have lunch at Lety's Restaurant. It was the first time Kim had been to the Lighthouse and Stone Island by bus and panga, rather than sailing our boat over there. We had a very nice time.
