The plan was to sail from La Cruz to Isla Isabela, a day and a half sail.

Unfortunately, the conditions sucked. Rolly and nausea-inducing. The highlights — and believe me, there were few — were about a dozen turtle sightings, infinitely more welcoming than whales. The only other bonus? I was so queasy I inevitably lost some much needed poundage. Anyhoo. When we finally got to the island, the holding seemed as sketch as accounts had warned. So .we continued the sea suckage for another excruciating day and a half to Mazatlan, a place we had zero interest in visiting. We’d been there 30 years ago, and it was frankly an armpit. 

What a difference a few decades make.  Mazatlan far exceeded our (admittedly low) expectations.

We’d heard good things about the El Cid marina, and decided to dock there. (As I’ve said before, I’m a marina girl, so I was down for it regardless.) Either way, we were profoundly grateful to arrive and end that hellish passage. We anchored outside the harbor for several hours waiting for high tide, and communicated with the office and harbor master about our intentions. Despite that, it was a bit of a shit show once we finally entered the channel. The harbor master was no longer answering the radio, the office had no idea where our slip was, all the while we’re in the middle of the harbor, sleep deprived, irritable, and trying to keep it together.

We finally docked at a coveted end tie, but annoyed that we’d have to dock, go the office and pay, and then dock again. I’d emailed all our documents ahead of time, so we expected check-in at least to be easy breezy. It was easy, but as they couldn’t access the email account where I’d sent the info earlier, it wasn’t exactly breezy. Everything got done, just not as efficiently as we are (increasingly were) accustomed to. I am slowly learning to chill — not an insignificant lesson — and it turns out that the end tie was indeed our final slip destination. So at the end of the day, everything concluded like most things do in Mexico: late but ultimately handled, with much hand wringing on our side and absolutely zero on theirs.

El Cid Marina is also home to a resort, complete with tasteful pools, restaurants, ping-pong (where I handily defended my championship win streak against T), and a host of daily activities (of which we only did a stretching class, but it was good one). Found a couple of pickleball courts (always yay), had a manicure (6.5/7 out of ten, but 100% better than nothing), saw Thunderbolts (the only movie showing in English, and entertaining), and ate at some good restaurants. Old Mazatlan was especially nice, and we had a delicious Asian dinner just outside the square, with a churro ice cream sandwich that was off the charts good. (You know it’s good when you forget to take a picture because you’re in such a rush to dig in. The image below was downloaded from the web.) The square was super picturesque and bustling with music and activity.

We’d genuinely consider returning to Mazatlan, which I never ever thought I’d say, ever in life. It was seriously that bad back in the day: dusty, dreary, and kinda gross in general. Now it’s bustling with upscale hotels and restaurants, paved roads with bicycle lanes, palm trees, objective attractiveness. The transformation of the city is actually astounding. Who knew?

Mother’s Day is celebrated on Saturday vs Sunday In Mexico, and it’s a big deal. Lots of stores are closed (or close early), no one plays pickleball, restaurants are packed. We were leaving the following morning at the crack, so we spent the day prepping and provisioning, and T made one of my favorite indulgences: chicken wings and french fries. True story. And I enjoyed them. Thoroughly. Couldn’t pop the champagne (alcohol is never a good idea before a passage, especially one expected to be — again! — kinda brutal), so we cranked up the A/C (luxuriously), ate (heartily), watched the latest episode of The Last of Us (open-mouthedly), and got ready for a 7am exit to the Sea of Cortez. Specifically the plan is Playa de la Bonanza, where we’re hoping to find blue, swimmable water, sandy beaches, and maybe, just maybe, a chance to try our recently acquired spear gun.