Mazatlan for Christmas

Merry Christmas from Gosling


Christmas tree


Christmas Eve Dinner


Tanque de Tiburon entering under tow


Rosie and her pal Amber


Ernie and his pals at the pool.


Pork anyone?

14:00 Christmas Day 2010
It is hard to believe we have been here for 4 days already. Time flies when you are alongside, especially in a resort atmosphere like this one. We are an hour away from our Christmas dock party. Fran has a Pollo Navidad (Christmas chicken, marinated in fruit juices) in the oven. Somewhere in the marina there is another pollo and a turkey, which has been cut in two so that it will fit in 2 boat ovens. This will be a pot luck event so you never know what will be contributed. They are so much fun. I will be preparing a vat of Moosemilk, a Canadian Navy tradition that is also very popular in the other two services of Canada. Hopefully no-one will fall off the dock after imbibing....
The saga of Tanque de Tiburon continued this week. After leaving Topolobampo their engine quit after 12 hours so they had to sail the rest of the way. They had good wind conditions, for the most part, and sailed down using their genoa only, arriving off Mazatlan yesterday afternoon. Conditions were too choppy and windy to attempt a tow into the narrow harbour opening so they anchored out in the lee of Deer Island for the night. We tried in vain to get them going under their own power but the engine refused all attempts at resuscitation. This morning we went out at 7 a.m. to tow them in with our dinghies tying them up alongside to give them steerage way. Conditions were almost ideal with light winds but with a 2-3 foot residual sea from yesterday’s blow. By 08:00 they were tied up alongside at Marina Mazatlan and ready for a hot shower and a good nap before coming to the dinner.
It is really nice to see the boats all decked out in their finest Christmas decorations. Some are more permanent dwellers here so they are decked out to the 9’s with lights everywhere. We cruisers have to find places to store these things and, with most boats, storage space is at a premium and we are one the minimalists among the group. We have several strings of solar powered lights and a few strings of 110v that we can use when connected to shore power. Our Christmas tree (a palm tree shaped fir tree) folds up into a small box and Fran has made some sea shell decorations.
Last night we had Christmas Eve dinner onboard with Pam and Steve. (Full Quiver) Fran made her usual Christmas Eve fare, tourtiere, a dish she learned from my mom but has improved on. In past years the ingredients have depended on where we are. When we visited Australia she made it with kangaroo meat. Here it was the more traditional pork.
Some of our friends will be leaving this week and heading south towards the warmer waters of Banderas Bay and the Gold Coast (Tenecatita-Manzanillo) area. That’s where we will be heading once we leave here with a stop in San Blas to deliver some things for Kirk (Freedom Kirkland). Tanque also has a few items for him and Kirk will be bringing down some hinges for me to finally re-assemble the table.
0800, Tuesday, 28 Dec 2010
The Christmas party was a blast. The moosemilk and Fran’s Naniamo Bars were very well received and will most likely become a tradition with Gosling from now on. As expected the variety of food was amazing and the Mexican Pollos were the juiciest we have ever had. Everyone had a great time and no-one went for a swim off the dock, however, many of us retired to the resort hot-tub afterwards and all made it back to their boats.
The ranks are beginning to thin out. Four of our companion boats have left and more will depart before the week is out. The others will stay until after the New Year, like us. We will be having a cabinet made for the master cabin while we are here. This is a project J-G has wanted to do for the past 2 years but with all of his good tools at home in the workshop and the need for precise measurements and compound curve drawings it has always been one of those “round to it” items. There is a good carpenter working a few of the boats in the marina and we hope to get it done before we leave.
Next issue, in a week or so. Everyone have a great New Years and a great start to 2011.