Having completed the major jobs and tasks for this port, we spent the day relaxing in the pool with the boys, testing their swimming, which Sean has come on a long way and is well ahead of his age, and Alex’s confidence is growing. It was nice to just have family time with no pressure to get things done. We also made a decision to wait and leave Tuesday morning, as the two parts (secondary Fuel filters) we had ordered have just cleared customers so will be in on Monday (they were expected last week, but got stuck in customs) reminds me of Africa.  So instead of leaving with out them, we are just waiting, the new attitude why rush, no schedule. We then in the afternoon went exploring, first stop was Home Depot in Mazatlan, when we found it, it is similar to US, but a focus on lighting. We were able to get some of the items we wanted, eg some extra garden /solar lights for making sure Pangas can see the boat, and Tracy has bought more cheap carpets to put in the cockpit and down stairs these come critical with the sand coming in it saves the vanished floors.

Then we went back into the old town by a different route so we could see some of the coast line and we wanted to see if this other plaza was any good( was shut down), so we went around the streets of the old town, and ended back at our favorite square Plazuela Machado, we listened to some central American Indians music and visited the markets, before sitting down on the square outside for dinner. Sean then went off and did his crafts with some the Mexican kids. Latter Sean and Alex joined a set of local kids dancing to the music (see photo) in the middle Plaza stand, Sean is building confidence with the Spanish and around the local kids which is good. Again the old town just oozed character, and culture, with music coming out of all side streets, and different focus at different bars, stores and markets. The people all have a purpose and all have a smile on their faces, making it very enjoyable, there is no doubt that my memory of Mazatlan will be Old Town and this square, recommend it to anyone who comes to town.

I had a number of people ask that we seem to moving quite fast and why?? There are two types of cruisers in Mexico, those who staying in Mexico and not going further eg they will do the mainland in the first half of the season and then the Sea of Cortez in the second half and then summer over in San Carlos etc, or head back north. Then there are the other band who are passing through on a destination to the Caribbean, or South Pacific, and this group (which we fall into) have a schedule drive by the seasons of when you can do the crossing, of the Puddle (Pacific early April) or the Gulf of T (southern Mexico has the crossed Late April early May), so we all have to keep moving, not at rush but at a steady rate. Tracy and I want to leave a good amount of time for south of PV the next 150 miles, after that we can just skip along. Tracy and I using a mixture of local people, lonely planet (which we used 20 years ago when we back packed but have now found you can download portions at good discounts, and this provides a good back ground and culture on a place and where to eat, and do things) and then the cruising guides which really restrict themselves to the ports and anchorages.