Cruiser get-togethers 3.12.08

We've had a good time lately just playing around town and meeting other cruisers who make their way to Mazatlan. Every Friday evening there is a 'dinghy raft-up' where you meet at a specific spot (usually the end of a certain dock) in your dinghy, then everyone putts around the harbor to another meeting spot, where all of the dinghies lash themselves together - sometime in a graceful circle, other times in a big cluster. Once everyone is secured, the goodies come out and everyone passes around a dish they've brought to share. The dishes range from simple crackers & cheese to bbq'd chicken wings, to olives, to cookies - whatever you wish to bring. The dishes are passed round and round until they're all empty. Of course during this time everyone is chatting with everyone else - and then the 'leader' asks everyone to introduce themselves & tell everyone a little bit about themselves. It's a fun way to meet other cruisers in the harbor and eat some fantastic food as well! We participated in last Friday's raft-up with about 10 other boats and had a wonderful time.



Another tradition here is called 'Pizza Tuesday'. Dock 3 in Marina Mazatlan has a pizza dock party every Tuesday night. You let the main guy - Pat on Perpetua - know you want to participate and he takes a count of everyone who will attend. Then at 4pm, his wife, Susan, orders pizza from Dominoes, who deliver it directly to the dock. Perpetua has a website - www.geocities.com/svperpetua Check it out! We have friends on Dock 3 and asked to join in this Tuesday. It was a ton of fun! There were so many people we met that we had seen in the area, but had never talked to. One boat in particular is owned by a guy named Mike who is from Australia. He recently purchased the boat and is preparing it to be sailed down to Australia. He hired 4 crew which is an interesting group - one from Canada, one from Sweden, one from England, & one from Germany. They were a fascinating group, no one knowing each other, but will be on a 39' boat sailing over to Australia soon!

We've spotted another boat from Channel Islands, Blythe Spirit, with Ian & Katie on board and have been chatting with them. Ian is a wonderful photographer and also has a website - www.ianhlnd.smugmug.com check it out as well! Tonight we're heading to the famous Thai restaurant with Anne & Jeff and Danni & Chris. We have been taking it easy, doing lots of boat projects, beginning to get the boat put away for hurricane season. We had plans to go to La Paz over Semana Santa (two weeks called the Holy week that is celebrated in Mexico), but neglected to realize that it was a holiday for everyone and can't find a hotel to stay in while we're there!! So we will probably postpone for a week or so. We'll see...our plans are still fluid.

I hope this finds everyone well!
More to follow...
Rene