Legacy Sailing
 Photo Gallery 11  
Winter 2003
Northbound - Chacala to Isla Partida
After a very pleasant and relaxing month bouncing between Tenacatita and Barra de Navidad we started heading north towards the northern Sea of Cortez.  We stopped for a few days in Chacala and then headed to Mazatlan in time for Carnival.  Carnival in Mazatlan is reported to be the third largest in the world, with over 300,000 people attending and was great fun.  Crossing back to the Baja we returned to La Paz and after a few days headed north.  Our first stop was the islands of Espiritu Santos and Partida.   Photos further north are in Gallery 12. 

Photos Archived:  The high resolution photos originally linked to the thumbnails on this page have been archived to save space on our webserver.  If you wish to view the full size version of any of these images please email us with a request.
The beach at Chacala is lined with palapas and small businesses. Chacala's status as a sort of upscale resort community shows in the neater than usual houses and yards.
The powerboat Francis Ray lies off the small cove that offers protected landing by the harbormaster. Boats anchored at Chacala tuck in tight behind the point to avoid the northwest swell.
Each morning one or more trawlers would come into Chacala and anchor until departing at dusk. Boats in Marina Mazatlan dock around the outside of the basin, the inside of the basin is Isla Marina.
Dock 4 at Marina Mazatlan was dubbed the dog dock because of the many boats with dogs moored there.  Katty and Lizzie, boykin spaniels off of Otter lounge on the dock. Chris gives Minnow a trim while perched on a convenient dock box in Mazatlan.
Kira, having already completed her trim relaxes while she watches Minnow get "tortured." The old town area of Mazatlan features narrow streets with many shops and restaurants.  Much of the town had been well cleaned for Carnival.
Decorations celebrating Carnival were to be found all over Mazatlan.  In the Cathedral square large statues were located at each corner. The main Cathedral in downtown Mazatlan.
Back in La Paz after two months we found great progress on repairs to Marina de La Paz.  The outer dock is reconnected to land and old piles are gones. Along a street near the Marina is a cathedral under construction.  It looks like a site from the middle ages with laborers workingby hand with mortar high in the structure.
No concrete pumps for these workers.  Workers raise morter four stories one bucket at a time using a pulley! A large metal frame holding the cathedral bells rests on the ground where they are put to use to call the faithful.  Presumably they will eventually be installed up high.
Despite still being under construction, the cathedral is in use for worship. Next door is a school, with this wonderful sculptural fence made of painted rebar.
The entry channel to La Paz is tucked in behind a point marked with the fuel tanks of the power plant. Espiritu Santos and Partida Islands just north of La Paz are mostly volcanic rock filled with bubbles and cavities.
El Cardoncita, a small cove on Isla Partida, has a beach and a small canyon at the narrow head of the cove.  Tha sandy bottom shows through the gin clear water. Up the canyon above El Cardoncita is one of only two wells on these islands.  Heather approaches the wall around the well.
Looking down into the well, water is seen at the bottom of the unmortared rock walls.  The water is reported to be brackish, but as dry as the islands are, surely welcome. Looking back down the canyon from the well one can see just a bit of the beach.
A couple of coves North on Partida is Two-Bight Cove.  This very small cove provided a nice anchorage for Legacy.  Blue footed boobies and their chicks nested in the surrounding cliffs.  
 
Updated 11/14/2006