February and March, 2015: the days were just PACKED. Our good friends G&J treated us like royalty. They had lived aboard in Mazatlan for over 10 years and had spent many of those years writing and distributing "Cap'n George's Cruiser's Guide to Mazatlan." They knew all the best places and very generously drove us around to check them all out. We dined well in a wide variety of restaurants...went to movies with other of G&J's large group of friends...ran errands together...made dinners for one another, and generally had a terrific time together after having been apart for five years.
Maz had grown and changed in our absence. The new highway that had been built between Maz and Durango had made it easy for many more nationals to spend their vacations - and their pesos - in Maz; as a result, businesses and services of all kinds had sprouted up around the marina area. Within a 15-minute walk of our boat, we found a new shopping mall with a movie theater, a nearby WalMart, a community college, and a multistory medical clinic. An outstanding seafood restaurant, Dock 7, was next door to the marina office, and further around the marina promenade were 4 other restaurants. As we explored the rest of the city, we saw similar changes everywhere. Maz now had a population of over 500,000. Its economy was booming.
The February weather in Maz was warm and humid during the day but pleasantly cool overnight. We had intentionally asked Marina Mazatlan to be berthed on Dock 8, Slip 13, because we'd planned to have some extensive work done on The Fox and wanted it to be convenient for all the various workers we expected. The advantages of Dock 8, Slip 13, included a short easy walk through the dock gate to the marina office and onshore showers. Crawl off the boat, and five minutes later you could be sitting in whichever one of four restaurants that suited your fancy: pizza? Check. Seafood? Check. Sandwich? Lasagna? Check and check. Stagger in the opposite direction, and you are immediately at the marina residents' parking lot. Waddle a short distance to the road, and hop on the bus or into the taxi of your choice. It is hyper-convenient.
The downside to Dock 8, Slip 13: the pizza joint was directly opposite the stern of our boat, about 30 feet away as the crow flies. It closed at 1:00 AM and the employees didn't finish cleaning up until 2:00 AM. The music was loud enough to loosen my fillings. A new nightclub opened up further along the promenade; its music could be heard as far away as Marina El Cid a mile back down the estuary. I'm no longer certain when the nightclub closed its doors, but I often saw the last of their employees heading home at 6:30 AM when I was walking towards the marina's showers. So, if you plan to visit Marina Mazatlan, just remember that Mexico is a very loud country. Bring earplugs.
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