A Mantenchen Story: A Trilogy--in Three Parts

Sherry
Mar 25, 2022
7 min read

Paradise…almost

We left Mazatlán mid-morning with the expectation of about a 24-hour journey south to Mantenchen under light winds and calm seas. And that is exactly what we got (it is nice when things work out as expected). In fact, the winds were so light for much of the trip that we had to motor-sail, (that is when we have our sails up but also run the engine to move fast enough so that a 24-hour sail doesn’t turn into a 48-hour sail).

Just outside of Mazatlán we saw this container ship just hanging out in the shallows—probably about 60 to 100 feet deep. They are so huge when you get up close to them! It makes you feel very small knowing that each of the containers on board are about the length of our sailboat.

Midway to our destination we experienced another beautiful sunset over the ocean

The next morning greeted us with a wonderful surprise…whales! It doesn’t matter how many times we see them; it is always a joyous event.

For most of our trip south we followed behind a couple on Rogue that we met briefly in Mazatlán and have since became friends. I thought their boat made a nice picture in the morning light.

Here is a Mexican Naval ship anchored just outside of San Blas, which is just north of our destination.

Dolphins greeted us as we approach the bay at Mantenchen.

Mazatlán is our first milestone we look forward to when sailing south because we are leaving the Sea of Cortez and entering the waters of the Pacific Ocean where the water the sea swell comes more consistently from only one direction, the water is warmer, and the air temperature is warmer. Mantenchen is the next milestone because the water is even warmer than Mazatlán by nearly 10° and is clean enough for swimming. The air temperature is also warmer, and the land starts to green up to a more jungle-like appearance.

I know I said the water is clean enough for swimming, but it is always important to take a look around before taking a dip. This beauty was hanging out beside our boat one morning!

Mantenchen is one of our favorite anchorages. It has grown considerably in the past 20 years since we first anchored here. The beach is now lined with palapa restaurants and vendors selling snacks and crafts and such to hundreds of Mexican tourists visiting the beach for weekends and vacations, (on our first visit there were only 2 palapa restaurants, no vendors, and hardly any tourists). It is a paradise…almost. I say almost for a couple of reasons. The first and biggest reason is the no-see-ums, or the locals call them, jejenas or mosquites. They are nasty little buggers that will eat you alive before you know it—even if you know to expect them. We got our fair share of itchy little bites before we got into the routine of applying plenty of deet and burning incense…repeat, repeat, repeat. The second and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) less concerning reason is the cocodrillos, or as we say stateside, crocodiles. For some reason that I’m not aware of this area has become a crocodile sanctuary of sorts where they breed and release crocodiles out into the wild, (more of that in the second story of this trilogy). Fortunately, they are fresh water crocs leaving me feeling confidently safe swimming around in the salty bay. However, when walking around we are always cautious and keep a close eye on Lily around rivers, creeks, and muddy spots along the road where you are almost certain to see a crocodile of one size or another. In spite of these less than ideal circumstances, Mantenchen remains one of our favorite spots.

Look at these big guys at a viewing spot alongside the road!

Look, a roseate spoonbill! They get their beautiful pink color from the foods they eat. (Probably shrimp and not those delicious pink Hostess snowballs.

Enjoying a row to the point on the north side of the bay. You really should zoom in and check out that cool place someone has built on the rocks. Hurricanes aside, it looks like the perfect place to live.

Enjoying a cocktail at The San Blas Social Club.

On the south side of the bay we saw a pier through the binoculars and decided to row to shore and walk the beach all the way to that pier to check it out. It was a long fun day for all of us. Lily ran and played like she was a puppy again. We saw lots of cool stuff on the beach, including a small but aggressive moray eel that washed up on the beach that Jim kept trying to throw back into the water out of the surf without it latching onto him.

Turns out the pier was a really nice tourist pier without any tourists.

Welcome to the Jungle

There is a jungle tour that takes people on the river in a panga to the crocodile farm and back. We heard it was fantastic, but since we have Lily we didn’t plan on leaving her on the boat alone to check it out. Our new friends on Rogue (Frank and Patsy), were planning to go with another couple we met here in Mantenchen on Catspaw (Rick and Cynthia). We declined. But they all showed up the next morning to “twist our arm”. Since Rick and Cynthia had already gone on the tour, they knew how long it would take. With this added information we were able to accept and were so very glad we did. We had so much fun with our new friends!

At the crocodile farm? zoo? (not exactly sure what they called it), we got a closer look at some crocs. Watch out Captain Hook...tick tock, tick tock!

Then we sped off to a swimming hole where we all had a drink...

and took a dip.

Don’t worry, I’m sure this fence across the mouth of the swimming hole kept out all…well, most of the crocodiles!

Some nearby some coatis cautiously take a piece of fruit out of someone's hand.

Like us, our friends on Rogue are still traveling south. However, our friends on Catspaw are headed north, so as we leave Mantenchen to go to Chacala we say farewell to them for this season.

Sea Dog Blog

Hello everyone. This is Lily. I have finally gotten a chance to tell my story. I haven’t been at the computer for quite some time, which mostly I don’t mind, but sometimes I just need to tell a story myself. And if you are patient (long-suffering), enough to have read along this far, certainly you won’t mind hanging in there a bit longer because I’ve got a good one.

First I must say that I love my pack. There is no place I’d rather be than with them on whatever crazy adventure they may be planning whether it is a trip to the store or sail across the sea. They think I have separation anxiety, but the real story is that in life there are dangers that approach from all around and my pack is so ill-equipped to deal with them that I’m afraid of what may happen if I’m not right there to protect them. After all, it’s my job as the pack leader, (Papa likes to think he is the pack leader, it’s an illusion I allow him to foster).

So here I am on a boat in Mexico just trying to keep everyone safe. But they sure don’t make it easy for me! Whether we are on the move or at anchor I have to be alert and notify them of anything floating or swimming by (you never know when that leaf or fish might try to board our boat). I like to get way out there to see and smell as far away as possible, which isn’t easy around all this netting they attached along our borders. I’m constantly trying to wriggle under and around things. But, I like to think I’m doing a good job in spite of all the obstacles surrounding me.

I would really prefer to be on shore where the ground is as solid as my confidence in my ability to conquer all threats, but I do enjoy being out on the water as well (it certainly beats letting my pack float around out there without me, (so helplessly ignorant and unaware of all the dangers that surround them). I’m a good swimmer, but I prefer not to if at all possible.

I have finally convinced my Papa that all those fish swimming around the boat are a threat and need to be dealt with. He mostly gets small ones, which is probably for the best since he doesn’t have the proper jaw strength and sharp teeth to dispatch those sea-going spasmotic specimens properly. Lots of them get away from him (sometimes it looks like he’s throwing them back intentionally), but he’s still learning so I pretend not to be disappointed and continue to encourage him. Sometimes we talk mom into cooking them up for us (I don’t care to eat them raw—no sushi for poochie please). They are so delicious.

One day I spent the entire day with my pack walking and running and playing on the beach. It was the best fun! But I was ever vigilent of potential dangers—I don’t know what it is with my mom always trying to get close to birds! She apparently doesn’t know just how helpless she would be against these ferocious feathered flyers, so I am constantly rushing ahead to dispatch them.

I spent a lot of time hunting in the surf this day.

My pack was oblivious that even in the surf danger is lurking behind each wave…so I had to show them. I plunged my head into the water and pulled out one of these sinister surf swimming species and ran to the beach to neutralize the danger. I’ll admit that I was pretty proud of myself. I wanted to bring it along with us as a reminder to my humans to be cautious in the surf. I was hoping my mom might even cook it up for dinner back at the boat. But they wouldn’t let me bring it along (I guess they were too afraid of it).