Crossing to Mazatlan

La Paz is nestled around a corner in a large estuary, so to cross over to Mazatlan or get back to Cabo folks generally go in a couple of hops, to El Muerto or Los Frailes and then on to the next destination.  We chose El Muerto, hoping for better wifi and a slightly shorter trip.
On the way out we were approached and then boarded by the Mexican Navy, who we discovered were checking out all boats in the vicinity (i.e. they did not single out Gringo sailboats).  The captain checked our paperwork and looked around but did nothing like a search, and was very professional.  When Patti wished them Feliz Navidad and I asked if I could take a picture we even got a smile out of them!
In recent years the Mexican Navy has evolved into a very professional force that combines the capabilities and responsibilities of the US Coast Guard and the US Navy (but with more emphasis on the former).  Anyway it was a minor thrill to encounter them and have a human interaction behind the automatic weapons.  All our friends who keep asking if we’ve encountered any pirates, take note: lots more smiling navy personnel than pirates anywhere (though a few cruisers do sport pirate flags ;-)
After that our passage back to Muertos was uneventful, except we used more fuel than expected due to adverse current and discovered that Jan had left his card keys in his pocket when he checked out – and this was after we had already returned to pick up Patti’s cellphone, which she left by the pool.  We met another boat and they agreed to bring our cards back on their way into town, after we described the showers and pool.
Ensenada de Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead) is being re-branded by developers as Bahia… Suenos (Dreams), which is a neat switch – there are some pretty high end structures there, including this amazing amalgam of all the architectural styles that the globe-trotting owners feel a kinship to.  After checking out this and other dwellings on the promontory we headed to the other end of the beach to the condo/resort, where we could all relax, get a good coffee at the deserted restaurant, and marvel at the dreams of the developers.  This may be a very different place in a decade or two, cruisers will avoid it like the Cabo plague.
But in the meantime there was a band to check out – very tight actually, they made for a wonderful evening that we shared with other cruisers and a lot of kite surfers staying nearby in RVs.  Then at 1 AM we had another batch of excitement, but less pleasurable – a large motorboat dragged their anchor in the 15-knot winds and fouled one of the sailboats, managing to both wrap their anchor chain around the keel and scrape the side of the hull.  There were some tense words exchanged but both captains did their best to remain civil and sort things out, and they eventually did.  Both boats were hauled back in La Paz, and the sailboat Odessa fortunately had only minor damage; the motor boat’s anchor had been bent into a strange shape and had to be replaced.  This is a picture of the motor vessel “the morning after”, for visual interest.
After all this the crossing itself was pretty mellow – we sailed and motor-sailed most of the way with the big genoa doing the work to move the boat and keep the rolling down (see waves at sunset). Patti and Valencio whiled away their hours on watch by singing “all the Christmas songs that Patti knew”, which is apparently more than Valencio was hoping for.  The only stress was when a large vessel overtook us (Jan and Tino on watch) and refused to respond to VHF calls.  But we had plenty of warning and their closest approach was over a mile – thank goodness for Radar!!!