MAZATLAN AND THE JUNGLE COAST
The vivid blues and greens of the lovely Chacala anchorage, just one part of the Jungle Coast.
is the base from which Father Junipero Serra went north to found 17 missions in California. The main fort was built on a fortuitously located hill high above the town, and a secondary one was built on the smaller hill next to the harbor. There are some moderately interesting ruins, but there's a embarrassing lack of even basic historical information. After San Blas was hit by powerful hurricane Kenna in 2002, the harbor entrance seems to have been widened, deepened, and better marked. We saw lots of big shrimpers way up the chan-
nel in the harbor, and a private motoryacht anchored just outside the channel. San Blas has a simple plaza with an ancient church in the middle of town, and at night the plaza is the scene of amusing mating rituals of the young. The town hasn't changed much since we last visited, and seems as if it might even be poorer. Maybe it's the pot. The hills above San Blas used to be home to big pot plantations, but with tighter controls at the U.S. border, the Mexican mafia now grows most of its dope in California's state and national parks. This means there's less weed — and money — floating around San Blas. Most cruising boats pass right by the San Blas Estuary — which can get very buggy in the morning and just before sundown — for Matanchen Bay, one of the better known surf spots in the world. The best waves come from hurricanes in the summer, but Stoner's Point works a little in the winter, especially for geezer surfers who are just looking to have a little fun in the water. When we were
there, the biggest waves wouldn't have been double overhead for a gecko. Acknowledged to have one of the largest and most vicious mosquito and no-see-um populations in the world, the beach at San Blas wasn't bad the afternoon we went ashore. Somebody suggested it was because there had been strong winds during the day, but make no mistake, it can be absolute hell. But you can always anchor far enough offshore to escape the bugs. The palapa restaurants on the beach at San Blas are geared toward Mexicans families and backpackers, so it's a waste of time trying to order anything as fancy as a margarita. Matanchen Bay is located in a beautiful setting, with a beautiful backdrop of towering mountains covered in jungle vegetation. It's like Hanelei Bay on steroids, but with sunshine instead of rain.
O
ne afternoon we set the screecher and sailed down to Chacala, arriving as the sun set. It was one of those sails that started with a good breeze that soon be-
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