We had quite a few wrinkles in our trip south from Mazatlan to San Blas and Mantenchen Bay. The sign above this fish store tells how we felt some of the time (against the wind and tide).

Leaving Isla Isabel astern, we motored most of the 45 miles to Mantenchen Bay.

Motoring is always time for fishing. Took Wade 25 minutes to bring in this 20 pound Jack Crevalle. We set him free to make more little jacks.

Mantenchen Bay is big, and we anchored 1/2 mile away to avoid the jejenes (biting no see-ums).

We stayed here three nigts, and our little friends did a great job of eating all the bugs that floated out this far.

This is what the cockpit looks like when a sailboat runs over an unlit fishing net in the dark, turns around and sails all night back to the same bay, and the crew swims for two hours cutting the prop free.

We would not have been so worried about crossing the bar into San Blas if these buoys had been in place. But we waited for a calm days and slack high tide, so no problemas!

The main town square in the historic town of San Blas. The new church is on the right side, the very old church is on the left.

The old church is not open to the public-the inside is in ruins. But they still use it for meetings and classes.

We crossed the bar into the San Blas estuary and took a slip at a small marina on Palm Sunday. We went for a short walk and happened upon this re-enactment of Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem.

We hiked to the top of the biggest hill and explored the old Spanish fort, built in the 1600s. Fueron muchas moscas alli!

The old fort guarded the town, and this old customs building is where the great Spanish galleons had to pay taxes on the cargo they were carrying from the old world to the new. Can you see the water flowing right in front of the building?

The same building today. The river has been channeled away from town center and is now about 1/2 mile away. The customs building currently serves as a cultural center.

We found a giant tree in the courtyard, and people have built a pretend spanish galleon in the branches. Can you find it?

Thr regional specialty is smoked seafood, of all kinds. Each stand uses a secret combination of wood for their grills, and the fish is smoked veeeerrrry slowly. To order, you walk up to the smoker, point out the pieces you want, and they are plated with sauces and vegetables and brought to your table. Mucha sabrosa!

We took a walk where the seaside walkway, or malecon, used to be, before a hurricane many years ago washed it away. We still found fancy lamps and benches and statues among the rocks and sand.