Mazatlán Surf Open this Weekend

by Maureen Dietrich

19 Mar 15 

mazmessenger.com

 

The Campeonato Mazatlán Surf Open begins this Friday at Playa Bruja where approximately 50 surfers will vie for the 65,000 pesos purse.

National surfers such as Angelo Lozano, Diego Cadena and Dylan Southworth will arrive in port to demonstrate their talent in the event organized by the altruistic Surfers with Cause group headed by Gabriel Ocampo.

The competition begins on Friday at 10am at Playa Bruja in Cerritos and ends on Sunday. Entrance to the beach is free and open to the public.

(from Noroeste)

March In Mazatlan: From Surfing To Championship Golf, The Destination Goes Primetime

prnewswire.com

MAZATLAN, Mexico, March 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazatlan, Mexico's "Colonial City on the Beach," will host a series of events this March to attract international travelers who seek adventure, culture, and paradise. Mazatlan, known as the Pearl of the Pacific, is a year-round beach destination with a Colonial District that has over 400 years of history. This March, the destination has a calendar of events that includes Mazatlan's International Week, Surf Open, and the Mazatlan Open as part of the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica. 

Mazatlan International Week

Mazatlan International Week, which celebrates Mazatlan's international community, is March 16-22, 2015. The week includes activities such as a beachside The Golden Zone Street Party, the GAP Exhibition which is a free event featuring six international artists, including Lorna Crane, (Australia), Joan Stennick (San Francisco), Carl Heyward (San Francisco), Chaewon Laura Oh (South Korea), Vered Gerztenkorn (Israel), Akiko Suziki (Japan). Known for its cultural attractions, Mazatlan is the only coastal vacation location in Mexico to include an opera house. http://gomazatlan.com/en/events/mazatlan-international-week

Mazatlan Surf Open

The inaugural Mazatlan Surf Open is March 20-22, 2015 at Playa Brujas Beach, which is known for its favorable surfing conditions and delicious local fare. The Mazatlan Surf Open is a destination-owned surfing event and will include live music concerts, contests, and a prize pool for contestants.

Mazatlan Open

The Mazatlan Open is yet again a PGA TOUR Latinoamerica tournament stop. The tournament is Wednesday, March 25 – Sunday, March 29, 2015 at the Estrella del Mar Golf and Beach Resort. Its 18-hole championship golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., and is among the best golf courses in Mexico with both exceptional play and scenery. The purse levels are rising to $175,000 per PGA TOUR Latinoamerica.

Surfers to Assist Lifeguard Squad during the Holidays

by Maureen Dietrich

16 Apr 14  

mazmessenger.com

 

Eight of Mazatlán’s young surfers belonging to Grupo Pirri have volunteered to monitor the city’s beaches over the Semana Santa holidays in coordination with the municipal lifeguard squad.

From 9am to 8pm, the surfers will walk the beaches and ride the waves advising swimmers and beachgoers who do not know the safe areas where the best swimming locations are.

Raquel Hernández León, leader of Grupo Pirri, said her group will talk with people who know nothing about the ocean and during the holidays there are many who have never been in the ocean and don´t know that the ocean is to be respected. (from Noroeste)

Mazatlan Weather Report

Samo Samo Is The New Ditto Ditto 

I forgot to mention the winter storm we talked about Monday is named Vulcan (and did you notice we're all the way up V on the alphabetical list to name storms!)  Of course I consulted with Dr. Spock, who's the expert, and he informed me the worst is over for the Midwest.  However during a mild meld as the storm passed over Cleveland, Spock learned that Vulcan intended to hammer New England...big time.

 

As occasionally happens, this Canadian Clipper wreaked more of its' damage on the American side of the border.  Edmonton was all but unaffected.  Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec will get snow Friday and Saturday, but only about 2.5 to maybe 5 cm (an inch or two).  However the temperatures and wind chill won't be too bad, about 2 (mid 30's F.) with moderate winds.   

 

In the meantime 700 flights were canceled in Chicago as The Windy City officially hit the third snowiest winter on record.  Detroit has already hit their all time record for the white stuff.  Then tragedy struck in Ohio, as near white out conditions caused a 50 car pileup and three people lost their lives.

 

Snow totals really picked up as Vulcan moved East / Northeast.  The Killington, Vermont ski resort tweeted they were getting 1" of snow an hour (2.5 cm) yesterday, with 24 inches (61 cm) already and it's still falling today!  Many areas of New Hampshire and up-state New York will see at least two feet of snow, while Bangor, Maine had a dose of sleet.   

       

In the meantime Mazatlan continues to have weather conditions so stable that it's bordering on the ridiculous.  Yesterday was like the day before, and today will be just like tomorrow.  Warm, clear, and beautiful, with the variation in temperature from day to day so minor you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.  Samo Samo has become the new Ditto Ditto.

 

In a shocking turn of events we may actually see a slight change...gasp!  Oh wait, we're talking about some partial overcast for one day on Saturday?  Well, at least that will help you distinguish it from Sunday...LOL  Let me add those larger waves we thought might come in for your viewing pleasure Sunday at Mr. Lionoso's?  Not happening, but a potentially large storm near Antarctica is developing, so the following weekend could see a lot of surfers heading to Playa Bruja. 

 

I'm sorry the weather is so boring, and wish I could offer you something other than Pacific Pearl Paradise.  Somehow we've got to stick together and deal with the trials and tribulations of this numbing sameness...;^)  P.S. Keep the sun tan oil handy, because after Saturday they'll be several straight days of Ditto Ditto crystal blue skies and hardly a cloud in sight.  Drat! 

 

 

Mazatlan Weather Forecast

Our chances for rain are still fluctuating up and down, and right now they're down. Plus the possible arrival time seems to be moving up. At this point I would give lluvia (pronounced U - v - uh, with the accent on the U) no more than a 1 in 4 chance of hitting Maz, and more likely coming in late tonight rather than tomorrow.

Winter rain is rare and very unpredictable. However night rain is a Mazatlan staple, so this makes sense. In many Mexican resort areas your vacation can be ruined by the rain (see Cancun). However in Maz, the lluvia invariably comes at night. Usually very late around 1 or 2 A.M., and lasting to about dawn. Then like magic the sun breaks through, and by 10 A.M. things have dried off to the point you'd scarcely know a drop had fallen.

No matter how the next 36 hours plays out, wet or dry, by Tuesday this mini-front will have moved through. Then it's Fun, Fun, Sun until at least the end of the next week. Speaking of the end of the week, that's also when we should see the temperature moving back to our benchmark 80 degrees (27 C.) or over. In the meantime we have elevated humidity with only a mild breeze, so the air temperature is going to feel very, very pleasant.

The water temperature has gone down slightly again to about 73 or 74 (23.3 - 23.9 C.). However we don't have any prospects for blustery winds to up well the water, and this dropping trend looks to be a temporary phenomena.  The prospects look good for the ocean to stay in the current temperature range. 

Mazatlan- circa 1940

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

By Mario Vittone On June 16, 2010
gcaptain.com



The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed.

“We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten?

Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect.

There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC). Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. Th e respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006)

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experience aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in there own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are n the water:

 

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs – Vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.

So if a crew member falls overboard and every looks O.K. – don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them: “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are. If they return a blank stare – you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

How to Identify, Evade and Escape a Rip Current - And Live to Tell the Tale

By Rick Freeland
ezinearticles.com

As you hit the beach, you notice that, as the power of the surf dissipates, the water is pulled back out to sea by gravity. This is not dangerous in itself - who hasn't stood in the surf, giggling, as the receding waters sucked the sand out from around our feet and tickled our toes.

That gentle surf looks benign, pleasant and cooling in the summer heat. But it's what you can't see that gets you.

Causes of Rip Currents

You don't notice that underwater obstruction - a submerged sandbar - parallel to the beach. Water is piling up on the shore-side of this obstruction. The stored (potential) energy in this water reservoir is tremendous.

And you don't see the breach in the sandbar, or the water being pulled from the reservoir in a concentrated stream flowing seaward at 8 feet per second. In this case, what you don't see can hurt you.

A rip current (it's not a rip tide) has formed here. They can also form off objects perpendicular or angular to the beach, like jetties and piers. This one, however, has manifested itself here, right where you want to swim.

The United States Life-saving Association (USLA) says that 80% of lifeguard rescues at ocean beaches happen when folks are caught in these current surges. They are also responsible for 80% of drowning deaths.

And the seas don't have to be rough. Rip currents can occur in relatively placid water conditions. As surf size increases, however, the effects of rips intensify.

But you came to swim - and you don't know what waits for you, beneath the sparkling waters.

Identifying Rip Current Conditions

The first step towards armoring yourself against rips is to recognize that they may be out there, and are usually hard to notice. But you can learn to spot the danger and avoid it.

First, try to swim where there are certified lifeguards alert and on-duty. That's not always the case, however - at some beaches there are no lifeguards. You swim at your own risk, and your safety is in your hands.

Right now, you're standing with your toes in the sea, yearning to bust the water. But you hesitate, and study the waves.

Is that an area of choppy, churning water? A strange break in on-coming waves? A spot where the water seems

discolored? Does that patch of seaweed and debris seem to be moving seaward?

Could be there's a rip current present, responsible for these phenomena.

Your safety is paramount. If the evidence of your eyes indicate there may be a rip current present, swim somewhere else.

Escaping a Rip Current

But no. You're hot. You want to cool off, dang it! So you run into the surf, and hit the water in a shallow dive.

And before you can think "This was a bad idea!", you're caught in a rip current. Immediately, you're drawn

seaward with what feels like the speed of an express train.
All is not lost, however. If you keep your wits about you, you can get out of the rip current fairly easily.

Rip currents are usually fairly narrow. Swim to one side or the other and you can break free of the surge. Panicking and trying to power straight back to shore is a losing proposition. You'll just wear yourself out and weaken, and will have accomplished nothing - you'll still be caught in the rip current.

If you get too tired to keep swimming, tread water. The rip current usually dissipates just past the breaking wave line. The feeling of being pulled out to sea can be terrifying, but once past that line you should be able to swim free and get back to shore.

This is why you should never swim alone, or at least make sure there are others on the beach. If you're exhausted and think you can't make it back to shore, tread water and raise your arms over your head to signal folks ashore that you're in trouble. When someone's in the water, others who care about that person should act as spotters, and keep an eye out.

Being snared by a rip current need not end in tragedy. A little forethought and preparation can go a long way. Knowing how to identify factors pointing towards the presence of a rip current will keep you safe. Knowing how to escape one if you've misread the indicators will keep you alive.

Jellyfish!!

emedicinehealth.com

Jellyfish Stings Overview

 

Jellyfish are free-swimming, non-aggressive, gelatinous marine animals surrounded by tentacles. These tentacles are covered with sacs (nematocysts) that are filled with poison (venom) that can cause a painful to sometimes life-threatening sting. The marine animals included in the "family" are jellyfish, box jellyfish (sea wasps), Portuguese man-of-war, hydroids, anemones, and fire coral. Jellyfish are found throughout the world. But, the most deadly are found in the Indo-Pacific and Australian waters.

Jellyfish are usually found near the surface of the water during times of diminished light, floating in the water column, or after washing up on the beach. Jellyfish stings are generally accidental - from swimming or wading into a jellyfish or carelessly handling them.

Some types of jellyfish have reproductive jelly gatherings 8 to 10 days after a full moon, thus there is an increase in the number of jellyfish found at that time.

There are over 200 types of jellyfish (that have been documented).

Jellyfish Sting Symptoms

• Symptoms include an intense, stinging pain, itching, rash, and raised welts.
  
  
• The progressive effects of a jellyfish sting may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lymph node swelling, abdominal pain, numbness/tingling, and muscle spasms.
  
  
• Severe reactions can cause difficulty breathing, coma, and death.
  
  
• A sting from a box jellyfish or other venomous types of jellyfish can cause death in minutes.

Jellyfish Stings Treatment

• If you are stung by a box jellyfish, seek medical help immediately. While you are waiting for medical help, flood the area with vinegar until medical help is available and keep as still as possible. If you are not close to medical care, soak the area and tentacles for 10 minutes or more, before attempting to remove them. If the sting is on the arms or legs, you can place a pressure dressing (like an ACE wrap used for a sprained ankle) around the sting. Be careful that you do not stop blood flow - the fingers and toes should always stay pink. This will help to slow down the spread of the toxin.
  
  
• For other jellyfish stings, soak or rinse the area in vinegar (acetic acid) for 15-30 minutes to stop the nematocysts from releasing their toxins. If you do not have vinegar available, rinse in sea water,70% isopropyl alcohol, or Safe Sea Jellyfish After Sting® pain relief gel. Do not use fresh water. Fresh water will cause the nematocysts to continue to release their toxin. For the same reason, do not rub the area, apply ice or hot water.
  
  
• Remove tentacles with a stick or a pair of tweezers. Wear gloves if you have them available.
  
  
• Apply shaving cream or a paste of baking soda to the area. Shave the area with a razor or credit card to remove any adherent nematocysts. Then reapply vinegar or alcohol. The shaving cream or paste prevents nematocysts that have not been activated from releasing their toxin during removal with the razor.
  
  
• Eye stings should be rinsed with a commercial saline solution like Artifical Tears; dab the skin around the eyes with a towel that has been soaked in vinegar. Do not place vinegar directly in the eyes.
  
  
• Mouth stings should be treated with 1/4 strength vinegar. Mix ¼ cup of vinegar with ¾ cup of water. Gargle and spit out the solution. Do not drink or swallow the solution.
  
  
• For pain, take acetaminophen (Tylenol) 325 mg 1-2 tablets every 4-6 hours for pain; or Ibuprofen (Motrin) or Aleve every 8 hours for pain.
  
  
• CPR may be necessary for all stings if the person stops breathing and/or no longer has a pulse.

Prevention

• Wear protective clothing (gloves, wet suits, dive skins) when swimming in jellyfish-infested areas. Avoid picking up dead jellyfish. Dead jellyfish may still have live nematocysts that can still release toxins (even after they have dried up).
  
  
• Avoid going into known jellyfish-infested areas. If you do, know what type of jellyfish are common to the area.
  
  
• Be prepared to treat a jellyfish sting. Have a basic first aid kit (make sure it has an oral antihistamine in the kit) prepared and bring it with you.
  
  
• Take a course in basic first aid before heading to the beach, snorkeling, swimming, or scuba diving.
  
  
• In the evening or at night when swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving, take care to look for jellyfish on the surface of the water.
  
  
• Expel air from the alternate air source while ascending during scuba diving to disperse any jellyfish directly above you.
  
  
• Educate yourself as to the type of jellyfish that may be in the waters in which you are swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving.
  
  
• Bring Safe Sea Jellyfish After Sting® pain relief gel in case you do get stung.
  
  
• Do not swim in waters where large numbers of jellyfish have been reported. Wearing a wet suit or Lycra dive skin can prevent stings.
  
  
• If you have a known insect sting allergy carry an allergy kit, which contains injectable epi-pens (epinephrine, adrenaline). Make sure those with you know how to administer the epi-pen in case you are unable to do so.
  
  
• Do not touch any marine life while swimming, snorkeling, or scuba diving. Most marine animals have a protective coating that when touched, is rubbed off when and exposes the animal to bacteria and parasites; moreover, touching, "playing," or moving marine animals is stressful for them. Corals are easily damaged when touched and the area if the coral touched by hands, fins, or the body will die. To protect the ocean environment, when swimming, snorkeling, or scubadiving look, don't touch, and leave only bubbles.

Regresa al puerto de Mazatlán el Clásico de Surf

Autor : Jesús Ernesto Vazquez Santana

Mazatlán, Sinaloa .- Regresa al puerto de Mazatlán el Clásico de Surf ahora con el nombre de Reef Classic Tour Mazatlán 2013.

El torneo de Surf de talla internacional se estará llevando a cabo del 5 al 9 de Junio en la Playa del Camarón, con una participación aproximada de 80 surfitas, con los mejores exponentes de la Olas en Latinoamerica.

La premiación será un factor bastante importante en el evento ya que habrá una bolsa de 25 mil dolares.

Dentro de las actividades que estarán desarrollando son una feria gastronómica, exhibiciones de Surf, concursos de belleza y una serie de conciertos de talla internacional entre los que destaca esta el grupo The Wailers la banda original de Bob Marley quienes estuvieron en la clausura de los Juegos Panamaericanos en Guadalajara.

Este tipo de eventos servirán bastante para el factor turístico en el puerto ya que el mes de Junio es uno de los meses con mas baja afluencia de visitantes. 

Fecha : 23-04-2013
Hora : 12:25 Hrs.