Our Favorite

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

As we prepare to leave this special place, we remember fondly our favorite anchorage in the Sea of Cortez.  If you ever have the chance to sail these waters, don't miss it.

This is Refugio, the northernmost point we reached during this last summer.  Well worth the visit...

 

{GMST}27|56.8825|N|111|03.3573|W|San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico|San Carlos,Sonora, Mexico{GEND}

 

The reality of owning an old boat!

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

In case you were ever considering buying and living on an old boat, maybe this will help with your decision.

Today was the day of the big haul-out.  Everything went fine - these guys really do seem to know what they are doing.   Instead of a travel-lift like we have seen before, here they use a hydraulic trailer.  The Seca Marina work yard and storage yard are located about a kilometer away from the boat launch, reached via a drive down San Carlos boulevard.  While this seems to be a perfectly practical way of moving boats, it is still somewhat disconcerting to see your boat trucking down the highway at 10 kph or more.

Once we had the boat in the work yard and had a chance to see the bottom, the bad news started.  We knew we were living on borrowed time when we last painted it, back in Nanaimo - lots of new blisters were appearing and we decided to just paint over them at the time, leaving the major work till we were here in Mexico and could take advantage of the supposedly lower labour rates.  But now it was time to bite the bullet and deal with the problem.

Marina hiding in the desert

We have elected to have the bottom completely stripped down to fiberglass, have any needed repairs done, then have a new barrier coat applied before repainting the whole thing.  The expense, while not insignificant, is not really the issue - the problem is the time required to do this job properly.  Once the old layers are stripped off, the boat has to be left out of the water long enough to totally dry out.  At this point, they are unable to tell us how long this could be - anything from a few weeks to 6 months.  We will know more in a couple of weeks when everything is exposed.  Meanwhile we are basically without our home.  Yes, we could live on the boat in the boatyard but that has absolutely no appeal to us.  Spending the winter in Edmonton has almost as little appeal.  If the boat is out of the water for many months, it also means we will miss the majority of the winter cruising season in Mexico, which we had really been looking forward to.  Oh well, we will know more in a couple of weeks - we will defray the hard decisions until then.
 

{GMST}27|56.8825|N|111|03.3573|W|San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico|San Carlos,Sonora, Mexico{GEND}

The lap of luxury

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

I am sitting here on our king-size bed in our air conditioned room, watching the 5th game in the baseball world series, contemplating a beautiful view out the window over the bay of San Carlos.  How is this possible you may ask.

After a week of slaving away, scrubbing the decks and polishing the stainless steel, etc., we have scheduled a haul-out for the boat tomorrow morning. With any luck, over the next couple of weeks, the bottom of the boat will be stripped, epoxied and painted, a brand-new stainless steel rail will replace our aging life lines and the hull will be polished to a high gloss shine (or as close as it is possible to get an old boat like ours).  Meanwhile, in a couple of days we will be making our way north to Edmonton, via a local bus from San Carlos to the city of Guaymas, an 8 hour bus ride to the US border and on to Phoenix in Arizona, overnight somewhere in Phoenix, then on a plane to Edmonton (via Denver this time).  Two days to do what would be a simple 4 hour flight if we were in Mazatlan like last year - isn't life grand?

Thus, we have treated ourselves to a nice hotel room, right here at the marina, for the couple of days between getting the boat out of the water and starting our trek into winter.  We are trying to remember the last time we wore shoes or long pants, let alone a jacket.  I'm sure we will be fine - we are still Canadians at heart.

 

{GMST}27|56.8825|N|111|03.3573|W|San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico|San Carlos,Sonora, Mexico{GEND}

Zig and Zag

San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico

Our wish was to go to San Carlos, but it did not seem possible.  We had  emailed the Marina San Carlos to see if there was room for us - alas there was no room at the Inn.  We thought about just anchoring out in the bay but we wanted to get into the marina so we could leave the boat on its own for a couple of weeks.  We thought about going to the Marina Fonatur in the nearby city of Guaymas but we were not thrilled at the thought of a busy, dirty commercial harbor - the boat is enough of a mess already.  So it was that with tears in our eyes, we set sail back towards Santa Rosalia, about 125 miles south along the Baja peninsula coast - not really sure where we would be going after that.

Really big butterflies in San Carlos

We left around 8AM and motored southward.  After about 5 or 6 hours, as we neared Bahia San Francisquito, I checked our email and found a new message from Marina San Carlos.  A boat had just left unexpectedly and the spot was ours if we wanted it.  I calculated a new course and we immediately turned left to cross the Sea of Cortez.  By 10:30 AM the next morning, we were entering Bahia San Carlos and by 11AM we were securely docked on the end tie of B dock - the space was really a bit too short for us, but we are not complaining.

As for the crossing, there was no wind and no big seas, so it was a total of 27 hours of non-stop motoring, covering a distance of 145 miles.  The night was quite incredible, with a full moon that lit everything up so it was almost daylight.  We saw more whales on this trip than we ever seen before, and were visited by a delightful pod of large dolphins that stayed around to play in our bow wave for about a half hour.

San Carlos.  What a contrast!  Instead of the dry, deserted desert, we find ourselves in lush surroundings in a busy community.  Fancy homes and mega-yachts and lots of people and noise.  In some ways this place is a lot like Cabo San Lucas, with all the charter and dive boats coming and going and the upscale restaurants around the marina.  However it is much smaller and much less expensive.  We have taken our slip at the marina for a month for a total of about $575 - that would buy you about 3 days at Cabo.

Now, we are busy getting a lot of boat chores done.  First job was just washing all the salt off of everything - it has been many months since we have seen fresh water in any abundance.  After that, we will just have to see how ambitious we are.  We hope to get the boat hauled here at some point, to get the bottom looked at - it has suffered greatly since our arrival in the warm waters of Mexico.

{GMST}27|56.8825|N|111|03.3573|W|San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico|San Carlos,Sonora, Mexico{GEND}

Two more days...

Puerto Don Juan, BLA, BC, Mexico

The current strong north winds are scheduled to lighten up by Thursday of this week, so that is our planned departure date. Brisk north winds are not necessarily a bad thing since we are headed mostly south from here, but the accompanying high seas are not very comfortable and I really don't need a sick crew for the estimated 30 hour crossing.

Our anchorage here in Puerto Don Juan, which we had to ourselves a few days ago, has now collected a total of 7 other boats. Almost everyone here is about to make a break for points further south in the next few days, just like us. Hurricane Jova is terrorizing the southern coast of Mexico right now, due to make landfall late today around Manzanillo with winds around 120 knots. We are very glad to still be up here in the BLA area, around 600 miles north of the beast. There don't appear to be any other immediate threats brewing for our area so all is well.

With any luck, our next entry in this blog will come from the San Carlos area on the mainland side of the Sea, possible complete with a few pictures. On a related, and somewhat sad, note, I inadvertently took our small digital camera (one the we acquired when we were in San Diego last year) for a swim up in Refugio last week. It is not a waterproof camera and has suffered the consequences. A new camera has been added to our wish list.

{GMST}28|56.5|N|113|27|W|Puerto Don Juan, BC, Mexico|Puerto Don Juan, BC, Mexico{GEND}

Sleigh Ride to Don Juan

Puerto Don Juan, BLA, BC, Mexico

With a weather prediction of north winds for the next few days, yesterday we took the opportunity to head back south to the Bahia de los Angeles area and the safety of Puerto Don Juan. We did not want to get caught in the exposed anchorage in Puerto Refugio during a northerly blow. Interestingly, the other 6 boats in the anchorage decided not to head south but instead just moved to the slightly better protection of the West bay at Refugio. They probably know something we do not.

The journey south was pretty exciting. We left around 8 AM and for the first 2-1/2 hours we had virtually no wind at all, just some current against us (no more than 1 knot for the most part) and some choppy water, reminiscent of the Strait of Georgia back in British Columbia. We had our mainsail up, but it did little except stop us from wallowing back and forth as we motored along at about 5 knots.

At precisely 10:30 AM, the north wind came up, just as if someone had turned on a switch. It immediately started blowing at around 15 knots. After trying to sail with both the main and genoa for a brief while, we elected to take the main down - the boat just does not like sailing down wind with this configuration - the genoa gets blanketed by the mainsail and the boat keeps trying to round up into the wind - the autopilot had the tiller hard over most of the time just to keep on a broad reach.  So we turned into the wind and wrestled the main down, then resumed our course using the foresail alone. Both boat and crew were much happier.

The tide now started to go out and we sailed down wind in some building swells from the north, with a following wind and a current now in our favour. We sailed the rest of the way to Puerto Don Juan in about 5 hours at a speed that held between 5.5 and 6.5 knots the whole way, gybing only 3 times in total. The seas were up to about 5 feet at very close intervals and looked pretty intimidating, but since they were all going our way, they posed no problem.

The winds built to about 20 to 25 knots by the time we reached Puerto Don Juan and we were very happy to get into the anchorage around 4 PM. After 3 attempts at anchoring (I kept misjudging how close we were to shore and ended up in too shallow water for our comfort), we got our hook down by 5:15 PM. We were in bed and asleep by 7:30. Lack of sleep on the previous 2 rolly nights in Refugio plus the exhilarating sail took their toll.

There were two other boats in the anchorage when we arrived but they both left for the village this morning. So we have the entire place to ourselves. We have had our usual effect on this anchorage and have managed to chase everyone else off (maybe they saw my attempts an anchoring?)

Last night, the winds died and we had a wonderful calm night with no wind or swell. Today, the north winds have been blowing, as predicted, all day. But they never got much over 20 knots and there is very little fetch here so we are very comfortable. The winds are expected to stick around or get stronger for the next few days, so I guess we will just wait them out. Our next passage is likely to be a long one, as San Carlos is some 150 miles away, on the mainland side of the Sea. We would like it to be an easy passage if possible.

{GMST}28|56.5|N|113|27|W|Puerto Don Juan, BC, Mexico|Puerto Don Juan, BC, Mexico{GEND}

Blowin' in the wind

Puerto Refugio, BC, Mexico

We are still here in Puerto Refugio. It seems as though the winds don't want to let us go.

Having made the decision to head south, the SW winds have come up with a vengeance. It has been blowing now for 3 days, with a short period off during mid-day yesterday. Typically we are seeing West or SW winds in the 10 to 20 knot range with occasional gusts of 25 knots. From what we are hearing on the SSB and Ham nets, we are not getting the worst of it, probably because we are located on an island about 10 miles east of the Baja peninsula coast, and we have reasonable protection from the SW in this spot.

 Apparently they are getting winds of up to 40+ knots by the BLA village, south of us, and the same thing up north of us, along the coast as well. The problem is that for us to go south, we really don't want to have a 20 or 30 knot headwind if we can help it. So here we sit, biding our time, waiting for a shift in the winds - maybe tomorrow?

At this time we are now sharing this anchorage with 5 other boats, 3 that just arrived a couple of days ago, and the other 2 that are, like us, awaiting a north wind to start heading back south. Our most likely destination will be back to Puerto Don Juan, about 40 miles south, where we can ride out the remainder of these stiff winds, no matter what direction they are coming from. From what we hear, there are already 6 or 7 boats holed up there right now, having been chased out of other nearby anchorages.

Just to add some drama to the situation, there are a pair of developing cyclones off of the southern coast of mainland Mexico, either of which could head our way. At this point it is too early to get any accurate predictions of their potential tracks - just something to keep an eye on.

With the winds we are also experiencing a definite cooling trend. Our daytime temperature yesterday failed to reach 30 degrees, for the first time in over 2 months. At night, we have had to resort to closing our hatch over the bed and huddling under a sheet and blanket, as the temperature plummeted to as low as 23 degrees. Believe it or not this feels really cold to us now. Yesterday was the first day that we actually put on more clothes than just a bathing suit - it is back to shorts and T-shirts again. Life can be pretty hard sometimes!

{GMST}29|32.33|N|113|33.4|W|Puerto Refugio, BC, Mexico|Puerto Refugio, BC, Mexico{GEND}

Bullet dodged

Puerto Refugio, BC, Mexico

Hurricane Hilary has come and gone, quietly dissipating way west of the Baja peninsula - turned into a non-event for us here in the Sea of Cortez. There is still a possibility of another storm before the season is over but it is looking pretty good right now - no immediate threats forming down south in the tropical kitchen. By mid-October the hurricane season is essentially over.

Meanwhile, we are still sitting in the west bight of the east bay of Puerto Refugio, which is quickly becoming our favorite place in the Sea of Cortez. The scenery is spectacular, although very desolate. At night the skies are so clear you can pick out individual stars in the Milky way, and during the day it is usually calm and clear as well. Outside of one short-lived wind event a couple of nights ago (no more than 20 knots, from the east), the weather has been picture perfect, although we have seen some pretty frightening lightning off to the east (near the mainland coast) on several evenings - never near enough to hear any thunder.

There are only 3 boats left up here now. Most of the fleet had congregated at Puerto Don Juan for an end-of-the-season party on September 29th. I guess there were about 23 boats there. Now, it seems as if a lot of the cruisers are leaving, or preparing to leave, for points further south. The end of September seems to mark the end of the summer cruising season in the northern sea. As for us, we will probably stick around here for a few more days. The tides here are quite large (up to 13 feet during the new moon) and the resulting currents can be a help or a hindrance when trying to go south in these relatively shallow waters. Also, the winds have been very light and unreliable - what we really want is a steady north wind with an ebbing tide to push us along. Of course, if we do get a north wind, it means we are totally unprotected here in this anchorage (open to the north) and that would add some incentive to our decision to head south.

When we leave here, our intention is to make our way across the sea to San Carlos on the mainland coast, where we hope to be able to park the boat in a marina for a while. We need to get a few things done to the boat (our every expanding list of wants), and we are going to try and find a way to get back to Edmonton for a visit.

Life here in Refugio has been a treat. The snorkeling is the best we have seen so far - interesting reefs with lots of fish. We joined the other boats (4 of us at the time) for our own party and pot-luck on the beach on the 29th of September. We feasted on fresh-caught yellow-tail and grouper and some scallops and mussels harvested on the reef next door. Susanne made a key-lime pie for dessert and we all had a great time. Some kind soul had left an old barbecue on the beach which we used to grill the fish - how great is that?

The weather lately is still quite warm. Our nightly lows get down to about 27 or 28 degrees, while the daytime highs are sill in the low to mid 30s. The water temperature is down a bit to around 27 degrees as well, which actually starts to feel a bit cool after you have been in for an hour or so. Summer is definitely waning.

Today's project will be to try and tackle some of the growth on the bottom of the boat again. Just getting the prop clear of barnacles makes a huge difference to our efficiency when motoring. Then we may go for a short hike on the island - it still gets pretty hot walking in the desert for any length of time.

Before I go, I would like to thank everyone who has sent us emails - it is so nice to get word from home to let us know what we are missing - sorry if we are remiss on timely replies. Most everything we have to say is covered in this blog, making it difficult to come up with any other original news that would be worthy of an email. Basically our life is pretty simple right now and we would like to keep it that way - excitement on a boat usually coincides with heart-pounding anxiety, which we can really do without.

{GMST}29|32.33|N|113|33.4|W|Puerto Refugio, BC, Mexico|Puerto Refugio, BC, Mexico{GEND}