Puerto Vallarta to San Carlos

San Carlos Marina, isn't this beautiful?!!! (found this photo online)

Amazing how time goes when you don't pay attention LOL. Anyway, we have been so busy here I totally forgot I have a Blog to update, not until I received some reminder emails, thanks. Btw, I received a friendly reminder from Google that as of Julie 21 when I update my blog you will no longer be notified and also that anything Google not being used in 6 months will be deleted. Unfortunately that means most of my blogs will be gone and this one will probably be the only one to survive, a shame. I am looking into starting my own domain and a website, if I ever figure out how to do it and who to use. My ultimate goal is to get away from Google completely. Amazing the drastic changes in all their products. Anyway, hope this finds you all well. Hugs and kisses

Tranquil sunrise with morning star

When we started cruising there were no cell phones yet, forget about WiFi connection, our way to get weather was via our SSB radio, on a few nets some people would give weather and later on when I passed my General Ham license we were able to download weather faxes up to 72 hours. It’s  soooo much easier now, Windy is the best app we found to predict the weather 10 days in advance with cool graphics. Windy got us safely through treacherous and dangerous Tehuantepec and Papagayo winds in Costa Rica and now from PV all the way up into the Sea of Cortez. We did anchor again in Chacala, Windance comes to mind, we went for a hike here in 99 to see the crater and to go to the hidden beach. Never found the crater as we got lost at least 4 times but we did find the hidden beach, but by now we were so tired from hiking and looking up the steep hill we had to hike back, we asked the only car, a truck owner if we could hitch a ride in the back, and we did LOL. Lots has changed since then, the few small palapa restaurants on the beach are now so much bigger plus so many more. Also the houses have quadrupled at least, and the project we hiked along for future homes is covered with beautiful homes.

Beautiful Sunset

We didn’t go ashore as the weather window was short lived and instead we left the next morning. Another day hope to San Blas or Matanchen Bay, which is 6 miles around the corner from San Blas MX. We were debating to spend another day but decided better to head on and use the advantage of the good weather. Actually we had no cell signal so we took the dink closer to the beach and I found an open hotel wifi and when we saw the weather prediction we realized it was best to head on otherwise we would be stuck here for days. So we only spent one night here, besides the anchorage was a bit rolly and would be more with the coming wind, time to go. 

There was a 10 knot breeze forecasted on the beam, no chart showed the wind we got in reality. Sounded good but just around the corner from San Blas approaching the next bay of about 10 miles the wind sure enough started blowing at 10 knots offshore wind, nice 6 knot calm sail as it should always be. But then within just a minute the wind started accelerating to 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 to what we guessed 55+ knots. It was shear hell, we got pushed over so hard the boom was almost touching the water and the oceans water threatened to come aboard. We had big waves coming from shore splashing into the cockpit, soaking everything including us, never had this much water over us and into the cockpit. I had a heck of a time to control the steering of the boat and there was no way Sid could get on deck to reef the sail. What seems an eternity, but took a good hour of this. I screamed several times, not out of fear but out of shear frustration as it was uncontrollable to steer the boat. Sid was constantly adjusting the sail so that it was not too much stress on the rig. The main was all the way out but still too much pressure and barely uncontrollable. After what seemed an eternity I finally noticed the main luff enough that we were not that much healed over and we both agreed now was the time to get the main completely down. As Sid told me a long time ago when he is on deck at rough passages especially at night, he told me not to look at him at all just keep steering. Good advice that’s what I keep doing. He got the main down, the jib we had taken in to a small handkerchief already and what a great relief, the sailing got more controlled but we still had nasty waves on the beam. Then ½ hour later as fast as this wind came up as fast it did disappear. Windy never showed anything of this so we figured it is one of those local venturi effects like the Papagayos and Tehuantepecker.

Having everything soaked we decided it was best to lick our wounds in Mazatlan Marina and get all washed up and dried out.

It’s was in 1999 when we were in Mazatlan the last time, then the marina was still new and had just a small office and bathroom and showers for cruisers. There is a manmade island across that had a light house that was it. The rest was all dusty desert. Approaching Mazatlan we could see the huge change as now high-rise buildings tower the shores. And the desert at the Mazatlan Marina has been built over with condo buildings, the island filled with villas, we did not recognize anything. Nearby is a big mall and of course Walmart and Sam’s.

approaching Mazatlan

We met several boaters that we had met in 98/99 in Tenecatita, they are now living in the marina during winter time the rest in the US.

Every 4pm Safety Meeting on the dock

We found our favorite restaurant again with the wonderful seafood platter, although I remember in 99 it was better, still it was yummy

The view sure is nice from the Panchos

Love the Mexican tile mosaics

Ever noticed how Margaritas taste better in Mexico!

complimentary after dinner drink

around the corner from the marina we found a treat "Buffalo Wings"

an even better treat a pedicure and a glass of wine

 Had a fun dinner on Paradise with Ophelia and John of  Silver See and Santana Music. What an         incredible musician John is

We got stuck for 10 days in Mazatlan until we had a good weather window to head on. Unfortunately from PV to Mazatlan there are about 4 possible anchorages, and only 3 between Mazatlan and San Carlos on a 450 miles stretch, of which, one is very questionable. So we decided to bypass this one and stop in Topolobampo. 

We had a light breeze on the nose, impossible to sail so we motor sailed right into it. It was a 2 night passage to Topolobumpo and I noticed and brought it to Sid’s attention that we had not seen 1 dolphin, I did see a whale’s fluke and a couple turtles but that was it. It was even more an exciting surprise when we headed into the channel of Topolobumpo being greeted by seals, yes seals, and forgot they are home in the northern Sea of Cortez. 

There is nothing more tranquil than being out on the calm ocean:

Sunrise was perfect timing as the entrance to Popolobampo is a bit intimidating as we were between reefs that you can only see at really low tide, if!

I was trying to check Windy for a weather report but had no signal, finally anchored in the anchorage Windy came through and studying it I told Sid that I think it was best we get back underway immediately, unless we want to be stuck here for a really nasty blow. He looked at it and agreed, so we filled 2 more jugs of diesel in the tank, as we did every day. According to the gauge we still had plenty in the tank. 

We lost the main halyard and Sid tried to fix it, but you know shit happens he lost the line and the whole damn thing came down, so we had to use the spinnaker halyard to pull the main up. Off we took for our last stretch a 2 nighter to our next destination. Still not much wind but what we had gave us enough speed to do just over 4 knots. The sunrises and sunset were spectacular.

A seal warming up with the first morning sunrays

Our Hitchhiker

Then late afternoon the following day, the motor sputtered then stopped, oh, oh, now what. Tried to start it again, which it did but RPMs went down again then stopped again. Sid thought maybe we had a clogged fuel filter and switched it to the secondary. Sure enough that was plugged. Ok started up again and same thing happened ran a minute or so then sputtered to a stop, this time I could not shift the gear back to neutral hmmm, that’s not good. So Sid investigated that and found the transmission had no oil, yikes definitely not good. He filled up the oil, hoping it did not do any damage. The engine started up again, gear worked, big sigh but the engine sputtered to a standstill again, hmmm? Sid now checked the algae box and found that totally clean, hmmm, so to make sure the fuel line was not clogged he gave it a good blow job. I could hear the air escape from the valve outside the cockpit. Sid went oh, oh, as he didn’t hear the bubbly noise you would hear like blowing through a straw into your drink, but it sounded like skipping on top of the diesel. No way, we can’t be out of diesel…… 

Yes we certainly can and did. Our gauge was never accurate but now it’s so off it’s not even funny. Just glad we had bought these two 17 gallon big water jugs which we filled with diesel to make it all the way from Costa Rica to Mexico, we decided to keep them until our destination in Sonora, good decision, both jugs went into the tank and engine purred happily the rest of the way. 

While we were on the break down my mind went on overdrive already where we could take shelter as this enormous blow was going to strike in 3 days with winds over 40 knots, yikes. We laughed about the empty tank and were so relieved it was the only problem. We had another night to go, it was already noticeably chillier than in Mazatlan and we put a second layer of cloths on and wrapped ourselves into blankets. It was so cold I could see my breath yikes. 

I have to add that on this two night leg we saw both nights the green flash when the sun disappeared on the horizon, how lucky can we get!

During Sid’s watch I woke up around 4 am to drizzle in my face, drizzle under the bimini???? We were immersed in the heaviest fog I have ever seen, yes the fog drizzled and everything including ourselves were soaked.

 

Under Bimini dripping on us

It was a long wait for day light, didn’t expect to get any sun in this soup, but hoped the fog would lift. And it did and OMG what peaked out between the fog was the most beautiful scenery, rugged mountains wrapped in a blanket of fog that touched some water. Then the magic started when the sun pushed through some holes in the fog, wow. We fell in love with this part of Mexico. 2 hours later Paradise was resting in her slip in the San Carlos Marina. The scenery is spectacular. And we were soooooo happy we made it before the big blow. 2 days later we did get heavy winds for days to come and we were safe in a very secure marina. But we were freezing our butts off, it got down to 52 degrees, brrrrrr.

Guess what this mountain is called: "Goat Tit Mountain"

Julie and Shane on then “Echelon” we had met in Cartagena, have their own boat in Marina Real. Their original plan was to head to the South Pacific 3 years ago, like our plan was to be here we planned to see each other before they headed West, well their plans are written at low tide as well. They hooked us up with Abel their friend of many years that helps cruisers, so he visited us on the boat. 

Same afternoon his son Jesus took us to Walmart so we could buy some warmer cloths, we needed them it was freezing at night. As we left the gate at the dock there was as piece of paper taped to the outside and said Sid and Manuela “Paradise” Tom and Janice “Tomboy” D 14. No way!!!!! We met these two also in Cartagena same time as we met Julie and Shane. Tomboy we ran into again in Shelter Bay Marina in Panama after their circumnavigation. They then were on their way home as Tom had prostate cancer. The toughest decision for them was to sell Tomboy. Well, they just bought a boat on a trailer and launched it here the day before we arrived and heard us check in on the radio. Small world again.

On the 3^rd of December we moved into our rental house for 4 to 6 months and with Tomboy’s help he trucked all our belonging to the house, it would have taken us days and days to manually pull everything up to the house, we bought a Walmart canvas card on 4 wheels.

First load

Forgot how many loads we did LOL

Just good it was only a 2 minute drive

Dinghy tow

The house is amazing, 2 bedroom with each its own bathroom and a guest bath room. The view from the patio is picturesque of the Sonoran Mountains watching the sun playing with the shadows. We even have a partial beach and ocean view. Beautiful.

In the mean time we have fully settle in, freezing our butts off even in the house and bought more winter cloths and never drank soooo much tea in my life.

doesn't that look like a Jaguar?

most houses here have a dome built into the ceiling like this on or much bigger, reason the summers temperature is in the 120s and since hot air rises this dome will keep it up there and the house will stay cooler. Pretty smart ha?!

Paradise was hauled out. Took a while to get her on the trailer, 4 tries before her wide hips finally fit. The dry yard is a good mile inland so Paradise got to speed down the main road to the yard. I have never seen her so fast, especially backwards. But good thing she did not get a speeding ticket. (Haul out will be covered in next Blog).

One week into settling in the world got even smaller with a surprise visit from Dick and Karen “Irie” we also met in 98/99 in the Sea of Cortez and have many good memories together with Laughing Buddha, Windance and Spirit. Irie is for sale in the yard here and they now live in a Diesel Pusher and travel the US in the summer and the winters in warmer Mexico. Great catching up with them for 3 days and we will see them again on their way back to the US.

In the yard we met the nice couple Chrissy and Mark and their dog Hanky Panky, he does not know he is a dog. We had them over for Christmas. The first Christmas she has celebrated in 20 years as she always worked. Chrissy is from Germany and Mark from Colorado. 

Of course there is no Christmas without Manuela's Swiss Christmas Cookies, although shopping in San Carlos/Guaymas is limited so her cookie choice was limited as well. What a difference a big kitchen 

and her Christmas Breakfast  Zopf

Traditional Swiss Christmas Eve Dinner in my family was a Cheese Fondue and this Fondue Bourgignonne for New Year's Eve.  Chrissy from Germany Chrissy knew it but Mark didn't. he was blown away.

For those who never had this type of fondue, I don't call it a dinner, it's an "Affaire" as you sit there for a couple hours chatting and cooking your own meat. By far my favorite dinner.

My marinated Eggplant and hearts shaped Swiss Herb Butter

No worries we did not miss out on Fondue, who says we can't have it for Christmas instead

For New Years Eve we had Julie and Shane for dinner. Julie grew up with Fondue and is a huge fan of it, but Shane was a Virgine and also was blown away. Wonderful "Affair" time again. 

Here we are CLOD’s again. Paradise will get a total make over, Sid already started grinding the through hulls out, they are so seized they need to be cut out. All through hulls will be replaced. The bottom was not as bad as we thought, no osmosis as we can see. She also will get some teak replaced in the cockpit and the bow pulped needs to either be fixed or replaces, opting for replacement, inside varnish and much more. We think it’ll take 4 plus months.

Manuela will be mainly in the house sewing new interior, new cockpit cushions, a new bimini, new dodger windows, new bumper covers…… and I am sure I will find many more things to sew. Plan is to spend the hurricane season on the Baha side of the Sea of Cortez, our old stomping grounds from 97 to 99.

We were the only house with Christmas decoration

For once the Mask came in handy for cooking the spicy banana peppers

who would have thought hummingbirds

Our first night dinner when we arrived

Yummy at El Patron just up from the marina

look at the size of the garlic

Yep it was like living in a refrigerator this is what Sid wore inside the entire winter. We had 5 blankets on the bed to stay worm and sleped with sox on and Sid with his fleece cap

The restaurants here are wonderful this is a tower of fresh scallops, tomatoes and avocado yum yum yum

A little excitement in the marina. This show off Captain came racing down the narrow channel not considering the high winds on the beam and oh well missed his slip and was pinned like this for the rest of the night

No damage just bruised ego

When we left San Blas I left my best friend and hairdresser behind, yes Debbie I miss you. Ever

 since then my hair has gotten shorter and shorter due to horrible hair cuts. The last straw was my last cut in PV. Poor Sid had to see this every morning for a months. I had a frigging birds nest on my head. As entertaining it was for Sid, to this day I have not gotten another haircut, afraid of it.  It was funny though we laughed so hard each morning. 

Think we need a trailer?!!!

Here are a few photos of beautiful San Carlos:

Cheers