San Carlos boat storage

At Guaymas (N27°55.358' W110°53.164'), we had Sea Turtle loaded onto a trailer and delivered to Marina Seca San Carlos (N27°57.23' W111°03.06'). It was a very odd feeling to watch our boat being pushed, yes pushed - not pulled, down the highway by a loader down the streets of Mexico.

New journey for Sea Turtle

First time we have ever had to prep our boat for a long-term storage of 4 to 5 months on the hard. Don't ever want to have to do that again! Especially for the extremely hot climate.

All items above deck that would be sensitive to sun had to be either removed or covered, such as sails, lines, blocks, etc. Before we stored sails and most lines, we washed, rinsed, and dried. We mostly covered our solar panels (to allow some minor trickle charge). The outboard had to be prepped before storage and the dinghy had to be deflated, cleaned, and folded down and stowed inside. We removed the blades from the wind generator and secured it from swinging. All fuels needed treatment and chlorine was added to our water tanks. As well as prepping for the harsh temperatures, preparation for possible hurricane winds is needed.

Inside, we removed the engine impeller, shut all through hulls off except cockpit drains, and covered all windows with windshield foil sheets to keep the scorching sun out. And dorades were covered with fine cloth mesh to keep pesky bugs out that could crawl through the screens already there.

Food - what to leave on board and what to remove?? We hemmed and hawed about what could withstand the blazing heat. Then we donated some to an orphanage and discarded some. The rest we were fortunate enough to be able to take with us to SV Tango for our upcoming voyage. We have been told that the interior of a boat can get as high as 60°C (140°F) when on the hard!

Tomorrow we fly to La Paz to start our crewing adventure aboard SV Tango...

Detour

We were presented with such an incredible offer that we couldn't refuse - we will be acting as Crew and heading to the South Pacific islands of the Marquesas on our friend's Perry 43 Catamaran, SV Tango. This is a non-stop voyage of approximately 3 weeks on a Cat.

So we hurried north up the Sea of Cortez, leaving La Paz March 31st. First stop was once again Ballendra and then El Cardonel where we met up with SV Whiteshell II. Strong north winds were blowing so we stayed for 2 nights.

Next stop, we anchored by the "hook" of Isla San Francisco (N24°49.195' W110°34.231'). If you look at a chart or Google Earth, you will see the hook is a comma-shaped piece of land. Left early in the morning for Agua Verde (N25°30.958' W111°3.732'), which means turquoise water. The sea was a very beautiful turquoise and the sand was coral coloured. We went ashore to the tiny village and bought some fresh produce.

Next, we headed to San Juanico. We had a great voyage, seeing rays, dolphins, and several whales close up such as this pilot whale...

We anchored at San Juanico (N26°22.044' W111°25.871') where we were holed up waiting for strong winds to die so we hiked and explored the land. We found Apache Tears, shiny volcanic black glass, on the hill. The next day, we discovered beautiful veins of crystalline deposits running deep down the sides of the hills on the opposite beach...

We also discovered a tree growing on the beach where cruisers have left behind a memento declaring their boat name, their names, and the date of their visit. What a mishmash of items - the good, the bad, and the ugly! Such as painted and/or inscribed pieces of wood, rocks, shells, sneakers, burgees, metal, and even a scrub brush! We saw several from boaters that we know, including China Girl, Dark Star, Keetya I, Intrepid II, Salish Sea, and Whiteshell II. We quickly hung a large shell but are hoping to replace it with something more permanent later in the year when we return.

Finally when the wind let up, we left at 18:45 on April 8th for an overnighter to Guaymas. We sailed into the north wind on a close reach at 5 knots until 02:45 when we had to turn on the engine and continued to motor-sail.

We will next put Sea Turtle up on the hard at San Carlos, as Guaymas is all booked up, and then fly out of Guaymas on April 14th to meet up with SV Tango at La Paz to start our great journey to the South Pacific!