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...