Log 16 - Mazatlan to San Carlos 
      March 4th to 31st, 2003     2080 miles traveled this season 

As indicated in Log 15, we had originally planned to make an inland trip from Mazatlan to the great colonial city of Guadalajara, but when we heard that there was to be a rare good weather window for traveling north, we opted to pack up and get underway quickly.  We departed Mazatlan marina harbor following 4 or 5 hours behind a flotilla of eight boats.  Six of us were planning to travel north to Altata, a shrimping village 110 nms north along the mainland coast, which was reputed to be Mexico the way it used to be before the big tourism boom.  Because Altata lies on the other side of bar crossing up a long channel and on an inhospitable stretch of coastline (i.e., no other places to shelter in case of storms), cruisers had only discovered it a few years ago.  It was high on our list of places we wanted to visit, and this looked like it would be our last opportunity to get there.  We were determined to make it – and a good thing too, because the predicted weather window failed to materialize and we were in for a rough bash tacking 110 miles “uphill”.  Two of the other cruising boats in the flotilla were heading across the sea to the Baja side of the Sea of Cortez, and as the weather continued to present nasty winds and waves on the nose from the northwest, one by one the other 5 boats turned westward to cross the Sea, a much more favorable point of sail.

We maintained an hourly radio check-in with the other seven boats, and listened as they made their way across the Sea. Normally VHF radio is good for about 25 to 35 mile range, in this part of the Sea of Cortez for some reason VHF will carry as far as 200 miles, quite a “skip”. We had originally figured it would take us 16 to 18 hours to get to the entrance to the channel to Altata.  In the end, it took us 36 hours of tacking.  We arrived at the entrance about an hour before sunset, and, knowing the length of the channel, opted to heave to offshore in order avoid being in an unfamiliar channel after dark – one of our hard and fast rules on BREILA.  It is really strange to see the local shrimp boats anchored along this coast in water about 50’ deep as much as 2 miles offshore. The shape of the land seems to help keep the waves down to the 2-3’ range, no problem for shrimpers to anchor, but too rough for us. Unfortunately, the current traveling down the coast meant we were being pushed backward at up to 4 knots while hove to.  As first light approached, we had to claw back those lost miles, and followed the GPS waypoints to enter the channel.  The approach was a bit stressful, as there are rolling breakers on either side as you head into the channel.  Once in the channel, the buoys are not in their plotted positions – three of them are sitting about 50’ up the beach after the hurricane last October!  We had been told to just trust the GPS waypoints and go for it.

As we passed the first miles to get inside the protected part of the channel, Mike realized the engine was overheating, so as soon as we could we dropped the anchor off the sandy islet inside the channel to effect repairs.  We also radioed other cruisers who were already inside the anchorage at Altata, as they knew we were en route, and we didn’t want to worry them.  There was not much water coming out of the exhaust, so Mike pulled the raw water pump and found that 6 of the 8 blades on the impeller had sheared off. With repairs made, we could concentrate on enjoying ourselves as we traveled the final 6 nms up to Altata.  Even with so much invested in getting there, we can report that Altata was definitely worth it!  The village is a shrimping village at the end of a long inland lagoon (which stretches another 24 miles south of the entrance).  The  local panga fishermen use a unique spinnaker rig to hold their boats sideways to the current, so they can drag along with their shrimp nets.  Hundreds of colorful sails form a scene like a Constable painting against the flat low sandy islands and blue lagoon waters.  

The light behind the sand dunes was very bright and with the flat water it is a fascinating sight.  When we arrived at the anchorage off the town, we dropped our hook in line with the three other cruising boats there.  Our cruising friends from TAKING FLIGHT, QUAESTA and MATERA LEDA greeted us with the good news that the Port Captain understood we had had a difficult passage, and that we should feel free to take our time going ashore to check in.  We took advantage of his offer and spent the rest of the day resting and rinsing the salt off of all our gear.  In the heavy pounding and green water over the bows, we had taken water into our V-berth, so hosed off the cushions and bedding and dried them in the afternoon sun. 

We had heard that Gustavo, the owner of La Perla restaurant in Altata, was especially welcoming to cruisers.  In the late afternoon, he came out to the anchorage in his panga and took all of us cruisers for a clamming session on the beach.  Inside of 30 minutes, we had three huge buckets full of clams, scallops and winkles.  We joined the crews of the other boats for a potluck feast aboard QUAESTA, and toasted our good fortune.

The next morning we went ashore to begin the check-in procedure.  Gustavo met us at his restaurant as we approached, and accompanied us to the Capitania, where he introduced Mike to the very charming Port Captain.  As there is no bank in Altata at which to pay our check-in fee, we planned to take the bus the 10 kms to Novalato to visit the bank.  Gustavo would not hear of it.  He insisted on driving us, and even though he does not speak much English, we had fun practicing our halting Spanish.  After completing our banking, Gustavo took us for palates (Mexican iced fruit) and a tour of the town of Altata.  He refused our offers of payment, just wanted to be sure we enjoyed ourselves.  That night, all the cruisers met at La Perla for a lovely seafood dinner overlooking the bay.  We proudly signed our name and added BREILA’s logo to the sailors’ wall as the 17^th cruising vessel to arrive in Altata – ever!  Everywhere we went, people of all ages wanted to stop and practice their English.  We felt like celebrities. In fact the local newspaper from Novalato had been in town three days before taking photos of the other three foreign cruising yachts in the anchorage.  The full-page newspaper article was very positive about the affects of tourism on the area and encouraged the people of Novalato to welcome the gringos.

After a few days, the other three boats left Altata for their trip across the Sea of Cortez, and we had the anchorage to ourselves.  It’s not all lying around while cruising - everything you want to do takes more effort and time. Once again we found ourselves short of propane. Gustavo had given us a rough idea of where we could get a refill, so we put our 10 lb aluminum bottle in our canvas bag and got the bus back to Novalato. We almost had to avoid Gustavo, as he would have insisted on driving us. Try bringing a full propane bottle on the bus stateside. Anyway, 3 hours and $5 later we had our tank refilled.

We had heard that the state capital of Culiacan was an interesting place to visit, so we took a day trip, via three busses, and walked around the large city.  Here, as well, we were a bit of a novelty, since very few gringos travel here.  It took us a while to get used to people just wanting to talk to us.  We make a point of touring the catedrale, the zocalo and the public mercado in each town or city we visit.  These can be counted on for interesting architecture, good local colour, and a grasp of how people there live. Culiacan is the cultural and business center for the state of Sinaloa.  There is a lot of money hereabouts from agriculture, not all of it legal! The town has several universities, museums and art galleries. The wealth is evident by the many new Corvettes and other muscle cars driving around town.

 After six days in magical Altata, we began monitoring the weather for a good window to travel north.  We were hoping to be able to continue on north up the mainland coast, without crossing to the Baja side of the Sea, then recrossing to San Carlos. This would require a three day period of no winds, or, even less likely at this time of year, of winds from the south.  We were delighted to learn that there was a period of low winds, so we departed Altata having spent 8 days there.  This time, the weather Gods were with us, as we had a lovely passage.  Dolphins frolicked in our bow wave on our departure as we crossed the bar, and Rosie had good sport “speaking” with them!  It was a motorboat ride north to San Carlos, and we arrived well rested, as our three-hour watches were easy and comfortable. Curious pangeros approached a few times, as they rarely see sail boats in this area, but they just wanted to wave greetings.   We also passed large shrimpers anchored in the shallow waters near the coast, and the busy industrial port of Topolobampo. 

For the last six hours of our trip, the winds freshened, and we had a great sail in 18 knots of wind.  It was a lovely ending to a smooth passage. As usual we trolled a hook for any unwary fish in the area. One morning we hooked a really big Dorado that came jumping out of the water as soon as he hit the lure. Mike fought to set the hook as the fish was jumping so much.  As we hauled him in to the boat, he did a tail walk and spit the hook out. What a loss, but a magnificent fish to lose.  Just before we got to San Carlos we hooked our first “yellow tail” - not a tuna but a fish that fights and swims hard. After getting it to the boat, we doused its gills with cheap tequila which subdues the fish. After a period of calm, it suddenly jumped from the hook and got away.  We just hope we didn’t damage the gills before he hit the water again. Fish two, us zero.  We are not sure if the annual fishing licence fees of $200 would be better spent at the mercado!

We had allowed lots of extra time for the northerly passage from Zihuatanejo, to factor in the unpredictability of the weather at this time of year.  With only one spot of rough weather, we managed to arrive three weeks before our planned haul out date.  We rearranged our haul out date, and spent a productive week on the hard, completing our decommissioning tasks and other light repairs.  We enjoyed visiting with other cruising friends after work hours, especially the crews of HARMONY, MAGIC MIST, and YANKEE DOODLE.  It really is a great community, and cruisers we met early in our passage making continue to keep in touch or pop up at various anchorages from time to time.

We recommissioned the MoHo and headed north for Portland, OR.  We planned that this will be our last year returning stateside.  As Canadian citizens with US green cards, we can only be out of the states for 6 months at a time.  This worked okay while cruising in Mexican waters, but since we are now ready to cruise further south, it is no longer practical.  Upon our return, we filed for US naturalization, a 4 to 6 month process.  On our motor home trips, we wanted to visit as many places on our “wanna see” list en route.  With this in mind, we plotted a route that included Montezuma’s Castle, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Moab, Arches National Park, the Lehman Caves in Great Basin National Park, and the hot springs of southern Oregon.  What a fantastic time we had on this trip!  The motor home really allowed us to be more flexible in our travels, as we stayed at designated campsites 3 nights, and the rest of the time bivouacked in roadside pullouts, or casinos, or even WalMart parking lots!  It especially works well when traveling with Rosie, as the non-chain motels in small towns rarely allow pets.

Upon arrival at Portland, we parked the MoHo at our favorite RV park, and began adjusting to life on land for a while.  This is our opportunity to catch up with family and friends, and tackle some of those boat projects more easily accomplished in a workshop.  We also take the opportunity to replenish the cruising kitty, although we really have to watch ourselves, as our shore-based lives are much more costly.  And we undertake to replace, repair or upgrade boat items as planned.

When we were in New York and Washington DC last year we opined it would have been fun to buy a motorbike and ride the width of the country instead of flying. We mentioned this to Canadian friends, Dave and Alice, and it turned out they had similar plans for a trip to visit their daughter in Toronto on their BMW R1150 GS.  So we are now in the planning stages for that trip.  We’ll put that adventure – our “summer vacation” - in a future log.