Leaving the pristine and wild (albiet a little 'buggy') Puerto Refugio we began our 107 mile overnight trip to Puerto Penasco. We left after a few light rain squalls passed through--another sign that the seasons are changing! We had a great sail for at least half of the 20 hour trip, and a non-eventful motor for the last few hours. Just past sunset we had a perfect view of another Vandenberg SpaceX launch.
We did notice that we were going a bit slower than normal (only averaging 5 knots instead of our usual 6-7). We hadn't been able to clean the bottom of the boat as
often as we had previously because the water was colder -- in the 60's -- and our scuba tanks were empty. That night it was cold too. At the last minute before leaving we put our cockpit enclosure back on, like we had in Alaska, so we could stay warm through the night without having to put on our jackets. I'm glad we did that as it made it very comfortable!
After the beautiful night, we lined up the navigation ranges and headed into Puerto Penasco. The harbor was drastically different than any port we'd been in since landing in Mexico. It was full of large fishing boats -- much more like what we've seen in places like Petersburg Alaska. There were 3 slips at the various marinas for cruising boats -- and you just cross your fingers hoping there is one available while we waited for our haul-out time. We got lucky.
We were planned to get pulled out of the water the next day so amidst the blaring music of the local sunset cruise party boats, we took our sails down and 'unrigged' everything we could think of before the haul out--some things are easier in the water.
The next day, right on time, we were called to the lift. It is always nerve racking to have your house lifted 15' up in the air, then carried around in slings and then propped up on 8-10 metal stands. Its always a relief when we don't tip over.
Our refrigeration doesn't work while we are out of the water (it is keel-cooled; meaning that there are copper plates on the water side of the hull that use sea temperature to regulate the temperture). So we had arranged to stay in a local apartment about 1/4 mile from the marina. Our first order of business was to empty all the food off the boat.
Our plan is to use up what we can and donate the rest. We've heard that it can get very hot inside boats that are locked up here in the summer months (Upwards of 150 degrees F!) so any food we leave is likely to either explode or degreed.
We had a few very blustery days here since we've been ashore with nightly winds gusting to 40 knots. I'm thankful we are not sleeping on the boat, as I imagine it wobbles and vibrates much differently when not in the water. When we 'go to work' each morning everything on the boat is coated in a fine texture of sand. Sand is EVERYWHERE. We had mini-sand dunes in the cockpit. Perhaps it will protect from UV? Unlikely.
Today to make the 'sand everywhere' situation worse, we had the bottom sides lightly sandblasted to remove the crazy creatures that were on our hull. We seem to be the only boat that had the top ramen noodle like worms everywhere. We are uncertain where we picked them up but so far we've not seen this on anyone else's hull. We are eagerly researching better bottom paint for next time, as it seems ours was great in the cold water of Alaska but less capable in the tropics.
So for a few days, hopefully not forever we'll be sitting in the sand lot. Next week, Dan is tackling installation of air conditioning and we start our long list of projects. Onward.
Hi - I found your blog through No Foreign Land. We are in Refugio now and the flies are insane. We're also heading to Puerto Penasco, but not until June and we also have a boat cat. We would like to get an apartment for a week or so as well. Did you like the apartment you rented? Can you share the contact information for the apartment you stayed at with me? Thanks so much! Jeni on SV Ramble On
WOW!