Pontoon Boat Plans | Life in La Cruz

Pontoon Boat Plans

The Honcho has been berthed at the Marina Riviera Nayarit for the last week, where we have done some routine maintenance and given the boat a thorough washing. Weve also taken time out to socialize with fellow yatistas and enjoy the local culture here in La Cruz. In this town, the local culture is a very pleasant mix of Mexican food, art, music and society on one hand, and the whole expat sailing community on the other.  The sailing community consists of people who are following the dream of traveling by boat to foreign destinations. Most are Yanks or Canadians, a few Europeans, and the occasional Aussie or Kiwi. Im fortunate to be fairly fluent in Spanish and have enjoyed becoming acquainted with some of the locals who live and work here in town. Both groups seem to be happy with their lives and are very friendly. One of the most pleasant surprises for me is meeting young Mexicans who are university students. I love hearing their ideas and opinions regarding their lives. Overall, they seem to be quite optimistic about their futures as well as the future of Mexico. I think their optimism bodes well for this country, in spite of the widespread poverty and the ongoing drug wars in some areas.

The Honcho has sailed almost exactly 2,000 miles since leaving Long Beach and I am happy to report that the boat has performed very well throughout the voyage and has done everything weve asked of her without complaint. Once a fuel filter became clogged and the engine wouldnt start.  Another time, we took a wave over the bow with the window over the galley open. Sea water ran into the stove burners and clogged them up. Aside from that, the boat just keeps on keeping on. I brought a Baja Filter from Long Beach, but didnt use it at first because it appeared that all the fuel we bought was clean. I was wrong about that, so now I use the filter whenever we fuel up. It slows down the process of fueling, but I think its well worth the extra hassle to be assured of clean fuel. If youre getting ready to head south, pick up a Baja Filter at your local West Marine store. Its cheap insurance.  Overall Im very happy with the boat and all of its systems. Of course were only about halfway through this voyage, and only the little half at that. As we travel north into the Sea of Cortez, well be visiting more deserted anchorages, and more primitive places, so reliable equipment and self sufficiency will be necessary.

Part of the reason were hanging out in La Cruz is the upcoming XIX Regata Internacional, otherwise known as the Banderas Bay Regatta March 10-12. Ill be sailing aboard a Beneteau 42s7 called Tivoli in that event. It should be a lot of fun and Ill post a report on all the festivities after the regatta.

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Boat Plans Bolger | Mazatlan

Boat Plans Bolger

Mazatlan is a City of Beautiful Beaches

"As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."

Herman Melville, in Mazatlan March 28 - April 16, 1844

Fog rolls in near Playa Olas Altas

Mazatlan is a city with an interesting past. In its prehistory, the area around the present city was inhabited by natives called Totorames. In 1531 a group of Spaniards arrived and founded a settlement here, but for three centuries it was little more than a stopover for passing ships and a hideout for the occasional pirate vessel, and by the 1820s it was still a village.

In 1847, in its first foreign invasion, the United States occupied the port of Mazatlan. Then the French followed suit in 1864. This was apparently in response to a group of Confederate soldiers taking over the place with the quixotic idea of forming a Confederacy south of the Border. Then the British, not to be outdone, briefly occupied the place in 1871.

Revolution came to Mexico in 1910 and Mazatlan earned the distinction of being the second city (after Tripoli) ever to be bombed in an aerial attack. It seems that one General Carranza in an effort to take the city ordered a biplane to drop a bomb made of nails and dynamite wrapped in leather on Neveria Hill. Naturally the bomb landed in downtown instead, killing two and wounding several others.

Downtown Plaza

After the revolution ended in 1917, things settled down in Mazatlan and it entered a period of more or less prosperity. More in the 1920s, less during the Great Depression and WWII. Today it is a prosperous port city with beautiful beaches and a magnificent old town. Of course there have been a few setbacks recently. The current global recession has hurt both tourism and business in the port. Mazatlan is also the primary port in the State of Sinaloa, home of one of the most prominent drug cartels in Mexico. There has been enough drug related violence here to cause many cruise lines to stop calling here, at least for the present. This has resulted in a lot of closed up beach palapa restaurants, much to my chagrin. Nearly all of the locals Ive talked to blame Mazatlans bad economic times on the drug violence, and indirectly on the demand for drugs in the US.

Anyway, we had a great time wandering around the city, enjoying the splendid architecture and excellent food here. The city is graced with beautiful beaches and near perfect sunbathing weather.

Locals relaxing at Playa Olas Altas

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Boden Boat Plans Australia | Life in La Paz

Boden Boat Plans Australia

The Honcho has been berthed at Marina Palmira, just outside of La Paz for the last week. Weve been touring the city, lounging by the pool, shopping for supplies and generally preparing to spend the next five or six weeks cruising among the islands and along the western coast of the Sea of Cortez.

La Paz is an interesting city. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous people, but its modern history began in 1535 when Hernan Cortez arrived and tried to found a colony here. That attempt failed, but in 1596 Sebastian Vizcaino set up shop here and established a successful colony along the shores of the beautiful Bahia de La Paz, which he named. From then until the mid-nineteenth century the city grew in importance as a commercial and transportation center.

In 1853 the town was occupied by one William Walker, an American whose ambition was to create a pro-slavery republic, called the Republic of Lower California. That did not sit well with the Mexican government and Walkers republic lasted only about four months. Not one to give up, Walker later set his sights on Nicaragua, which he invaded and actually set himself up as president of the country. His presidency lasted from July of 1856 to May, 1857, when a coalition of Central American governments defeated his forces and he fled to an American naval vessel and returned to the USA.

In 1860, Walker went to central America, this time to Roatan, where he was intent on setting up another independent state. His luck finally ran out when he was taken into custody by the British Royal Navy, which turned him over to the Honduran authorities who promptly put him before a firing squad.

I wouldnt call this city picturesque. It lies mostly on flat land that is reminiscent of the land around Blythe, except of course, for the magnificent bay on its western side. The climate here is also very Blythe-like.

Though it is on the east side of the Baja Peninsula, La Paz faces the Bahia de La Paz  on its west side. The city itself is protected from the bay by a large spit of land called El Mogote. This photo was taken from the International Space Station, courtesy of Wikipedia

Its geographical location is also unique. It lies at the base of a peninsula that juts north from the mainland of Baja California. This location gives it a climate that, while hot in the daytime, is fairly cool in the evenings due to the Coromuel winds that blow in from the Pacific Ocean, which is only about 35 miles away to the southwest.

With a growing population and a relatively high standard of living, La Paz is also the gateway to the Sea of Cortez for many cruising yachts. With its low cost of living, cheap marinas and good access to the US, it also has a large and growing gringo community. Were ready to leave now,  but will wait a couple more days for some strong northerly winds to calm down.

While waiting for the weather window, Ive had time to look at some interesting cruising boats and will post something on the J/130 as a cruising boat in the next day or two.

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Boat Building Plans And Kits | Bahia de Concepcion

Boat Building Plans And Kits

The days are rolling by ever so quickly and we have many miles to go, and many places to see before we say adios to Mexico. So we have hurried along on our voyage, reaching Bahia de Concepcion on May 17^th. Our route from San Evaristo took us to Bahia Agua Verde for a night, then to Puerto Escondido for a couple of days. From there we went to Caleta San Juanico, where we anchored again for just a night.  We then anchored in Bahia de Concepcion in a small cove between Playa Santispac and Posada Concepcion.

At Puerto Escondido there is a large and very well protected lagoon with at least a hundred moorings, a fuel dock, tienda and other amenities including internet access, which is rare in this part of the world. We took advantage of all of these as well as the fine restaurant there.

Dawn in Puerto Escondido

After a couple of days at Puerto Escondido, we continued north another forty miles to Caleta San Juanico. Arriving there around 1600, we got the hook down in about 30 feet of water and had a nice swim before dinner. At roughly 26 degrees north latitude, San Juanico is far enough north that there is a bit of coolness in the air in the evenings, which is a refreshing change from the dry heat of La Paz.

San Juanico sunrise

 Our next destination, Playa Santispac, about 55 miles from San Juanico, is located inside of the large Bahia de Concepcion. The Honcho got an early start, motorsailing into a building breeze. By noon the wind and seas had built to the point where we were getting spray over the dodger, with the promise of more to come as we approached Punta de Concepcion, which lies at the entrance to the bay.  Fortunately our course was northwest and the wind and seas were from NNE, so we weren’t too uncomfortable as we worked up the coast.  Around 1600, just as we cleared Punta Concepcion, the reel lit up and we caught a nice 6 pound yellowtail, which we’ll barbecue for dinner.

The Honcho trolling with a Mexican lure. Its called a Mexican because it is red, green and yellow; The same colors as the Mexican flag. Weve had the most luck with this lure, hooking innumerable Jacks, yellowfin, even a striped marlin.

 Bahia de Concepcion is open to the north, so after clearing the entrance the Honcho bore off and had a quick downwind run in 20 knots of wind toward Playa Santispac. As we approached Santispac we could see the north wind raking through the anchorage so we continued a bit further to a small cove just east of Posada de Conception and dropped the anchor in 20 feet of water, about 60 yards from shore.  With steep hills to our north coming right down to the water’s edge, we are well protected from the wind. 

An eighteen foot whale shark glides past the boat in Santispac. The fin to the left is the dorsal, to the right is the tail.

Bahia de Concepcion is about 20 miles long and roughly 4 miles wide. It is dotted with many small islands and is home to a wide range of birds and marine life.  After a nice dinner ashore and a good night’s rest, we were up early the next morning, cleaning accumulated salt off the boat and rigging. Suddenly we were distracted by a slight commotion in the water and discovered a couple of whale sharks lazily feeding next to the boat. We watched and photographed them for a while then donned mask and fins and joined them for a swim. Whale sharks feed on plankton and other small sea life and don’t pose a predatory threat to humans.  We dove under water and could see the massive fins and gaping mouths of these animals as they passed by close enough to touch. Predatory or not, swimming that close to such a large animal was exciting!

Kayaker stalks a big one

This shark is about 18 feet long and has a wingspan of about eight feet, near as I could estimate. Whale sharks feed at or near the surface of the water, drawing large gulps of seawater, then expelling it out through their large gills, which have filtering elements that strain out the plankton and other small sea life. The water in Bahia de Concepcion is full of nutrients, which makes underwater visibility not nearly as good as at places like Isla San Francisco.

Playa Santispac is pretty much the boonies and there are no services here…no taxis, internet, cell phones, or gas stations. In need of diesel fuel, we took a couple of jerry cans and wandered up the beach, trusting that somehow we’d find a way to get to the nearest gas station, thirteen miles up the road. Sure enough, before long we’d hitched a ride on an old beat up water truck that took us all the way to the Hotel Serenidad where we had a fine lunch of fish tacos, guacamole and ice cold beer. We then got the fuel and a ride back to the beach in Santispac, where we’d left our dinghy. From there it was a short mile back to the boat.  

The next day we were again visited by the whale sharks, but didn’t swim with them as we had plans to visit the town of Mulege, where we spent most of the day touring this flood ravaged town and socializing. Mulege suffered a direct hit by Hurricane Jimena a couple of years ago. Much of the town was damaged or destroyed by the storm, which caused the Rio Mulege to overflow its banks, washing a good portion of the town into the sea. There are still many signs of destruction in this pleasant little village.

Bahia de Concepcion is as far north as we will get on this voyage. So when we weighed anchor Saturday morning, May 21^st, we were southbound, headed back toward San Juanico, where we spent a couple of days.  It was a delightful sail during which we were able to fly the spinnaker for a few miles before the wind shifted to the southeast and we were forced to set the trusty jib for the last twenty miles.  Along the way we caught an 8 pound yellowtail, which we barbecued with friends from the sailing vessels Stray Cat and Capriccio in Caleta San Juanico. San Juanico is a fairly large bay, with good protection from northerly and southerly winds, but is open to the southeast, which is where the wind has been for the last couple of days, forcing us to shift to a snug anchorage in the lee of some large rocks in the northern reach of the bay. There are dramatic rock formations here, a beautiful freshwater lagoon and a kind of shrine or monument where passing yatistas put up plaques and inscriptions made of anything from old sandals to beautifully carved wood, usually with a boat and crew names and dates. It was interesting to see the names of many boats we’ve come to know hanging in the tree that makes up the shrine.  This passage is the first of the truly homeward bound portion of our voyage. We’ll continue south to Cabo San Lucas, stopping at various places along the way, where we’ll provision and secure the boat for the last long leg of our voyage, the long windward passage up the west coast of Baja to our home port of Long Beach. 

The volcanic rocks in San Juanico. Fantastic colors and shapes

It was surprising to see this sparkling freshwater lagoon just a short walk from the beach in an otherwise torrid desert landscape.

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