Crazy Days of San Carlos
Time is a construct that I have never been great at harnessing. I'm always a bit late and a tad bit unorganized, but I always show up! Just like this post!
When we left Isla San Marcos on August 19, we were expecting a great, uneventful sail to the other side. The water was a bit choppy with decent sized waves on our way out, but no big deal at all. These waves continued until we reached Isla Tortuga, where they settled and we kicked back for an amazing sail, eating supper in the cockpit and excited for change and new sights. The girls took first watch, pleasantly sailing along with cute teenager chatter in the cockpit... but by 11pm things started to get lively. The weather that had been predicted turned out not to be as predicted, a phenomenon that is apparently well known to the salty Sea of Cortez sailors! Whatever weather is predicted, you're supposed to add at least 15kn of wind and double the wave height. We learned and won't forget!
We ended up smack dab in the middle of 3 seperate storm cells, complete with lightening, waves crashing into the cockpit from the beam, and sailing at 7.5 knots speed in 38 kn wind, double reefed main with barely a triangle of genoa out for the wind to catch. It was chaos on Arena as we'd not prepared well enough for such a lively trip! Books everywhere! The game cupboard door popped open and every single game piece had splayed across the floors. A 2 litre pitcher of water that had just been taken out of the freezer ended up exploding on the floor, causing a tsunami in the galley, sending me on my back with my legs half way up the wall. Ada had popped out of her bed while sleeping and landed upside down in the midship cabin with a smashed elbow. She handled it with a giggle and climbed back into bed. The lightening seemed to be chasing us and roughly every 2-3 minutes another powerful bolt would stretch it's arm as close to Arena as possible. We headed south a ways to ride with the waves before returning to our proper heading. When daylight broke, so did the final storm. Settling in to a dock at the marina seemed a slight bit more appealing to me after all this. The peaks of Tetakawi were a welcomed sight and the peace and calm of the marina was a welcomed change for Arena and crew. Definitely not the worst weather we've been in, but the most surprising for sure!
We experienced some VERY hot weather in the marina as there is little breeze to cool us off. The humidity every day was high 80s/low 90s, so even if the actual temp was only 36-37 degrees, the "real feel" with humidity was 45+ degrees. While I usually complain about air conditioning and how it hurts my bones, I actually began to appreciate the reprieve from the heat in the peak of the days. Most days, we'd wait until the sun had set before spending time outdoors. The walks along the malecon were great and the kids were able to expend their energy along the way. Due to covid rules, children under 12 aren't allowed into any of the stores, so they were limited to walks and car rides for entertainment. We didn't really want to take them wandering needlessly, so they spent most of their days at the marina. We were very impressed with Mexico's mask compliance and limiting of persons into the stores. Body temperatures were always checked (albeit from a forearm or shoulderblade most of the time!) and cleaning crews were steadily working to make sure door handles and surfaces continued to be sanitized. Every doorway was equipped with a bleach solution mat for our feet and a dry mat to wipe the solution off on. Wearing sandals all the time made our feet pretty gross being squished in the bleach water mixed with our dusty skin.
Jamie and I were kept incredibly busy for almost 2 whole months. We had only intended to stay in the marina for 1 month, but Mexican time is MUCH different than Canadian time and some jobs were delayed for much longer than aniticpated! That being said, the amount of available workers was amazing! Putting a little bit of money into this financially struggling community was the right thing to do, and we definitely benefitted from their willingness to provide services to us. Our list of repairs included, but certainly is not limited to:
Sail repair to main and genoa
86# anchor and 325' of chain galvinized (biggest reason for our extended stay as it took 7 weeks to be returned)
new curtains sewn by Steph
new interior upholstery
new stainless steel rails for the stern
new drain holes in the aft deck- port and starboard (many thanks to Bernie's help from sv Momo)
new stack pack to replace our year old sailcover that just couldn't handle the Mexican sun!
new salt water fridge pump
reconfigured fresh water pump
galley plumbing for the fresh water tap
new solar* - after a lot of time and energy spent on these, the size of the panels ended up not working out for us. Bernie on sv Momo was able to use them which relieved us of the duty to try and return to the store or resell to someone else.
fender covers sewn by Steph out of the old interior cushion covers
bow thrusters scrubbed properly for the first time in months and months (it's hard to get our arms in there with Arena bobbing around at anchor)
interior teak oiling
dodger UV window coverings
new zincs all around with a bottom cleaning
recalked bow pulpit
replaced hose clamps on the dripless shaft (yikes!)
fluid changes
9 new interior fans
full deck/stainless steel clean
rigging check
Countless packages of much needed supplies rolled in to the marina office during our stay, all from Amazon Mexico and USA. We didn't have any problems with any of the packages not making it to us, just one small item that may have been misplaced during a border check (small value so we didn't make an issue of it). The kids spent some of their Christmas money (saved for our adventures in the South Pacific :( ) on waterproof watches and memory cards for their tablets. We also bought a few items of clothing that have worn out from months and months of washing in salt water and drying in the scary Mexican sun. It's amazing how quickly they are degraded by the salt and UV.
Since we don't know when or where we are going and when we will get there, we decided to do a large provisioning at Costco in Hermosillo. We didn't want to leave the kids behind in the marina (not allowed in any stores anywhere) so I stayed home while Jamie and Joe (sv Kyrie) rented a car from San Carlos to make the hour and a half trip to Hermosillo Costco. They loaded that rental car SO full of provisions, it looked like a low-rider rolling into the parking lot that evening! Ahhhh, sailing life! It took me until 230am to tuck it all away in the boat. During this reprovisioning, we found a ton of food we had forgotten that we'd tucked away in interesting places 6 or 7 months ago! We have a LOT of brown sugar and mayonnaise!
Our visitor visas (FMMs) just happened to be expired at the end of September, which marks another 6 months of sailing in Mexico for us. 6 MONTHS since we turned back from heading to French Polynesia! So much has happened in these 6 months, but at the same time, kind of nothing has happened... !! We'd have to get new visas by taking a 6 hour road trip to K21, just south of Nogales MX. SV Kyrie and family also had visas that would soon be expired, so they agreed to caravan with us (safety in numbers as there have recently been some Mexican cowboy robberies at roadside). It was an eventful trip of trying to get proper rental vehicles and piling a family of 6 into one hotel room, crazy driving, wrong ways , and scenic diversions on the highway, but we had such a great time. The kids took copious amounts of photos and videos of each other, the green trees and landscapes, all the roadside stands and Catholic shrines along the way. They switched up seating arrangements in the vehicles and had a great time watching movies and playing around in the grounds at the immigration office. The whole process was fairly easy and we were soon official visitors to Mexico again. Viva Mexico!
One day Lochlan came home crying with fine prickles ALL OVER his hands. They had been out on the malecon when he'd picked up a prickly pear that embedded in every part of his fingers and palms. What a nightmare trying to pick them out with tweezers. Then we got a bright idea....we smothered his hands with white glue and stood him in front of a fan to dry the glue. Then, very slowly, we pulled the glued off his hands like a layer of skin, which in turn pulled out 99% of the prickly little spikes. White glue has officially found its place in the first aid kit!
Canadian Thanksgiving in Mexico happened on sv Arena once again this year. The kids decorated the boat with some drawings taped on the walls while we picked up a few rotisserie chickens from town. Bernie & Sarra joined us, along with Kim from sv The Cure to make this potluck celebration so much more festive. Once again, just like last year, I failed to take a picture of Thanksgiving :( It was very comfortable and relaxed on Arena...we were all thanks-filled!
Our time in San Carlos was very full! Between boat jobs, boatschool, margaritas, and running errands almost daily, we were NEVER bored. Ever. We actually started to miss the mundane of everyday on the hook. Howard and Susan Dyck (friends of Jamie's parents) graciously lent us a car that made our life 1,000,000x more manageable, almost "normal" while in San Carlos. We could not have done all that we did without their kindness and generosity. I still have yet to come up with a proper thank you to their whole family for their kindness and love shown towards us. Bernie and Sarra on sv Momo became dear friends to us, always up for an afternoon drink or potluck meal, interesting conversation ALWAYS, and just a lot of life shared. We will miss them both, but are banking on catching up with them somewhere along the way. SV Kyrie family was such a great family to share marina life with! Being the only 2 families with kids, they were back and forth between the 2 boats all afternoon long! There was sidewalk chalk and forts, board games and video games, Lego, Calico critters, birthday celebrations, movies, and walks at night to feed the kitties. They studied the cockroaches, geckos and tarantulas that wandered in the moonlight. One night they came back to the boat with a story of harnessing the attention of a security guard who held the flashlight while they examined the foreign little/big creatures. *Ada would like me to add that she did not study the cockroaches!* Their time was hot and full. We met so many interesting people during our stay, we definitely won't forget our time here.
By the time the last major project was being completed, we were SOOOOO ready to leave the marina. It was a whirlwind of activity, trying to get the last minute jobs and items checked off the list, but pushing off the dock was done with a big sigh of relief. Freedom in the anchorage, we enjoyed the warm, not clean, water and the feel of Arena moving freely on her shiny new chain and anchor. No rust on my hands while anchoring was a highlight, for sure!
Sitting in the cockpit with Bernie and Sarra on our last night in San Carlos, we could feel adventure welling up in our souls once again! What might we find in the northern Sea? Whale sharks?!?!?!
Hasta luego, San Carlos!
