On February 24th at dawn we finally left the mooring heading to San Carlos.
The port of Puerto Peñasco
A few minutes later, we had the pleasant surprise of receiving from our friend Homero a photograph of our boat that was passing the cape of Puerto Peñasco.
Leaving Puerto Peñasco
San Carlos is about 280 nautical miles away. After two years of stopping we couldn’t wait to get Zoe sailing. With the wind in the stern, that is from the north-west that in this season blows quite constantly, we left a little anxious for fear of having left out some necessary work, but above all wondering if those we had completed would have withstood the test of the sea. What immediately became apparent to us was that we should have covered ourselves adequately as the temperature would not have been particularly mild for quite some time.
It took us about four days to get to San Carlos, with four overnight stops. We spent the first night in the quiet bay of Tepoca: a safe anchorage in front of a long white beach, where we arrived around 10 pm. The next stop was the small Isla Patos, just north of the much larger Isla Tiburon. Also in this case, we arrived at night and in the morning we had the pleasant surprise of finding a large colony of sea lions.
Isla Patos
After circumnavigating the west coast of Isla Tiburon sailing with a wind that constantly exceeded 20 knots, we quickly arrived in Bahia Risco Colorado, in the south of the island, sheltered from the northwest wind, typical of this season.
Bahia Risco Colorado
The last stop was Bahia San Pedros, a short sailing from our final destination. The following morning we reached the bay of San Carlos, whose entrance is extremely suggestive and where the Cerro Tetakawi stands out for its very particular shape.
Entrance to San Carlos
Bahia San Carlos and the Cerro Tetakawi
When we arrived at the marina, we found that the only available slip was in an area quite exposed to the prevailing waves and winds. The marina of San Carlos is in a scenically spectacular position, especially when the lights of the sunset project various shades of reds over the reliefs surrounding the bay.
Marina San Carlos
San Carlos is a tourist town, inhabited by many retired U.S. and Canadian citizens. The day after our arrival we scoured the surroundings and reached the nearby town of Guaymas, intending to visit the marinas where we could leave Zoe for the hurricane season (June to October). The San Carlos/Guaymas area is considered a relatively safe port. During our research we learned that a berth had just become available in the government marina. In the main Mexican ports there are these Fonatur marinas, quite inexpensive and well organized. It is not easy to find a slip as they are usually equipped with few berths. We were very lucky and we still have to thank Eduardo, the head of the marina who was very kind and helpful.
From San Carlos to Guaymas
Fonatur Marina in Guaymas
We took advantage of the stop to celebrate Sergio’s birthday in a restaurant by the sea where we honored the different dishes of excellent “mariscos”, in an atmosphere of great joy and liveliness, perhaps even a little too noisy …
At the Doña Rosita restaurant
We spent about a week in Guaymas, unfortunately we could not find many of the items and services we still needed. We therefore decided to leave towards Mazatlan hoping to be more lucky. We made an intermediate stop in Topolobambo, both to break up the journey and to visit the Copper Canyon.
Leaving Guaymas Bay we could appreciate the coastline veiled by the fog of the early morning hours.
Leaving Guaymas Bay
From Puerto Peñasco to Guaymas
On February 24th at dawn we finally left the mooring heading to San Carlos.
The port of Puerto Peñasco
A few minutes later, we had the pleasant surprise of receiving from our friend Homero a photograph of our boat that was passing the cape of Puerto Peñasco.
Leaving Puerto Peñasco
San Carlos is about 280 nautical miles away. After two years of stopping we couldn’t wait to get Zoe sailing. With the wind in the stern, that is from the north-west that in this season blows quite constantly, we left a little anxious for fear of having left out some necessary work, but above all wondering if those we had completed would have withstood the test of the sea. What immediately became apparent to us was that we should have covered ourselves adequately as the temperature would not have been particularly mild for quite some time.
It took us about four days to get to San Carlos, with four overnight stops. We spent the first night in the quiet bay of Tepoca: a safe anchorage in front of a long white beach, where we arrived around 10 pm. The next stop was the small Isla Patos, just north of the much larger Isla Tiburon. Also in this case, we arrived at night and in the morning we had the pleasant surprise of finding a large colony of sea lions.
Isla Patos
After circumnavigating the west coast of Isla Tiburon sailing with a wind that constantly exceeded 20 knots, we quickly arrived in Bahia Risco Colorado, in the south of the island, sheltered from the northwest wind, typical of this season.
Bahia Risco Colorado
The last stop was Bahia San Pedros, a short sailing from our final destination. The following morning we reached the bay of San Carlos, whose entrance is extremely suggestive and where the Cerro Tetakawi stands out for its very particular shape.
Entrance to San Carlos
Bahia San Carlos and the Cerro Tetakawi
When we arrived at the marina, we found that the only available slip was in an area quite exposed to the prevailing waves and winds. The marina of San Carlos is in a scenically spectacular position, especially when the lights of the sunset project various shades of reds over the reliefs surrounding the bay.
Marina San Carlos
San Carlos is a tourist town, inhabited by many retired U.S. and Canadian citizens. The day after our arrival we scoured the surroundings and reached the nearby town of Guaymas, intending to visit the marinas where we could leave Zoe for the hurricane season (June to October). The San Carlos/Guaymas area is considered a relatively safe port. During our research we learned that a berth had just become available in the government marina. In the main Mexican ports there are these Fonatur marinas, quite inexpensive and well organized. It is not easy to find a slip as they are usually equipped with few berths. We were very lucky and we still have to thank Eduardo, the head of the marina who was very kind and helpful.
From San Carlos to Guaymas
Fonatur Marina in Guaymas
We took advantage of the stop to celebrate Sergio’s birthday in a restaurant by the sea where we honored the different dishes of excellent “mariscos”, in an atmosphere of great joy and liveliness, perhaps even a little too noisy …
At the Doña Rosita restaurant
We spent about a week in Guaymas, unfortunately we could not find many of the items and services we still needed. We therefore decided to leave towards Mazatlan hoping to be more lucky. We made an intermediate stop in Topolobambo, both to break up the journey and to visit the Copper Canyon.
Leaving Guaymas Bay we could appreciate the coastline veiled by the fog of the early morning hours.
Leaving Guaymas Bay