Two Boats are Better Than One

After the 16-day sail from Baja to Hawaii and the 22-day passage back to Washington last year, I decided that long passages are for the whales! With just the two of us it was just boring and I felt like a zombie at the end.

The perfect solution to spending the summers in the Pacific Northwest and the winters in the Sea of Cortez, it seemed to me, was to have a boat in each location. Greg didn't agree. He kept insisting that he did not want to work on TWO boats. I pointed out that he would never work on more than one boat at a time. What's the difference between working on one boat 12 months a year and working 6 months on one in the south and 6 months on one in the north? True, there would be more expenses, but it might be possible to pull this off.

For the last six months I have been searching for a Baja boat. The boat would have to provide comfortable living space for five months, be self-sufficient (we prefer private coves to marinas), require little to get it ready to sail and , the big one, be affordable. My budget was quite small: $20,000. At this point you are probably saying "SHE'S CRAZY".

Right now boats are like houses; the market is flooded and there are deals to be had. Additionally, people sail boats to the Sea of Cortez and then just walk away from them and this is where the really good deals are. Yachtworld, mazmarine and Sea of Cortez Yachts (via yachtworld) websites have been the most useful tools for my search. I insisted that Greg look at my boats just to humor me. Several boats appeared to have promise but under closer scrutiny proved to have problems. The number one issue was engines. Gasoline was out and the engine had to be in good repair and properly sized for the boat. Number two was hull and deck integrity. I kept coming back to one boat, a Cal 34 located in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. The pictures on the Sea of Cortez Yachts website showed a well-cared for boat on the outside and a dark, cramped interior filled with personal items. The specs showed a boat loaded with everything we wanted except a watermaker. I checked out a newer Cal 34 in a nearby marina and it seemed roomy enough. Maybe this boat would work.

One day Greg was walking around our marina and came upon one of our sailor friends. The fellow told Greg that his wife wanted to sell their boat, a beautiful 37' Gozzard yacht, for a larger one. Greg mentioned that I wanted to buy a second boat.  Our friend told him that he had thought that he was lucky man with a wife that wanted a bigger boat - but a wife that wanted two - WOW.

Not long after that Greg asked me if I really wanted to buy a second boat. Of course I did! I was totally serious about this. Our plan for the last 11 years has always been to sail in the north during the summers and the south in the winter. And this was the means to that end.

To my total shock he told me to look into buying tickets to San Carlos because we needed to look at the boat.

San Carlos Marina with Tetakawi in the Distance

We ended up with a combo of plane and bus transportation. We flew from Bellingham, WA to Phoenix, AZ. From there we took a Mexican Tufesa bus to Guaymas, Mx. No chickens or goats on this bus. It was a large air-conditional tour bus. We caught a taxi over to San Carlos. The road from the border to Guaymas is a four-lane toll road. We didn't get robbed, attacked or murdered.

 

Marinaterra Hotel and San Carlos Marina

We stayed in the Marinaterra Hotel which is located right on San Carlos Marina so we could easily walk to the broker's office (I really wanted a nice view too).

Marinaterra Lobby

The grounds around the hotel were beautifully landscaped. The Mexican gardeners pruned the ficus trees (the ones we keep as house plants) into interesting shapes. This one is an Aztec mask while others were shaped like little houses perched on trunks.

Enjoying our spacious room

Breakfast

 

 

 

 

Our room was very clean and comfortable. There weren't any little taco stands in the area so we had several meals at the hotel restaurant. The food was always excellent and the staff attentive. This area was pretty much for gringos and lacked the Mexican flavor that we like.

Difficult Choice

We had a list of five boats to look at. Greg scratched the catamaran off the list immediately because "Sonia hadn't warmed up to the idea at all". One boat had dry rot in the bulkheads so we didn't bother looking at it. The 1959 41' Rhodes was tempting but the owners had attempted to install an 18 hp engine (on a 41 foot boat?) that they had found on eBay. Pass on that one. That left the 1966 Cal 34 and a 1964 Ericson Alberg. Greg had told me that he would never consider an Ericson so this puzzled me.

The Alberg appeared to be sound mechanically and the interior was very nice with etched glass mirrors and art glass lamp shades. The woodwork was very nicely finished. The layout looked livable. It wasn't loaded with all the extras though and it had the dreaded full keel.

The Cal was just like its pictures plus about 10 lbs of Mexican dirt that had settled on it.

We had to make a choice on which boat to have hauled into the work yard so Greg could survey it. We went round and round and couldn't decide. The Alberg was so nicely finished  and the Cal was not aesthetically pleasing at all. The wiring, which looked like a massive spider web, offended Greg's senses (plus he would have to eventually rewire the whole boat). We had to get down to the ultimate determining factor. What's most important to us? Maneuverability. Decision made - its the Cal named Gitana (Sea Gypsy).

Gitana two years ago.

Marina Seca (dry marina) where the boats are stored on the hard is a short walk from Marina San Carlos. Over three hundred boats are stored in the secure area which features unique hurricane resistance posts to prevent the "domino effect" when storms hit. This area can only be accessed from  8:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 5:00 Monday-Sunday for short periods of time. Only authorized people can access the area for quick check ups, always accompanied by a guard. There is strict security 365 days a year 24/7.

The work yard is between the guard gate and the inner secure area. There's water, power and ladders. You can live aboard your boat while you work on it. A restroom and shower facility are close by.

San Carlos Marina is owned by a couple of former gringos. The story or how they came to own the marina is very interesting. It involves winning a million dollars in the Mexican lottery.
http://www.marinasancarlos.com/about.php

Gitana on the Hard

Some things in Mexico are so incredibly inexpensive. We were were charged $80 to move the boat into the work area and replace it in the secure yard 24 hours later.

Greg spent about two hours "tapping" the hull checking for bubbles. It was sound. The deck is a little "flexy" but they weren't built like they are now.

That's a mermaid holding the anchor in place.

The very inviting cockpit. It's as big as the one on our 42'.



The dinette is comfortable and the cushions and upholstery are in great shape. The table drops down to make a double bed.

Galley is just like my current one.

This is tiller boat and the helm is not "pretty". Sitting with my back against this bulkhead is out of the question. We will probably just have to live with it.

The control panel is another area that isn't very aesthetically pleasing. This will eventually be replace with a much smaller and attractive control panel.

The cushions at lower right are stuffed into the port quarter berth (the guest room).

After inspecting the interior Greg decided to dive into the cockpit lockers to see what treasures lie below. There were so many hand tools and power tools that Greg probably won't have to take anything off of Comocean. There were boxes of nuts, bolts and electrical fittings. A wet suit, fins and weight belt.

This boat is an estate sale and this boat holds the former owners entire life. When he knew his life was near its end he just walked away and left everything behind.

Spelunking in the cockpit.

We knew that the batteries hadn't been maintained and all six would probably need to be replaced. The head sail was in sad shape. Greg figured that he could cut down our old head sail from Comocean. He also discovered that the boom had been broken mid span at one time and cobbled back together. This is an easy fix and not too terribly expensive to repair. Back at the hotel we used the business center to research booms and prices.    

Once we knew everything that had to be replaced or repaired and verified that the boat could be launched relatively quickly we made our offer. Asking $20,000 / offered $16,000. Our offer was accepted and the remaining $4000 will easily cover everything that we will need to do to get Gitana in the water and under sail.

In the afternoon of our last day in San Carlos we walked down the beach to the only restaurant with an unobstructed view of the ocean. It's menu is also unique - Mexican and Greek. Neither of us wanted to come back. We had enjoyed the sunny days and 87 degree weather. At least now we know that next winter we will be back here.

Comming down we had taken a shuttle ($45) from the Phoenix airport to the Tufesa terminal and a taxi ($20) from Guaymas to the hotel in San Carlos. We were smarter on our way back north. We discovered that there was a bus stop right across the street from the hotel and the bus went right to Tufesa for $1 each. Once we were in Phoenix with a 9 hour wait we called the local transit company and got directions for taking a bus (several actually plus lt rail) back to the airport. That was $5.25 each. South = $65, North = $12.50. The Mexican bus wasn't fancy, but it didn't have any livestock or homeless people and the Phoenix buses/lt rail were convenient and we enjoyed seeing the sites.

When escrow closes we'll be driving back down to San Carlos to empty the boat of the former owners personal belongings and excess STUFF. We want to cover the dinghy which is on the bow to protect it from the sun and may remove the running rigging for the same reason. We'll take lots of measurements and bring the boom back with us along with a load of stuff to sell.

Mexico isn't the scary place that the American press has lead us to believe and there are great adventures and deals to be had.

Back home at Semiahmoo with the moon hanging over Mt Baker.