Northward bound
02 April 2008 | Altata
Gabriellas grandpa
Finally left San Blas and sailed up to Mazatlan on some very nice seas. Pulled into my favorite spot(Singular marina) and bought 3 nights stay. I could'nt get the thermostat housing in Mazatlan, so I guess it will be the McGyver'd version for the rest of the trip to Guaymas. I just added more high temp gasket goop and I'm sure it will last the rest of the trip north. My friends Chuck and Elaine(I remembered names!) on Boomerang talked me into going to Altata which is 105 north on the mainland coast. From there it would be a nice beam reach across the Sea of Cortez to La Paz. After an all-nighter up the coast we came upon the entrance which is a bar crossing with huge BREAKERS. After milling around for awhile contemplating are next move, Chuck commandeered a panga fisherman to guide us in. We followed the panga and he took right in on the surf and needless to say, my laundry bill just went up. After making it in and motoring for an hour and a half we anchored off the tourist(Mexican) palapas lining the beach. It was quite a bit different from all the other places I've been. They park their cars and pickups on the low tide spits and when the tide comes in it covers their wheels.....I guess they don't care about salt damage. I took the bus to Navota, which is a farming town of about 60,000 inhabitants. I love these land trips by bus to towns that are not tourist related and I'm the only gringo around. After spending 3 days in Altata it was time to go across the Sea to La Paz. I was the first to pull anchor and start the trek out of the lagoon to the breakers. Following me was Capricorn Cat and Boomerang as we left behind Moontide. Capricorn Cat and Moontide are cataramans and Boomerang and Mannasea are trimarans. Multihulls Rule........We were the only boats in Altata and created the Altata Yacht Club. Anyway..on the way out I was going to let Cap Cat lead us out because we were a little smarter and knew where the breaks were the smallest. Before I knew it the other boats were on my tail and I kept going because I thought I had a handle on the route out. It was a little better than coming in and was quite proud of myself for leading the pack out. It was a nice slog across the Sea to La Paz.