A mystery in the marina was why all the sunken and damaged boats continued to lie right where the storm left them, with masts and tangled rigging hanging over the dock and impeding walking traffic over a month after the storm. While there were some attempts to mitigate oil and diesel leaks, they were mostly ineffectual.

So as we came back down from the islands we snagged a slip directly behind the formerly sunken catamaran and the poor monohull right next to it, it was great to see progress, with 4 of the 8 boats now floating and the docks clear of obstacles and power now available. Walking around the cat, the violence of the storm becomes clear, with both sterns torn off below the waterline. Looking into those holes it was clear there were no water tight bulkheads forward of the engines.


The water temperature in the lower Sea of Cortez has been 86-88F but is slowly cooling, signaling us to start planning for heading South.

Rina and I will head back to the islands for a couple days, alone after almost 5 weeks of crew and wonderful guests. A norther is coming through this Sunday and Monday, and with it much cooler water. After the norther clears out, we are headed ~200 miles across the Sea of Cortez to Mazatlan, which we have not visited since 2008. We'll hop down to Los Muertos and Frailes, and then do an overnight 160 mile beam reach to Mazatlan.