Cruising in Northern Mexico – Utopia and Upkeep

After arriving in Mexico in October, following our passage down the Pacific West Coast, we settled into Ensenada for a month to address the many glitches our extended shakedown cruise had generated. In addition to a leaking prop seal, the rudder bearing had started knocking and needed replacing. We also wanted to sort out an intermittent fault with the engine starter, fix a generator problem, sort out a fuel problem that had started as we approached Ensenda, try to resolve an issue with our roller furling main, fix our broken bow thruster, commission the water maker, service the engine, and go up the mast to check everything out. This was all in addition to trying to have a sunshade made and fixing a few broken bits on our enclosure.

To be clear, when we left Victoria, only a couple of these issues were known. We had spent over six months of hard work preparing to leave – most of the problems had developed on our journey south.

Needless to say, the month went quickly. With the weather cooling and us having to find our jumpers again (we had been in shorts and T-shirts since Los Angeles, three months before), once nearly all the issues had been addressed we headed off south in search of warmer climes.

The journey south was pretty challenging (not helped by ongoing fuel issues), but by the time we reached Cabo San Lucas we were starting to get into the swing of some proper cruising.

Top: Cocktails by the pool!; Bottom: Charles in his “man-cave”.

We had stopped in some wonderful, isolated bays such as Bahia Santa Maria, Los Fralles, and Bahia de los Muertas, and met many cruisers on similar journeys on the way. Arriving in La Paz in mid-December, we felt we were truly on our way to cruising utopia. By then, of course, we had created a new to-do list. But at least now we were mostly making improvements rather than fixing things.

La Paz was an amazing cruising hub with a mix of cruisers that were either planning to spend the winter in the Sea of Cortez, prepping for crossing to the South Pacific, or those, like us, who were destined for Mainland Mexico and points further south. In talking with the other cruisers, our experience of a pretty hairy trip down the Pacific west coast followed by a massive list of stuff to fix, was pretty normal. Indeed, on reaching La Paz, many of the cruisers realized that they had a lot more work to do to get ready for the next stage of their journey.

Preparing for Christmas in La Paz

Over Christmas and into January, we explored the southern areas of the Sea of Cortez as well as doing more upkeep on the boat. Even with things in good order, we still had breakages (our throttle cable broke unexpectedly in a very isolated anchorage, for example), which gave us a serious case of ‘engine anxiety’ whenever we were in a situation where we had to rely on it. We had also torn a gash in our dinghy on some rocks and were struggling to properly fix it.

In addition, there was (as usual) a long list of checks and maintenance chores to do. Of additional note, we found that in January, La Paz and the Sea of Cortez is a very windy place with almost constant northerly winds of 15 to 25 knots, making even the best anchorages lively places. All this was becoming fairly wearing on us. As we talked to others, we realized that we had all hit a ‘post-Christmas slump’, sick of working so hard on the boat and fighting to find the spares needed, and not having the idyllic anchorages that we had dreamt of.

Luckily for us, as February came around, we could start heading off to the mainland. As we made progress down to Puerta Vallarta and beyond, the weather improved dramatically, the boat started to perform way better and with fewer issues, and the sailing conditions improved.

Another thing had changed with us too: our attitude to broken stuff on the boat. Previously, with our BC cruising mindset and readily available chandleries and boatyards, we were freaked out every time something wasn’t working right, and we had to get it fixed. Now, in Mexico, we have embraced the fact that things will break (now fully buying into the adage that if it’s working, it just hasn’t broken yet) and are learning to take this in our stride. We now also understand that things can often stay broken for a while, without significantly disadvantaging us.

As we cruise down the Gold Coast in Mexico (Chamela, Tenacatita, Manzanillo), we are getting into the groove of things more, and looking forward (!) to the next phase as we confront the Tehuantepec and Papagayo weather systems on our way to summer in Costa Rica and Panama.

Over the hump, perfect cruising grounds

Some key take aways from our last six months:

• Ensenada gets cool in November. It is best to move off early in the month to follow the good weather.
• In the Sea of Cortez, the Northerly winds of winter can put a real crimp on cruising plans and enjoyment. The locals who cruise down here tend to spend the winter on the mainland (Mazatlán and South) and head up to the Sea of Cortez only in March when the northerly winds abate.
• When doners joke about cruising being “boat maintenance in exotic locations”, it’s not a joke – it is life. If you can’t handle this as a significant part of your life while cruising, think hard about going!
• There is no such thing as a perfectly prepared boat that will not give you trouble. Every system is just waiting to break and expertise to fix things is difficult to find. Knowing how to fix it yourself is vital once past the US.
• Spares are very hard to source and much more expensive once you leave the US (to say nothing of the challenge of importing spares if you need them from another country). If you think you might need something, buy two before you leave Canada and/or the US. Leaving slightly poorer but with a massive set of spares is better than being stuck trying to import something to a faraway location to get you moving again.
• Get a really good quality set of wheels for your dingy, and a professional grade dingy repair kit before you leave – these will pay dividends over your trip.
• Having a dry sack(s) for your shore bag is a great idea – saves everything getting wet on the ride in or out.