Topolobampo, 10,000 miles and Grandkids

Location:  Gantt, AL (Dave and B), Topolobampo (Seabiscuit)

We finally left Mazatlan on Christmas day.  For the few days before, we finished doing maintenance work including changing the hull zincs.  They hadn't been changed since we were in the shipyard in Alabama in spring of 2013 and it was time.  We took on 430 gallons of fuel on Christmas eve and then left the marina to spend the night out at the Stone Island anchorage.  The weather predicted for Christmas day was clear and calm so a good day to travel.  Our destination was Topolobampo, a small town about 220 miles north, still on the mainland Mexico side of the Sea of Cortez.  We left the anchorage about 7:00 a.m.  If we averaged 7.5 kts we would arrive in Topolobampo about 12 noon on the 26th.  As noted in the photo below, the seas were very calm.  In the middle of the night, we traveled through an area with a lot of small fishing boats.  We could see them on the radar and could see the flashing lights on some of their fishing gear but most of them have no lights on their boats and we couldn't pick them out of the darkness.  Early in the morning, we surpassed 10,000 miles of travel on the boat.  Dave and my friend Jennie had reset the triplog to 0 shortly after we bought her, so rolling over 10,000 miles was quite an achievement  (Ok, this doesn't sound like much if you are driving a car, most people average over 10,000 miles a year... But think about how long it would take to travel that far at less than 10 miles an hour...)

New hull zinc compared to the ones we replaced.
The forward zincs had much less material
remaining than the aft zincs.

Sunset on Christmas day on the journey
to Topolobampo.  The seas were so calm
they were like a mill pond.

The town of Topolobampo is about 12 miles up a marked channel.  We arrived at the channel entrance about 10:00 a.m. and, rather than going all the way into town, we decided to drop the anchor near a small island, Isla Santa Maria, just north of the channel.  We dropped the hook and settled in for a relaxing afternoon.  The wind was projected to blow over the next few days so we stayed in the anchorage until the 30th, relaxing, doing a few boat chores, taking the dinghy to the beach and walking along the sand dunes and watching the birds.  Except for one afternoon when a sport fishing boat pulled in to avoid the wind and waves, we were the only boat anchored in the area.

On the 30th, we pulled up anchor at about 9:30 a.m. and headed north towards Guaymas/San Carlos.  Another relatively uneventful overnight trip, 186 miles, 24.7 hours.  We  pulled into San Carlos Bay and dropped the anchor.

Sea lions resting on a buoy, Topolobampo channel.

Brown boobies diving for fish outside the
entrance of the channel.

Dolphins playing.

Sunrise near Guaymas / San Carlos Bay.

Our plan was to stay at anchor for a day and then move into one of the marinas in the area where we planned to leave the boat while we made a trip to the U.S.  We had talked to the folks at Marina San Carlos while we are at anchor near Topolobampo.  They told us they didn't have any space, but a boat was supposed to leave on the 31st and then we could have their slip.  We called the marina after we were anchored up and they said the boat was still in the slip, the marina office would be closed for New Year's Day and we should call again on Friday.  We took the dinghy into the marina Thursday morning to check things out.  Most everything was closed, but we had some lunch at a dockside restaurant and then went back out to the boat.

Rock, shaped like an Indian chief head, on the
south side of the entrance to San Carlos Bay.

Friday morning we called the marina again and still no space.  We called the other marina in the area and they also didn't have a space big enough for our boat.  We could see a few empty slips from where we were anchored so we took the dinghy into the marina to ask them about those spaces.  We were told that those spaces were being repaired and wouldn't be available for another two weeks.  Now, like Jesus, Joseph and Mary, we were searching for a space to stay because there was no room at the inn.  We called the marina back in Topolobampo to see if they had space for us.  They said they did, so we made the decision to head back south.

We left early the next morning to do another overnight back to Topolobampo.  As we were preparing to heave up the anchor, we watched a catamaran, Kat2Fold depart the bay.  Mid-morning, we came up on a fleet of shrimping trawlers, traveling in generally the same direction at about the same speed as us.  We turned on the radar to do some radar practice while it was daylight and we could actually see the targets.  The seas were a little rough and we did some rocking and rolling along the way.  We reached the channel entrance just as the sun was rising and were tied up in the marina by 8:30 a.m.  

The marina is fairly new, built in 2012 with about 40 slips with plans to expand to 150 slips.  Most of the boats there are sport fishers or power pleasure boats.  Later the same day, Kat2Fold pulled in.  We went down the dock to meet and greet Brian and he told us he had some trouble on the voyage down from San Carlos and thought his boat was going to fall apart.  His boat is a very unique design.  It is a catamaran designed to fold up so that it can be moved on a trailer.  Brian is from Idaho and earns his sailing money building straw bale houses during the summer so that he can cruise on his boat during the winter.

About 4:30 we wandered into town to check out the activity and look for a good place to have a cold beer.  Sunday is a busy family day in a lot of Mexican towns and Topolobampo is no exception.  We walked along the water front, looked at all the treats the street vendors were offering and bought a yellow sundress for our granddaughter.  Then we stopped at a small restaurant and had beer and shrimp for supper.  The next day we road the bus into Los Mochis to pick up our rental car for the drive to the U.S.  We prepared the boat to leave it unattended - defrosted the frig and freezer, cleaned, closed the sea chests, and showed Eduardo, the daytime security guy at the marina, what to do if the bilge alarm goes off.  He also agreed to wash the topsides and clean the bottom while we were away.

We hit the road early Tuesday morning for the drive to the U.S.  We reached the border at Nogales (Arizona) about 3:00 p.m. and crossed with no issues.  We drove into Tucson, bought some beers and checked into our hotel for the night.  The next day, we went over to my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Fritz's house for supper, pizza and beer.  My cousin Barbara was in town from California and my Uncle Jim and Aunt Donna from South Dakota are spending the winter in the area so we got to see everyone.

B, Uncle Jim, Cousin Barbara, Aunt Margaret, Uncle Fritz, Dave

Dave hitchhiking.  We ran out of gas between
Fort Stockton and Ozona, TX.  Where were
the signs saying 150 miles to the next gas station?

 The next day we drove to Fort Stockton and spent the night.  The following day we traveled to Austin to spend time with Ben, Cat and the grandkids.  We spent 10 days there, going to the park, the children's museum, the zoo, taking walks around the neighborhood and spending a lot of quality time visiting and playing.

Maggie at Saturday gymnastics.

Dave with Bubby and Maggie, going
into Cabela's to look at the animals and fish.

Catherine and Maggie at The Thinkery
(The Austin Children's Museum)

Then the rest of the drive to the farm.  We stopped at Casino Coushatta and met up with friends Sheila and Joe.  Nobody won any money.  Next a stop in Biloxi.  The casinos there were also stingy and we didn't win anything.  Finally, the farm where we are now.  We have been busy with farm chores, hunting, walking the woods, etc.  More on that in the next blog.