09 | Sailing the Sea of Cortez, Guaymas and Mazatlan

We left Puerto Escondido for the last time, setting a course to the northern tip of Isla Carmen. Our plan was to spend the night here before setting off to Guaymas, where we would reach the mainland side of the Sea of Cortez for the first time. We rested for a few hours, but after receiving an updated weather forecast, it was clear we needed to leave immediately to make it within the weather window. The night became very calm, and we motored to keep making miles. Guaymas was chosen because it has an affordable boatyard where you are allowed to do all of your own work. We had a moderate but critical list of jobs that we needed to do to prepare the boat for the next stage of our journey. When we left Seattle, our goal was just to get to the Sea of But the longer we were out here cruising, the farther over the horizon we started to set our sights. Many evenings were spent looking at the charts, and we couldn't shake the idea of sailing to the South Pacific. We decided on a passage across the equator to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. Having settled on a major offshore cruise of the Pacific, we needed to get the boat ready. My dad joined us for the long, hard days in the boatyard. The most important job was a fresh coat of high-quality bottom paint, raising the waterline yet again to accommodate our increasing displacement. Although I think that their forward-most block is like barely forward of the center of gravity, we've got that thousand pounds of chain all the way forward, so we've got to get a stand under the bow. A new stern gland was installed, and many little jobs below the waterline taken care of as well. Gleaming in her fresh coats of paint and varnish, Julia was ready for another year or so of voyaging. The work completed, we headed across the bay to anchor in front of the town. Guaymas is a blue-collar kind of place, centered around fishing with a small cargo terminal. There is a central square with a gazebo built by Eiffel, of Parisian tower fame. The winds outside the bay were strong, and the port captain closed the port for many days. We tried to make the most of the delay by starting our major provisioning for the South Pacific, filling several large tote bins with dry and canned goods. Downtown Guaymas is a one-taco-shop kind of place, and we got to know it pretty well in the evenings. We finally received clearance from the port captain to leave, and we headed out into the leftover chop for the 400 nautical mile run down the mainland coast to Mazatlan. Sunsets faded away and then became sunrises. The miles slipped past easily on flat seas. At times the wind dropped entirely, and we would motor for a while before it filled in again. The days came and went on a very pleasant and uneventful passage. We were giving up all the northward miles we had made over the last several months in one fell swoop, continuing until we had left the Sea of Cortez behind entirely and were on the open Pacific coast of Mexico. We spotted the lights of Mazatlan in the distance before sunrise one morning, and it was apparent from a distance that this was a major city. The vibrant old town district in Mazatlan is filled with art, cuisine, history, and color. Cobblestone streets wind between stately colonial buildings in pastel hues. It's clear that this has been a prosperous town for centuries. Shrimp fishing and tourism are the mainstays of the economy today. It's always a party in Mazatlan, and full brass bands seem to pop up all over town. More of our family was able to visit us, and it was great to be able to see them in this exciting place before we disappeared over the horizon. We continued to prepare the boat, visiting the municipal market for all of our fresh produce as close as possible before leaving. The water at the marina is not safe to drink, so we ordered a delivery of returnable drinking water jugs to fill our tanks. With food prices so high in the South Pacific and so low in Mexico, we wanted to carry as much as possible. At last, we had every nook and cranny filled with what we estimated was four months worth of food. It was time to face our fears, cast off the dock lines, and set out into the vast Pacific Ocean. Our intended destination was 2,800 nautical miles away, a distance equal to all the miles we had sailed thus far from Seattle, Washington to Mazatlan, Mexico. But that story will have to wait until next time.