The cruise started off on an auspicious start as we were scheduled to depart
Phoenix on America’s Worst airline to Guaymas, We checked in 2 hours early, obtained our seat
assignments, went and ate lunch at Blue Burrito, came back to the
gate only to be told that the flight was overloaded (too much weight)
and that we were most likely to be pulled from the flight if there
were no passengers willing to volunteer to go on a later flight (the
next day)! Fortunately the pilot recalculated the planes weight and
balance and we were able to make the flight. Upon arrival at Marina
San Carlos I found it hard to believe that I hadn’t seen Gato Loco
since late last year (it was an excellent year for snowboarding).
After opening the boat up and stowing our gear it was “happy hour”.
We then proceed to Piccolos restaurant where we had fresh grilled
yellowtail, pasta and wine prepared by none other than Pagua,
Heidi Grossman’s aunt. The Grossman’s own the Marina. The next day we provisioned
Gato Loco for the trip and departed around noon for an uneventful
17 mile motor sail to Bahia San Pedro as
a 6 knot wind was right on our nose. We arrived with plenty of daylight
left to do some swimming, beachcombing and Yvette’s hilarious attempts
to master the art of driving the dingy. The next day dawned with
no wind so again we motor sailed to Isla San
Pedro and encountered a fog bank half way to the island which is
quite unusual for the Sea of Cortez in the middle of April. After
circumnavigating the island where there is a huge seal colony, we
headed back towards the mainland and were fortunate to have a 8
knot wind off our starboard beam and ghosted along at 6 knots with
flat seas. Now I know why I love cruising on Gato Loco! We found
a new cove about 4 mikes north of bahia San Pedro that I believe is called Seri Muerto (dead
Seri Indian) which turned out to be an excellent moorage, with snorkeling,
beachcombing, a brilliant sunset and quiet anchorage until the moon
set at approx 1:30am at which time pods of dolphins were driving
huge schools of fish towards the boat for a night time feed. The
whole bay became alive with a feeding frenzy as we could follow the
schools of fish and the path of the dolphins by their surreal glowing
as the fish would leave a contrail from the bioluminescence in their
wake. This show kept us awake most of the
night as we thought they were going to jump in the boat! One of the
better shows by nature that I have ever experienced! The next day
dawned warm and muggy but turned to overcast skies and gusting wind.
No worries as Gato Loco made the trip south with ease to Catch 22
beach, where Yvette took a siesta, learned to play Gin then caught
a sierra mackerel, which became excellent cevichi for
dinner. Monday dawned clear, warm and no wind! Well no problama as we went ashore for a stroll on the playa to
a nice new time share resort and swam in their pool for a couple
of hours. We then motored to the old Club Med, went sight seeing
and observed that most of the damage caused by hurricane Marti had
been remedied. After lunch we left for Martini cove at the entrance
to San Carlos harbor and proceeded to follow the Mexico mantra, “the
toughest decision is what to drink and even if you do a boo boo and
concoct the wrong cocktail, you can fix it on the next drink.” Yvette
is now a first rate mate and a convert to the cruising life! It has
been 19 years since my last visit to San Carlos and I was impressed with the marina and town
and how much it had been cleaned up. I was only 10 years old on our
family’s first trip to this area and this visit brought back many
memories.
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San Carlos cruising ground
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