Journey from South Dakota to San Carlos Mexico

Harley feeling right at home

December 11,2017 The day had finally arrived to leave for Mexico! We were up at the crack of dawn hustling around the house, getting some last minute packing done, taking showers and using the water and toilets before Dave, the plumber came to help winterize the home.

Dave was punctual as usual wearing a big bright smile. I said hello and asked how he was doing, and he replied, “great…it’s morning!” He always has the best attitude….actually like most South Dakotans! He and Rick got to work right away, turning off the gas, pumping the water out of the pipes and then pouring antifreeze into the pipes. All went smoothly and after locking up and saying goodbye to Raymond (the big horn sheep), we jumped in the car and headed out on our journey to Mexico. We made a brief stop into Newcastle, WY for a quick breakfast.

Car was packed to the brim leaving little space for Harley

Driving along the highway, Rick was at the wheel, Harley squished into a tiny spot in the back seat amongst the baggage, and I was in the passenger seat playing navigator. We blazed through Wyoming, Colorado and most of New Mexico this day. We stopped in Albuquerque, NM for the night around 9:30, and stayed at La Quinta. The price was right and Harley stayed for free. And…they had a free breakfast in the morning which wasn’t the greatest, but it hit the spot.

We were on the road around 8:00 a.m. the next day, December 12th. Rick again at the wheel. Fortunately he likes driving. I don’t mind it, but it’s much nicer being able to sightsee….not that there is much to see on the drive so far! The prettiest drive was through Flagstaff, AZ.

We arrived in Phoenix around 2:30 p.m. where we stopped to take care of some last minute errands. West Marine was the main reason we stopped in Phoenix. It’s the last West Marine between there and Mexico, at least the way we were going. We also had to stop at the Ford dealership to have a second key made for our vehicle just incase we were to lose our one and only key. We walked out of there a couple hours later with 175.00 less in our wallet. After leaving Phoenix, we headed to Tucson. We made a stop somewhere along the way for dinner which was not so great but there weren’t a lot of choices.

We got to Tucson around 8:45 p.m., and checked into yet another La Quinta. This one was not as nice as the last and smelled a little more like “dog” than the other. In fact as we were walking to our room, a dog was running loose in the hallway and used the carpet, several doors down, to do his business.

Tuesday morning was the big day! We planned to cross the border into Mexico! I was feeling a little anxious and excited both at the same time! You never quite know how smoothly things will go. Some friends of ours last year, had a very unpleasant experience, which I would not be too happy if it happened to us! Anyway, we left Tucson at 8:00a.m. We wanted to make sure we beat any traffic or lines at the Mexican/American border in Nogales. Well, we zipped through, no lines whatsoever and made it through to KM 21 (the immigration stop) to obtain our Visa’s! Again, there were no lines and we got in and out without a hitch. Sigh of relief!

We made it!

We were soon back in the car and on the road to San Carlos. The sun was out, weather was warm and things were going well! We were also feeling pretty excited that we were starting our 6 month journey.

On the road to San Carlos

Selling pups on the side of the road...kind of sad

Around 3:00 in the afternoon we made it to our hotel, Posada Del Desierto, which is very close to the Marina San Carlos where our boat will be docked shortly. It is a small 6 or 7 room hotel, each with a kitchenette and private patio. There is also a cute little common patio area in the back of the hotel. The place is so cute with it’s Mexican charm. The price is quite reasonable as well. The owner is very friendly and so accomodating. We really lucked out all the way around.

Patio area outside our front door

Harley checking out her new digs

View from our porch

Cozy outdoor common patio area

View of the Marina from back yard of hotel

After we dragged all of our belongings out of the car and into the hotel and got a little organized, we took a walk over to the office at the Marina and made an appointment for Solastra to be launched on Monday the 18th at 10:00 a.m. This feels a little late in the morning because the wind usually picks up by then which will make it a little stressful getting into our slip.

After setting the appointment, we walked over to Shots (a restaurant/bar in the Marina) and we each had Limonada’s and a light dinner.

We were pretty tired after dinner so we went back to our hotel and called it a night.

The next morning December 14th, we woke early and went to Barracuda Bob’s for breakfast. This is a local hangout for cruisers and the “snowbirds” who stay in San Carlos during the winter months. Oddly there were not any cruisers around. It seemed strange not to see or to run into anyone we knew. But we ARE getting a late start this season and most people have come, gotten their boats together and have headed out into the Sea probably during October. The weather is not the best for sailing down South this time of year. It’s best in either October or February through May. We will really have to pay close attention to weather windows until we get to Mazatlan.

Delicious breakfast at Barracuda Bob's

One of many little birds waiting for leftovers

Harley's best buddy...Fernando

After our delicious breakfast, we drove over to Marina Seca (the dry boat storage) and checked in at the work yard where Solastra had been moved early that morning. We climbed a tall rickety ladder and got onto Solastra and checked for any damage that may have occurred during the summer heat and rains, but we did not see anything. She was just very dusty, dirty and had some bird droppings near the stern. The stainless steel was pretty rusty as well. I always wonder why I polish the stainless before we put the boat away for summer when I know it’s going to be in worse shape when we come back for the winter. Polishing isn’t my most favorite job, but it is rewarding when you can take the rusty stainless and make it sparkle and shine again!

Solastra in Marina Seca

We checked down below and everything was as we left it…full to the brim with sails and everything else that was originally up on the deck. There was only one spot in the galley where we saw that there had been a leak either from a hatch or a Dorade overhead. As soon as we finished looking things over, Rick got right to sanding the bottom of the boat. Harley and I took the car and went to the market for a few groceries. I also went to hunt down Jimmy (the best boat cleaner/caretaker around the marina) to see if he could help us clean Solastra when she gets put back in the water. I lucked out and found him on dock A scrubbing someone’s sailboat. He remembered me/us since we had used him a couple years ago with our last boat Notre Isle. So…fortunately he had free time on Wednesday and I got him to commit to helping us then. Yay! That’s a load off our minds. Rick will be out there helping him of course which makes the job go a little faster.

Harley and I came back later in the afternoon to the boat to check in on Rick. He was doing a great job considering sanding is not his favorite chore. After a long day of him sanding and me just doing errands, we ate dinner at Tortuga’s, another little restaurant we love just on the other side of the marina. We were not disappointed! We each had a Caesar Salad with grilled chicken which was scrumptious!

Again we had an early night and got to sleep by 9:00.

Next day we had a similar routine as the day before, got up early, ate breakfast at Barracuda Bob’s and got to the work yard at Marina Seca by 8:00. Rick got busy right away and started to paint the boat bottom with a roller. I put on gloves and grabbed a paint brush and painted where Rick’s roller would not fit. Needless to say, I had the much easier job. Harley had the easiest…she got to stay in the car under the shade of a tree with the windows down napping with a nice breeze keeping her cool. We would let her hang out near the boat, but with all the paint fumes, paint droppings etc…it’s quite toxic for her!

Rick blew out the paint job in nearly 4 hours. It looked amazing! We chose black antifouling paint for the bottom mostly because at the Comex (paint store) they either had red or black paint to choose from.

After we’d done what we could do paint-wise, we decided to head back to the hotel, but we stopped at this little beach front palapa for a limonada and appetizers. It was nice to take a break and stare out at the ocean and breathe some fresh sea air after inhaling paint fumes all day.

Waiting for the paint to dry

Rick down in the hole, making sure the engine started amongst the mess

Day 4 & 5, same routine in the morning then straight to the work yard. Both days we just worked on stuff on the boat. I polished most all of the stainless and plan to finish it when the boat is back in the water. Rick made sure the motor would start (which it did), checked all the thru-hulls, put in a new bilge pump, cleaned up some wiring and started to install the new auto-pilot.

View of Tetas de Cabra from the Marina

Oh…forgot to mention that Harley took her first swim in the ocean today! It’s been a long time coming! As soon as I took her leash off at the beaches edge, she made a mad dash for the water, but glanced back at me right before jumping in for my approval. I gave her the ok and she plunged right in not caring that there was a big wave headed her way. It’s not that this wave was SO big but her timing was off and she was going to get the tail end of it and get tumbled. Sure enough she got rolled and then came back trotting to shore looking droopy and soaking wet, with seaweed hanging out of her mouth. But her tail was wagging and she jumped back in for more. It really made me smile to see her having so much fun. I was a little reluctant to let her in the water since she would smell like “wet dog” for the rest of the day. Oh well…the smell was worth seeing how much fun she had.

Beach a short walking distance from the hotel

Harley swimming haphazardly into the waves

Harley after getting rolled by the waves

This afternoon it rained steadily into the night. We had to wear long pants & jackets to dinner to stay warm and dry! I shouldn’t be complaining because back home it’s probably only in the single digits, soon to be in the negative digits!

Sitting down to dinner before the lights went out.
Nice to be inside where it was dry and warm

Tomorrow, Monday the 18th we put Solastra in the water. Praying there is no wind for a smooth landing into our slip! After tomorrow Rick will be keeping his eye on the weather to see what a good time to sail Notre Isle from Mazatlan back up here. Could be a week or two before he leaves. Once here, we will clean her up and turn her over to a boat broker…hoping we will have more luck selling her here.