Sailing Northbound to Home
Start Page
Sailing Vessel "Corine" Moored to dock # 9, Marina Mazatlan, Mazatlan, Mexico. This page has been designated the start page for the site. The author has attempted to depict verbally and pictorially a northbound passage up the coast of Baja to the Southern California area from Mazatlan primarily useful for the relatively inexperienced, singlehanders and shorthanded crews. For these, its a "must" to proceed from anchorage to anchorage and for the most part, its more fun this way, that is if fun can be had on a northbound trip, the stops can give the crew more rest. This of course does not apply to the multi crewed delivery boats, crew members consisting of a Captain and unpaid friends, relatives and acquaintances. They simply fill up the boat with fuel, haul anchor and proceed to destination, through thick and thin. As a general rule, the northbound passage is a daunting task with prevailing weather from the northwest, heading to the northwest. An analogy would be salmon swimming up a swift stream to spawn, jumping up and over waterfalls with a bears standing by ready to snare one from time to time as depicted by various documentaries on such matters. These routines have been reasonably successful for the author however, as stated by the old adage, "there are many ways to skin a cat". Apologies to the cat fanciers. The basic reference is the book entitled "Charlie's Charts", the author is only submitting his experiences and hopefully a few additional tips as how to urge a small sailboat northward against wind and weather.
Marinas
As of at least March of 2002, Marina Mazatlan was still closed with the lawsuit pending, date of opening unknown but will be determined. More than likely the Isla will have slips available but when traffic increases they will be unavailable as they were last fall. That leaves El Cid which is not the favorite marina of most cruisers, El Cid is mostly a hotel and time share complex and cruisers are not the primary customer so they are not cruiser oriented as is Marina Mazatlan. For instance, for a nominal fee, checkin and checkout is accomplished by Marina Mazatlan by fax, this service is not offered by Marina El Cid, they simply tell you to do your own which is done by taxi. An e-mail message has been sent to the Marina Mazatlan requesting status and the author will keep the site advised.The author has had ample opportunity to use the services of both marinas and so is well quailified to render his comments in this regard. So therefore, for these comments please refer to the page below listed as MARINAS. The author and entourage consisting of wife and cat plan another cruise to Mazatlan in the fall of 2003 and will update the site accoringly.
Passages
The author has completed 10 one way passages across the Sea of Cortez either Mazatlan to Cabo San Lucas/Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlan or Mazatlan to Frailes or vice versa. Of these 10, two were completed by sail alone, four by a combination of sail and motor, four were a motorboat trip all the way. Significant weather will more than likely be the northerly winds that blow during the fall and winter months. Normally they come from the high northwest to the northeast at a speed of up 45 knots or more necessitating foul weather gear and shortened sail. Even this, beats grinding up the little engine.
City of Mazatlan
Mazatlan is mostly a tourist town consisting of Canadian and American tourist as well as fishermen, and cruisers. The local for free flyer, the Pacific Pearl, provides a list of the local restaurants patronized by the above and of this group the author prefers Chili's Pepper.
Site Navigation
The available links per page are listed at the bottom of the page and are arranged in logical order for passage up the coast of Baja depicting useable anchorages. After activation of a link and viewing a page, use the "back" button of the browser or the "Home" button to return to the other links. The next series of links are located on the last link at the bottom of each page. Note: The first link on each page only pertains to the host and used also by the author to edit the site.
Marina Status
We have just received a response to an e-mail message to Marina Mazatlan and they state that the marina is now open, the lawsuit apparently has been settled and dismissed, the marina apparently has been sold since the name is now the "Desarrollo Marina Mazatlan.
MARINE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
The link for this section lists the services for the most part in the Southern California area and are services the author has had ample opportunity to use over the years. Products of course are from all areas. In all cases, services and products were used by the author or the author had close personal knowledge of such services. It is amazing to the author that some, only a few, can stay in business on the basis of the way they are operated. The problems encountered are almost always created by employees with the attitude of "I just work here." The author has made every effort to be entirely objective and not merely to "spew out my invective," even though he would certainly love to do so.
THIS SITE TO INCLUDE ALL 36 PAGES AND PHOTOS HAVE BEEN FORWARDED TO A MORE USER FRIENDLY SITE "WWW.CARSONHOWE.COM", SEE LINKS PAGE.
Los Frailes Anchorage
Cabo San Lucas looking to shore
Cabo San Lucas, Outer Anchorage
Tosco Anchorage
Punta Belcher
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Copyright © 2004 Carson Howe Jr. All Rights Reserved