Change of Plans

As we sailed from the Guaymas area, we weren't troubled by our slow progress. Topolobampo lay 210 miles to our south - lots of leeway for arriving during daytime after a two night passage. In the middle of the first night the flaw in this plan was discovered, but until then, we were just happy to be bound for warmer water.

The sun peeked coyly from behind the sails, teasing us with its warmth and tickling the solar panels. Our battery could have used more input now that we were running radar. We carried on throughout the day, adusting sails and course as needed. When increasing winds caused the seas to build we shortened sail to reduce the yawing, slewing and rolling. A little slower proved to be significantly more comfortable.

We eased into the night without too much trepidation. There was an airbrush of colour on the horizon and the slice of waxing moon was approaching Venus - pretty. After moonset we enjoyed a beautiful array of stars, while Hoku Pa'a activated her own glow of bioluminescence. Dolphins came by in the night, revealed mostly by bright green trails in the water. While those parts were all nice, the motion of the boat became more and more annoying, with lots of jarring as we lurched back and forth downwind with some splooshes making their way into the cockpit. Sleep was not easily obtained on this first night at sea.

The winds cooperated and we made good time throughout that second day, although we were pulled between going faster and keeping the boat motion tolerable. There was a large shoal patch to avoid before the anchorage, as we raced the sun. It was tempting to cut the corner but we skirted the edge - better to arrive late than not at all. We did see a trawler in closer - that's the benefit of local knowledge. Finally, we rounded up onto a closehauled course, making a beeline for our destination, still a few miles away. In the end, the sun won, but did give us a nice farewell. However, we were close enough to see the shadows of the shoreline and San Ignacio has a hazard-free approach. We made our way safely in the dark and dropped anchor at the GPS waypoint provided by the guidebook. Phew! We avoided spending the night sailing around in circles at the harbour entrance of Topolobampo, and skipped a second night at sea. All in all, a good revision.

Sunset as we approached San Ignacio anchorage.

Our Pacific Sierra dinner, courtesy of three local fishers.

We checked out our new neighbourhood in the morning light. We were parked about 400m off a very long tan sand beach swept up into dunes about 10 feet high. A few cows grazed in one direction and the other way, perhaps a mile down the beach, a coyote could be seen. What made this place easy to approach in the night also meant it was fairly open to swell but the idea of moving again so soon was unappealing. A panga with three fishers stopped by the morning just to say hello. When we asked if they had fish they said they'd have to catch some and bring it later. They returned in the afternoon with 4 nice Pacific Sierra but we insisted we could only take two. We feared any more would go to waste without a fridge to preserve them. They didn't want money but asked for galletas (cookies) which we happily provided. Our fish dinner was very tasty, and for dessert I suggested Bjarne hail the Danish freighter anchored off Topolobampo to inquire if they had wienerbrød to spare; alas, we concluded that 6 miles was too far to dinghy, even for danish pastries.

Topolobampo's harbour entrance was 7.5 miles away and the channel itself leading to town is another 12. At the channel we encountered other vessels including a trawler, a tug with a large barge in tow, and a dredging ship, but there was plenty of room for us. As we motored inward, we happily speculated about other cruisers at the marina and what they might be doing that night to celebrate New Year's Eve. We didn't have a very good map showing where Marina Fonatur was but from a distance were able to pick out the distinctive building (all the government-owned Fonaturs were built from the same blueprints). Great, we are on track!

As we neared, however, our eyes lit upon pilings with no docks and a ramp that dropped off into the water. Windows on the main building were either newspapered over or broken. Change of plan! We thought there was another marina but didn't know where it was (turned out to be up a different branch of the channel). A tour along the waterfront let us scope out the town while searching for a place to anchor; we ended up back in front of the ex-Fonatur. So, no showers but we couldn't complain about the price.

Most of Topolobampo is perched on a hillside.

Life centres around the malecón and the waterfront.

Franco, Johana, Paul, Bjarne, and Maria, enjoying Pacifico Clara, brewed in nearby Mazatlán.

Although the marina showers didn't pan out, we still thought we should wash off 2019's dirt. But, just as Bjarne finished pouring solar-heated water into our shower bag, a small speed boat floated up with four folks aboard. Keep your shirt on and set that plan on hold. We chatted a bit and learned one of them (Paul) had lived in Ottawa for three years in his youth. We invited them aboard, put out some peanuts, Paul brought out the ceviche his girlfriend had made and we had an instant fiesta! The peanuts were a good choice as Paul said he could tell they came from his family's farm. Much of the conversation was in english but we did try out some of our spanish.

Our guests all enjoyed the lovely sunset and then returned to their vessel to get to a New Year's Eve party in a nearby town. We were invited but the logistics were too complicated: where would we be, would the boat be OK, and how would we get back? As an aside, that town (Los Mochis) also happens to be the hometown of the notorious drug kingpin El Chapo. After our visitors departed, our shower water still retained a bit of heat so we arrived in 2020 reasonably clean.

Strolling around town in the morning along the malecón we encountered a few folks just wrapping up their partying. Chickens, like in most Mexican towns we've seen, roamed the streets (one failed to cross quickly enough - a sad sight for us). We declined the offers of several tour boat operators to take us out: no, we want to be on land right now! We located the other marina (more on that later), looked at artwork and various statues, picked up a few supplies, took pictures and had ice cream. A successful day of touristing.

A fun way to collect plastic trash.

A nicely decorated sidewalk.

The net being cast by this fisher was very realistic looking.

Waiting for the bathroom to be available?

We'd had a leisurely afternoon and were now preparing pizza (a good start to the new year!), with a completely predictable evening on the horizon. That changed quickly with Paul's text to say he was 5 minutes away - did we want visitors? Sure, come on over! Since it was only a small pizza, we hastily set out other food and cheerfully modified our quiet-evening plans. It appears very little is predictable.

Paul and company arrived about 40 minutes later. He hadn't seen our text reply right away so he and his two companions went ahead and enjoyed their shrimp kabobs on the beach but saved two for us. We enjoyed their company, change of pace, and learning a bit more about the area. Festivities celebrating the new year continued throughout the night. We were sitting below in the evening when suddenly it sounded like a marching band was going by. Sure enough, a group of musicians, complete with tuba player, was entertaining the waterfront from the deck of a boat.

Floating oom-pah-pah music

Our anchorage turned out to be comfortably protected. Sunrises over Ohuira Bay made for pretty views in the calm mornings. Probably the least attractive part of the scenery was the lonely former marina. The Baja Ferry parked itself nearby when in town and only made us a little bit nervous while manoeuvering. Two ospreys were often soaring overhead or perched on the abandoned building. The pole for their nest was rather askew but seemed remarkably stable (not that we tested it). Now and again, other birds would visit.

Topolobampo seen from our anchorage.

Hoku Pa'a anchored in the midground, with the loud-horned Baja Ferry behind.

Osprey's claiming a power pole.

Lovely hairdo!

Fine - no inland tours right now so time to head south. To avoid a two-night passage we would stop hway to Mazatlán at Altata, but timing was important. The entrance is a bar-crossing (not the good kind of bar), and should be entered at slack tide. We kept our speed down thoughout the night so as not to arrive too early but, wouldn't you know, the wind died at dawn. After a couple hours of motoring, we arrived at our best guess for the right time. However, we weren't certain where the pass was as sandbars shift around. Although our chartplotter marked the pass, our depths were shallower than predicted. Additionally, with large breakers rolling in, we could not actually see the entrance. That's too scary for us. You guessed it - change of plan! Mazatlán, here we come. What's one more night at sea compared to smashing your boat up? Missing Altata did not cause much angst, but oh! - the pain of all those miles of shortened sail and wasted time and fuel motoring toward shore!

Retreating from Altata. The breakers were bigger than they look!

Dawn! We made it through that second night at sea.