Up on the Hard at Marina Seca in Guaymas
We took Good as Gold across the bay to the Marina Seca
Guaymas, or the Dirt Yard as it is fondly called. We spent two days up on the
hard having two thru-hulls fibreglassed over and two new thru-hulls made, above
the waterline.
It was very hot and dusty at the Dirt Yard and after we had thoroughly washed the boat, we were swarmed by mosquitos. We assume that water touching the dirt after a millennia caused a great release of dried insect larvae.
Fortunately, the staff at Marina Seca were waiting for us to
motor across from Fonatur. They were on the radio directing us to their travel
lift – more to starboard…ok, stay straight…a little to port… Their channel
markers get stolen regularly!
![]() |
Ready! |
![]() |
Up she goes |
The work went well, although we had to take apart some cabinetry to get at the inside of the hull. These two newly located through hulls are used for emptying the water from the shower drains any water that gets into the bilge.
![]() |
![]() |
Before | After |
It was very hot and dusty at the Dirt Yard and after we had thoroughly washed the boat, we were swarmed by mosquitos. We assume that water touching the dirt after a millennia caused a great release of dried insect larvae.
We were also anxious to return to the water as we needed to
run our engine or generator as our batteries were very low. There had been no
wind, our solar panels are ancient, and our fancy expensive 120 volt inverter-charger
kept shutting off because the voltage at the yard fluctuated between 130-139
volts. We need the inverter-charger so we can charge the batteries and use
electricity onboard.
We asked to be splashed back into the water early Monday
morning. We had made arrangements for the stainless steel guy to meet us at
noon across the bay at Fonatur. Unfortunately, we were scheduled to be the third
boat to be put into the water. The travel lift arrived at the boat about noon.
At this point we were asking (and confirming repeatedly) if the tide was still high
enough for our almost 7’ draft. The staff re-assured us, repeatedly, that there
would be no problem. The travel lift gently set us down into the mud.
We called the stainless steel guy and re-scheduled. There
was still no wind and there was not enough water, certainly not clean water, to
run the engine or generator, so we watched the battery monitor lights pulse red.
Once it was confirmed the boat was resting comfortable in
mud and was not going to move, the staff then looked at the day’s tide tables. “Yep,
low tide. We will come back in a two hours when the tide changes,” they said as
they walked away. Malcolm pointed out that if we were stuck 2 hours before the
tide changes, we will be stuck 2 hours after the tide changes, and they shouldn’t
bother to come back in 5 hours rather than 4. They looked at him quizzically
and returned in 4 hours. Although they pulled and pulled, we did not budge.
They came back an hour later and with some effort pulled us away from shore
enough to float.
We followed their instructions on where the dredged canal is
as precisely as possible: “See the white house across the bay, not the white
hotel, but the house? Steer directly toward it until it is deep.” We only
touched bottom once as we cross the bay back to Fonatur. Luckily the bottom is
just mud, so no damage was done.
When we returned to Marina Fonatur, we found that occasionally
the electricity there also spiked above 120 volts. Apparently, this is common
in Guaymas. Fortunately, Malcolm was able to by-pass the inverter and get the
batteries charged. With all those
Canadian boats at Fonatur, it felt a bit like coming home.