I was talking to a local lady today that had—up until a few days ago—owned a bar here at the marina. She told me they decided to sell, in part because business sucked, and in part because the cartels had slowly been moving in. In fact, she told me, the big boss of such and such cartel lived right here in San Carlos. And the only thing I could think was why in the hell would anybody want to risk their life to make millions and millions in drug money if all it meant was they could own a big house in San Carlos? This place is terrible. Ali is mad at me for being so completely unforgiving in my assessment of it, but from the moment it came into view I knew I hated this place, and nothing has swayed me from that point of view.
My point was proven later in our conversation when she confided in me that they were moving to North Dakota. Yeah, North Dakota. The fiftieth state on my list of states to live in. If that doesn’t sum up everything there is to sum up about San Carlos I don’t know what would.
We’re here to haul the boat out in a few days, get the bottom painted, straighten out a few thru-hull issues, repack the prop shaft and the rudder shaft, and get back out again. So I shouldn’t really care about the place, but for some reason it just irks me. I think what bugs me most is the distances. I crave compactness these days—and this place is not compact. It’s about half a mile walk from the boat to the road. With two little kids a walk of that distance can take anywhere from thirty minutes to six hours. From there it’s another quarter mile to either the OXXO or the small supermarket. And really that’s about it aside from a super gringo-ized restaurant.
Today we caught the bus into town. “Town.” San Carlos is just a strip of crap situated alongside a four-lane highway with a parallel road (as if the founding fathers expected the population to boom to several hundred thousand and wanted to be ready). Our bus driver was hauling along so fast that we didn’t realize until it was too late that we’d just passed through the whole town and were now on our way to Guaymas. We got out and hiked back a few hundred yards to the first restaurant we came across. We ate an overpriced meal overlooking the ocean by first looking over six lanes of road, then took the kids home and fed them again.
I must be cranky (this is one of my crankiest posts ever). Ali’s been telling me I need to go to bed earlier. She’s probably right. Yesterday we realized the time zone had changed, meaning Lowe woke up at four this morning instead of five. Oy.
27 Comments on “San Carlos or North Dakota?”
I wish you good luck with your haulout. We just got splashed from what we thought would be a quick two week haul-two months and a blown budget later-ouch!
I know you guys keep the boat maintenance posts to a minimum, but I am looking forward to hearing what projects you have planned for the boat this summer and what changes you are making now that you have had the boat for a while. We are in the final stages of preparing to take off ourselves and for years now have enjoyed reading your blog. Though you, refreshingly, never write a “how to” post, I have used your experiences as a pretty solid reference for what equipment we do, and don’t, want to consider investing in. Thanks for continuing to share an honest daily perspective of the way you cruise. And seriously, good luck with the haul out and all your summer projects.
Deborah
Wish I could recommend a couple of good and cheap places to eat that are also easy to get to in San Carlos but there just aren’t any. Or at least we never found any and we were there for MONTHS! We found a few cheap places (in Guaymas), a few good places, and a few places that were fairly easy to get to. But all three in one place? Nope.
Hi guys! sorry you’re not having much fun. We’re liking Guamas o.k., cheaper food than San Carlos, but the marina here is a fonatur so more expensive. We’re leaving today for Bahia Algodones. Rosa’s Cantina and Jax Snax used to be relatively cheap and good food. They’re near Gary’s dive shop and the hotel Creston about halfway into town.
We’re stopping for fuel in San Carlos so we’ll try and stop and say Hi.
Karin and Joe
Pop on by. We’re on A dock right next to the fuel dock.
Wow, your in a bad mood . It’s hot and humid now. Thank you Ali for giving us another chance. There are alot of Mexicans, Americans and Canadians here that really love living here. I feel safer here than when I cross the border into Arizona. I can’t believe you would repeat a story about Drug Cartels without investigating it first. I hope the rest of your stay here is more enjoyable.
Billie Stevens, San Carlos
Yeah, I don’t deny it, I’m in a bit of a mood. This is not a convenient place to have a boat with small kids, that’s for sure. I’m sure it’s much different if you’re in an air-conditioned house with a car to drive around when you want to go out.
I make it a policy not to investigate drug cartels. 🙂 Haha. Actually I could really care less whether or not there is a drug dealer in town, much less a cartel leader. I just thought it was a funny way of making my grumpy point.
First, I would refrain from criticizing a place while still there, as a guest it is just not polite. I do not think the locals will appreciate that if they read your blog, and you could not blame them if they begin to resent you.
Secondly, I do not understand why you are stuck in Baja Mexico for so long. From the pictures I have seen in your blog it is an awful place. Why not go further south to Equator, Chile and even cross the Cape and go to Argentina, Brazil. Another option would be to cross the Panama Canal and enjoy the Gulf.
Honestly, I really enjoyed your posts, but lately I cannot understand why you stay in this arid, deserted and poor land that is Baja. I would search for richer vegetation, rain forests. Just a thought.
First, I should tell you that I hate nothing more than anonymous people—who’ve never so much as introduced themselves—telling me what to talk about on my site. If people get hurt feelings because some stranger doesn’t like their town, well, boo-hoo really. “You don’t like Maplewood? The town I grew up in. I resent you.” Blah.
Second, my pictures of Baja depict it as an awful place? Seriously? Point proven. We all see things differently. I don’t like San Carlos. Billie Stevens up above here in the comments loves the place. Who cares?
And really, before commenting on where a cruiser should sail off to, you should really do a little research beyond looking at a world political map. Sailing to Brazil around the Cape with a one-year-old? That’s roughly ten-thousand miles. Hard miles, against the Humboldt Current and around the world’s most notoriously nasty Cape, through freezing weather and twenty some foot tides. Anyway, I’m well aware of my geography and what my options are. Thanks Alice.
Oh yeah, one last thing. Didn’t I just say I was feeling a little cranky lately? You can’t just give me a break for a couple posts? Is it really my job to be Jolly Roger all the time? I just tell it like I see it. And how I see something has a lot to do with my mood at the time.
Firstly, I agree with Alice… I betcha all the locals are logging in to check up on what you think of their little town. You really should be more careful about offending them, they could spike your fish tacos with something awful and by golly you would have damn well deserved it, stating your opinion and all. The proper thing to do is to pretend you like a town/port and then as soon as you pull anchor repost what you really feel. It wont be confusing at all for your readers.
Secondly, honestly Alice is right about Boring Ol’ Baja.. Have you not traveled very much? Do you not own a map listing other places to sail to? It’s a good thing Alice pointed out some other sailing grounds for you. Heres my suggestion since you live a sheltered life and don’t know anything… Why don’t you just zip on down to Antarctica, then maybe just pop on over to Madagascar and then why not book on around and then up and then over to Greenland? Easy Peasy. The kiddos can totally handle it, I mean look at them for cods sake, they’re both friggin miserable in that baja desert! Tell them not to worry, Auntie Alice and I are looking out for them.
Oh yeah, I’m Shauna. 🙂 My husband and I have been reading your blog for ages and I’m pretty sure this is my first comment. Nice to meet you. You’re blog almost makes me want kids. Almost. If you don’t mind, could you please post more videos of them fighting/screaming/whining so the effects of your adorable children wear off and I come back to my senses. I could also use some more posting about how early they wake up in the morning and how tired they make you. 😉
Sorry, that was the only time my kids have ever fought/screamed/whined in their lives. And actually, Ali and I enjoy waking at 4:30. It’s the best.
OK, well I guess I’ll just have to stay strong and do my best to ignore that internal ticking clock then. 🙂
I have no way of knowing, Pat, but I’d guess that the reason a person might head to N. Dakota, now, is because there seems to be more readily available work there than many other places. At least, that’s what people who are struggling believe and tell one another.
Shake off the San Carlos blues and resume your entertaining style, Pat. It’s what sets you apart from the typical blogger. And you must admit, the light in San Carlos is gorgeous . . . as your own pics prove.
Hey Jack. Yeah, they were headed for Lewiston. An engineer headed for the oil fields. I was being facetious.
Something I read in the NY Times, I think:
A man walking along the beach finds an oil lamp in the sand, picks it up and removes the stopper. In a flash, a genie emerges from the lamp. In gratitude, he tells the man he’ll grant him one wish for freeing him.
Thinking only briefly, he tells the genie, “Well, I’ve always wanted to be one of the 1%.”
Shrugging, the genie says, “Fine.” Poof, there’s a blinding flash and smoke everywhere.
When the smoke finally clears, the man is astonished to find himself among the ranks of the unemployed in Williston, North Dakota.
Yes, sounds like you have to be one seriously hot mess not to score a twenty-dollar-an-hour job there these days. Now finding a place to sleep at night…
If you are hauling out, then go rent an air conditioned condo and enjoy your time in the pool with the kids while the boat is getting worked on.
The comments make this post worth reading. I am laughing my butt off at people telling you “If you can;t say something nice don’t say anything at all” and “You should sail some where else so you can post photos that I like and I don’t like brown”.
You are not cranky. You are mildly annoyed. No one does cranky like the Scots. There is a reason I never let Mark write anything on the blog because basically everyone of his posts, be it on equipment or weather or traveling destinations would be the same. “This is shite”. The end.
Thank you Cidnie. Now that made me smile.
This, from a couple who are in perpetual “refit” on a boat that isn’t really a project boat. LOL
I actually like that you’re pissed off. Proves you’re not a robot. Seems everyone always posts the good, but are too afraid to mention the bad. When I posted about trying to smuggle food into Chile and got caught, people criticized me in our comments section, saying that they had thought I was a good person, and were really disappointed. Same thing when we tried raising money to enter China. Someone actually commented that they used to think that we were awesome, but the “bubble had popped”. Well shucks, I guess I’d better go write about some more rainbows and unicorns before it gets too bad! Keep it honest. I don’t care that you’re unrespectable and disappointing 😉
Well Brad, I DID think you were a good person. And now? Oh no, no more. Evil food smuggling bastard. The bubble has indeed popped. You’ve jumped the shark. What else? I’ll think of something.
Wait. You saw unicorns? Ouest wants to see unicorns too.
San Carlos does suck. Both the town and its distant drydock area. Been there, done that. Guaymas on the other hand is pretty cool – saw a great Luche Libre event there in 2007.
From the folks that totally ripped on the Marquesas, I expect no less than for you to tell it like it is.
I still have yet to read another negative account of the Marquesas, despite having HEARD many a negative account. People will talk behind Marquesas’ back, but won’t say it to her face. 🙂
This line of comments is pretty funny. Personally I like honesty. We so rarely see, hear or read anything honest. Our government lies to us so does that mean we have to lie about how we feel about things that effect us too? People are afraid that if they speak their mind they’ll offend someone. I knew someone who lived in San Carlos for a very long time, she said it was a Hell Hole and in her pictures looked like it too. So what if the people of San Carlos read this post, maybe they will make some changes. Maybe they won’t, WHO CARES? Hey Pat, it’s your blog…. write what you want to, everyone is entitled to a cranky day. I didn’t think you were being cranky, I thought you were being honest.
Judith is right! Honesty is rare these days. Pat and Ali are real.
I bought and read Bumfuzzle as my very first Kindle book. In all honesty….I loved it!!! I recently looked up your blog, and for the most part, have enjoyed it. Here is the big but (and I cannot lie)…..
I was in San Carlos at the same time you were. I had even noticed your boat at the Marina as my other half and I were taking a sunrise stroll (we were staying in the condos at the Marina) and wondered if it was the Bumfuzzle from the book. I was there for an entire month…mostly by my lonesome. All that being said, here is why I am commenting…
While we are all entitled to our opinions, I feel that what you said about San Carlos was VERY disrespectful. The mention of heat and humidity…ok. The rant about the expense and issues of dry dock….maybe you spoke to the wrong people or went to the wrong place. The person who owned the restaurant near the Marina…ask a few other people the truth of why it closed…you will hear 4 stories and 1 will be truth, but not that one. The mention of cartel…IT’S MEXICO FOR CRIPE SAKE!!!! Do you HONESTLY believe they are not in La Paz, Mazatlan, Cabo or every other town?!?! That’s like saying there are gangs in Miami but not Palm Beach or Orlando.
Clearly you haven’t been reading me long enough. I was making a JOKE! A joke for CRIPE SAKE! Man, if there is anybody in Mexico who gives less of a shit about Mexican cartel rumors and news than I do I have yet to meet that person.
Christ, all I did was repeat a conversation I had with a lady. I used that conversation to make a joke. A joke about cartel bosses, and a joke about San Carlos. Clearly this joke was not funny, or else somehow went over the heads of everybody. The only point of this post is that I hate San Carlos. And the only point of this comment is to let everyone know that I don’t give one crap about drug cartels or gangs or whatever.
Now, Char, thanks for reading the book, and thanks for reading the blog. I hope you continue to enjoy it. Seriously. 🙂