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Conservation Cruising
by Capt. John E. Rains
Fuel stops on Baja California’s West Coast are few and far between
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Fuel stops along Baja California’s rugged Pacific coastline are few and far between. The longest dry stretch is about 275 nautical miles of straight running, and the overall distance when running mainly point to point between fuel stops is about 770 nautical miles.
Depending on your boat’s proven geographic fuel range, you’ll want to conserve every drop, plan each leg carefully and possibly carry reserve fuel tanks on deck -- whether you’re northbound or southbound. Between San Diego’s offshore sea buoy and the outer harbor at Cabo San Lucas, you’ll find five places to take on diesel, but only four of them are reliable -- and instead of being spaced at convenient distances, they’re bunched into three areas.
Marina Coral and Baja Naval are both near Ensenada. Marina Coral is 60 nautical miles south of the San Diego sea buoy and Baja Naval is 63 nautical miles.
Cedros Island Village and Turtle Bay are about halfway down the coast. Cedros Island Village (the least reliable) is 300 nautical miles south of the San Diego sea buoy and Turtle Bay is 320 nautical miles.
The fifth fuel stop is located approximately three-quarters of the way down the Baja California coast. Puerto San Carlos is 595 nautical miles from the San Diego sea buoy and 179 nautical miles north of Cabo San Lucas.
If you’re southbound this fall, you may want to top off your tanks in or near Ensenada soon after crossing the Mexican border, depending on where you started. Practice converting dollars per gallon into pesos per liter, as the meters read, even though your greenbacks are gladly accepted.
The next chance to fuel is in the Cedros Island/Turtle Bay area, which is a little less than halfway down. Boaters unfamiliar with “Med-mooring” will get lots of practice. The last fueling opportunity, at about three-quarters of the way down, requires a 50 mile side trip to reach the diesel dock, thus adding to the overall distance to be covered. By the time some boaters reach the yacht haven of Cabo San Lucas, they’ve become a bit cautious about running their generators unnecessarily.
Northbound boats sometimes have to buck the adverse half-knot southbound current -- the Cold California Current -- from Turtle Bay northward, so they should plan on expending 10 to 25 percent more fuel overall, while maintaining the same rpm. If you’re also bashing against square waves, you might consider adding a few intermediate rest stops as well.
Let’s look at each diesel stop in more detail.
1) Marina Coral (pronounced koh-RAHL) is a new marina of 350 full-service slips and a comfortable 80 foot long floating fuel dock. Part of a new hotel north of Ensenada, the marina and fuel dock are located inside their own protective breakwaters on the east flank of Punta Morro. Marina Coral’s southeast facing entrance lies 2.75 nautical miles northwest of the harbor entrance to the town of Ensenada. Fueling is fast and efficient here, and they take Visa or greenbacks.
However, if this is your first stop in Mexico, your Port of Entry, you must first clear in with the Ensenada port captain. Marina Coral dockmaster Fito Espinosa can handle your clearance papers for a fee, or you can do it yourself. The hotel runs a shuttle bus into town several times a day.
2) Baja Naval (nah-VAHL) is an older marina and boat yard located inside Ensenada harbor, on the eastern shoreline just south of the pink two story Plaza Marina landmark. Make a fueling appointment with dockmaster Temo Cuahautemoch.
Again, you have to clear your Port of Entry papers before you can begin to take on fuel. Temo can handle that, too, or you can do it yourself. The Port Captain, Aduana and Migracion offices are all within walking distance of Baja Naval.
When the fuel truck arrives, come alongside the small concrete sea wall north of the Travelift. Check that the meter is zeroed out before the pump starts running.
Ensenada is a good place to gather last-minute fruits and vegetables or yacht-specific spares that could be more difficult to obtain farther south.
3) Cedros Island Village is a non-reliable source of diesel, but I’m mentioning it for emergency purposes only. The island is a 230 mile run down from Ensenada, jogging around intermediate islands and reefs, of course.
The village and its small breakwater lie about three-quarters of the way down the east side of the 20 mile long island. If this is your first look at Cedros village, don’t try to come in at night; wait until daylight at the narrow anchorage on the northeast corner of Cedros Island. Freighters, tugs and barges use the big docks south of the village breakwater.
Because Cedros Island has a port captain, you must first anchor, come ashore and clear in with three officials before asking to take on some emergency fuel. You may or may not be allowed enough to get you to Turtle Bay. The anchorage is dirty and busy, and the concrete pier facing is rough. The islanders have always been friendly, but English isn’t spoken here.
4) Turtle Bay, only about 35 nautical miles farther south than Cedros Village, is a much better fuel stop, especially since August when the price of diesel here was lowered to about $1 per gallon. (Gordo Talamantes’ kids Freddy and Maria finally got their own Pemex concession, which limits the legal surcharge amount.) Turtle Bay is a remote fishing town inside a wide enclosed bay of the same name. There’s a bus stop (135 dusty miles to the highway), a private airstrip (with cracked asphalt), an emergency clinic, a small navy base, a large panga fleet, plenty of room to anchor and no port captain.
Enter the bay between Punta Sargaso and Roca Entrada. The town is at the north end of the bay, and you take fuel at the tall pier painted yellow that juts out from the blue fish packing plant. You Med-moor to either the east or west end, depending on the wind direction. Holding is OK, and the folks up on the dock will grab for your stern lines, but if the tide is out, it’ll be a high toss; it’s a great place for using the old monkey fist.
The new meter swivels so you can read it pretty easily from the east side. To help, you can put a crewmember off on the metal stairway on the pier’s east side. When you’re done fueling, let the dock guys cast you off.
If you need only a small quantity of diesel, you can get it brought out to you in the anchorage by hiring either the folks who run Gordo’s dock or one of the independent pangueros who offers the same service. They’ll come out to pick up your jerry jugs and your money, and in a few hours, they’ll bring back your filled jugs. This is quite a civilized service for such an isolated spot.
Because Turtle Bay is undisputedly one of the ugliest places on this beautiful planet, going ashore after fueling to dine at the Vera Cruz (combo bar, restaurant, hotel, hot showers, information center, etc.) has become a major rite of passage for visiting pleasureboaters. It’s the green building on top of the hill in the middle of “downtown.” My wife is making picture postcards of Turtle Bay as a fundraiser for spaying their homeless dogs.
5) Puerto San Carlos lies way up inside Magdalena Bay. From Punta Entrada, come about 10 miles northwest past the anchorages at Belchers Point and pick up the first channel buoys opposite Man of War Cove. For the next 15 miles, stay inside this very narrow and poorly marked “N” shaped channel.
A strong current will try to carry you outside the channel, where there are shoals. You’ll go past the town twice before you really get there, so don’t abandon the channel until you’re close abeam the striped concrete pier at the small but busy port of San Carlos.
Anchor north of the pier and dinghy ashore to get cleared in with the port captain, located on the pier. If you need some gasoline, ask the port captain to call the taxi driver who’s willing to haul you and your gasoline back from the Pemex.
When it’s your turn to come alongside the pier for diesel, be cautious of the movements of the rusty shrimpers who aren’t used to being careful of yachts. Time your fueling operation so that you get back out beyond the “N” shaped channel before dusk. The best standby anchorage is at Man of War Cove.
So when cruising this stretch of Mexico, remember it’s best to plan your fuel stops. This is not an area where you want to be caught running on empty.
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This article first appeared in the November 1, 1997 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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