There is a boatyard here that in recent years has pivoted towards servicing cruising boats, offering haulout facilities. It has received mixed reviews but is extremely convenient to the USA for travel and parts and cruisers can do their own work. The boatyard has a cruiser WhatsApp group to share tips, information and tools. Skilled labour is hard to find here and this is very much a "Do-it-Yourself" yard. The owners are helpful with local info., getting spares delivered, local transport, accommodation etc. There are future plans to build a marina here.
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The boatyard written about below is Astilleros Cabrales SA. See the boatyards section for details.
Puerto Penasco, Mexico Boat Yard
Last December we started cruising in Mexico. We sailed from Cabo to Puerto Vallarta to spend the winter months there and also to look for a yard that could haul an 80’ sailboat with 10’ keel and about 68 tonnes. We wanted to paint our deck with Awlgrip and apply new bottom paint which included sandblasting our steel keel and applying a barrier coat. The prices we were quoted were much higher than in the USA. When we arrived in La Paz, we got even higher quotes so we thought we would wait a season and do it in California. When our friends called us a month later from Puerto Penasco in the north part of the Sea of Cortez and told us that the guys there have a 150 tons travel-lift, machine shop, and painters, we thought, “let’s talk to the manager and see…”.
This is when Salvador Cabrales made the first good impression on us. After a few calls back and forth, we agreed on a price and made plans to leave to the boat in Penasco for hurricane season instead of San Carlos.
When we told people that we were heading to Puerto Penasco we got a lot of “do you know that it is shallow in the north?” or “they have large tides and you can end up on the sand”. I’d like to let everyone know that:
1. Coming from Vancouver, BC we have 15ft tides all the time and there is nothing difficult with it if you calculate the lowest tide range while you anchor.
2. We anchored in Refugio before crossing to Penasco and had a constant movement of whales around us. The scenery around is amazing with some of the most beautiful colours we’ve seen.
3. For most boats with a 4’ or 6’ keel, there is no problem getting into Penasco. We, with 10’ keel, had no problem getting in and it wasn’t even high tide.
4. There is a new cruise ship terminal being built right now near Penasco, as well as a new marina.
Now for the yard, Salvador speaks fluent English since he lived in Phoenix and went to university there. Salvador is all about service so when he tells you he will be there at 9 am you can count on that. The yard offers everything from mechanical work to Awlgrip painting. Salvador keeps going to seminars in the US to train in all the new techniques. The price is fair and you don’t need to supervise the work since Salvador is building a reputation for an honest yard with good workmanship. He believes in making the customer happy over cutting corners since he wants people to come back and tell their friends too.
The drive from Penasco to the border is about an hour so leaving your boat for hurricane season there makes it much easier to go back and forth.
We would encourage anyone who needs work done while storing the boat for the season to call and speak to Salvador. It’s the best work and service we have had in a long time!
Tal & Marisa
Southern Ocean 80
Vancouver, BC