December 4, 2017
We departed Mazatlán around 6:30pm for our 100nm overnight passage to Isla Isabel, which has been called the Galapagos of Mexico. The passage was mostly motorsailing, which isn’t a bad thing since visiting Isla Isabel is only suitable in calm weather due to poor holding over a rocking bottom with patches of sand. We did manage a few hours with…
November 26, 2017
Crossing to the mainland is all about timing. It can be a tranquil thirty hours or a hair-raising, humbling experience. I am willing to wait for the former, however we were lucky and our schedule lined up perfectly for a mellow crossing. We pulled up anchor at 5:00am to snuck out of the anchorage while everyone else was asleep. There…
November 25, 2017
I like an early start to the day, even more so when there is fun stuff to do at the destination. So just before dawn we pulled away from our slip and began navigating the long exit La Paz. It was nice to sail to the San Lorenzo Channel but after our turn southeast it became a motorsail. Oh well,…
November 22, 2017
I’ll admit it, I fell for the marketing. Backing up, I knew we would use Predict Wind along with an Iridium Go! Reading around on Predict Wind I found their recommendation of an Iridium dealer in Florida. Armed with a credit card I placed an online order and shortly had a shiny new toy. I opted for the external antenna…
November 14, 2017
I mean sure we had a number of days where the engine was only used for anchoring but those days were sporadic. Coming across a patch of strong north winds provided a few days of fun, sporty sailing. We intentionally left San Juanico in the afternoon since that would give time for the winds to build. And allow us a…
November 13, 2017
Leaving Santa Domingo for San Juanico we realized that the quiet anchorages we had been enjoying the past few weeks was likely coming to an end. But San Juanico is well worth more crowds and definitely ranks in our top 5 places in the Sea of Cortez. This fifty mile hop was more downwind double headsail cruising – I live…
November 10, 2017
With the prospect of the port closing again we got an early start before the winds picked up. This wasn’t a bad thing since we also 53 miles to cover which would take eight plus hours and approaching the winter solstice the days are getting shorter. Dawn departure from Santa Rosalia In hanging out with Jolly Dogs we had talked…
November 1, 2017
We spent a night on the dock at the Fonatur marina in Guaymas. This gave a chance to rinse the boat off after all the dust and dirt in Gabriel’s yard and to get a few more things put back together. On arrival we followed the “best to ask forgiveness than permission” by tying up to the dock before getting…
August 17, 2017
Hurricane season, the our boat on the hard, leaves me longing for Mexico sunsets and tacos. But it also provides time to reflect and plan for the next season. Along those lines I finally updated all the distance traveled during the 2016/2017 season.
May 26, 2017
Mother nature is the boss. Always. The Seawind rally was in full swing and we went to bed planning on a couple more days of rallying with our friends. The morning weather check caused a change of plans… we had a good weather window with south winds that would push us directly to Guaymas rather than the more typical crossing…
May 20, 2017
This was the ninth year for the annual Seawind Baja Mexico rally and after a number of years living vicariously through the posts of Lowell on Gato Loco we finally had the chance to join. It was a great group of boats with three 1160s (Moon Drifter, Jolly Dogs, and Strikhedonia), one 1000 (Gato Loco), and a non-Seawind catarman (Free…
May 1, 2017
So I had a shitty experience one night in San Evaristo. Whether it was the Coromuel or the Elephante winds it does not really matter, the result was the same – a long night. Starting just after 9:00 the wind kicked up, just as it had a few nights earlier when my Mantus anchor held like a rock, I diligently…