February 8, 2019
Up at midnight and under way with only stars and GPS to guide me. This would be a solo 100nm passage down to Perula in Chamela bay. The passage was pretty easy with some wind early on and some continuous waves slap on the bridgedeck for the first half of the passage. I was running the radar to look for…
January 31, 2019
Chacala is a favorite spot but we still slept in a bit and relaxed before getting underway around 9:00am, which still had us anchored before 2:00. It would have been sooner but somehow I fouled the anchor with the chain (I swear I was backing up when I dropped it Vicki) so it took three attempts. Oh well, the hook…
January 29, 2019
Crawling out of my hatch to watch the sunrise I found Nora already up and ready with her camera. It was spectacular watching the sun peak over the horizon and light up the rocks protecting the bay. We both were ready to get moving so we jumped into action raising the anchor and off we went into the rising sun…
December 15, 2018
The advantage of leaving the Baja earlier than planned was plenty of time to explore Mazatlan, and as a bonus take a side trip to Durango (separate post). I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but it should be clear that a great time was had. Our first night we anchored out and had a chance to enjoy Isla Pierda…
December 10, 2018
With arriving early into Mazatlan, hustling to get the critical boat projects knocked off, and confirming the haul out at the Fonatur it left us with time for an inland trip to Durango. Our friends on Moon Drifter (Helen and Ralph) visited last year and absolutely loved it. We were excited to visit a city that doesn’t get so many…
December 4, 2018
We knew the waves and wind would make for a fun passage from Isla San Francisco to Playa Bonanza, so there wasn’t much of surprise as we got out of the wind shadow and into the full force of the boisterous conditions. I’d call it 6-8 foot tightly packed seas but hey at least they were somewhat following. We were…
November 25, 2018
Looking at the forecast, the day after Thanksgiving was the only possible day to sail south so off sailing we went. From the anchorage the sea looked calm, not the 13-15 knots forecast. But once out of the protection of the bay we found it truly was blowing. We had a sporty sail south to Isla Coronado moving along at…
November 22, 2018
I love when a plan comes together. Often times when there is calm weather a west wind will form overnight and then dissipate a few hours after sunrise. We took advantage of this phenomenon and sailed north to San Juanico. Well at least half the way. Which in the Sea of Cortez, when on a schedule, is unusual. Feeling the…
November 17, 2018
After five nights and four days I was feeling like a charlatan, seeing as Julia came all the way from Germany to go sailing and thus far has been stuck on a mooring ball. The weather system gone, it was our chance to bug out of Puerto Escondido. Many of my friends had planned to head Isla Monserrate but Agua…
November 10, 2018
Ballandra was just a few hours south and provides good protection from all but winds from the west. Pulling into the anchorage we were the seventh boat and all the spots tucked into the north bay were snagged. We would have take a spot near the middle which, the next day, would subject us to wrap around swell. But on…
November 8, 2018
Just an 18.5 nautical mile hop south took us to Isla Coronado, where we anchored in a breathtaking turquoise blue crescent shaped bay. Surprisingly there was only one other boat when we arrived so finding a good spot was a snap. This is a popular day trip for visitors from Loreto, it was a Tuesday but that didn’t stop the…
November 6, 2018
We wouldn’t leave San Juanico for five days, ultimately this special spot was Mike’s favorite stop of the trip. And it isn’t hard to see why, we had amazing snorkeling right off the boat. The quantity of fish was well beyond what I had seen in the past. A trip to the Cruiser’s tree confirmed that Strikhedonia’s contribution was unscathed…