We hadn't planned to go to La Ventana. Most cruisers arrive in Baja at Ensenada de los Muertos, a few miles to the south. But Muertos offers nothing in the way of protection from southerly winds or waves, both of which were still very strong the morning we approached the coast. What we needed was a bay that opened to the north, not too far from Muertos: La Ventana.

La Ventana will always represent to us the relief we felt upon making landfall after our stormy southern crossing. It will also glow in our memory as our first sighting of the starkly beautiful dry mountains of the eastern side of the Baja peninsula.

The place itself is a very long, flat sandy beach projecting well out into the Cerralvo Channel to the north. Near the end is a prominent lighthouse, and there are a few houses and shacks on the beach. To be honest, we didn't spend much time looking at it; we just dropped the anchor and slept all afternoon while the southerly wind shrieked in the rigging. The sand spit gave us all we really needed, which was a break from the waves.

But as evening came and the wind died down, we could begin to appreciate the craggy skyline and beautiful turquoise water that are what draw visitors to the Sea of Cortez.