The Baja Bash; part 1
21 March 2013 | Punta Abreojos
Steve
We left San Jose Cabo at 0300 Friday morning as planned. The reason for leaving so early was both to time our passing of Baja's first major headland, Cabo Falso, and to time our arrival into Magdalena Bay, 166 MN away, before dark.
Cabo Falso is a notorious headland know for very strong headwinds, many times turning northbound boaters back to Cabo. As we rounded the tip of Baja and headed up to Cabo Falso the weather was calm, so calm that I was even able to catch a fish and filet him (or her) on Si Bon's swim step. As we passed Cabo Falso the calm conditions continued and I was starting to feel pretty cocky about the "Baja Bash". Once past Cabo Falso we were able to skirt just off the coast and catch a counter current running north which had us moving along at 6+ knots...ha so much for the dreaded "Bash". The following day as we approached Mag bay we were treated to a little sample of the Bash, we started experiencing headwinds and current which had our speed down to below 4 knots at times.
We came into Mag Bays huge entrance just as the sun was setting, however the anchorage was still 4 miles up the bay which required a nighttime entrance into the anchorage...something not recommended.
The following morning we moved further up Mag bay to Man-o-War cove (pic), just off the charming fishing village of Puerto Magdalena (PM). Since the port Captain has to arrange for fuel and it was Sunday, and his day off, and we had to hang around PM until Monday for fuel, we decided to explore PM.... which took all of about 1/2 hour. We ended up settling in at The Whale Bone Cafe and visiting with several Eco tourists while enjoying some much needed time off the boat.
Monday morning we were able to get ahold of the Port Captain and within 2 hours were topped off with diesel and checking the weather for our departure.
Several Baja Bash veterans had coached me to "be patient and wait for weather windows". As Pete and I looked at the weather for the next several days we both agreed that it looked "OK", not great but "OK". Since we were both anxious to leave Mag Bay, which is HUGE and BEAUTIFUL, but without much to do, we decided to get going to Turtle Bay, 245 miles away. We were able to sail out of Mag Bay on a downwind run with just our jib flying at a speed or 6+ knots. As we sailed out of Mag Bay and turned north the Jib came in, the main sail came out, the engine came on and we were once again motorsailing into the wind, we were now being treated to the real Baja Bash. We had headwinds of 10-15 knots with gust to 20+ knots, waves of 3-5 feet on our nose and Pete began to feel the motion of the ocean. For some reason the words "be patience and wait for weather windows" kept running through my head. For most of the next two days and nights we had similar conditions. Sure there were times that the wind died down to 5-6 on the nose and the seas calmed a little, but there were plenty of other times that the cold ocean spray was coming over the bow and every once in a while....just to make sure we gave her plenty of respect, mother ocean would smack us with a cold wet sheet of water into the cockpit. On Wednesday morning I decided that Pete and I both needed a break. I decided I would try to make the closest anchorage, Punta Abreojos, before night fall. Abreojos is a commend in Spanish meaning "open your eyes". The reason for it's name is that there are many offshore reefs as you approach the anchorage. Although I have become pretty good at finding my way into anchorages and ports after dark...this was not going to be one of them. It's one thing to run your boat onto a sandbar, quite another to run her onto a reef. We dropped the hook as the sun set and after a couple of quick brewskis hit the sack for a long and welcome sleep.
Due to the fact that I am now going to "be patient and wait for weather windows" we will be in Abreojos for at least a day or two waiting for our next weather window to make the 100 mile trip to Turtle Bay.