Christmas season 2014
After having been in La Paz for probably too long we departed for destinations north on 12/17/14. Our first stop was Partida Cove, Isla Partida where we spent a couple days awaiting weather and exploring the coves and snorkeling around adjacent bays. We met a nice older couple from CAN and had nibbley's (must be a Canadian term?), and shared a bottle of wine at cruisers sunset. To be honest it was a bottle of ours, and a bottle of theirs...A nice night with new friends.
Once the northerly winds died down enough we headed north from Partida to the Baja mainland and San Evaristo where we again decided to wait out the winds, which had crept back up to over 25 knotts. San Evaristo is situated along the west side of San Jose Channel which funnels winds, waves, and currents increasing magnitudes up to 3 times what you see just outside the channel. It was ripping in the channel as we ducked into anchorage. We still experienced the winds, but thankfully the waves were greatly diminished in the bay. One of the anchored boats watched us come up the channel and said "I knew that was a nice heavy boat coming up the channel. It did not rock at all." Have to love the Outbound Yachts as I feel so safe and yet invigorated sailing her. She just points to the wind, waves, current, and says GRRRRR.
San Evaristo is a sleepy fishing town with about 20 Mexican families, and 4 semi-resident "snowbird" cruising boats. Let me tell you we meet so many interesting people in our voyages, and I could write about all of them, but a few get honorable mention. One of the couples in the bay (on SV Star), now in their 70's, began cruising right out of college (Oregon State) on a 25 ft boat. As new college graduates they set sail for Australia with a sextant, a few charts, and an adventurous spirit. These small boats have limited fuel, water, food storage, room period! Pace off 23 ft by 10 ft and imagine living on that.
Well they never made it to Australia, but hung out in the South Pacific for many years spending cyclone seasons hugging the equator. They never stopped cruising, pausing briefly to work, build the kitty back up, and they headed right back out. They recently purchased their first land based home, a condo in the States where they spend Hurricane season. Imagine buying your first home at 70+ after living on a boat for almost 50 years? It boggles my mind.
We took a day (well a few hours...it is a small town) to explore the town, salt flats, hiking to the light beacon, and walking the beach. All roads are dusty dirt, and there are rustic fences everywhere to keep wild burros out, and it feels wonderful to stretch out after being onboard for a bit.
We spent a second day cleaning and polishing all the stainless on the boat. It is amazing what the salt can do in such a short time. We did a complete wipe down/polish less than 2 months ago in San Diego, and can see this needs to be done at least once a month now with fresh water wash downs every time we anchor if possible. Thank goodness for the water maker that will make this possible.
The visitors in the bay were graciously invited to a Christmas party with the local families. Almost all the gringo boats in the bay joined the party, and many thanks to Skinny, Zach, and a lovely young lady whose name escapes me now, for bringing wine and beer to share.
Our next stop, and the furthest north we went was Bahia Aqua Verde. What a beautiful spot. It is a location famous for their hand crafted goat cheese, and the Pyramid and Solitaire rock formations in the bay. It is also the first place we have seen with indigenous palm trees. A lovely green oasis, and perfect setting for Christmas dinner.
Given the frequency of the northerly winds, and having to duck into bays to wait them out for days we became concerned about our timeline and the need to be in Puerto Vallarta in February. We decided it is time to head back to La Paz, Darn. I had routes planned north as far as Bahia Conception, and Bahia Coyote. Perhaps we will get there another time. Lesson learned though. It is all about the weather. We could have made these destination no problem, but had to wait for weather. Plans need to be flexible and constantly revised. Big picture schedules are ok, but we need to build in 3x transit time just to be safe if we need to be anywhere.
Our first day heading south was pretty good though winds had swung around coming from the south now, but they were light and less than 10 knots. San Jose channel had a couple knots of opposing current, but otherwise a great ride compared to the trip north. We left before dawn, and arrived at Isla San Francisco south of the channel to a glorious sunset. Life is good.
The bay San Francisco bay is composed of a collapsed volcano dome, sheltered from north winds, and absolutely gorgeous. During the night the winds swung around to the north again, so we re-set our anchor and slept worry free. Love our anchor drag detecting software that sends off an alarm if we drift more than 100ft from where we set our anchor!
Up at dawn again, and after reviewing weather reports, grib files, etc (which we do every morning of travel) we headed south. The bay was glassy smooth, winds light. Let me say this about these reports we get. They are general. Generally good, big picture stuff. General.
We were expecting 8-10 knot winds, 4-6 ft waves @ 14 seconds. They call this area the "washing machine." Well what we got was 20-30 knot winds, usually around 25 knots, waves 6-10 ft between 4 and 6 seconds. Rock and roll baby.
San Jose channel (winds north to south) feeds into the open Baja La Paz (winds ne to sw), that funnels past Isla Espiritu Santo (winds north to south), that gets hit sideways by San Lorenzo channel (winds due east this time). I know you need a map.
During the crossing the waves were from the north and from the northeast merging in confused fashion. Of course I was trying to head southeast so they were either hitting me on the stern (good) or quarter to beam (bad). Since I was trying to pinch the course towards Isla Partida and towards its island shelter as best I could, we elected to hand steer. Steer SE then turn south to get the big 10 ft waves on the stern, repeat, and repeat. Sounds intimidating (and I must admit it was for the first 30 minutes or so until I got the hang of it), but it was not really too bad. I did prove I could (in daylight) hand steer for a 3 hour shift in mixed seas. Not bad for a newbie, and we will get better. BTW the only sore and aching muscles I have are in my right foot from bracing for the NE waves. Go figure.
We approached land between Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu then Morris took over and headed south following close to shore for protection from the NE waves to overnight in San Gabriel where we spent last Thanksgiving waiting out... yes a northerly blow (are you seeing a theme here?). Next morning at dawn we headed to La Paz in less wind, waves, churn and arrived at Marina Cortez in time to go for a couple mile walk looking for lunch. Life is good.
We are now in La Paz to pick up our rigging to replace the hydraulic backstay (recall the hammer and 2 pitchers of Margaritas in my earlier post...?), and wait for a weather window to the mainland. It has been relatively cold here with nights in the low 60's, and days 72-they say 80 but my thermostat says 75. This is a good time to work on the chores list that has gradually lengthened during our travels.
When we leave sometime after Friday (Impulsive is getting her hull sponged down Friday as she deserves it), we will probably bypass Mazatlan, and head directly to Isla Isabel then harbor hop (Matanchen, to Chacala, to Jaltemba, to Punta de mita) down to Banderas Bay then Paradise Village Marina in Nuevo Vallarta (near Puerto Vallarta).
Well take care and Happy New Year everyone. We are off to dinner and some festivities at the various docks here in La Paz.