Where is Kasasa Now?
12 March 2014 | La Paz, Baja, Mexico
Ellen
From San Blas, we set out for the 130 mile trip up to Mazatlan which we figured would take us about 28 hours or so. We had a good weather window with winds of only 10 to 15 on the nose so off we go. We were able to motor sail most of the way and just before dark the winds were light but the waves on the nose were not huge but big enough that when ever we hit one dead on it managed to stop our progress down to 2 knots. This happened about every 10 minutes or so which meant our forward progress was slowed down significantly. But not much else to do but carry on forward. We tried tacking (moving slightly angled to the waves) but it didn't help a whole lot. By about 3am all had settled down and we were motoring in flat calm seas which lasted right until we arrive in Mazatlan in the early afternoon. We found out later that the winds had been very strong in Mazatlan and that's where the waves were coming from.
We tied up at Isla Marina and paid for 2 nights. We were not sure how long we would have to wait for a good weather window to cross the Sea of Cortez over to La Paz. Next morning we checked the weather and wow the window was there with winds from the SE and SW for the next few days. We went to the office and they kindly refunded one night since we decided to leave. We had spent a total of 21 hours in Mazatlan.
The crossing is a passage that I dread. It's long and even though the winds may be predicted to be 15 knots it can always blow much more (or much less). It's 190 miles of open water with no where to stop you either keep going forward or turn back. We somehow really lucked out and had the wind on the beam (perfect point of sail in my books) and it blew from there the entire passage. It did blow up to about 20 knots overnight and Ian was kind enough to stand watch from midnight right through till 8am the next morning. I poked my head out and didn't like the look of the waves that had built up to about 5 feet overnight. But eventually I came out from down below and let Ian get some much needed rest. The winds died down (as did the waves) to about 10 knots for the rest of the trip.
We tried to go non stop to La Paz which adds on another 60 miles. We got about 40 miles short of that goal when we encountered wind on the nose along with the waves that slow us down so much. We decided to turn back 30 miles to Los Muertos and finally dropped the anchor at 6am. Ian went right to bed and I stayed up to listen to the morning weather report for the day. When Ian got up at 8am we decided to take off and head to La Paz.
We had strange weather the whole day with the winds blowing 10 to 12 knots for awhile and then dying off to nothing and coming back maybe a half hour later and then dying again. It was in and out with the jib trying to sail our way north. About 15 miles before La Paz the wind we had from the NE died completely and about half hour later we found ourselves in 20 knots for the SW. We tried to tuck into an anchorage to get out of the wind but it came around the point and made for an uncomfortable ride. So we decided to just head out into it and motor through it to La Paz. As we came out of the anchorage the wind died completely so we motored calmly into La Paz arriving at about 9pm two very tired sailors!
From this point we will carry on northwards another couple of hundred miles but we will have anchorages every 25 to 40 miles where we can stop and rest. The next big passage will be crossing the sea again to Guaymas which is about a 90 mile trip. It feels a bit like a marathon but really it's mostly lovely but because we are on a schedule we have to keep moving. Will try to get to Guaymas before April 4th which is our haul out date. Keep you posted.