La Paz is where we decided to prepare for ‘The Baja Bash’. From everything we have heard and read it is aptly titled. Luckily there have been a number of successful trips north and cruisers are more than willing to share their lessons learned. Our hope is that we have learned all we need to and won’t have anything to add to the mix!

The prep looks something like this:
To do before Bash
-Go to the seminar being held at La Paz Fest to learn from a guy who has made the trip 25+ times.-Done
-Do rigging check. (Kevin says this isn’t necessary because the rigging is new and he’s the one that has to go up the mast to accomplish it but I’m leaving on the list just in case I manage to change his mind).
-Figure out what to use to plug hawse pipe. (This is the opening the chain goes through to reach the chain locker and although it only looks like a small opening evidently a lot of water taken over the bow can find its way to the bilge).- Done. We bought tennis ball, cut it to fit, wedged it in and will hope that it stays in place. If not, we’ve also heard that using a wax toilet ring will work but that seems much messier.
-Make spray curtains to surround the cockpit and keep as much water out of where we spend the majority of our time on watch as possible.- Done
-Reseal window over the electronic panel.- Done
-Go over routes stored in chart plotter to decide if any changes need to be made. Will do this on our way to Cabo.
-Install u-bolts in cockpit for tether lines.- Done
-Freeze premade, quick, easy to heat up meals.- Done
-Prepare muffin, biscuit, and pancake mix.- Done
-Fuel plan. (KIST only has a 65 gallon tank and due to having to motor against the prevailing wind and current potentially we may use significantly more fuel on the return trip. There are only two places on Pacific Coast between Cabo and Ensenada that fuel is consistently available so we’ve calculated that we need to carry about 60 additional gallons on deck which brings us to the next item on the list). – Done
-Purchase additional Jerry Jugs!- Done
-Fill water tanks day before we depart.- Done
…phew!

Then there are the other lists:
Before heading into rough weather
-Reinstall jack lines (special webbed lines laid down each side of the boat that we can tether onto from the cockpit all the way to the bow in case there is a need to go forward in rough seas)
-Tie down anchors.
-Duct tape around forward hatch.
-Close solar vents (we learned that lesson heading from Chamela to La Cruz, you’d be amazed at how much water can work itself through those little spaces).
-Turn off water pressure (lesson learned already).
-Make sure covers are in place for ports in v-berth.
-Plug hawse pipe

To buy
-Groceries
-Refill Telcel (Mexico’s answer to USB web connection)
-Refill RX’s
-Fuel

Ok then, you can see we are just ready to go and are leaving in the morning. We’ll travel from La Paz to a few anchorages between here and Cabo San Lucas. From there we’ll watch for a good weather window for heading up the coast, top off our fuel tank and be on our way.

We’ve planned for six weeks to give us plenty of time to wait out rough weather so all the prep we did should be just that…good prep that isn’t necessary. At least that’s the plan and like any good planner you plan for the worst and hope for the best, we’re pretty good at both!