West coast - Mexico

Vessel Name: MatchBox
Vessel Make/Model: Gemini catamaran
Hailing Port: Newport Oregon
Recent Blog Posts
16 April 2016

Ps for more photos visit us on Facebook at Lana Smoot

16 April 2016

Living the dream!

All is well aboard MatchBox. We're into the the routine of the cruising lifestyle. Really enjoying ourselves! Such beauty all around us. We left LA Paz and are sailing north up the sea. Weather is heating up so we'll secure the boat in a marina next month and head home for the summer.

24 March 2016

Sunny days!

Because of wind direction we ended up heading south instead of north. Weather is just great, hot during the day just perfect in the evenings. Only saw one whale but lots of rays flying in the air, doing triple somersaults! So fun to watch. We are in LA Paz until Saturday then heading out to the island of Isla Espiritu Santo.

12 March 2016

Together again!

Fiona and I have joined the captain! Bones healed and many miles crossed. We are currently moored at Puerto Escondido, 10 miles south of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez . The town of Loreto is a quaint small real Mexican town. We just love it here. Tomorrow we head out to the islands of Loreto. Posting is very hard to do so I'll update when I can. Buenos Dias!

10 February 2016 | La Paz, BCS

La Paz at last

06 February 2016 | Ensenada de Los Muertos

Fast Forward to the Sea of Cortez!!

16 April 2016
Ps for more photos visit us on Facebook at Lana Smoot

Living the dream!

16 April 2016
All is well aboard MatchBox. We're into the the routine of the cruising lifestyle. Really enjoying ourselves! Such beauty all around us. We left LA Paz and are sailing north up the sea. Weather is heating up so we'll secure the boat in a marina next month and head home for the summer.

Sunny days!

24 March 2016
Because of wind direction we ended up heading south instead of north. Weather is just great, hot during the day just perfect in the evenings. Only saw one whale but lots of rays flying in the air, doing triple somersaults! So fun to watch. We are in LA Paz until Saturday then heading out to the island of Isla Espiritu Santo.

Together again!

12 March 2016
Fiona and I have joined the captain! Bones healed and many miles crossed. We are currently moored at Puerto Escondido, 10 miles south of Loreto on the Sea of Cortez . The town of Loreto is a quaint small real Mexican town. We just love it here. Tomorrow we head out to the islands of Loreto. Posting is very hard to do so I'll update when I can. Buenos Dias!

La Paz at last

10 February 2016 | La Paz, BCS


MatchBox and I left Muertos at 9 PM on 9 Feb after 8 days and nights of strong north winds. We made the night passage with light headwinds and the remains of the northerly seas. I made Puerto Balandra, at the entrance to the La Paz area (12 miles out) before dawn and anchored for a quick nap. I was at Marina La Paz to take fuel by noon, and then checked in and moved to a slip. La Paz harbor is famous for the 'La Paz Waltz'. The anchored boats all lay nicely when the tide and the wind align, then for the next six hours the tide reverses and every boat does its own dance depending on its windage and exact underbody shape. No two boats go the same direction.
La Paz is a great city. It has lots to see, and all supplies and services for boats. We have always enjoyed our visits here, by boat and otherwise. I am going to stay a week, then start north for the Loreto area.

Fast Forward to the Sea of Cortez!!

06 February 2016 | Ensenada de Los Muertos

Rann and I did make San Diego early the next morning. We got fuel, shopped, napped and left for Ensenada at 11 pm. We got into Ensenada about noon Jan 12 and took a slip at Baja Naval. Checking into Mexico was much easier with the guidance of the Baja Naval staff. We spent an extra day visiting with Rann's Mexican friends who lived in Ensenada and Tijuana.

Rann and I got to Cabo San Lucas on Jan 28 after 8 more stops and some great sailing. We stopped at San Quintin, Bahia San Carlos, the north end of Cedros Island, Turtle Bay, Asuncion, Abreojos, Bahia Santa Maria, and Cabo San Lucas. In Turtle Bay and Abreojos we spent some extra time and visited the villages and met some sailors and local people.

The weather was really great. It was almost always sunny and we usually had enough wind to sail, but never enough to be scary. MatchBox ran down the swells, lifted lightly, corrected course and ran again. We had several stretches of 7 to 9 knots and almost always made 4 to 5 knots.

Rann flew back Monday and I brought MatchBox up to Los Frailes and then to Ensenada de Los Muertos. I have been here 5 days waiting out a Norther. When the wind eases I am going to head for La Paz to stay for a while and do some boat work.

It's been a little tough to find WiFi, even the Cabo Marina that said they had it couldn't get it to our slip.

Cheers
MatchBox's Photos - Main
2 Photos
Created 17 September 2015
No Photos
Created 15 September 2015

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