Knowing when to fold
16 December 2019 | Caleta Partida, BCS, Mexico
Eric Ahlvin | Wind high teens from the SE, clear, 70s

We really liked the Caleta Partida anchorage. When we arrived there were a couple of turtles to greet us and we anchored in 20’ of water over sand. Linda runs the windlass, so the less chain she has to put out (and take back in when we leave), the better she likes it. The anchorage is well protected from all directions, which was a consideration. The wind was calm when we arrived but predicted to swing a complete circle and end up from the north by morning.
We deployed the dinghy, went for a snorkel (see photo) and then brought it back on deck. Our plan was to leave the next day for Playa Bonanza, which is on the east side of Espiritu Santo with good protection from the North.
During the night we could tell the wind came up, but deep in the cove it’s funneled by the cliffs all around, so the direction wasn’t clear. We got up early, got underway toward the cove and by the time we got out we were surprised with wind from the south west in the high teens. It had also had time to build 3-foot short period waves (think Bam Bam Bam). If the south wind held, we’d go into it for three hours, and Playa Bonanza would be a lee shore. If it changed to a north wind, Playa Bonanza would be fine, but there was no certainty of when exactly it would change. Faced with three hours of bashing and potentially a lee shore anchorage we considered our options. By this point we were about 45 minutes out form Caleta Partida, just ready to set the sails. We looked at the coves within a three-hour sail and some had protection from the north, some from the south, but Caleta Partida offered the best protection from both. We decided to go back to Caleta Partida, turned downwind and put out the fishing lines. No luck. After we anchored 100 feet from where we started, we put away the sails and I drank the last beer and ate the last peanutson board. We were running out of staples and had pressure to get back to La Paz the next day.