Sequitur

At 0745 on Monday the 14th we weighed anchor and proceeded under power out of Ensenada de Los Muertos to find the wind and head up through the Canal de Cerralvo. The guidebook says: "From November to March, winds typically blow from the north, down the Sea of Cortez. With the restriction of the channel by Isla Cerralvo to the east and the Baja Peninsula to the west, winds tend to funnel through the channel, bringing with it, wind driven waves. With adverse currents, strong winds and steep waves, Cerralvo Channel can become very challenging, so plan accordingly."

We rounded Punta Perico still looking for the wind, but finding only still airs and glassy seas. Around Punta Arena de la Ventana and into the narrows, there was still no wind and the seas were still glassy and we continued to motor. It being Monday, and having the motor on and making plenty of electricity, it made sense to do some laundry and, while we were at it, make some water.

The day remained still and calm, and by the time we had transited Canal de San Lorenzo at 1345, Edi had run the third load of washing through the machine and cleared our backlog. At 1400 the watermaker completed its sixth hour, and had produced another 400 litres of fresh water. At 1418 we came to 25 metres on the Rocna in 6.5 metres of water on a fine sand bottom in Puerto Balandra, just as the wind was starting to blow. So much for the dreaded Canal de Cerralvo!

We had decided to save electricity and do the wash cycle only on the machine, and in the anchorage the wind made for perfect laundry drying conditions. Edi strung out the three loads and within an hour it was all dry. Through the afternoon the wind increased, until by sunset it was blowing down off the slopes above the beach to the northeast at about 15 knots. We were well anchored and comfortable. Comfortable, that is until early-evening when a northwest swell started to build and the northeast wind kept the bows pointing upwind and kept the swell on the beam. As the swell built, so did the rolling and we spent our most uncomfortable anchorage of the trip.

At sunrise on Tuesday morning, after a long night of rolling and lurching, we looked out to the weather outside the anchorage to see steep white-capped seas, whipped-up by what appeared to be 20 to 25 knot winds. Punta Tecolote had protected us from the brunt of the weather; however, it could not prevent a rolling swell from entering the anchorage. Our intention had been to take the dinghy ashore this morning and walk along the beach to a road that went a couple of miles across the headland to Playa Tecolote. There are some cantinas and small restaurants along the beach where we could get some fresh fish tacos for lunch.

But with the weather as it was, we thought we'd have breakfast and see if conditions improved. It was another clear and warm day, and we were hoping the winds would abate and seas subside a bit. The winds continued and sloppy seas remained, so at 1000 we weighed anchor and headed off in search of a better anchorage.