We are now in the beautiful Sea of Cortez. Several weeks ago we were in LaPaz and managed to sign up with 32 other boats to participate in the Sea of Cortez Sailing Week sponsored by Latitude 38 Magazine. The main reason the group sailed out of LaPaz is because of the location. There are several islands very close to LaPaz which make for great sailing destinations...Islas Espiritu Santu, Partida and San Francisco. The schedule for the week long event is to sail from LaPaz to Isla Partida and then further north to Isla San Francisco...turn around and sail back to LaPaz. We raced to an island then anchored for a day or two with fun activities on the boats and beach...then race to another island, anchor and party for another day or two...are you starting to get the picture? Latitude 38 describes the event as a race between the islands with parties at the anchorages, but their definition of a race is very different than you'd think. The huge catamaran owned by Latitude 38 motors out to a designated area, tells all the other boats to line up behind them and then they say "GO"!!! No detailed racing instructions, no PHRF racing divisions to equalize the boats, and sort of a designated finish line...in other words...it's a very loosely run race. The idea is to go sailing and have fun. They say..."Everybody get ready, go have fun sailing and we'll see ya on the beach". Now that's my kind of racing!

We sailed with the group for four days and when they turned around to sail back to LaPaz we kept sailing north saying goodbye to a new group of friends. The sail we had between Isla Partida and Isla San Francisco was one of the best down wind runs we've ever had. Winds were blowing about 15 to 16 knots steady all day directly behind us which made for a great spinnaker run all day long in inky blue waters.

In the past two to three weeks we have put quite a bit of water under our keel. We sailed across the Sea of Cortez from Mazatlan to LaPaz and then started sailing north up the island chain anchoring at the islands and on the Baja peninsula. The water in the sea is very clear this time of the year and getting clearer as we approach the summer months. The air and water temps are considerably cooler as we head north.

We are now in Puerto Escondido, just 14 miles from Loreto...about half way up the Sea of Cortez and only have two weeks remaining in our cruising season. There is no doubt that this has been the most fun year cruising Mexico. We would recommend to anyone to visit this area and enjoy the sea, the fishing and the delightful people. This part of the Baja has incredibly beautiful yet rugged mountain terrain. The scenic mountains are breath taking.