Baja, Mexico- Report
Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 6:23 am
We just returned from a wonderful 3 week sailing trip down in the Baja with our Macgregor. I trailered the boat down to Puerto Escondido , 15 miles south of Loreto, launched it and sailed approximately 150 miles to La Paz. I carried an extra 10 gallons of gas (34 gallons total), worried as there are no marinas in between. We ended up burning a total of 5 gallons for the main engine (dinghy and generator another 5 gallons). The wind was mostly northerlys and you could count on 15-20 knots 4-5 days out of 7. It would usually kick up around 10 am and be consistant thru 4-5 pm. Other days it would be calm until 4-5 pm and then be windy thru the night. We had many 2-3 hour sails clocking 5-6 knots and reefed the main several times with the std jib. The Mac was very stable as I also was carring about 50 gallons of fresh water down low.
Most of the safe anchorages are 10-15 miles apart, leaving plenty of time to sail between them and have lots of daylite left to anchor and enjoy the bays. At most of the bays we stayed for 2 days, some times 3 if we had to wait for wind. Our daily activities included a long walk in the am followed by snorkeling for 2-3 hours. We would also explore the shoreline with the dinghy later in the day. The water is as clear as I have ever seen the ocean and the fish life is as beautiful as anywhere I have been also. I tried fishing a couple of times while sailing, never got a bite, but probably lucky I didnt. It turns out that at most of the anchorages , the fishermen would come to our boat and want to trade fresh fish or lobster for either D batteries for their flashlights and radios, fresh water, gas, or beer. We had more fish and lobster than we could eat the entire trip. I even talked one fisherman into letting me go with him and watch how he catches the lobster.
We met many different sailors on our trip. At our very first anchorage in Puerto Ballandra on the Islaa Carmen, after we had been anchored for only about an hour, a couple rowed their dinghy over to our boat, wine glasses in hand, and introduced themselves. They invited us over for odourvers on there boat that evening. It turns out that their from England and have sailed their Oyster 43, 6 months out of each year, for the last 7 years. They went to the Med, Canarries, ARC, Venesula, and up the Carribian, the entire East Coast and then had their boat shipped with Dockwise to Vancouver. They did Alaska, down the West coast, the HA HA and are now headed up to San Carlos to leave their boat there for the Hurricane season. Now thats what a sail boat is for. We met people like this in every anchorage. We would meet them on the beach or by dinghy. Many had sold there houses and cars and are either planning on, or have already been away for 5-10-15 years before returning to land. Others were able to keep there houses and sail 8-10 months each year. Its absolutely amaseing to me how many people are out there that have cashed out and casted off from this life style we all know .
We ended our trip tailoring the boat back up to Puerto Escondido from La Paz and attending the Loreto Fest May 4-7. This is a gathering of boaters that has been going on for the last ten years. Its original purpose was to clean the harbor and raise monies for charities to help the local kids. Over the years it has grown to 170+ boats with daily activities such as first aid classes, weather classes, ham radio classes and test, guitar classes, dinghy races, water volleyball, over the line base ball, horse shoes, dingle balls (dont ask), bachie ball, and nightly entertainment from all the volunteers that could play an insturment. AND IT WAS GREAT
I would highly recommend this trip to anyone contemplating doing it. The road down is in excellent condition, however it is somewhat narrow by our standards. It only gets scary in the mountainous areas when passing a semi-truck. I ended up driving home during the night, stradeling the center line (9pm thru 6am) and it was far safer as the truckers for the most part are off the road. The gas stations are open 24 hrs a day and desiel is $1.86 a gallon and gas is $2.10 a gallon once your 20 miles south of the border. For us west coasters, this is as close to being in the Bahamas, Tahiti, or the Greek Islands as you can get. The water is clear and warm, outside air temp was between 85-90 degrees, the marine life is abundant and amaseing, the people are friendly and prices are comparable with the states.
The real payoff for the entire trip is that the Admril had such a great time sailing and meeting people that she has finally given me the nod to begin the search for our next cruising vessel.
Scott and Marlo
I will be posting some pictures within the next week- lots to do after being away for so long
Most of the safe anchorages are 10-15 miles apart, leaving plenty of time to sail between them and have lots of daylite left to anchor and enjoy the bays. At most of the bays we stayed for 2 days, some times 3 if we had to wait for wind. Our daily activities included a long walk in the am followed by snorkeling for 2-3 hours. We would also explore the shoreline with the dinghy later in the day. The water is as clear as I have ever seen the ocean and the fish life is as beautiful as anywhere I have been also. I tried fishing a couple of times while sailing, never got a bite, but probably lucky I didnt. It turns out that at most of the anchorages , the fishermen would come to our boat and want to trade fresh fish or lobster for either D batteries for their flashlights and radios, fresh water, gas, or beer. We had more fish and lobster than we could eat the entire trip. I even talked one fisherman into letting me go with him and watch how he catches the lobster.
We met many different sailors on our trip. At our very first anchorage in Puerto Ballandra on the Islaa Carmen, after we had been anchored for only about an hour, a couple rowed their dinghy over to our boat, wine glasses in hand, and introduced themselves. They invited us over for odourvers on there boat that evening. It turns out that their from England and have sailed their Oyster 43, 6 months out of each year, for the last 7 years. They went to the Med, Canarries, ARC, Venesula, and up the Carribian, the entire East Coast and then had their boat shipped with Dockwise to Vancouver. They did Alaska, down the West coast, the HA HA and are now headed up to San Carlos to leave their boat there for the Hurricane season. Now thats what a sail boat is for. We met people like this in every anchorage. We would meet them on the beach or by dinghy. Many had sold there houses and cars and are either planning on, or have already been away for 5-10-15 years before returning to land. Others were able to keep there houses and sail 8-10 months each year. Its absolutely amaseing to me how many people are out there that have cashed out and casted off from this life style we all know .
We ended our trip tailoring the boat back up to Puerto Escondido from La Paz and attending the Loreto Fest May 4-7. This is a gathering of boaters that has been going on for the last ten years. Its original purpose was to clean the harbor and raise monies for charities to help the local kids. Over the years it has grown to 170+ boats with daily activities such as first aid classes, weather classes, ham radio classes and test, guitar classes, dinghy races, water volleyball, over the line base ball, horse shoes, dingle balls (dont ask), bachie ball, and nightly entertainment from all the volunteers that could play an insturment. AND IT WAS GREAT
I would highly recommend this trip to anyone contemplating doing it. The road down is in excellent condition, however it is somewhat narrow by our standards. It only gets scary in the mountainous areas when passing a semi-truck. I ended up driving home during the night, stradeling the center line (9pm thru 6am) and it was far safer as the truckers for the most part are off the road. The gas stations are open 24 hrs a day and desiel is $1.86 a gallon and gas is $2.10 a gallon once your 20 miles south of the border. For us west coasters, this is as close to being in the Bahamas, Tahiti, or the Greek Islands as you can get. The water is clear and warm, outside air temp was between 85-90 degrees, the marine life is abundant and amaseing, the people are friendly and prices are comparable with the states.
The real payoff for the entire trip is that the Admril had such a great time sailing and meeting people that she has finally given me the nod to begin the search for our next cruising vessel.
Scott and Marlo
I will be posting some pictures within the next week- lots to do after being away for so long
