BACK IN THE SEA OF CORTEZ

The timing was finally perfect to leave Mazatlan to make the 180 mile crossing across the Sea of Cortez to Bahia del las Muertos so after a short anchor stop at Stone Island for a bottom cleaning (not something you want to do in the old harbor at Mazatlan) we were on our way. The passage could not have been more perfect as the wind blew southwest at 5-10 and the seas were flat. We made it to Muertos in 29 hours motor sailing which is the same amount of time it took for us to make the crossing going the other way back in December of 2009.
It was great getting back to Muertos as it had been one of our favorite stops on the Baja last we had been there. The dogs where anxious to get to shore after there 29 hour plus passage and honestly so were we. We had dinner at the little restaurant that we had gotten so familiar with last time we were there and spent a little time exploring Muertos before heading back to the boat. We left Muertos the next morning at approximately 6:30am heading for LaPaz. The trip through Ceralvo Channel was a easy one in contrast to the one we had made back in 2009 (one of the roughest passages I can remember). We decided to put off heading directly into LaPaz and stop for the night and anchor at Puerto Ballandra. It was a great decision as the anchorage is absolutely gorgeous with white sand beaches and beautiful scenery.
It is really amazing to see the blue water of the Sea of Cortez once again. It had been so long since I had seen truly clear water I guess I must have forgotten what it looked like because I was absolutely awestruck by it's beauty. At the same time it was odd to see the desert as we had been in the tropics for over a year and a half and it seemed odd to see cactus and desolate landscape once again. I can absolutely confirm that the old saying is true that when there is a desert on land there is a jungle underwater and when there is a jungle on land there is a desert underwater. The Sea of Cortez in truly a amazing place and we are really excited to be able to spend the next month and a half exploring all it has to offer.

Manzanillo to Mazatlan 2011

We left Manzanillo on March 30th which was almost a whole month after what we had originally planned. Amanda spent spring break with us which was great but once she had left to go back to San Diego we were anxious to get moving north. Although there was a prediction of strong NW winds and large swells we decided that things seemed benign enough to take a chance and start our long trip north into the Sea of Cortez for the spring. We figured that we could always stop at the anchorage in Tenacatita if the weather turned poor which was only 35 miles north of Manzanillo. By the time we reached the anchorage at Tenacatita the wind was building and the swells were getting large and nasty and since we were beating into the weather we decided to spend the night on anchor and head out the next morning and hopefully be able to make a straight shot to Mazatlan which was about 285 miles from the anchorage. We headed out of Tenacatita early on Thursday morning but we soon figured out that making a straight shot to Mazatlan was not going to happen on this day as both the wind and swells were getting even worse than the day before. We ended up tucking into Chamela which is another protected anchorage approx. 30 miles north of Tenacatita. There were quite a few boats there waiting out the weather for a chance to round Cabo Corrientes which is about 70 miles north of the anchorage at Chamela. It was nice to tuck into this protected anchorage but by about midnight the swell inside the anchorage got ugly enough to make sleep almost impossible. We had been told there would be good weather on Friday but not until later in the day. We decided to take a chance and leave first thing in the morning (7:15 am) figuring it could not be much worse than the anchorage had become and for a change we were right. The swells out in the ocean had flattened down and the wind stayed in the 10-15 knot range the entire day. We made the decision to go ahead and make a straight shot to Mazatlan rather than to stop at one of the many anchorages along the way. We passed Cabo Corrientes at approx. 5:00 PM on Wednesday and started to head off shore to make a straight line to Mazatlan. Unfortunately during the evening the motor started running hot and at about 5:00 AM the heat alarm went off so everything was shut down while Mark tried to figure out what the problem was. At this point we were approx. 125 miles from Cabo Corrientes and 125 miles from Mazatlan (basically the middle of nowhere). Within two hours Mark and figured out the problem (a clogged heat exchanger) and we were back on our way. The passage although extremely long could not have been better as far as weather was concerned. We motor sailed the entire distance averaging 6.5 to 7.5 knots and made it into the anchorage at old Mazatlan harbor just at dark on Saturday evening, approximately 36 hours after we left the last anchorage at Chamela.

The only thing that really stands out on this passage (other than breaking down) was that there were literally thousands of turtles out on the ocean. It actually got tricky trying to avoid hitting them there were so many. I spent much of my time snapping photos of them which provided for some entertainment on our long slow trek.

We plan to spend a few days here in Mazatlan waiting for a weather window to head across the Sea of Cortez which will probably be sometime mid week. We are really anxious to get back to the clear water in the Sea and look forward to spending the spring exploring places we have not yet seen.