Back *Home* in Banderas Bay, Mexico

 After two nights offshore crossing from the Baja, we anchored in Mazatlan for a night on June 7th, then made our way down the mainland coast, stopping in San Blas and La Penita along the way before landing in Punta Mita (our home anchorage).  The big excitement on the passage was using the autopilot the whole way across.  We weren’t sure what would happen if we turned it off, so we opted to wait until we were almost there to try turning it off.  If it wouldn’t turn off, we would have been pulling out fuses and we weren’t sure if that would lock the steering…..  Luckily, we didn’t have to find out, because the button decided to function at the end of our trip, so we were able to turn off ‘Autodude’ and switch to hand steering to get in to the anchorage 😉

Happy to be able to hand steer again after Autodude fixed itself!

We had some nice winds for sailing during our crossing and along the coast here. Even got out my favorite sail – the mizzen staysail (aka ‘the Buddah’ for its fat little belly) for our last leg in to the La Cruz Marina the other day!  We’d been lamenting the lack of good sailing winds on the Baja side, and so from Mazatlan to Banderas Bay we made the most of the daily thermal winds trying to sail on and off our anchor each day.  We were briefly happily anchored in Punta Mita – but within a few hours the winds piped up from the wrong direction and we had a really rolly, rough night at anchor.  The comfort factor, combined with the forecast of thunderstorms the next night, helped us decide we’d better get in to the marina, so here we are back in the slip at the La Cruz Marina.  Full Circle once again!

Flying along using our Jib and Mizzen Staysail

The warmth of the waters on this side was really surprising after the cool waters of the Baja– it is 84 degrees F in the water here!  Surfing in just a bathing suit—Yay! Been doing a little surfing here and there – while in Mantachen Bay there were tiny tiny waves, so I braved it to try to surf on the standup paddleboard, and actually caught a couple of fun rides.  Even when that wave is 6 inches high, you can ride it a looooooong way, so it was fun!  Today I caught some ankle biters out at my favorite Punta Mita break, El Anclote.  And Tim had some fun little waves (somewhat larger than mine) at one of his go to breaks.

Punta Mita Sunset

Since we’ve been back we have been busy catching up with friends and trying to surf most days.  The weather is changing, and we had the first big rain/thunderstorm here the other night, with more predicted later this week. Still hoping for a good southwest swell to hit while I am here so I can catch some real waves at El Anclote.  Making our plans for the rest of the summer…..  I will stop in Seattle and New York before heading back to St. John – planning those travels sometime in July.

Below I’ll include a couple pics from along the way.  From one of our last Baja anchorages ….  Close up encounters with the sea lions and what we think were baby seagulls and roosting Great Blue Herons at Caleta Lobo near La Paz.  

At the little island of Jaltemba off La Penita where we anchored on our last night before reaching Punta Mita it was super hazy over the mainland, and at night you could see the wildfire burning in the hills above the town.  

Island of Jaltemba

Haze and smoke over the mainland

Wildfire in the hills above La Penita

Lastly a couple of random shots....  sunrise at sea.... booby on the bow..... osprey landing in the nest... dancing dolphins

dolphins!

Osprey!

Mainland Bound

Since my last message we have spent two nights at anchor and one offshore. After a night anchored in Caleta Lobo where we checked out the sea lions on the offshore rocks, we headed up to Caleta Partida for a night where we had a motor yacht dragging down on us during the night. I decided not to wake Tim given he'd already been up several times and I could see that the crew of the yacht was paying attention. Upon awakening in the AM the yacht was sooo close to our boat! They had definitely been dragging overnight. We decided the weather looked good to make the jump so we headed out. We are currently about halfway to Mazatlan but may decide to head a bit further south depending on the wind.

For some excitement yesterday afternoon we trolled by an offshore rock off the tip of Cerralvo Island (Tim was also scoping it out for free diving). We caught another Bonita and let it go. Meanwhile in the excitement of landing the fish I forgot to slow the engine and overpowered our autopilot and now it won't shut off! We are managing with workarounds and Tim has figured out a fix. Thank goodness for his electrical skills and understanding of the autopilot system!

Late afternoon we had a visit from a pod of dolphins leaping completely out of the water right next to the boat! And what looked like a mom and baby were surfing our bow wake as I watched over the bow rail. So cool! We had never seen that kind of display so close before.

Last night at sundown we were circled by a brown booby (bird) who spent the night on our bow rail. He looked like a juvenile. Tim tried to give him the flying fish which landed on deck overnight but he just looked at it. After he was gone several hours he returned hoping to hitch a ride again but Tim shooed him off figuring he needs to learn to fly😋(and cuz we don't want any more poop on our deck.

Ok my turn to head back on deck for watch. Will update when we reach next destination.

About Face

About that last post... I guess I posted it in haste.

When we got an update on the Tropical Depression (now Tropical Storm Blanca) and studied the winds as we set sail for Mazatlan, we reconsidered our plan. We instead sailed back north to an anchorage near LaPaz (Caleta Lobo) and are figuring out our next steps and considering whether it might make more sense to head north and leave the boat in San Carlos (a haul out yard in the Sea of Cortez).... Stay tuned for updates!

Crossing the Sea -- Again

 Hola Amigos, 

We left La Paz Saturday AM and spent a lovely night in Caleta Lobos, listening to the sea lions on the offshore rocks.  Yesterday we spent all day making our way south – sailing, then motoring, then sailing, then motoring again.  Instead of anchoring at our intended destination, Los Muertos, we ended up at La Ventana because we wanted protection from a SE swell that was running. It's a lovely long sandy beach that the windsurfers and kite surfers use for launching into the channel here between Cerralvo Island and the Baja Peninsula.  Had a peaceful night here until 3 AM when the winds picked up from the NE and we got up and studied our weather forecasts, and determined that if we didn’t start making the crossing today back to mainland Mexico, it could be a while before we would have any favorable winds to get across.  With the first tropical depression already making its way WNW off of southern Mexico, we decided it was best to just get going.  So we are off!  Will be heading for Mazatlan, San Blas, or Isla Isabela, whatever makes most sense given winds….  Should be about a 2 -3 day crossing. 

Some Islands, and Scorpion Bay!

Since my last post, we’ve gotten to do some sailing, snorkeling and surfing – in between trips back to the marina to complete our engine repairs.  First we headed north for a week in the Sea of Cortez.  Isla San Franciso and Bahia Amortajada were highlights.  The water was cold, but we managed with our shorty wetsuits.  We finally got some crystal clear water for a day – saw the anchor at 25 feet, and had some really nice snorkeling – seeing bigger fish and more varieties, as well as some healthy corals (although I am also seeing what I think might be some coral disease). 

Isla San Francisco

At our first stop, Tim was checking the engine to see if the oil/transmission fluid leak repairs were holding up….  And he sees this big hole in the side of the transmission, and a large bolt down in the bilge.  Uh-Oh!  So we didn’t want to go further north without having the mechanic’s input.  So, back to the marina.  On the way back to the marina we had a nice day sail – catching several Bonita (a dark meat tuna which we don’t like so we let them go). 

Once back in the marina, Tim got right to work with the mechanics again, and they were able to get a longer bolt which seems to be working so far!  Fingers crossed. 

Since we were in the marina, we checked the swell report, and saw that there would be waves over on the Pacific side.  So we decided to leave the boat again, and do another road trip to a different surf spot -- ~6 hours away. We’d been hearing of Scorpion Bay (San Juanico) for years – it is world famous for its long rides – if all the points connect, it can be over 1.5 mile long ride we hear.  We were worried about crowds, and it did get a bit crowded (25 – 35 surfers at one break) – but we hear it can be much worse when better swells hit in the summer.  It was quite the surf scene – surfers camped all along the coastal cliffs, overlooking the various point breaks.  I surfed at 2^nd point, while Tim got waves at 2^nd 3^rd and 4^th points on various days. We met several folks that had surfer friends in common – it was a small world experience for sure!

We’ve been back in La Paz this week – mainly hoping to get Tim his second vaccine shot and catching up with friends.  Yesterday we tried to get Tim’s second shot – they were giving the Pfizer shot to those over 50 and pregnant women, so we were told to go and see if it would be possible.  Unfortunately, after a long wait they refused to give him the shot, since it had only been 19 days since his first shot, not 21 days.  And they don’t know when the next Pfizer shots will be distributed, so it could be up to 3 more weeks.  Given that, and with hurricane season starting up, we’ve decided to move along, and head back south and look for a good weather window to head back across to the mainland and the marina where Tim will leave the boat (most likely La Cruz) for the summer. 

Meantime, we did have fun hosting our new friend Fiona and her pooch Waka on the boat for a night. 

Summer is definitely setting in here.... 99 degrees today.  Tim and i can't wait to get back out on the water where we'll have better breezes.  

Explorations around La Paz

Wow, the last two weeks have been a blur -- first we took the boat out to an anchorage between two islands, called Caleta Partida.  There we spent a few days enjoying the bay & its wildlife (dolphins and turtles), trying to snorkel in freezing cold water (i would get numb after 5 minutes even with my wetsuit!), and exploring the sea caves on the back side of the island with some other cruisers.

Caleta Partida Anchorage

Almost Full Moon at Caleta Partida

Sea Caves back of Espiritu Santo

From there we decided to head back to La Paz to try to get some repairs done on our leaky engine.  Tim was concerned that with the lack of wind around here, we'd end up motoring a lot and the transmission has been losing a lot of fluid.  So that resulted in hiring mechanics that Tim worked with all last week to get the transmission out of the boat -- lots of pounding on the coupling, and heating and greasing was involved before they finally succeeded! 

Transmission is out!  Off to the shop for new seals!

Once the transmission was safely installed back in the boat, Tim and I rented a car and headed out to visit friends and check out some surf spots.....  It was super fun to see our old friends from Punta Mita - Dean and Yumiko and their two kids and explore the East Cape area near San Jose del Cabo with them.  

One the way back to La Paz, we stopped on the Pacific side of the Baja, near Todos Santos to check out a surf break called Cerritos -- we found an adorable little hotel, but were reminded of the importance of checking on whether the room would have hot showers (it didn't!).  Luckily there was a hot tub so we were able to warm up when we got out of the water.  Tim surfed a short session in the AM and then I took the longboard out to play in the shorebreak -- I was able to paddle around and even to jump up and ride a few *mini* waves, so I think that my hip injury is getting slowly better!

Here's a map showing the loop that we did... heading south on Route 1 from LaPaz, we took the route over the mountains to Los Barilles, and then south to San Jose del Cabo, and then came back along the Pacific side...

Now we're back at the marina in La Paz, Tim's back at work with the mechanic, while i hang out in the coffee shop doing computer work!  Best news today is that we've got an appointment for Tim to get vaccinated here next week.  Fingers crossed the supply of Pfizer vaccine holds out and that he is able to get the shot!

Midnight Blue is in the Sea of Cortez

It's come to my attention that blogspot reposted a post i made back in 2012 from the ocean off Oahu!  Not sure how that happened... i was working on this post and must have clicked on something??  Anyhow... see below for the latest! (and forgive the terrible layout... i haven't figured out that stuff yet)

Hola from La Paz, Mexico, on the Baja Peninsula!  Tim and I are at it again, sailing around cruising on Midnight Blue.  You can see where we are on this tracking page: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SV_MidnightBlue (note, this tracking should be working by tomorrow).

We left Punta Mita on Friday April 9th, one week after I arrived in Mexico.  That first week was a whirlwind, visiting with friends on Easter and having a pizza night (tim had some great helpers for cooking the pizzas).

Our first day out we sailed to Isla Isabella where stayed for 2 nights, hanging out anchored next to some pinnacles covered in blue footed boobies (birds!)...  all around that area, we kept passing Olive Ridley turtles on the surface, many of which were accompanied by birds on their backs!  Sunday April 11th we set sail for Baja, where we landed at Los Frailes anchorage after about 48 hours...  mostly motorsailing, as we had really light winds most of the way.

At Los Frailes we did a hike up to the top of the mountain, to get a view of Pulmo Reef on the other side -- one of the few hard coral reefs in Mexico apparently.  It's a national park, so we couldn't bring the boat there (no anchoring) and since we didn't fhave permits we didn't feel good about dinghying around to check it out.  In the view shot, our boat is anchored in the middle.

Funnily, i didn't take any pictures at our last anchorage, Puerto Ballandra, just 12 miles from La Paz.  We had a nice afternoon there -- paddleboarded in to the beach, checked out the famous mushroom rock, and then Tim made us Pizza (Yum!).  Just as we went to bed that night, the wind really kicked in, and by 10 PM we were dragging anchor and in for a long night...  there was a big expensive modern catamaran boat behind us and we got way to close for comfort.  So, needless to say that was not a very restful night.  We left as soon as the wind died (about 10AM the next morning!) and motored in to a marina in La Paz.

On the way we passed seven(!) cruise ships anchored in the bay....  Apparently it's a cheap place to leave the boats when they're not being used. 

Planning to head out again tomorrow.... will post again next time we've got good internet (could be a little while ;-)