We Set Sail
Last fall, before we left Seattle, we donated a week's cruise in the Sea of Cortez as a prize in a charity auction. Now it was time to redeem that pledge.
Three guests in the galley
Today’s the day. Show time!
We got up at 6 am and desperately dashed around the boat doing last minute cleaning. We have to look good for our visitors. Taking down our canvas canopy so we could sail went very quickly and smoothly. I was impressed.
At about 10 am they called and were ready to be picked up from the hotel.
I climbed in the Queen Mary and drove downtown while Dawn stayed on the boat and cleaned and organized. She always has a hundred last minute chores.
I picked up our guests at the Hotel Perla across from the Malecon. We needed a couple of items from the grocery store and they wanted to make a liquor run so we headed to the Chedraui super market.
It didn’t take long and I told Dawn we’d be an hour, so I gave our guests a quick tour of La Paz to kill time. We arrived at the boat at about noon and loaded up their gear.
We have four gentlemen from Seattle with us. Their names have been changed to protect the guilty. J1 organized this trip. He has been friends with B_ forever and worked with J2 at an engineering firm. R_ is a late comer that J1 met at a dance class.
We got their gear stowed, gave them a tour of the boat and went through the safety check, then were ready to go.
We cast off our dock lines and headed north into the Sea of Cortez. Our destination: Isla Espiritu Santo. We will cruise the islands for five days and head home on the sixth.
The islands consist of Isla Espiritu Santo, the largest, Isla Pardita and Los Isolotes. At some time in the geological past Espiritu Santo and Pardita were one volcanic island, but time and weather eroded the caldera and the sea split the islands in two. Los Isolotes are a few large rocks off the northern end of Isla Pardita where the sea lions live.
Our goal for the first night was to sail to Ensenada Gallina (Hen Bay) on Espiritu Santo. There was no wind as we left La Paz, but when we got to the entrance to the San Lorenzo Channel, the wind kicked up nicely.
What little wind there was funneled between the end of Espiritu Santo and the mainland, creating a Venturi effect and giving us a nice sailing breeze.
Up went the sails with nary a snag. Soon we were beam reaching across the channel towards our destination.
What a glorious sail! We had about a ten knot wind, enough to give the boat a good heel, and plenty of sunshine. The wind cooled the ninety degree heat and everyone basked in the pure joy of harnessing the wind. After an hour or sos sail, the wind petered out and down came the sails. We motored on to our destination.
In the southern end of the Sea of Cortez there is a spring time weather phenomenon called the Coromel winds. Every evening as the land cools, winds from the Pacific sweep across the southern end of the Baja Peninsula and creates strong southwesterlies in the Sea. This is wonderful in La Paz because it immediately kills the heat of the day, but it’s a bit of a problem when cruising the islands, because there are no harbors that are protected from the South West.
We got up at 6 am and desperately dashed around the boat doing last minute cleaning. We have to look good for our visitors. Taking down our canvas canopy so we could sail went very quickly and smoothly. I was impressed.
At about 10 am they called and were ready to be picked up from the hotel.
I climbed in the Queen Mary and drove downtown while Dawn stayed on the boat and cleaned and organized. She always has a hundred last minute chores.
I picked up our guests at the Hotel Perla across from the Malecon. We needed a couple of items from the grocery store and they wanted to make a liquor run so we headed to the Chedraui super market.
It didn’t take long and I told Dawn we’d be an hour, so I gave our guests a quick tour of La Paz to kill time. We arrived at the boat at about noon and loaded up their gear.
We have four gentlemen from Seattle with us. Their names have been changed to protect the guilty. J1 organized this trip. He has been friends with B_ forever and worked with J2 at an engineering firm. R_ is a late comer that J1 met at a dance class.
We got their gear stowed, gave them a tour of the boat and went through the safety check, then were ready to go.
We cast off our dock lines and headed north into the Sea of Cortez. Our destination: Isla Espiritu Santo. We will cruise the islands for five days and head home on the sixth.
The islands consist of Isla Espiritu Santo, the largest, Isla Pardita and Los Isolotes. At some time in the geological past Espiritu Santo and Pardita were one volcanic island, but time and weather eroded the caldera and the sea split the islands in two. Los Isolotes are a few large rocks off the northern end of Isla Pardita where the sea lions live.
Our goal for the first night was to sail to Ensenada Gallina (Hen Bay) on Espiritu Santo. There was no wind as we left La Paz, but when we got to the entrance to the San Lorenzo Channel, the wind kicked up nicely.
What little wind there was funneled between the end of Espiritu Santo and the mainland, creating a Venturi effect and giving us a nice sailing breeze.
Up went the sails with nary a snag. Soon we were beam reaching across the channel towards our destination.
What a glorious sail! We had about a ten knot wind, enough to give the boat a good heel, and plenty of sunshine. The wind cooled the ninety degree heat and everyone basked in the pure joy of harnessing the wind. After an hour or sos sail, the wind petered out and down came the sails. We motored on to our destination.
In the southern end of the Sea of Cortez there is a spring time weather phenomenon called the Coromel winds. Every evening as the land cools, winds from the Pacific sweep across the southern end of the Baja Peninsula and creates strong southwesterlies in the Sea. This is wonderful in La Paz because it immediately kills the heat of the day, but it’s a bit of a problem when cruising the islands, because there are no harbors that are protected from the South West.
Isa Espiritu Santo (Holy Ghost Island)
I have a lot of faith in our ground tackle, so we nestled as close to the cliffs as we dared in the southern cove (Ensenada Gallina) in Ballena Bay. There we had minimal protection from the southwesterlies, but the point did give us some shelter from the seas.
As soon as the anchor was down, the boys took the kayaks on a expedition of discovery. They kayaked ashore and explored the island a little.
This gave Dawn and I a chance to get the BBQ set up and get ready for dinner. When the crew returned, Dawn had a happy hour spread of appetizers and drinks ready for them. They had worked up a healthy appetite and thirst trudging around on the desert island in ninety degree heat.
I heard a big splash and rushed on deck to see what had happened. R_ dove off the boat and was cooling down in the warm waters of the bay.
We let them settle down and rest, then served beef and shrimp brochettes with rice for dinner.
After dinner everyone was exhausted and we got them settled into their cabins. R_ and B_ took the aft cabin and J1 and J2 the forward cabin. The weather was so nice that Dawn and I decided to sleep on deck on the cushions on the aft cabin top.
Sleeping on deck was a weird experience. We were all snuggled in with sheets and pillows and blankets and I quickly fell into a deep slumber. Sometime during the night I awoke, all cozy in my bed, and expected to be in a room or my cabin. I opened my eyes to stars and a bright moon. It was unsettling for a moment. I wondered what had happened to the roof, then I remembered where we were sleeping.
Dawn kept seeing shooting stars, “Look, there’s another one,” but by the time I opened my eyes, they were gone. I think that shooting stars are a little like whales, they only show up when I’m asleep.
The Coromel winds blew in on time as expected. We were securely anchored in the lee of the island and weren’t too affected. The seas were mild and the wind blew through the rigging, but I felt safe with our heavy ground tackle.
When we dropped the anchor, I made extra sure that it was dug in tight. Then we put out extra chain. With a couple of hundred pounds of chain and a 65 pound anchor, we weren’t going anywhere.
Still, I woke several times during the night to check to see if we were dragging and if we had enough water under us. When you’re in charge of other peoples’ lives, you can’t ever let down your guard.
As soon as the anchor was down, the boys took the kayaks on a expedition of discovery. They kayaked ashore and explored the island a little.
This gave Dawn and I a chance to get the BBQ set up and get ready for dinner. When the crew returned, Dawn had a happy hour spread of appetizers and drinks ready for them. They had worked up a healthy appetite and thirst trudging around on the desert island in ninety degree heat.
I heard a big splash and rushed on deck to see what had happened. R_ dove off the boat and was cooling down in the warm waters of the bay.
We let them settle down and rest, then served beef and shrimp brochettes with rice for dinner.
After dinner everyone was exhausted and we got them settled into their cabins. R_ and B_ took the aft cabin and J1 and J2 the forward cabin. The weather was so nice that Dawn and I decided to sleep on deck on the cushions on the aft cabin top.
Sleeping on deck was a weird experience. We were all snuggled in with sheets and pillows and blankets and I quickly fell into a deep slumber. Sometime during the night I awoke, all cozy in my bed, and expected to be in a room or my cabin. I opened my eyes to stars and a bright moon. It was unsettling for a moment. I wondered what had happened to the roof, then I remembered where we were sleeping.
Dawn kept seeing shooting stars, “Look, there’s another one,” but by the time I opened my eyes, they were gone. I think that shooting stars are a little like whales, they only show up when I’m asleep.
The Coromel winds blew in on time as expected. We were securely anchored in the lee of the island and weren’t too affected. The seas were mild and the wind blew through the rigging, but I felt safe with our heavy ground tackle.
When we dropped the anchor, I made extra sure that it was dug in tight. Then we put out extra chain. With a couple of hundred pounds of chain and a 65 pound anchor, we weren’t going anywhere.
Still, I woke several times during the night to check to see if we were dragging and if we had enough water under us. When you’re in charge of other peoples’ lives, you can’t ever let down your guard.