Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida

On April 10th, we sailed up the west side of Isla Cerralvo and passed through the narrow San Lorenzo Channel just north of La Paz. We had plenty of provisions, so we decided to explore two islands north of La Paz before visiting the city. Isla Espiritu Santo and Isla Partida have a number of beautiful bays and coves where a sailboat can anchor. The waters are crystal clear and the desert scenery is spectacularly austere.

Relaxing in these islands gave me time to catch up on some of my academic work. While at anchor in this wonderous environment, I spent a lot of time reading drafts of graduate student theses and reviewing manuscripts. (During academic sabbaticals a certain amount of routine academic work must continue). But there was time for exploring as well. I tried out a small underwater camera while snorkeling over reefs, and we made good use of our kayaks to get to shore, where we hiked in the desert terrain.







One of the highlights was a visit to a small rocky island called Los Islotes, just north of Isla Partida, where there is a Sea Lion rookery. We anchored the boat in a small cove called Ensenada el Embudo and used our dinghy to cross a mile-wide straight to Los Islotes. Here is what the island looked like as we approached.



At the island we were able to tie the dinghy to a mooring ball provided by the Mexican National Park Service. Having been advised that the Sea Lions are not aggressive (unless one approaches the rookery too closely) we went snorkeling over a reef near the Sea Lion rookery, and were soon swimming with the Sea Lions. They passed close by to check us out and seemed curious and playful. The nearby reef was loaded with fish--a veritable Sea Lion smorgasboard (which perhaps is one reason the rookery is here).


On April 14th, the trawler Lilliana pulled up next to us in Partida Cove and dropped anchor. Richard and Roseanne Packard, of Lilliana, are a delightful couple that we had met at Chamela. We arranged to have dinner with them in order to catch up on their travels. As usual, they were a font of useful information.

On April 15th we sailed south to La Paz. We are now at Marina Costa Baja, just north of the city. We will stay here a few days in order to provision and to give me a chance to do more academic work while I have good internet connections. We then will head north into the Sea of Cortez again.

Crossing the Sea of Cortez

On Tuesday, April 6th, we finally left Mazatlan and headed for Ensenada de Muertos (the ominously named, but pretty, Cove of Death) on the Eastern Cape of the Baja peninsula. Crossing the Sea of Cortez is often challenging due to strong winds and waves, so we were careful to check the weather reports. They predicted light winds for Tuesday and stronger winds for Wednesday, but the maximum winds were predicted to be 15-20 knots, which we thought we could handle. It is about 175 miles from Mazatlan to Muertos, so we anticipated a two-day trip.

All went well the first day. We had moderate winds from the west, which allowed us to sail northwest up the mainland coast. The winds were predicted to shift to the north later, so I wanted to get as far north as possible to get a better sailing angle for crossing the Sea. All went as planned. Late in the day Tuesday, when we were about 45 miles up the coast from Mazatlan, the predicted windshift arrived with a bang. It happened so suddently it backwinded our jib, causing an accidental tack. We were then heading west, so we decided to take what the wind was giving us and head for Baja. By sailing on a close reach, we were able to head directly for Muertos. We sailed into a gorgeous sunset with about 15 knots of wind. The boat was charging along at about 5 knots. Things appeared to be going very well.


During the night, the wind started to build and became shifty--making it difficult to maintain our sailtrim in the dark. For convenience, we decided to drop the sails and motor until morning. By morning, the winds were much stronger, blowing at about 25 knots. We also were getting a nasty chop, with steep, short periods swells on our bow quarter. The boat was plunging and rolling heavily. To stablize it, we set the mainsail with a single reef. This helped so much we decided to kill the engine and set the jib. We sailed with a single reef most of the morning, still managing to maintain our heading toward Muertos. By afternoon, however, the winds had grown stronger yet, with gusts well over 30 knots. The boat was over-powered and heeling far over, with the toe-rails in the water. It was time for a second reef.

With two reefs in the mainsail, and the the jib mostly furled, the boat stood up and behaved much better. By adjusting the amount of jib, we were able to balance the sails perfectly so that the boat sailed close-hauled into the strong wind and swells with the helm centered. In those conditions, I really appreciated being in a heavy, "sea-kindly" boat like the Mason 33. It found a line and cut through the heavy chop with some pitching, but almost no slapping or pounding, making 3-4 knots into very strong winds and waves. I was very happy with the boat's performance in the nasty conditions.

On the other hand, some problems with the boat became apparent. As we plunged into the steep waves, the decks were often awash with seawater, and we discovered leaks in our forward hatch and in one of our deck prisms. The biggest problem was that seawater splashed over the top of our dodger, soaking the back of the cockpit where our helm is located. The dodger, with its new stitching, held up well as what seemed like bucket of water were thrown against it. Huddled under it, we were able to stay dry--mostly. The problem was that we needed to go back to the helm to check our instruments, such as the chartplotter which showed our position, as well as AIS signals for other boats, and the controls for the auto-pilot. It was impossible to visit the helm without getting drenched by flying water.

When the sun went down, and it was still blowing hard, we decided to furl the jib and motor sail with just the main up. We were standing three-hour watches, and with only one person on deck, it would have been difficult to maneuver under sail alone, should it be necessary to dodge a ship or another boat. We also worried about maintaining sail trim in the dark. With the engine running, and the mainsail double-reefed, we continued through the night.

By dawn, we could see the hills of Baja. We motored into Muertos Cove at about 8 am and dropped anchor. We were protected from the swells, but the wind was still blowing over 20 knots. Claudia and I were both exhausted from this challenging passage. We spent most of Thursday sleeping and most of today (Friday) just relaxing to recover our energy. On the whole, we came through it well, with no damage to the boat and some new knowledge about sailing upwind in heavy weather.

I have spend some time looking back at the weather predictions. The winds were clearly much stronger than predicted--at least according to the predictions when we left Tuesday morning. Interestingly, predictions that were issued Wednesday morning noted that a strong pressure gradient had developed that could produce winds over 20 knots--but that prediction was too late to help us. As I wiped the heavily encrusted salt from the boat today I was reminded to take future weather prediction with a grain of salt.


Muertos Cove is pretty. It is close enough to La Paz and Cabo to have experienced some development (and to have Telcel Broadband service). There are some condos on the beach, as well as a restaurant called the Giggling Marlin (a branch of a famous Cabo hang-out). But we won't stay long. Tomorrow morning we will be heading north toward Isla Partida, an island north of La Paz.

Leaving Mazatlan

At long last, work on the boat is finished. Sabbatical is currently suspended on slings from the travel-lift in the Singlar boatyard, ready to be splashed into the water tomorrow morning--not long after the staff at Total Yacht Works puts a final coat of paint on the bottom of the keel (which is only accessible while the boat is in slings).

It has taken two weeks rather than one to complete work on the boat. Much of the delay was due to Santa Semana (Easter Week), which is a major holiday here during which not much gets done--other than drinking, partying, and late-night revelry.

There is, believe it or not, a night club in the Singlar boat yard. I don't quite understand the appeal of the location, but starting last Friday a lot of people showed up around 10 pm for loud techno music, which continued until 4:30 am. The cruisers who are living on their boats in the yard, and at a nearby dock, were not happy. Claudia and I were lucky--we happened to have ear plugs, which we put to good use.

I managed to watch the final four NCAA basketball games in local sports bars with Neil Kelly, a retired eye surgeon who is in the boat yard with his 55-foot power cat. It was a lot of fun and suffered not at all from commentary in Espanole.

Tomorrow we plan to head off across the Sea of Cortez. We will probably anchor in the islands north of La Paz for a few days, before heading down to La Paz. It will probably take us two days to cross the Sea because we are expecting headwinds from the northwest. We may need to go north some distance to get a good angle to cross.

Here are a few more pictures of the boat in the yard. This one shows Sabbatical with all the paint stripped from the bottom.



And here she is after a coat of primer (and epoxy "barrier coat"). She will receive two coats of the epoxy primer, and two coats of anti-fouling paint.


With her smooth new bottom she should be fast. After two weeks on the hard, we are eager to go sailing.

Side Trip to Guadalajara

While the boat was in the yard, we decided to visit the city of Guadalajara. For about $40 each, we bought tickets on a very comfortable bus for the seven hour trip. We stayed four nights at the San Francisco Plaza Hotel, in an old colonial building in the Centro Historico--the city center. Here is a picture of Claudia having breakfast in one of the interior courtyards for this nice, old hotel. It was not luxurious, but it certainly had character and a sense of history.
Here is the stairway up to our room.

And here is the outside of the hotel, which is on a small square about a block from San Francisco Plaza.

We spent two days looking at the architecture and public art in the city center, and visiting museums there. The Centro Historico is beautiful.



Much of the art made reference to events in the history of Mexico. We found ourselves wishing knew more of this history so that we could understand the art better. There are major murals by Jose Orozco, and one of the museums has an extensive exhibit that documents Orozco's entire career as an artist. Orozco's art is highly political and his huge figures are very impressive on the walls of the old buildings. Orozco seemed to make a point of criticizing his patrons. He painted murals with anti-religious themes (such as images of Christ cutting down his cross) on churches; images of legal corruption and bribery on the walls of appellate courts; images demonizing governmental power and glorifying insurgency on government buildings; and so on. It is disconcerting, although certainly interesting. Here are some of Orozco's images from the Governor's Palace.




We also spent a day in the nearby town of Tlaquepaque, which is a well-known center for arts and crafts, particularly ceramic pottery, as well as mariachi music. Here are some Tlaquepictures:




Another highlight of the trip was a visit to the central mercado, a huge building full of tiny shops. It was a giant warren crammed full of merchandise. One area had dozens of tiny restaurants. Birren (goat) is a local specialty.



We returned to Mazatlan on Monday, March 29, and discovered that progress on the boat had been slow. We have moved back aboard the boat, but it is still "on the hard" (as yachtistas say). To board the boat, we must climb a ladder. Work has been slow because this is Semana Santa (Easter week), which is honored here with much loud revelry and partying. The population of Mazatlan has more than doubled as Mexicans from inland areas have flocked to the beach. More on the boat project, and Easter celebrations later...

Haul Out

It has been three years since we had Sabbatical's bottom painted with anti-fouling paint, and the current paint is wearing through, making it difficult to keep the hull clean. Having heard good things from other cruisers about the work of a company called Total Yacht Works, at the Singlar Marina Boatyard in Mazatlan, we decided to have them do the bottom job for us.

We had to wait a few days at El Cid Marina for an opening in the boatyard. While at El Cid we made arrangements to have our interior upholstery redone--new cushions and new fabric. We also arranged for a canvas expert to resew and make repairs to our dodger (to fix some damage I caused when I installed our solar panels and replace some broken threads). We are impressed by how inexpensively we can have work done here. With luck, the upholstery and dodger should be completed while the boat is in the yard.

We also had a chance to reconnect with Seth, Sophie and Casey from Liberty. They are passing through on their way to the Sea of Cortez. We had a great evening sharing Mazatlan's famous cuisine--barbequed camarones with cerveza.

For exercise, we have been doing a lot of kayaking. We toured the very extensive waterways inland of the marina complex where the El Cid Company is developing condominiums and houses. Never have we seen so many infinity pools in such close proximity to one another.

We also kayaked to Isla Pajaro (Bird Island) which sits invitingly about a mile offshore, just outside the entrance to the marinas. There was a strong swell coming from the west, creating steep waves over the bar at the entrance channel, but once we got over those, it was an easy paddle to the island. Once there however, we encountered the following rather contradictory sign.

Hmmmm. Welcome, but you shouldn't be here. We stayed on the beach, took a few pictures, and paddled back. Here is the view of Mazatlan from the island

Our haul out was scheduled for 10 this morning. Because our holding tank was full, we got up early and left the harbor through the entrance channel in order to discharge the holding tank off shore. We encountered some steep waves as we motored over the sand bar at the mouth of the entrance channel, but we weren't too worried about it.

After dumping our waste three miles out, we headed back to the entrance channel. As we approached the entrance, we encountered some large swells that seemed to be coming in sets. We also saw what appeared to be breaking waves at the harbor entrance. Coming out through the channel we saw Patricia Belle , a classic 60-foot schooner that is well known in this area. As the schooner approached the bar, I saw it suddenly stop, turn, and start backing up. At first I thought she had run aground. As we got closer, I realized that the skipper was afraid to exit through the breaking waves, and was turning around in the narrow channel to reenter the harbor.

What should we do? I didn't want to be late for our haul out appointment. On the other hand, if the skipper of a 60-foot schooner was afraid to cross the bar, it seemed wise to be careful with our 33-foot sloop. I slowed down and got ready to radio Singlar Marina and tell them we would need to reschedule. While doing so, I noticed that the seas had flattened out--we were in a lull. I looked behind us--no swells were coming. Figuring this was our best chance, I gunned the engine and headed for the bar at full throttle. As we approached the bar, I saw some large swells rolling in from the west, but we beat them across and motored into the channel with no problem at all.

Just inside the entrance, near the El Cid fuel dock, we passed close abeam of Patricia Belle. Skipper and crew were all staring at us. The skipper yelled that we must have had a "hairy" time crossing the bar. I yelled back that we had timed it for lull and had had no problem. He shook his head and said (Claudia can verify that this is an exact quote): "well you're a better sailor than I am." I doubt that is true, but we did manage the entrance pretty well. Our familiarity with the wave sets, from having kayaked through the entrance the day before, probably helped. A short time after we entered the channel, the Harbor Master "closed" the marina entrance--which means that boats were no longer allowed to exit due to the danger of breaking waves.

We got to Singlar a few minutes early. The Singlar staff waved us into the lift, placed straps under our keel, and lifted the boat out of the water.

Bob Buchanan, the jefe at Total Yacht Works, examined the bottom carefully and recommended that we have all of the old paint removed. He said there is a thick layer of paint, from previous bottom jobs, and that the paint is beginning to separate from the underlying gel coat, with water penetrating between paint and plastic. I was able to remove some large sections of paint with my fingers, which seemed to confirm what he was saying.

We agreed to have all the old paint removed. The staff will then apply two coats of epoxy primer (a barrier coat) followed by new Proline ablative paint. This should put the hull in better-than-new condition. The good news is that everything else on the hull looks fine--and that the work can be done here much less expensively than would be possible at home.

While the boat is in the yard, we will take an inland road trip to Guadalajara.

North to Mazatlan (and a story of one that got away)

We were pinned down in La Cruz for a few days by strong northwest winds. After our rough trip around Cabo Corientes and across Banderas Bay, we were looking for a calmer "weather window" for the trip north to Mazatlan. We finally got it--and left on March 13th.

The first night we stopped at Chacala, a small bay north of Punta Mita and South of San Blas. We were joined there by the other Sabbatical, which was also heading north. We also saw Saphire, another HaHa boat that we had last encountered at Las Frailes.

Chacala is pretty, and has a nice beach with the standard palapa restaurants, but we did not go ashore. We were eager to move on to Mazatlan.

When we left Chacala in the morning, I used a spinning rod with relatively light (20 pound) line to troll a small plastic lure. I have another pole with heavier (50 pound) line, but had not gotten around to setting it yet. I was talking on the radio to Phil on the other Sabbatical when the pole bent over and the line went singing out. By the time I got the boat slowed down, and got the rod out of the rod holder, a lot of line had been taken off the reel. I was tightening the drag, thinking we might have a nice fish for dinner, when I saw an enormous sailfish come flying straight up out of the water, about 100 yards off our stern. It was at least 5 feet long. It took me a few seconds to realize that I had hooked a monster.

The pressure on the line felt light, so I reeled in as quickly as I could, while yelling for Claudia to get the net and the camera. The fish made several spectacular leaps, coming entirely out of the water while shaking its head violently, trying to toss off the hook. Then it made a run away from the boat. Line went smoking off the small reel and after what seemed like less than a second I was standing there holding a fishing rod with no line attached. The fish made one last vertical leap, and then was gone.

It is probably a good thing it got away, as we would have had no way to get such a large fish onto the boat, and I would hate to harm such a magnificent creature. But I now have a better understanding of the appeal of fishing for giant bill fish. It is very exciting to have one on the line--even if only for a couple of minutes.

We continued to sail northwest. By the afternoon, the winds were stronger--it was blowing 20 knots from the northwest--exactly the direction we wanted to go. We started the engine and motored into the swells with the mainsail up for stability. At sunset I went to the mast to drop the mainsail, so that we could motor more directly toward Mazatlan. To keep the halyard from slapping the mast, I disconnected it from the mainsail, but I lost hold of it before I could secure it to the sail cover. In the strong breeze, the halyard went flying behind the boat and wrapped itself around the backstay and the topping lift. I tried to reach it to pull it down, but the boat was pitching so much in the choppy waves that I thought better of it. We proceeded with the engine only through the night.

In the morning, the winds had calmed and the seas were smooth. I was able to reach the wrapped halyard with a boat hook and bring it down. We then reset the sails and continued on to Mazatlan, across calm seas. We arrived off the marina area in the early afternoon and motored into the channel to El Cid Marina, where we are now staying. Our last time here we stayed in Marina Mazatlan. El Cid has nicer facilities, although there is more surge at its docks because it is close to the harbor entrance.

We are planning to have Sabbatical hauled out at the Singlar Boatyard here for bottom paint. While here we are also hoping to have the interior upholstery redone and make some other repairs.

Back to La Cruz

We left Chamela on March 8th. We motorsailed up the coast into light headwinds and reached Ipala by mid afternoon. Ipala is known for lobster, so we had a lobster dinner at one of the palapa restaurants, then spent the night at anchor in the bay. The next morning we continued northwest around Cabo Corrientes.

We motored with the mainsail up and drawing. By mid-morning, we faced 15 knot headwinds. The winds built as we continued and the seas around the cape became confused. It was like being in a washing machine, with heavy chop hitting us from all angles. The boat pitched fore and aft, and was slowed by the waves, but managed to cut through them without any slapping or pounding. It was a wet trip, but with assistance from the engine we were able to maintain about 5 knots of speed until we rounded the point and entered Banderas Bay.

Once in the bay, we had a couple of hours of fine sailing, close reaching into winds of about 20 knots and making good progress. We flew along with a single reef in the mainsail and the genoa slightly furled. In midafternoon, the wind suddenly became much stronger. It was whistling through the rigging at about 30 knots. The boat heeled far over and became difficult to control as it tried to round up. Because the seas were rough, I was reluctant to leave the cockpit to put in another reef. We furled the genoa and fell off to a beam reach, running with only the main. This stabilized the boat and we continued forward at about 6 knots. Waves kicked up by the strong winds broke on the deck and drenched the dodger and cockpit in spray. The winds gradually dropped as we approached La Cruz and gained some protection from the surrounding hills. By the time we reached the anchorage, the winds were moderate. The boat and crew were heavily crusted in salt.

The anchorage at La Cruz was crowded with over 40 boats and the marinas were reported to be full. A lot of people are here for a boat show and the upcoming Banderas Bay regatta. After one night in the anchorage, we were able to obtain a slip in the La Cruz marina, which was helpful because I needed to wash the salt off the boat.

We have spent the last couple of days resupplying, changing the engine oil, and getting ready to continue north. We have also spent time at the boat show and in La Cruz, still a fun town. We will continue north tomorrow.