Crossing "The Sea" - The Sea of Cortez

Crossing “The Sea” - The Sea of Cortez

March 2- 6, 2018 

Malo and her crew - ie:   Dan and Myself, were ready to sail again.  We had been in Bahia Banderas for nearly 7 weeks now and while it is a beautiful bay and we both got to travel back to the states and visitors from the states came to visit us, it was time to move onward.  

On our last night, we treated ourselves at the restaurant overlooking the marina and anchorage.  The next day we will sail away for the Baja Peninsula and the anchorage of Los Frailes - which is suppose to have great snorkeling.  If we could sail directly there, it would be 275 nm.  Since our route is north and west, and the winds generally come from the north,  it means some tacking.  It actually took 344 nm of sailing to reach our destination.

On the morning of March 2ed, we sailed off the hook to head into the bay.  The breeze was light which was typical in the bay.  It was not long before Dan said:  “lets put up the Code One Gennaker.  

Since the wind was still trying to sort itself out the Code One was collapsing often enough that we replaced it with the jib again.  So it goes with sailing - always making adjustments to get the most out of the wind, either trimming, reefing or changing sails. 

After our first day sail, we were rewarded with a glorious sunset

Islas Marias (Islas Tres Marias) is a beautiful chain of volcanic islands lying northwest of Banderas Bay.  These islands are very remote and protected.   There is a prison colony located on Isla Marias Madre and Mexican authorities patrol this area.  Cruisers are advised to stay clear of the islands and we choose to obey, however they certainly seemed interesting from a distance.  

We had a very pleasant sail with 10 to knots of wind.  The air was warm and we were comfortable in shorts, tees and lots of sunscreen.

Dan takes a reading break.

One of us is always on “watch” 24/7.  Usually, the night watches are most difficult for me, however this time I was mentally more prepared so it was easier.  Also because the air was warmer than what we experienced sailing down the coast from Newport, Oregon, I was happy not to have to wear so many layers and foul weather gear.  The best part however was we were sailing with a full or nearly full moon!  There is magic on the ocean when the waves reveal the moons reflections.  It can mesmerize you.  I’ve tried to photograph this experience but the photos do no justice (and do not turn out well). 

If you look hard enough, you might notice the small moon in the photo below.

The days start to blur together and now only 5 days later I actually forget what happened when.  Here Dan looks happy helming.  

With each night, the moon rises later and later in the evening.  Until the moon comes out, the stars shine brightly, but it is still pretty dark outside.

During the night, we picked up some hitchhikers.  First there was one lone bird that had been flying around our boat and decided to try a landing on our stainless guard rails at the bow.  We do not know what type of bird this is, but we let him stay figuring he must be tired.  However he/she somehow notified some friends and by the time morning arrived, we had 5 hitchhikers!

The morning glow!

More hitch hikers arrived during the night - 5 to be exact.

Usually we do about 3 hour shifts on each night watch.  During the day, we nap whenever we can.  Here I am checking on Dan, as it’s time for him to take over.  

So far we had two terrific days and nights of sailing but the wind had been increasing all afternoon.  It seemed that the El Norte that had been forecasted for the next day was arriving early.  As the evening approached and we prepared to start our night watches we already had 

one reef put in the sail, but I suggested to Dan we get ready for our third night of sailing with a second reef.  Dan agreed it was a good idea to reduce the sail size by adding a second reef.

By the time night arrived our favorable forecast switched to a more challenging one.  This area is noted for “El Norte” the northerly winds piping up and screaming down the Sea of Cortez.  

Well they arrived in full force with winds 20 - 30 knots, waves 3 to 6 ft and Malo was cruising at 7.5 knots.  That speed by itself is fine, but add the choppy wave patterns and sea conditions and it made for difficult helming or even simple maneuvering on the boat.  It was rock and roll time!  Water was breaking over our bow wave after wave as we sailed along.  Dan’s blog has a good description of this, so check the link to his blog or https://onemoretimetosail.blogspot.com

Here the El Norte is building up even more.

Rock and Roll Time!

I woke Dan up about 4am, as there were lights in the distance.  I felt for sure we were on a direct path to collide with them - (I believed they were fishing boats.)  The winds were high, seas choppy, with steep waves and I was about maxed out.  I knew we were close to the point of Baja - perhaps near Cabo and I knew we were going to have to do another tack soon.  My decision was to wake him early before a difficult situation arose (he did not get a full 3hrs sleep).  This did however, allow him to wake up and get his senses going.  

The irony of it all was he determined the lights were on land!  Now this has happened to me before as it is difficult to determine what lights are in the nighttime, how far away they are unless they show up on the chart plotter.   Needless to say we avoided a collision (good thing) and we had lots of room to spare.  

Dan took over helming and I went below to get some rest and my nerves calm again.  It is not easy to sleep when the boat is plowing through wave after wave, rising up with a wave and just as quickly crashing down again.  Fortunately my workshop earmuffs work pretty well to block out the noise and I did sleep.  Dan had tacked once which I never heard.  When he started hauling the jib in, I woke up to the commotion and got up on deck to help.  He then started the engine - “Mr. Rumbley” a name well deserved.  Malo was directed directly into the waves and wind in a northerly direction about ten miles off the shore.

I asked why he decided to run the engine as he usually prefers to sail.   He responded that our batteries were down to low level as the auto-helm had been working so hard and we never want to get them so low that we cannot start the engine or loose navigation instruments.  The engine would have to be started to put juice into the batteries anyway, as the solar would not work until the sun came up.  In addition, that with just 18 miles to go to Los Frailes anchorage,  we would have to tack so much in these strong, direct wind and waves that we might not make it during the daylight.  So we ran Mr. Rumbley into the wind & waves and we arrived at the protection of Los Frailes about 4 hours later.

Dan spots Los Frailes - happy to anchor after this 4 day passage!

We anchored in this beautiful little cove, protected by a large mountain.   Below Dan is putting the anchor weight (a kettle ball) on the anchor rode.

My first order business was to dry all the cushions, blankets etc that got wet on our passage north.  One of the deck latches broke and allowed water to enter the salon.  Oh, the joys of sailing!  

Once we were settled in, Dan was able to relax and take a rest.

We were rewarded with a magnificent sunset.