March 19 - 20th 2018
We left our cozy, sheltered anchorage of Ensenada de la Raza by 7:30 am - sailed off the hook and headed straight out to the sea for our 36 nm sail to Isla San Francisco. The others who where anchored there, decided not to head out in this El Norte wind forecast. But Dan thought we would be fine. It blew 18 to 26 knots with 4 - 6 foot high swells. Sadly I had not taken any sea sickness medication as I had not needed it for some time. While I did not get terribly sick, I felt on edge for most of the 6 hour trip. I took the helm some which always helps, but when conditions got difficult I gladly had Dan take over. The few times I went below deck to get something, I came up a little blue.
The sail was fast and fun and Malo really did a suburb job of heading into the northerly wind. We had to tack a few times, but less than we thought we would. The weather and views were stunning as we followed along the shores of the Sierra de la Gigantic mountain range. The colored striations in the rock layers made me think of the painted desert. The landscape reminded me a lot of Utah, except there was this huge sea surrounding the cliffs.
We arrived at the anchorage about 2:30 pm and I was most ready to be there. A beautiful crescent shaped anchorage with a nice white sandy beach. The water was a delightful tourquoise blue. There were already about 18 sailboats anchored there being protected from the north winds.
It was so windy, we did not go to shore until the next morning. After a late lunch, a nap and chilling, I went to bed at 7pm and slept soundly through the night. I think the sail here whipped me out.
The next morning Dan and I took our SUP boards to shore even though the wind was cranking. We brought hiking boots with the idea of exploring some of the trails. Here are some of the photos of the ridge trail hike and the desert life.
There was a salt pond in back of the cove.
The ridge trail was very cool and the views were stunning. The wind was blowing pretty good so it felt a little unsettling at the very top.
Looking out over the Sea of Cortez.
Isla San Francisco was a beautiful anchorage. Tomorrow we head out to Isla San Jose.
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