Tag Archives: sailing mexico

Los Mangles, La Ramada and San Juanico (June 7th-10th)

Moving fast: We didn’t stay long at Isla Coronado. In part, because of the cold water and already spending time there last year, but also because I was on a time schedule to get to Santa Rosalia to put myself on a bus. On June 22nd I had to go the U.S to work a travel nursing assignment and to fly Ellamae to her biological father for the summer. We wanted to get to some areas we hadn’t seen yet before the two of us left the boat life. Sound confusing? It takes a bit of extra planning, but we always seem to make it work.

June 7th: We waiting for the wind to fill in around noon again and we sailed from Isla Coronado to Los Mangles 26.279549, -111.389591. Los Mangles seemed to be a hard name to remember so we nick named it “Muggles” after Harry Potter. Another flat night on the hook.

The next morning we went to explore ashore. There was an abandoned hotel there that we roamed around, then we went for a hike along the road and arroyo up the hillside to get some exercise and a view. Along the arroyo we found an abundance of “snails door” shells. It was hard to keep everyone from collecting huge amounts.

That same afternoon on the 8th, we pulled up anchor and set sail northbound. We had a lovely downwind sail to La Ramada, 26.381940, -111.430564 .

Originally we were going to anchor in San Juanico, the bay just to the south of the point, but it appeared to be too exposed to the more predominant southwesterly winds. La Ramada offers better protection from the prevailing winds, but only fits about 5 boats comfortably. There were 2 already anchored in the cove when we arrived, but plenty of room for Easy and Shawnigan. As per routine, we set the anchor and hopped in the water to dive on it to check that it grabbed. We have never found a time when it didn’t grab, thank you Mantus Anchors, but it’s a good habit to get into.

Unfortunately the water was still chilly and green with visibility of 8 feet again. Once we got below 8 feet, it opened up a bit, but it also got colder. We pulled out our thicker 5/4 wetsuits and more weights to try our luck at spearfishing. We got skunked.

The next day we ventured to a local farm that we heard about from one of the other boats that was already anchored there. With directions like “take the right fork on the road and stay right, eventually you will see it just off the road”, we found it and we are glad we did! The farm had fresh organic goat cheese, beets, onions and eggs! The landscape of the farm itself was worth hiking to see.

If you are planning to go to the farm at La Ramada/San Juanico you can take a peek at the location here: 26.3691834,-111.4442969

Jose

On our way back from stocking up at the farm, we stopped by the “cruisers shrine” on the San Juanico side. S/v Trovita was there, anchored all pretty by herself.S/V Trovita tucked in a sweet spot protected from the wind and swell.

We ate fresh raw goat cheese and looked through most of the other Cruiser’s additions to the shrine. We forgot to bring markers or any memento to leave there this time around.

The next morning, Taj wanted to kayak to shore and fish. He saw a family out there fishing and made his way over to them. We quickly realized that it was Jose and his family. Taj came home a few hours later with 2 good sized trigger fish. He said that he caught them, but we’re pretty sure Jose gave them to him to give to us.

Later on that evening, S/V Trovita contacted us on the VHF radio stating that S/V Kenta Anae was looking for us. Sure enough, they showed up just before sunset! You may recall us mentioning Kenta Anae from previous posts. They are cruising friends who we met and spent a fair amount of time with in the la Cruz/Puerto Vallarta area. We were happy to see them and happy to have boat kids around!!Merle, Matero and Taj heading out fishing. S/V Easy (left) and S/B Kenta Anae (right) at La Ramada anchorage.

After Taj’s fishing trip with Merle, the three of us (Easy, Kenta Anae, and Shawnigan) departed for Punta San Antonio.

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Northbound from Loreto: Isla Coronado (June 5th-6th)

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Northbound from Loreto: Isla Coronado (June 5th-6th) still catching up on posts.

Isla Coronado is an uninhabited island about 8 miles northeast of Loreto. It’s one of the more commonly visited tourist sites for a quick island snorkel, swim with sea lions, picnic on the beach, or a hike up the 948 foot extinct volcano. We made this stop last year, climbing to the top, swimming and having impromptu cookie potluck on the beach with other cruisers. This year, we were hoping for another swim, this time with sea lions and possibly hiking to the top again.

From Loreto, we waited for the wind to pick up enough to sail off the hook. At about noon, on the 5th, we were able to sail off. Mike on S/V Easy continued to buddy boat with us. A few hour sail in mostly and no more than 20 feet of water, we turned over the engine for just enough power to get us in the protective cove and set our anchor @ 26.108002, -111.284458. When we arrived, we hopped in the water to clean the bottom of our boat and to check that our anchor set well. The water was green and chilly. Visibility was less than 10 feet, if even that. Dinner approached quickly and the day had passed.

On the 6th, our one full day there, was determined by the water quality. To swim with the sea lions or hike to the top of the volcano? We were guessing that swimming with the sea lions was not going to happen with the poor water quality and sure enough, when we woke up, not much had changed. After visiting our anchorage neighbors on S/V Tigress II and convincing them to hike with us, we heading to shore and set out for our hike. Mike joined us as well.S/v Tigress II

Although not a far hike, the terrain makes it a more difficult one. The path is clear for the first 1/2 mile or so, then it turns into lava fields of small rocks with cairns marking the way. The last 1/4 mile the path takes you up a steep sandy slog up the mountainside. Taj got a free ride on Christian’s shoulders for the rocky part, but he climbed the steep slog to the top by himself. Ellamae managed to keep up with me the whole way, and Nina stayed back with Christian and Taj, but had no problem making it to the top. Looking down at the anchorage from the top of the Volcano.

Mike Jacoby taking in the view.

The whole clan resting, eating and re-hydrating at the top.

Going down the slog made it all worth it! It was like feet skiing, but on sand. The kids loved it. OH, and there are 16 different reptiles on the island, so keep your eyes peeled!

The reward waiting for us when we returned to our dinghies on the beach was a dip in that cold water. Nothing felt more satisfying after that strenuous hike on a hot day over that hot dry rocky terrain.

There were a few other boats in the anchorage, so we decided to organize another potluck on the beach. This time with real food instead of cookies. We had a turn out of 5 different boats for dinner that night. We even lucked out, one of the boats had kids! Roll call: S/V Shawnigan, S/V Easy, S/V Dad’s Dream, S/V Tigress II, S/V ____? (Sorry, I forgot the boat name! If you’re reading this , comment with your boat name 🙂 )

Isla Coronado is one of our many favorite anchorages in Mexico. To visit here from land based travels, click here!

Next northbound stop: 26.277602, -111.394997

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Crossing the Sea of Cortez: from Mazatlan to La Paz

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We left Marina Mazatlan May 14th around 7:30 am, timed with the tides again. The swell was down, unlike coming in, the timing this time around was not as crucial. We had a minimum 2 day if not possibly 4-5 day crossing ahead of us, so an early departure was not necessary for the purpose of timing our arrival. Mike on SV Easy departed just before us to buddy boat across. We planned on communicating via predetermined SSB frequencies once our VHF was out or range.

The first day out was pretty mellow. We were forced by the wind to make a more north, northwesterly point of sail, which was fine. We motored for about an hour, just enough to get out past Isla Pajaro and catch a zephyr of wind. It was Mother’s Day, the sun shown brilliant, and dolphins came to swim off of our stern. Christian tried to join them in the water by tying himself off with a rope and filming with the goPro. We are pretty convinced that dolphins can hear our heartbeat, because as soon as he got in the water they swam away. When he just had the goPro in, they stuck around. Me with my Happy Mother’s Day smile after the dolphins visited.

The next day, was my birthday. I turned 36 and it was my first birthday celebrated out at sea. The day started out calm. I had planned to talk with my travel nurse recruiter via Satellite phone to try to pin down a travel job for the summer. We had already been conversing but nothing was final. I knew I needed to get something pinned down, but we were ready to set sail, so IridiumGo to the rescue! I had my nursing recruiter call me via satellite phone to secure a job while in the middle of the Sea of Cortez. I was shocked at how well the reception was. The call was dropped a few times, but we were able to get what needed to be done done and secured a job at Kaiser San Francisco for me in the summer! That was a pretty good birthday gift. This is where we were mid day on my birthday.

The kids loving Birthday cake in the middle of the crossing.

Later on that afternoon, the wind picked up to the mid 20’s and by evening was in the high 20’s with gusts of low 30’s on a close reach (upwind). We were double reefed with our Mainsail and furled in jib to about 90% for most of the night and the next day. Despite that our boat was handeling it well, and the hydrovane kept us steering perfectly, I got a little sea sick. The kids did too, but thankfully, no one reached the point of vomiting. They still were able to eat my birthday cake. Although I was able to maintain good spirits I was rendered almost completely useless. I can’t go down below to cook at all, let alone help the kids with anything. Tacking, trimming sails, steering is fine though and is actually helpful, so I don’t mind being “on watch” when I get sea sick. By nightfall I was feeling fine as long as I stayed focused and outside. I did end up taking a Bonine to help me keep from throwing up and fall asleep during my limited time off watch. Love this “tilt boat’n” action! Water spilling over the rail, SV Shawnigan holding strong and steady.

The kids just relaxed or slept in off under the comfort of our dodger or they clipped their harnesses on and went outside for fresh air. No boatschooling was happening this crossing. So far no one on our boat has gotten so sea sick to the point of throwing up since we left in August 2015. I’ll take it as a sign that we’re getting the hang of it. All clipped in on the aft deck, singing songs into the wind to pass the time. Ellamae lounging in the dodger.

By the end of the third day the wind had us going north again, north of Muertos off of Isla Ceralvo. We tacked up before being able to tack back towards La Paz. We made it up until the channel below Isla Espiritu Santo before turning on the engine for that last hour. We made to Anchorage just north of La Paz, called Caleta Lobos, just after dark. Fortunately we’ve anchored here many times before, so coming in at dark was not ideal, but ok. The anchorage was flat and we slept so well!

More pictures:

Taj fell asleep, clipped in to the back stay! Then again in the dodger…Nina perched up in a hammock on our first day out, while it was calm.