20.8N 105.5W to 22.9N 109.9W. Southern Sea of Cortes, Mexico.
Our journey northward started off rather rocky. We weighed anchor on a day predicting light winds which we had at first but we encountered brisker winds as we approached Bahia Palmilla loading up on some pretty stiff wind waves generated from farther north in the sea. We had never anchored at Palmilla and were unhappy to see that the entire anchorage was occupied with moorings. We set down as best we could in a slot between some moorings with enough distance from the reef. The winds died back, but the wind waves rocked the boat very uncomfortably. Steve set a stern anchor to set us to more comfortably which was nice until the offshore winds picked up later that night. Needless to say, the night was long and we started the next day tired and grumpy…only to find that the stern anchor had gotten caught on a mooring cable some time during the night. Steve had to dive the anchor – down twenty four feet – in order to release it. The whole process added an hour to our start and we left the anchorage with concerns over how this new day would play out wind-wise given our experiences of the day before.
It was nice to be under way. The day started with about ten knots of offshore winds that made for a nice motor sail. The winds soon died and we ended up motoring along on our way. We started to relax – the sun was warm, the air was clear and there were whales all around us. We glassed the shoreline checking out many of Steve’s old surfing haunts. After about two hours, we observed a significant wind line up ahead. Within minutes, our smooth sailing was over. In spite of the fact that we were facing only about ten to fifteen knots….it was right on the nose. The wind waves generated from heavier winds much farther north in the sea were the real problem though…the wind enhanced these to at times four feet high and about four feet apart. The steeper wind waves pushed Gitano’s bow off track by almost 90-degrees, working the autopilot pretty hard. Gitano’s decks were getting washed with sea water pouring off the tow rail from bow to stern. The worst part was our speed -- we slowed from just over five knots to at times less than two knots. This was turning in to a very long day! The whales made light of our discomfort as they continued to swim by our side, out in front or to our stern…they really were something. We finally reached the anchorage at Los Frailes by mid-afternoon. It ended up taking over five hours to motor those last fifteen miles.
Los Barriles is just to the north of Los Frailes and is known for its winds making it a Mecca of sorts for windsurfers. We want to wait for a nice windless day to continue our journey north and end up staying put for the rest of the Easter Week holiday. We set out early on Monday morning at 0300 under the light of a nearly full moon. This passage was very smooth with just a bit of wind picking up mid-morning to push us along our way. We arrive at Ensenada de los Muertos by noon looking forward to our stay at this peaceful anchorage.
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