San Evaristo

The Honcho sailed from Isla San Francisco on Wednesday, May 11^th. We had planned to head directly for the village of San Evaristo on the coast of Baja, but at the last minute decided to detour to Isla Coyote, a tiny island that lies between Isla San Francisco and Isla San Jose, only about 2 miles away.  The wind was blowing out of the northwest about 15-18 knots and the only anchorage at Isla Coyote is an open  roadstead and completely exposed to the prevailing wind and seas.  With unfavorable conditions at Isla Coyote, we bypassed it and proceeded on to Bahia Amortajada, on the southern tip of Isla San Jose, only three or four miles further. Sailing in company with two other boats, Blue Rodeo & Swift Current, we came to anchor on the south side of the sand spit that makes the bay in about 15 feet of water.  We had heard about an interesting lagoon here and quickly jumped into Blue Rodeo’s dinghy and found the entrance to the lagoon, which was only about a foot deep so we lifted the engine and walked the boat through the pass and entered the lagoon.  Once inside the lagoon we motored up the estuary, which was teeming with fish and birds of many varieties.  After an hour or so, we returned to our boats and prepared to cross the Canal de San Jose to the village of San Evaristo.

Looking west from the lagoon on Isla San Jose across the channel toward the mainland of Baja and the Sierra de la Giganta mountains.

Wildlife in the lagoon, Isla San Jose

When we cleared the southern tip of Isla San Jose, the wind piped up to 20-22 knots with steep 4 foot seas. Punching into this, the Honcho could just make about 4 knots, with spray flying.  It was only about 7 miles to San Evaristo so we soldiered on, a bit dampish but enjoying the view of the white flecked sea.   Around 1600 we came to anchor in a snug cove just off the village of San Evaristo, well in the lee of some steep hills.

San Evaristo is typical of many fishing villages that dot the Baja coast, with a small tienda, beer ‘Collectivo’ (where you can buy beer), small water desalinization plant, and a small elementary school. All of which serve the twenty or so families living here as well as the salt farmers and rancheros who live in the surrounding area.  One day we walked over the hill behind the village and came to the salt ponds, a mile or so away. It was a sweaty walk on the dusty road under the blazing sun. On the way we shared the dirt road with wild burros and hardy Mexican cattle. Skittish at first, the burros eventually relaxed enough to pose for a couple of photos. Looking out over the salt pans, I saw a lone worker in the distance raking salt into piles. He looked miserable in the hot sun with his rake and vast piles of salt around him.

Salt ponds at San Evaristo

These burros darted into a thicket when we surprised them coming around a bend in the road. Once we passed by, they came back onto the road, watching us and following about 50 yards behind us.

We saw several of these critters browsing on the steep hillsides near where we anchored.

Cardon Cactus

It seems like cactus grows everywhere in Baja. The Cardon, one of the most noticeable, is a remarkable plant...or tree. It is thought to be the tallest cactus species in the world, reaching more that 60 feet high. Natives of the area use the fruit of the Cardon as a food source. It also is known to contain alkaloids, and is reputed to have psychotropic properties. We didnt try any, as food or drug. These cacti can apparently grow on bare rock because their roots provide a haven for certain bacteria and fungi that can extract nitrogen from the air and chemically break down rock to extract nutrients. Pretty cool stuff.

We spent a couple of days in tranquil San Evaristo, then headed north toward the green waters of a place called Agua Verde (Green Water). Well see.

A calm day in the Sea of Cortez, northwest of Isla San Jose.

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Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas

We had a very enjoyable three days in Ensenada, and by the 16th we were ready to continue south.  So Finisterra sailed at 1030 that morning under a beautiful clear sky and a light northwesterly breeze. Our course took us out of Bahia De Todos Santos by way of the channel between Punta Banda and Isla Todos Santos. Once out of the bay we bore off toward our next destination, Turtle Bay, which lies about 300 nautical miles down the coast of the Baja peninsula. About that time the wind fell to almost zero and we rolled up the jib and started motorsailing under the main alone. As it turned out, we had less than ten knots of breeze out of the northwest almost all the way to Turtle Bay so we ended up motorsailing the entire distance except for a few miles when the wind backed or veered enough for us to sail, which wasnt often.

We entered Turtle Bay just after sunup on January 18th and anchored a couple hundred yards from the rickety old pier in front of the village. There were no other sailboats in the bay except for a couple of derelicts anchored off in the distance. In the past weve always anchored and Enrique, the local fuel seller would bring diesel out in his specially equipped panga. But this time he told us to bring the boat up to the pier, where they have cobbled together a couple of floats to make a rudimentary fuel dock. We took on 35 gallons of diesel and gave the attendant a thirty peso tip. The poor guy nearly fell off the dock when he realized I didnt want any change back. The people in Turtle Bay dont have much, and thirty pesos, about three bucks, is a nice spiff.

A beautiful sunset every evening

While at anchor I was able to download some weather data and the forecast was for more light air for the next few days, so we didnt waste any time in Turtle Bay and by 1030 we were headed out of the bay toward Bahia Santa Maria, about 240 miles down the coast. The wind remained very light and consistent out of the northwest so we continued under power. The sea temperature rose rapidly to 68 degrees, making the nights reasonably warm. Weather in this region can be cold and stormy as easily as warm and sunny, so, remembering how we froze on the passage north through these waters three years ago, we brought plenty of heavy cold weather gear and I was grateful that we never had to use any of it. With seven knots of wind coming straight up the tailpipe on a boat moving at seven knots, the apparent wind is zero, so even though the daytime temperatures were in the sixties, we were quite comfortable.

Finisterras cockpit. On the left are the Lifesling and MOM unit. The bag on the stern rail holds fishing gear. The GPS is mounted on a swivel so it can be seen from anywhere in the cockpit. Notice that the compass cover is closed. We almost never use it anymore. All of our navigation tools are set up for true rather than magnetic directions.

The port side of the cockpit carries the outboard motor and hoist, GPS and Sirius XM radio antenna. Notice two rods mounted on the stern. Lisa rigged one with a cedar plug and the other with a pink & white. Off Mag Bay we sailed through a school of yellowfin tuna and both reels lit up almost simultaneously. We caught two little yellowfin, about 12 pounds each. We kept one and released the other. 

Watches on this passage, like the last one, consisted mainly of relaxing in the cockpit, snacking, writing up the log, reading, watching beautiful sunsets, stargazing on night watches, and then watching the sun come up.
Off watch, we would sleep, read, relax, repeat.

Finisterra was off the entrance to Bahia Santa Maria at 1900 on January 19th. We had planned to anchor in the bay for a day or two, but with the weather so fine we decided to continue south toward Cabo San Lucas instead. Later that night the wind finally arrived and we sailed through the night on a broad reach. It didnt last, though, and by morning we were motorsailing again.

A straight wake on a sea of tranquility.

We passed Cabo Falso around 2200 on January 20th and were tucked into a slip in Marina Cabo San Lucas by midnight, thus completing what was by far the most pleasant passage down the Baja coast Ive ever done.

The day before we left Ensenada the refrigerator compressor stopped working. Faced with the prospect of losing all our frozen food, we quickly packed the freezer with ice. Worse than losing our food, we were also in danger of having to drink warm beer and wine. Not acceptable. Fortunately, the day after we left the compressor started working again. Im not sure why it stopped or why it started again so Ill dig into it after we arrive in La Cruz.

I have Nobeltec navigation software on my laptop and have used it for years as my primary navigation tool. On this trip we decided to try out Inav-X on our Ipads. It is vastly superior to the Nobeltec and the charts loaded into the Garmin GPS. I never even opened the laptop.

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Long Beach to San Diego

Sunset in Dana Point.

The day finally arrived when we gave up our much coveted berth in Alamitos Bay and began our journey south to warmer climes and new adventures. January 3rd, the day of our departure, dawned cold, damp and foggy and we felt our way out of the harbor using GPS and Radar because visibility was down to about 150 feet. By 1100 it began to burn off as we motored down the coast to Newport Beach in zero wind. By the time we tied up at the guest dock at American Legion YC, it was sunny and beginning to warm up nicely. We spent a couple of days there, finishing up a few little projects on the boat but mostly socializing with friends. On the 5th, we departed from Newport Beach under balmy skies and, yet again, no wind. In about three hours we had the hook down in the west basin at Dana Point Harbor.

Gray whale headed south off Point Loma.

Off Camp Pendleton the Ospreys were at work

Sunrise off San Clemente. 

We departed Dana Point at 0530 on January 6th and after a pleasant sail in very light air, arrived at Southwestern YC in San Diego harbor at 1500.  On the way we spotted some Humpback whales about a quarter mile off the starboard bow, and a few minutes later a couple of Grays forty yards off the port beam.
Well stay here in San Diego a few days to socialize with friends and make final preparations for Mexico

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La Paz to San Jose

Fishermen head out at dawn from Los Muertos.

We planned to leave La Paz around June 6th but circumstances got in the way. The exhaust mixing elbow on the engine was showing signs of corrosion so I removed it for an inspection and, sure enough, it had deteriorated to the point where it could have started leaking salt water onto the engine.

Made of stainless steel, the elbow injects seawater from the heat exchanger into the exhaust, which is why water comes out of the exhaust pipe of your engine. The water is injected through the small tube and mixes with the exhaust gas in the larger tube. Photo credit: Marine Power Ltd.

I did not have an elbow among my spare parts so the only option was to repair the old one by welding up the areas where corrosion threatened the integrity of the part. It took about ten days to get it back from the welder, but when it was finished it was as good as new. While waiting for the elbow to be repaired another yacht transport ship arrived and Rob Cross and I delivered two more boats to be hoisted on deck and shipped to Canada.

The Tiberborgs deck was already half full of boats when it arrived from Panama. In La Paz eight more boats were loaded. Its becoming more popular to ship boats to Canada instead of bashing roughly 2,000 nautical miles up the coast, or sailing the clipper route.

Notice the diver in the water. His job was to position the slings under the boat. The last time we loaded a boat on a ship, there were two divers with SCUBA tanks. This fellow just had a mask and fins, yet he worked faster than the first two guys.

The Tiberborgs slings were lengthened to accommodate this 45 catamaran. I was told that the cost to ship a 35 foot monohull to Chemainus, BC is around $12,000. That might sound expensive, but if you factor in wear and tear on boat and crew, provisions, fuel, etc. for sailing there, its pretty reasonable. Chemainus is located on Vancouver Island, about 50 miles north of the city of Victoria.

By the time the elbow project was done, hurricane Blanca was bearing down on the Baja Peninsula. At this time of year hurricanes usually fizzle out or head out to sea before they reach Baja, so I wasnt concerned about Blanca. The folks that experienced last years hurricane Odile were pretty worked up about it though. So throughout the harbor, people were taking down canvas biminis and awnings, securing dinghies and lashing down anything that looked like it might fly away in a wind. I didnt get concerned until I saw the local restaurants being stripped of sun covers and awnings. So we secured Finisterra for storm conditions, doubled up our dock lines and made plans for a hurricane party the night before Blanca was scheduled to hit La Paz.

Storm track for Blanca. In the last 24 hours before it arrived in La Paz it was downgraded to a tropical storm. Intrepid mariners that we are, we refused to cancel the hurricane party in spite of the downgrade.

Cinnabarbarians
Sylvia & Tom of S/V Cinnabar enjoying fresh blackened yellowtail at the hurricane party.

Saturday, June 6th, the weather was hot and still, with humidity hovering at about 80%. Sunday afternoon the wind began to blow out of the east, rising to about 20 knots.  By that night we were seeing a few gusts to 30 knots. The predawn hours of Monday brought the heaviest winds, with gusts up to 47 knots. We expected heavy rain but, surprisingly, none fell. Instead the air was full of fine dust and by the end of the storm Finisterra was covered with a thick coat of Baja real estate. Monday afternoon the storm left town and we surveyed the damage around the waterfront. In the marina there was little to report except a blown out window in a restaurant and one of the dock cleats that Finisterra was tied to came adrift. Closer to La Paz, a couple of boats broke free from their anchors and at least one fetched up on the beach on the Mogote Peninsula. Once the wind abated we got busy and washed the grime off the boat and made final preparations to head for San Jose del Cabo, about 150 miles to the south, our jumping off point for the trip up the peninsula to California. We departed on Tuesday morning, June 9th.

Our first stop was Puerto Balandra (again!) where we planned to do some snorkeling. The night before we left we went out for dinner with friends, and I picked up a mild case of food poisoning. So instead of swimming, I spent the day recovering. The next day I was feeling better and we left Balandra, bound for Ensenada de Los Muertos (Bay of the Dead). Over the last few years the local hotel operator there has been struggling to get the name of the place changed to Bahia de Los Suenos (Bay of Dreams) and I think the new name is beginning to stick.

We arrived a little before sunset on June 10th. The water was clear enough that I could see the anchor hit the sandy bottom 22 feet below the surface. For the next two days we snorkeled among the extensive coral beds on the southwest side of the bay, marveling at the variety and colors of sea life there.

Los Muertos is a beautiful bay with a rocky point to the northeast and a long sandy beach. You can just make out the coral beds in the southwest corner of this shot. Conditions here were perfect for snorkeling, with hot temperatures and plenty of sun. When we tired of snorkeling we hiked the short distance up to the Hotel del Suenos and sipped margaritas and swam in the pool.

On June 12th Finisterra departed Los Muertos at 0300,  and motored in calm wind and flat seas to the marina in San Jose del Cabo where we are making final preparations for the next leg of our journey.

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Teak Lady MaZu San Francisco Bay Racing Class

MaZu was the last Teak Lady built and was completed in February 1958 by Ah King Slipway in Hong Kong. Though she is a production boat, she looks and sails like a thoroughbred and sports the detailing of a petite yacht, built entirely of teak with durable bronze hardware.

The original Teak Lady was designed by Ted Kilkenny for his nephew in the mid-1930s and resembled the 23-foot San Francisco Bay Bear Boat but 6 feet shorter and proportionately heavier, with a deeper full keel and a taller rig.






The Teak Lady proved herself so well against other Bay boats that soon outside orders were placed.
A brightly varnished Teak Lady was displayed at the 1937 World Expo/Fair on Treasure Island, and before the fair closed, fourteen new Teak Ladies were ordered. By 1940 the 17 3" Teak Lady was an official San Francisco Bay racing class.

More fame came to the Teak Lady class in the 1940s. A young couple sailed from Monterey, California to Hawaii, then to the South Pacific, logging 8,000 nautical miles. At that time she was the smallest boat to cross the Pacific Ocean.


David Keenan, a former owner of MaZu sailed her in all kinds of weather in San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. He tells me that in one 55-knot winter gale, there was concern at the Vallejo Yacht Club when they noticed MaZu driving hard to weather with the ports submerged. But after noticing through the yacht club binoculars that both captain and crew were sporting ear to ear grins, they decided the rescue party could be called off.








MaZu is currently moored on the northwest coast of the US, in Toledo, Oregon. She sports her colors at local boat shows where families line up for free sailing lessons.

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Isla San Francisco

The Isthmus on Isla San Francisco. The island in the background is Isla San Jose, about 5 miles away.

Isla San Francisco is like a jewel in the sea. Only about two miles long and less than a mile wide, it encompasses a beautiful cove on the south side and, across a small isthmus, another picturesque bay on its eastern shore. The isthmus, which is only a couple hundred yards wide, divides the high northern end of the island from the craggy cliffs to the south. It lies at 24 degrees, 50 minutes north and 110 degrees, 34.50 minutes west. If you Google it, you’ll enjoy the aerial views of this place.

Boats anchored in the "Hook".

The Honcho anchored a couple hundred yards off the beach in the southern cove, known as the Hook, in crystal clear water. As soon as we secured the boat, we jumped in for a refreshing swim before joining friends on another boat for cocktails. The following day a group of eight or ten of us climbed to the ridge on the southern edge of the island and were rewarded with splendid views of the boats at anchor below and the dramatically striped cliffs across the channel on the mainland to the west and on Isla San Jose to the north.

Ridge trail on the south side of the island. Isla San Jose in the background.

After a couple of days of sun, swimming and relaxing, we’re now ready to get underway tomorrow morning, bound for the village of San Evaristo, on the coast of mainland Baja. There we’ll pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables, if any are available, then leave the following morning for points north. 

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Cabo San Lucas to La Cruz

Three days in Cabo are more than enough, so Finisterra cleared the breakwater of that picturesque port at 10:00am on January 23rd, bound for La Cruz de Huanacaxtle. There was a cruise ship anchored just outside the harbor so the bay was thick with tour boats, paragliders, jetskiers, fishing boats and pangas loaded with vacationers. We picked our way through the crowd and it wasnt long before we were sailing in clear air. The wind, however, stayed light and we began to motorsail again.

A cruising boat struggles to keep his spinnaker full on a light air Bahia Banderas morning.

La Cruz is located on the north shore of Bahia Banderas, about 290 miles southeast from Cabo San Lucas. I plotted a course that would take us 20 miles south of the Islas Tres Marias and then through the channel between Punta de Mita and Islas Tres Marietas, which mark the entrance to Bahia Banderas.

Pretty little trawler in the anchorage at La Cruz.

For the next 30 hours we motorsailed over a glassy sea with winds never getting above five knots or so. With these conditions it is easy to see all the sea life that abounds in this region and we saw so many whales that we stopped counting them and focused more on avoiding running into them. Birds were plentiful and we were entertained by the incredible diving of the blue-footed boobys that fed on small fish that were stirred up as the boat passed by. A bird would dive into the water and swim after its prey under water, usually coming up with a fish dangling from its beak. This is also frigate bird country and we were never without them soaring overhead. At night the boobys and frigates often try to land on the boat. They can wreak havoc on masthead instruments and antennas so we do all we can to keep them off the mast. We had one booby hitch a ride with us for a short while but it didnt harm our masthead gear. Ive found that the best way to keep them off at night is to have a powerful flashlight ready and shine it at the bird just as it makes its final approach to the masthead. During the daytime there is little you can do to keep them off.

An overloaded Freeport 36. If you truly need to carry this much stuff, you may want to consider a bigger boat.

Here is another F36 in the same anchorage. Which would you rather sail?

About thirty miles out of Bahia Banderas the wind turned around and blew hard straight out of the east so we found ourselves punching into a nasty chop with spray flying over the dodger until we reached the mouth of the bay at 0130 the next morning. Once through the pass we turned northward and anchored just off the village of Punta Mita. It was about 0300 by the time we got the hook down and the boat secured.

The next morning we lazed around on the boat for awhile, then sailed the last nine miles to the anchorage outside of La Cruz, arriving around 1500 in the afternoon. There were 46 boats anchored there when we arrived. We anchored on the southwest side of the group, a couple hundred yards from the nearest boat,  then went ashore where we met friends for drinks and dinner at the famous "Tacos in the Street" restaurant. Naturally just after we got our anchor down, another boat arrived and decided the best thing to do was anchor as close as possible to us in spite of all the open water all around us. Thus began our stay in beautiful La Cruz.

The voyage from Long Beach to La Cruz is for all intents, the first leg of our journey. To summarize it, we sailed just over 1,400 miles, traveled from a temperate to a tropical latitude and traversed two time zones. It took a total of 23 days, and we made stops at Newport Beach, Dana Point, San Diego,  Ensenada, Turtle Bay, Cabo, and Punta de Mita. During that time we had excellent weather, though the winds were lighter than we would have liked. The boat, aside from a balky refrigeration system performed flawlessly.

Here in La Cruz well make the decision whether to hurry south to Panama by May, or spend another season cruising in Mexican waters.

Reunion at Ana Bananas in La Cruz. The crews of Scout, Finisterra, Hotel California and Sirena share a table.

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San Diego to Ensenada

We were in San Diego for six days, mostly socializing with friends, provisioning and doing a few minor projects on the boat. We were graciously hosted by our friends at Southwestern Yacht Club for four days, then we moved over to San Diego YC. On Sunday, January 12th, we departed SDYC at 0645 with our good friends Tom and Mary Ellen aboard for what turned out to be a quick ride to Ensenada. 

The fog was thick as we motored slowly down the channel toward open water. By 1000 it was beginning to lift a bit and a very light breeze sprang up out of the northwest. A bit before noon we crossed the border into Mexico and hoisted the Mexican flag. Shortly after that we were approached by a Mexican patrol boat and ordered to heave to. With all of the controversy over foreign boats in Mexican waters, we didnt know quite what to expect as we drew alongside the dangerous looking patrol boat, which was manned by ten or twelve well armed sailors and immigration officers. They ordered us to present our papers and after a quick review of them, they handed them back and wished us a good voyage as we pulled away from their boat. It is my policy to be friendly and cooperative with the Mexican authorities and it turned out to be a very friendly encounter on all sides. 

It stayed fairly cold all day. The wind began to build in the afternoon and by 1400 it was around 20 knots and coming straight over the transom as we passed the big LNG terminal on the northwest corner of Todos Santos Bay. We had unrolled the jib earlier to help steady the boat in the light air and lumpy swells, and with the knotmeter hitting 10s we sailed dead downwind the last few miles under the jib alone toward the harbor mouth, which we entered a few minutes after 1500.  Finisterra was secured to her berth in Cruiseport Marina a short while later and by 1600 we were enjoying a cold beverage in the cabin. 

That evening Toms friend, Juan Hussong drove us to his restaurant, Sanos, which overlooks the bay near the Coral Hotel and Marina. There we had a splendid steak dinner and enjoyed Juans stories of his life as a fisherman, boatbuilder and restauranteur. 

The next morning we went to the Port Captains office and officially entered the beautiful country of Mexico. By coincidence, one of the officers who had been on the patrol boat the day before came into the office and greeted us with a friendly smile. Once all the paperwork was done, passports stamped, fishing licenses and import permit secured, it was lunchtime and we walked a few blocks to the Mahi Mahi restaurant for tacos and beer. After lunch we said goodbye to Tom and Mary Ellen, who had to catch a bus back to San Diego, and walked back to the boat, stopping along the way at the Telcel store to set up our Mexican phones and internet access. 

It turned out to be a beautiful, balmy afternoon. We washed down the boat, took long luxurious showers and, with sundowners in hand, walked the docks in the marina checking out the boats. Many were unfamiliar, but some we knew from the last time we were here. One interesting boat was Nereida, the boat that Jeanne Socrates recently sailed nonstop around the world. 

Tomorrow were headed inland to do some wine tasting in the Guadalupe Valley. 

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