Log of SV Wendaway

24° 13′ N
110°18′ W

The rest of the gang arrives and we are off on our mini-reunion with Ruthie, Ellen, Michael and Nell. Lots of group photos ensue. This one is representative of the entire genre:

Left to right: Neal, Mark, Wendy, Ruth, Nell, Ellen,  Michael, Anna, Antonio

On Friday we went on a daysail to Bahia Balandra – exotic, fabulous, brilliant white beach all to ourselves.

Set up a tent on the beach:

Then – as we were ready to depart – anchor up, engine on – no power! We had sheared the shaft coupling bolts…things that connect the engine to the propeller.

Neal hauls up the spinnaker…but then the wind dies.

Finally, we launch dinghy, strap to the side, Antonio handles outboard, and we crab our way back to La Paz. Safe and sound!

24° 13′ N
110°18′ W

We pulled up anchor in Bahia de los Muertos at dawn (actually, an hour before dawn) because we had heard that an early morning assault on the “dreaded Cerralvo Channel”* was the best way to avoid the characteristically boisterous winds in this 5 mile wide waterway.

But look at the calm water in this photo – Neal and I were busy looking ahead at the spreading expanse of “milkpond” conditions when we were overtaken by a ferry headed for La Paz.

Neal, Wendy and Anna busied themselves with polishing the metalwork on SolMate as the courageous skipper dealt with navigating SolMate through the dreaded San Lorenzo Channel…rounding the tip of this stretch of Baja California Sur between channel markers, and thus avoiding the Scout Shoals to the south and the San Lorenzo Shoal to the north. All along the shoreline, deserted white sand beaches shimmered in the brilliant sunlight. The crew were happy to be otherwise occupied with relatively mindless work as long as the skipper was free to confront the marine hazards with his steely concentration and excellent seamanship.

We rounded the corner and soon found ourselves at Marina Costa Baja.

Costa Baja is a relatively new marina with an adjoining hotel and, most importantly, a swimming pool that cruceros are welcome to use. Anna and Birri move off the boat and into the hotel. We are now waiting for the rest of the Schneider contingent to arrive from California Norte.

*The “dreaded Cerralvo Channel” presumably does live up to its name at times, but other cruisers, such as the sailing vessel Kavenga, has also reported on “milkpond”-like conditions:

“After leaving Bahia de La Paz we entered the “dreaded” Cerralvo Channel, which fortunately for us was entirely placid and benign.” Weblog of SV Kavenga May 2006

23° 16.5′ N
106°30.4′ W

We take on new crew for the crossing from Mazatlan to La Paz, on the southern tip of Baja California. This is our most “seaward” leg so far – about 180 nautical miles westward and far offshore.

But we are so fortunate to have brother Neal aboard. He has joined us for this leg of the trip, which will take us the better part of 3 days, including two full nights at sea. Of course, with a passage like this we are eager to have a safe crossing, and we hear that a patch of windy weather is heading down the outside of Baja California which might make things a bit rough.

But we leave Mazatlan at 7pm, just as the sky is getting dark, wending our way through the channel and out into the open sea. We are fortunate to have a nearly full moon.

The first night is uneventful with the exception of a near-mugging by a gang of dolphins who surprise us by surrounding SolMate on all sides and do all sorts of crazy stunts to get our attention: jumping out of the water, diving under the hull, setting off our depth sounder, etc. Anna is at the helm during all this. We survive.

The dawn breaks on a nearly flat calm sea, with not another vessel in sight. We take turns at the helm. Not much happens.

Next night: more of the same. Full moon! In the morning we spot our first landfall – Bahia de los Muertos.

It is a beautiful sight – our first of Baja California – and things have changed! No longer are there miles of tropical jungle, moist marine air, and thunderous oceanic waves breaking on beaches dotted with resorts.

We are now on the edge of a dessicated world – absolute desert with sand dunes that are so white it is hard to look at them in the full sunlight.

And the ocean – the water has changed from a milky aqua to crystal-clear emerald.

Anna dives in off the boat.

Bahia de los Muertos roughly translates as “Bay of the Dead” and we find a couple of different explanations for its curious name.

One of our guidebooks explains that it derives from an earlier time when ships calling into Muertos to take on ore from nearby silver mines would use a particular kind of moorage called a “dead man”. It’s a popular explanation and has been picked up by many sailing blogs (like this one).

We have no idea whether this is true or not; for all we know Bahia de los Muertos might commemorate a lost community of zombie pirates; or the site of a forgotten massacre.

However, once ashore we discover that there are plans for a massive new real estate development which hope to “rebrand” Muertos as Bahia de Sueños (“Bay of Dreams”).

Mark our skipper is horrified by this blatant example of capitalist revisionism. Whereas Bahia de los Muertos has edge, a sense of a lost history, authenticity – Bay of Dreams is a bald effort to erase the past. Outrageous!

Long live the dead of Bahia Muertos!

20°44.9′ N -105°22.7′ W

One last bit of retrospective before we pick up our voyage and bring all our friends and families up to date.

The trip north has posed different challenges – mostly because at this time of year, the winds mostly are blowing down the coast – making it an uphill slog until we reach La Paz.

When we turned right after leaving Barra de Navidad, Anna was the first to notice how the neighborhood had changed – at least visually. When SolMate is on a course that brings the wind close to the bow of the boat, the seas take on a steely, greyish cast; waves seem larger, steeper, more foreceful. Looking aft, off the stern of the boat, the very same ocean appears to revert to its benign sea-blue tranquility, even with winds approaching 20 knots.

Look forward – and you go ‘hmm.’ Back, and it’s ‘ahh.’ You can choose which view to concentrate on.

We scan Buoyweather.com for sea conditions whenever we are near an Internet connection – and try to listen in to marine radio for Don Anderson, a skilled amateur weather forecaster from his station in Oxnard, California.

We are all learning new skills on our northward passage.

During a particularly challenging passage in the middle of the night, as we approached Cabo Corrientes in bouncy seas and a steady wind of 15 – 20 knots, Anna was on helm duty and was coordinating our position over our VHF radio with another sailboat about a mile away. Southwinds is an Islander 36 and has on board a solo skipper, Jeane. Jeane is having problems with her engine and so we accompany her in the dark to give her some support.

And although there are three of us aboard SolMate, Anna is alone in the dark at the helm, tacking SolMate by herself, keeping a safe distance both from Southwinds and the rugged coast of mainland Mexico.

We’ve prepared SolMate for the next leg north to Mazatlan. Our fuel tank has been refilled, there’s new lubrication oil in the engine, and we’re watching the weather for signs that it is a good time to take off again.

Our single sideband marine radio, Elmer, is acting up. It is having a hard time hearing Don Anderson’s weather forecasts, and other marine stations seem to have a bit of a challenge hearing Elmer. I’ve discovered that one of the grounding straps has become corroded so today I will take off for PV by bus to find some more copper bonding tape. I’ll solder that to the section that is still good and hopefully that will make a big difference.

Right now Wendy is cleaning up the cockpit. I am just about to go out and help move the boat forward to make the job easier, then it’s off to PV.

The day is brilliant, golden and blue. Anna is in Punta de Mita, visiting with a new friend she has met, a lovely young guy, Birri. I still don’t have a good photo of Birri but I will find one. (UPDATE: Here is a photo of  Birri.)

In the meantime, duties beckon. Wendy has finished cleaning up the old girl and she sparkles. We’re just closing her up, putting in the drop boards over the companionway, and heading to Punta de Mita where we will meet up with Anna and Birri.

Northward!