Baja Bash Wrap-Up

We have completed the dreaded Baja Bash! I have been agonizing over this trip for weeks and it turns out that by going at the right time of year and with good weather windows, it doesn't really have to be much of a bash at all. We actually had a rather good time except for the fact that it was quite chilly at night (anything below 70 feels like the dead of winter now) and we had to motor the entire time.

We left Turtle Bay three days ago in the evening with a very short weather window to go to Ensenada. The next opportunity to make the trip north was at least a week away and we were not about to get pooped on for another week - it seems that Turtle Bay's bird population greatly outnumbers its human population and they are all looking for a place to s(h)it.

According to stormsurf the wind would not start to pick up for a couple of days. And even then nothing over 11 knots. We especially needed very light winds for the first part of the passage as we would be passing several capes and a couple of channels, one of which is nicknamed the "washing machine".

Punta Eugenia and Canal de Dewey slowed our speed to nearly 3 knots due to a falling tide. We made it across the washing machine (Canal de Keller) with just a gentle corkscrew motion and when we reached the dreaded Punta Norte we had mirror calm seas. The last hurdle was Bahia Vizcaino of which the author of The Baja Bash has this to say: "Maybe you'll get lucky on your crossing and find calm conditions but its never happened to me." Mind you this is not a small bay and reading this made me nervous. We had calm seas for the entire 100 miles!

On our last full day at sea the wind picked up in the afternoon and blew around 10-12 knots on the bow most of the night. Couple that with a 6 foot falling tide (which pushed us south) and we were only making 3.5 knots. Now it's 6am, we're making an easy 5 knots on calm seas and are less than 20 miles from Ensenada where we will check out of Mexico and wait for another weather window to make the short hop to San Diego. There we will look for jobs and try to sell Camille.

Not that we're experts now but our advice for anyone yet to make the Bash: wait until July, pick good weather windows and get the book* - it has great advice on timing and lots of anchorage options in case the weather report was a little off. Leaving right after a hurricane was a bit scary but it gave us following seas for the first half of our journey.

* we were in no way compensated for this post. We merely think that our trip would not have gone as smoothly without the book or the weather-website.

Checking for tangled seaweed in Turtle Bay

Getting fuel in Turtle Bay

Have I mentioned that it has gotten progressively colder?!! 

The bustling metropolis of Turtle Bay

The reason we didn't want to stay longer 

Turtle Bay fuel and dinghy dock

"Bashing" up the Baja

What kind of sea turtle? We saw lots of these. Much smaller than the ones further south.

Fin Whale? Blue Whale? Much bigger than humpies or greys

Our escort into Ensenada

The sun came out for our arrival. We had cloudy skies the entire Bash so it was a welcome sight.

More Than Half Way!

Baja Bash Days Three to Six 

We made it to Turtle Bay this morning! It felt great to turn off the engine after three days of constant noise. We left Mag Bay late in the evening to have an early morning transit of Cape San Lazaro in calm seas - it was so calm we didn't even notice we were rounding a cape.

So far we have been very lucky with the weather. Nothing but big long swells and less than 5 knots of wind. We haven't sailed a single mile but we're not complaining - considering the alternative would probably be bashing into wind and waves. Now it's back to checking the weather and waiting for the next window to head to Ensenada - 270 miles to the north. From there it's just a quick day sail to San Diego.

So far the wind forecasts have been very accurate - we hope it wasn't a fluke. According to The Baja Bash the next leg of this journey is supposed to be the most challenging as it has several capes (on the Baja peninsula and islands just off the coast) and one very windy channel we have to transit. Right now it looks like we might be here for a few days.

Please note that Camille is/will be for sale when we get to San Diego!

Coming into Mag Bay

Abandoned Whaling Station in Mag Bay

Whale Bones in Man-of-War Cove (Mag Bay)

Diesel delivery in Mag Bay

Calm seas

Yellowfin Tuna for dinner!

Oh, the water color (un-edited/un-enhanced photo)

We passed at least a hundred of these (anchored in depths of 300-400 feet)

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Bahia de Tortuga (Turtle Bay) early morning fog

Bahia de Tortuga (Turtle Bay)

Radar Love

Baja Bash :: Days One to Three

We are currently anchored in Magdalena Bay. About one quarter of the way to Ensenada (about 800 miles in total). We are here to get some diesel (being delivered right now*) and to wait for another weather window.

We departed Cabo at 5am to catch the morning calm to round Cabo Falso. As the sun came up we watched a 20 foot swell (a gift from hurricane Cosme) pound the cape.

Once we rounded the corner we had huge following seas and a nice tailwind (thanks Cosme!) for most of the morning. Leaving after the hurricane was perfect timing as the normal weather pattern brings headwinds, and seas and current on the bow. The rest of the day and throughout the night we had virtually no wind until we got close to Mag Bay yesterday afternoon.

What we did have was lots and lots of fog. Boy are we grateful to have a radar! We love it almost as much as we love our autopilot!

While we were happily motoring along I saw what looked like a shark fin moving through the water. As it came closer we started seeing white spots and realized it was a whale shark!! All year we had been hoping to see a whale shark in the Sea of Cortez and we finally got our wish out in the Pacific.

There have been a lot of questions of why we would wait until hurricane season to make our way up the coast. While we don't feel relaxed about being out here during hurricane season we waited until now because summertime brings much more settled weather (aside from hurricanes of course). Early in the season most hurricanes head west and after we reach Turtle Bay (another 200 miles) we're pretty much in the clear anyway.  This time of year we have a much better chance of getting light winds and calm seas.

If you're planning on bashing up the Baja peninsula be sure to check out the book The Baja Bash.

* To get fuel delivered in Mag Bay simply anchor in front of the little town in Man-of-War Cove and wait for a panga to approach. They will take your empty fuel cans and bring them back full. And then they will ask for a little bakshish - like T-shirts or flashlights.


Please note that Camille is/will be for sale when we get to San Diego!

Provisioning and Lessons Learned

Before heading further south into Mexico we spent three months in Ensenada (60 miles south of the border) getting Camille ready and driving across the border to San Diego once a week to buy parts and gear. During this time I was learning what types of food are available at Mexican grocery stores but we had a hard time weening ourselves from what's familiar. So we filled Camille to the waterline with all of our favorite foods from Trader Joe's and cases of wine from Whole Foods (only $2 per bottle and much better than the two buck Chuck from TJs!). In retrospect, the food is the same here, just some labels are different (and in Spanish of course).  

At the US-Mexico border. Waiting to get into the US. This usually took about three hours!

Not quite a year later and some of that food is starting to expire! And we're left wishing we had stocked up on things other than food. Not to mention that food is MUCH cheaper in Mexico and we could have saved a ton of money!

Case in point: We are currently adding a new sunshade to the cockpit and in order to install the twist snaps (which we brought back from our recent trip to the US) we needed a lot of stainless steel machine screws. We went all over town to find size 6/32 machine screws in half inch - we should have bought more when we were in the states. Stainless is nearly impossible to find in this country! Especially when you need a specific size. Either that or it is extremely expensive. We were able to find one inch screws at the local marine store (think: a third to half more expensive than West Marine) and Mike had to cut them to size.

Parts for repair and maintenance for the boat are also pretty hard to find and cost at least a third more because import duty and taxes have to be paid. Forget about getting anything shipped here. It is not cheap and might not make it! Better to fly back when you have a long list of needed items.

If we had to do it over we would buy more spare parts and trinkets for the boat and a lot less food before leaving the US. Though we have spare parts for nearly everything on board, Murphy's law mandates that only the things you don't have spares for will break - like our galley faucet which luckily was available at Home Depot. Note that not all Home Depots are created equal. When you first walk into the chain in Mexico you feel like you have been ported back into the US but you soon notice that the selection is limited. No stainless screws, nuts or bolts for example...

To provision for passages or long periods at anchor I have a master list of all the items we have bought before and eat/use regularly. My master list is kept on my iPhone in the Reminders app. Things we do not need are listed as completed and before we go shopping I go over my list and uncheck the items we need to buy. While/after shopping we click on the check box and once again complete the item. 

The more we spend time away from grocery stores the more I learn how much of an item we will need and I usually just guesstimate quantities while shopping (one/two per day of such and such). Fresh items are the hardest to plan for. After a week and a half we are usually down to a few apples, oranges, limes, onions and potatoes. Avocados will ripen overnight in this climate but will last over a week if kept in an open green bag in the fridge. I also use green bins in the fridge. Carrots, and jalapenos, and even things like strawberries will stay fresh longer. 

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This post was written as part of a blog-hop. Visit the Monkey's Fist website for posts about this topic written by other cruisers or check out these topics:  

Why do we Cruise
Relationships Aboard
Pink and Blue Jobs Aboard
Leave it or Bring it: Stuff
Fear
Swag and Approaching the Natives
Clothes and Laundry

Feliz Dia Del Amor

This is the view we had over dinner the night before Valentines Day. We went out the night before to avoid the crowds and our cunning plan was a complete success.

Some people (the two people that actually follow this blog) have been wondering where we've been? Here is what we've been up to.

The Mexico-USA border fence. This is the old fence at Tecate. In Tijuana there is also the new fence. Both have an excellent view of the United States and la migra on the other side. We have been driving to San Diego to buy more parts pretty much every weekend.

The United States seen from the other side.

While waiting for three hours to get back to the States you can buy everything from tiny guitars to bobble head chihuahuas. Oh, and fresh churros! Yum!

We had a frame made for the solar panels and are now producing our own electricity!

Lo and behold the stand up paddle board fit right under the solar panels! Almost like we planned it!

Gena tried to teach me how to cook real mexican food!  

The captain's birthday celebration

Celebrations

Some days ago Mike had yet another birthday. We hadn't really been out to a fancy dinner since leaving Portland and were happy to have an excuse to dine in style. Punta Morro Resort, just outside of town, has a fabulous restaurant over the ocean. When the seas are big, waves splash onto the windows just beyond the tables. Since the sun has been setting around 5pm here, we arrived after sunset and instead were treated to the moon setting into the pacific ocean. 

Vaka Visit

Seven beautiful vakas (traditional polynesian voyaging canoes) pulled into our marina today. They are on their way to the South Pacific via the Galapagos while filming a documentary on preserving the oceans. More about their journey...

Today was Australia Day and since we have a few boats from Australia here, we had a bit of a celebration and potluck. Mike and I even had our first taste of Vegemite - not bad!
Not having a lot of time between boat projects I threw together a quick pasta salad. The recipe is on GalleySwap.

Ensenada, Mexico

This morning we headed out looking for a fast internet connection to place some orders and call family. The connection at the marina can get a bit sluggish especially when the cruise ships come in.  

When we got into town the first thing we noticed is that it was eerily quiet and everything was closed - including our favorite coffee shop. Everyone must have been sleeping in or at church. Luckily, Starbucks doesn't seem to follow local custom and we got a great connection for the price of a cup of coffee. 

By the time we left at lunch time it was time to head to our favorite taco shop which was jam packed. We were serenaded by mariachi (actually it's banda around here) bands and watched the commotion at the fish market. The fish scale is always entertaining as there is usually a group of men trying to pack as many slippery fish as possible onto a flat surface. 

By the time we got back to the boat there was just enough time to pull Mike up the mast to replace our anchor light with a new LED light, attach some spreader boots, and add reflective tape to the top of the mast. We hope the reflective tape will help us find our boat in a dark anchorage. The concept being that rather than shine our flashlight into the other boats' windows, we shine the flashlight up high and our unique markings will guide us home.

Coffee and Culture

Ensenada's Cultural Center is just across the street form the marina. They have a cozy little coffee shop with free WiFi so we head over there to make phone calls once in a while since the WiFi in the marina is not fast enough to use Skype.