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Sailing

  • in Sailing
  • 10 min read

Cabo San Lucas to Magdalena Bay to Punta Abreojos to Turtle Bay, pushing north with three consecutive overnight trips, twice relying on panga-delivered diesel, decompressing with a nice hike

Sunday came with a blinding hangover, a total lack of memory, and a feeling of dread and terror when I realized Duane wasn't on the boat with me. I checked topside to see if he had fallen asleep while throwing up over the side of the boat, or was awake already, but there was no sign of him.

I immediately assumed the worst and looked around for his face-down body floating among the anchored boats. I couldn't see him but the tide was coming in so for sure his body would be washing up on a beach soon. Holy shit we needed to get out of Mexico RIGHT NOW.

  • in Sailing
  • 8 min read

Recovering from crossing Cortez in La Paz, meeting Sara's friend Angela and cousin Jeff, passage to the Espiritu Santo islands and relaxing in paradise

After a well-needed day of rest in La Paz, Sara and I reaffirmed our committment to each other, to the boat, and to heading north. She assuaged my fears of losing her to a nonstop flight from Cabo to SFO by reminding me that we're flat broke - how, she asked rhetorically, would she afford the ticket? It wasn't until later that I found out she had temporarily misplaced her VISA card and really did have no way to get home. Whew!

  • in Sailing
  • 1 min read

La Paz to Cabo to San Diego, bashing back north

What goes down must come back up. The trip north is called the 'baja bash': straight into the wind, waves, and current for more than 750nm. With few stopping points along the way, traversing this beautiful desert involves putting our nose to the grindstone and sailing hard and fast.

After punishing trips into Puerto Vallarta and crossing the Sea of Cortez, we're ready for more. Bring it on!

Sara's friend Angela and cousin Jeff will be joining us from La Paz to Cabo, and Will's friend Duane unwittingly volunteered to join us all the way up the Baja. Sucker.

  • in Sailing
  • 10 min read

Double-overnight passage crossing the Sea of Cortez from Mazatlan to La Paz, caught in a storm, monster wind and waves, wanderlust hits 9 knots with a reefed main and jib; recovering in La Paz

We had been monitoring the weather since Mari left on the 25th, and identified a three-day break in the unusually strong winds that have been sweeping down from the US. The timing was great: a storm system had blown through on the 25th, the 26th was calm, the 27th and 28th were forecast to have light winds, and it was going to get snotty again on March 1st. Yep, there was an Impending Storm, bad omen #1.

  • in Sailing
  • 13 min read

Punta Vallarta to San Blas to Isla Isabela, perfect sailing weather with hundreds of turtles and dolphins, another birthday celebration, exploring San Blas and beautiful Isabela with Mari

[ written by Mari ]

After surviving my first night of rolling waves, I awoke to the rumble of Wanderlust's engine and climbed above deck. I was greeted by a beautiful morning (and a camera in my face-- thanks Will) and a view of the rapidly disappearing Punta Mita anchorage. Motoring on out to sea, we encountered a bit of wind from the north and raised the sails to help the boat along. Motor sailing it was, and we were soon gliding through the blue waters heading north towards San Blas.

  • in Sailing
  • 19 min read

Bahia Tenacatita to Puerto Vallarta with stops at Bahia Careyes and Bahia Chamela, John's kidney infection, another much harder overnight trip; John and Ann depart, Mari arrives

We left Tenacatita at 8AM on Saturday the 10th. We still had ~140nm between us and Marina Nuevo Vallarta, but Ann and John's flights weren't until the 15th, so there was lots of time. Our plan was to stop at both Bahia Careyes - to enjoy the El Careyes resort - and Bahia Chamela to break up the trip. From Chamela we could do a day-trip to Ipala then another day-trip to PV, or an overnight passage all the way into the marina.

  • in Sailing
  • 12 min read

Zihuatanejo to Bahia Tenacatita with stops at Manzanillo and Barra de Navidad, overnight trip with Ann and John, exploring the jungle, and enjoying another mayor's raftup

[ written by John ]

We left Zihuatanejo bright & early in the morning on Monday the 5th of February, heading North for Manzanillo - that's a big haul of 184 nautical miles, but the only decent anchorage in between is Lazaro Cardenas, a mondo container port not very comfortable for tiny crushables such as Wanderlust.