We couldn't just lie around in paradise all week - although we really really wanted to! - so we were up early for the day-long passage to Ensenada de Los Muertos on our way to Cabo San Lucas.
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!
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.
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.
We waited until 9PM before leaving Isla Isabela; the weather was cooperating and by the time we hauled up the anchor the water in the anchorage was smooth, the sounds of the surf crashing against the island had dropped, and the gusty winds had died down.
[ 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.
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.
[ 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.
The Zihua sailfest was a wonderful experience, but real life is calling (read: we're suffering a severe peso deficit) and the festival is our turn-around point.
We are spending February clawing our way back north, and in just one month we will travel all the way back up to La Paz while hosting three different people on Wanderlust! Will's parents and Sara's friend Mari will be joining us.
We awoke at 5:45AM sharp when a gigantic cruise ship quietly arrived in our little anchorage and dropped it's anchor and chain with a roar. We knew that cruise ships liked Ixtapa, but I guess they're now spending some quality time at Zihuatanejo. It's a boost to the local economy for sure, but we yachties like to feel special - and it's hard to do that when 2000-3000 tourists arrive at the same place at the same time.