The Simple Life
Quick Notes: We ended our Predictwind subscription in early February. Since then, we’ve used a Garmin InReach tracker. Please see “Follow our Boat” in the menu to see our track.
We just put our boat into storage for the summer in San Carlos and flew back to Washington for time with loved ones, work, and PNW adventures. We'll back back to Mexico to plan our next passage after the hurricane season.
This post covers our time in Baja from our last post in February to our arrival in San Carlos in mid-May.
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| Playa Coyote in Bahía Concepción |
The Simple Life
It's hard to reflect on our adventure while we're living it. Perhaps that's why we haven't posted here in so long. I'm sure we'll look back at the stretch along the Baja coast as a sort of second honeymoon, a time completely to ourselves. A time of quiet after the rush of leaving home. But in the moment, we just appreciated the lazy days, relaxing anchorages, and sunshine.
Our days were pretty simple. We balanced our time between boat chores, swimming, and hiking. About once a month, we'd sail to the nearest town to fill up on freshwater and produce, but we mostly lived on the hook in some remote beach in the desert. To preserve fresh water, we used salt water for nearly everything (dishes, the majority of our bathing, flushing the head, etc.). Without a firm schedule, we could choose the best weather windows to sail from anchorage to anchorage: strong northerlies for good beating, but not too strong that it's uncomfortable. We got spoiled. :)
If you're hoping to start traveling, do it. With more satellite technology and work-from-home capabilities, we're hoping a dream like this can be more accessible to more people.
More specifically, if you hope to sail in the Gulf of California, here are some practical lessons we learned this season:
- Marinas: Since the pandemic hit and people have started working from home in faraway places, marinas have filled. If you find space, slip fees are now often more expensive than those even in Seattle or San Diego and often require a waitlist fee. There are exceptions (for example, Santa Rosalia and San Carlos), but in general, be prepared to be completely self-reliant at anchor for months at a time. Fortunately, dinghy docks are very cheap in Baja, and all beach landings are free (with the exception of national park permits).
- Anchoring: We felt the anchorages were generally calm and spacious, especially the further north we traveled. If you plan to stay somewhere for a while, move your anchor every week to avoid growth on your chain or rode.
- Freshwater: So far, it's been easy to find freshwater in Baja. Most of it is free at dinghy docks or by a small fee by desalination plants. The only fresh water that we had to filter was through Loreto's dinghy dock; otherwise, we found the water as safe as Washington's and much, much cleaner than California's. We can't speak for the mainland though. A watermaker is not required for the gulf. That said, water rights in Mexico are complicated, and many communities live without consistent access to fresh water. Also, as climate change affects South Pacific islands in unpredictable ways, going without a watermaker in the future may not be practical. For these reasons, we're planning to install a small, low-output watermaker that can bolster De Novo's 130 gallons.
- Hiking trails: There are trails for days here and most are well-marked. Bring your hiking shoes and good water bladders/ water bottles.
- Heat: It grew HOT, at least for us. We highly recommend multiple fans and shades for port lights, hatches, and the cockpit.
- Boat parts: Often hard to find and often hard to ship. We missed Fisheries Supply in Seattle. The 19% tariffs are rough. Bring what you can.
- Communication: Unlike Mainland Mexico, there's no cell service outside the biggest towns, though this may change in years to come. As of 2023, there are no longer weather reports on VHF outside morning cruiser nets. Satellite is the best option for communicating with the outside world and checking weather conditions in the more remote areas of Baja (which is most of Baja). We
sold outupgraded to Starlink Mexico Roam this year because it was surprisingly cheaper on both the front end and in monthly costs than Iridium (at least for now). But now we have to exercise self-control so we aren't online for hours. One of the best parts of cruising, at least for me, was the freedom of being off the grid, so I'm still coming to terms with this.
Puerto Ballandra
Isla Coronado
Big sea cave at Península el Púlpito
Inside the arch at Península el Púlpito
Hot Springs at Posada Concepción, only visible at low tides
Fancy drinks at Playa Santispac
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| Kilometers of good trails at Punta Chivato |
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| Sad, abandoned resort on at the beach... |
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| A marina slip! The first one since Ensenada in early November, about six months earlier. |
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Santa Rosalia is an old mining town with relics strewn about on every street. A fascinating place to walk and chat with locals.  |
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| Iglesia de Santa Bárbara |
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| Arriving in San Carlos after a brief overnight sail |
Thank you for reading our blog.
Denise and Dave 💛
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