Baja Sur: Homecoming and Farewell


“Old God sure was in a good mood when he made this place.”
― Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary

“It is good people who make good places.”
― Anna Sewell, Black Beauty

As always we’re behind on the blog. We often get so swept up by the magic of living that we forget to reflect on it. Weeks and months go by, and we lose track of time. But I love the moments when we finally sit down and remember. It roots us. Keeping this blog allows us to relive this magic and reminds us of the endless beauty we feel lucky to experience on our journey.  

I’ll be honest here. We started this season feeling a little burnt out. Too many projects, expenses, and complications drained us in San Carlos, in more ways than one, and we left there with less joy we normally have when starting a passage. And this had nothing to do with San Carlos--San Carlos is uniquely beautiful--and everything to do with where we were mentally. 

It felt almost wrong to admit we were struggling at the time. There's this [self-imposed] expectation that travelers should always be happy, and that identifying something as hard is somehow a failure. Or worse, an insult to everyone for whom a journey like this isn't accessible.

But this feeling didn't last. If our time in the boatyard was the burn out, Baja was the salve. Returning to our favorite places--for example, Bahia Concepcion, Punta Basilio, and Agua Verde--was like coming home. Its medicine kicked in immediately. Hiking among cactus and swimming in Baja’s clear water were the joys we won’t take for granted.

We sailed south this season, so this time we benefited from the intense northerlies that occasionally stalled us last season. Strong winds and seas allowed us to surf from anchorage to anchorage. And connecting with friends from Raven, Gemini, Talisman, Hoptoad, Palomita, Tino Pai, and other boats and locals with or without boats made this voyage south even better.

And La Paz! Everyone knows I love La Paz. Weaving through the marks at the entrance, I got a whiff of nostalgia: La Paz's unique blend of fresh passion flowers, roasting al pastor, and even Fabuloso laundry detergent. We would have stayed there longer but the growth on our anchor chain and our incessant wanderlust urged us on.

Sailing Baja in the winter means cultivating an intimate relationship with the elements. Our electrical usage is directly impacted by the amount of sun we receive. Our activities rely on the wind and waves much more than a schedule. El Clima becomes like a god, and we are happy to turn our wills over to this power.              

And again, we weren't happy every minute. As the saying goes, the definition of cruising is doing boat projects in exotic places, and we had our share of them: macerator, outboard electric motor, seized anchor windlass, ripped spinnaker, macerator again, dinghy step, regular maintenance, and macerator yet again. We were pretty upset about the ongoing macerator issues. Those times were shitty (pun intended), and our bilge will forever soak in vinegar and elbow grease. But are we happy? Yes. For those stuck in project after project, it usually gets better.

At 2115 on December 17th, we said goodbye to Baja, raised our anchor at Bahia de Los Muertos, and set off for Mexico’s Pacific Mainland. We sailed on a broad reach for most of the passage, turning on the engine only when the wind died completely near the end. after a 41-hour sail, we arrived at Stone Island in Mazatlán on 1415 December 19th, excited for things to come. (Spoiler alert: It just keeps getting better and better.)

Our track since we last posted here:





Santispac (Concepcion)


Isla Requeson (Concepcion)


Isla Requeson soon became our new favorite swimming hole on this coast

Morning routines like yoga on the deck helps ground me this season.
Even Dave tried it out!

Back in Santispac

Reunion with Chris and Ester from SV Raven in Mulege;
They are touring the world by land as they look for their next dream sailboat.


Mulege

Big northerly on our way to Punta San Basilio made for good sailing








The hiking in Punta San Basilio just never ends!

Searching for Cochimi cave painting, many thousands of years old, in the mountains south of Basilio 


Most of the cave (and therefore most of the art) was lost by landslides over the years. Only the few they must have painted near the top of this cave remained. We felt so lucky to be able to touch this part of history.  


Making more friends


Agua Verde


Beautiful garden in Agua Verde


Agua Verde is a hiker's paradise





San Evaristo

Back in beautiful La Paz

Hurricane Norma devastated La Paz earlier this fall and several boats sadly broke free of their moorings or sunk right at their slips.   

...which was extremely sad

...and required an enormous environmental clean up

...but locals were largely unaffected, and most of La Paz went on as usual

...and celebrated the holidays

...and continued to enjoy good food.

This is Dave's happy place 
(Tacos al pastor and horchata from El Paisa)

Another Dave happy place
(Strawberry milkshake from Marie California)


Making new friends in La Paz

Caleta Lobos

Hiking to Bahia Puerto Balandra from Caleta Lobos



Yet again, good seas as we sail south to Bahia de los Muertos

Muertos: another 2022 highlight that became a 2023 highlight

We can't visit Muertos without going to the 1535 Restaurant

...Or Centro de Trenes.

With full batteries in Muertos, we figured we'd practice making water for the first time. 
Our portable water maker is an insurance policy for destinations that may not have excess water. We figured we may want to use it at least once before we cross the Pacific! Since we don't know how often it will come out, we plan to pickle it for storage after each use. Fresh water was very accessible in the Gulf of California. Will it be as easy on Mainland Mexico? We'll let you know. 

Crossing to Mainland Mexico

And looking back to Baja in awe.


Happy holidays, everyone. Thank you for reading our blog. 

💚 Denise and Dave


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Landfall in California!

In Defense of the Shoulder Season

Mainland Mexico!