Baja Lessons

Despite the setback with the mast and the round trip between Ensenada and San Diego, I was looking forward to sailing south along the Baja coast. Single-handing this stretch was going to be a learning experience, a test of personal stamina, and a test of the boat.

Generally, a sail south along the Baja coast consists of three legs and four destinations.

Leg 1: Ensenada to Turtle Bay. This is generally a downwind sail, and Turtle Bay serves as a refueling stop when the passage south lacks wind and more motoring than sailing is needed. As the crow flies, it is a distance of 267nm and 48 hours in transit. The town itself is the northernmost in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, has roughly 2400 inhabitants, and its sole fuel depot is run by a guy notorious for gouging the cruisers who pass through. My own plan was to skip Turtle Bay unless I needed to motor from Ensenda.

Leg 2: Turtle Bay to Magdalena Bay is a distance of 240nm as the crow flies and roughly two days’ sailing. Bahia Santa Maria sits at the northwest end of Magdalena Bay and is separated from it by a large dune. The area is known for its marine biosphere, and is less known for its refueling stop at Puerto San Carlos, some 15nm into the estuary. Tired sailors seek refuge here, and some stay weeks enjoying an area the size of San Francisco Bay. It is a rather remote destination, necessitating self-sufficiency and adequate provisions. As I had lost time in San Diego waiting for parts, and again when the mast needed repair, I had planned to skip Mag Bay if fuel was secured in Turtle Bay or if winds were favorable beginning in Ensenada.

Leg 3: Mag Bay to Cabo San Lucas. This final leg of roughly 155nm is a 1-1/2 day passage with no emergency anchorages along the way. One checks for a suitable weather window before leaving Mag Bay, and then commits -for better or worse- to keep moving until arrival in Cabo San Lucas or farther east at San Jose del Cabo (jointly referred to in Spanish as “Los Cabos”). These are the southernmost cities on the Baja California coast, and they boast fishing grounds the envy of sport fishermen around the world. They are also very popular tourist destinations and not quiet stops for the tired sailor arriving after a long passage.

So, beginning at Ensenada my goal was to speed down the coast and make it to Cabo San Lucas in one shot if possible. What happened in reality was quite different.

Ensenada to Turtle Bay was windy enough, and the seas rough enough, and I was not configured for downwind sailing with a boom preventer. I could have sailed without the mainsail and with the staysail alone, but was (and perhaps still am) a bit unnerved by all the mainsail problems I’ve been having that I opted to not stress the rig until I had a better understanding of it.

At Turtle Bay, the fuel depot did not respond to my VHF or phone calls to its owner. The winds were at certain times 20kts gusting to 30kts, and going ashore in the dinghy was out of the question, let alone med-mooring a 17-ton boat to a 30-foot high dilapidated fuel dock. So I waited for two days for a respite from the wind before continuing south to Mag Bay. I later heard (second hand) that the owner of the fuel depot was detained by the authorities, which probably explains his absence.

Turtle Bay to Mag Bay was windless, and motoring was all I could do. Could I have waited another day or two at Turtle Bay for some wind? Perhaps. But my singular goal of making it down the Baja Coast and into warmer weather made this option untenable. Once at Mag Bay, I headed up the 15-mile estuary channel to Puerto San Carlos where the boat was refueled with the help of Sebastian and his team. I then headed back down the estuary channel, in the fleeting light, towards Belchers Cove, where I anchored in the lee of a 1350 high peak in a pitch-dark night. My body craved sleep, and I got 14 hours of it.

Panorama of Mag Bay, viewed here from Belcher’s Cove

Mag Bay to Cabo San Lucas had lots of wind, and in this case, I had configured my boat to handle downwind sailing (with a reaching pole and preventer line set up for a port tack… ie wind coming from the left side of the boat per the weather forecast) but, when the wind angle changed to starboard tack after midnight, my boat was no longer correctly configured and the building seas kept me from going forward to move the pole and the preventer to the opposite side. So I put away the sails and motored in heavy seas and 25kts. A pity indeed.

The beginning of the sail from Mag Bay to Cabo San Lucas. Neither the weather nor the sails remained that way for long.

I learned about land breezes and how to anticipate a change of wind direction at night when sailing close to land. I also learned about prepping the boat with a more conservative sail plan that can be used in any wind condition (this may necessitate some re-rigging of the boat). And I learned to be kind to myself and recognize that I’ve ventured farther than most people I know, not elegantly and efficiently, but arriving unscathed and excited about what’s to come.