Category: Uncategorized

  • Farewell (for now) Sea of Cortez

    Tomorrow, we leave the Sea of Cortez, heading toward mainland Pacific Mexico on our biggest passage thus far at over 300 miles, a two-night crossing.  We have travelled a total of 1,530 nautical miles as of today. Heading south in the Sea with buddy boat Kaaluna, we had a very productive trip to our anchorage…

  • Turning Our Bow South

    We now turn our bow south for the next leg of this journey, our next major provisioning stop on mainland Mexico in a couple weeks.  We also start more intense preparation for our upcoming passage across the South Pacific.  Our time here in the Sea of Cortez is coming to a close, as I marvel…

  • Some Serious Vacationing

    The Whitacre family of four (Heath, Marina, Elijah, and Gabriele) arrived from our hometown of Petersburg, Alaska and we commenced some serious vacationing!  Prior to their arrival, we did piles of laundry, loads of provisioning for four teens (who never got full), and cleaned the boat inside and out.  I managed to beat Chris (again)…

  • Loreto Area Excursions

    Tied safely to a mooring ball in Puerto Escondido, we rented a vehicle for a road trip to San Javier.  This spectacular, winding 1 hour drive through mountains and canyons led us to San Javier Mission (founded in 1699 with the stone temple built 1744-1748) tucked in a picturesque oasis of palms.  We explored the…

  • Reunion in Bahia Concepcion

    After a long motor north in rolly seas, all of us a bit green except for Gma Hyer and Calder, we had a lovely final 1-hour sail into our anchorage, Bahia Santa Domingo in Bahia Concepcion.  Even my loaf of bread felt too ill to rise properly!  Bahia Concepcion is a large, narrow bay 25…

  • A Child’s Mind

    Woke up quite early to anxiety-provoking wind gusts, earlier than predicted, and decided to haul anchor and get underway to Puerto Escondido, winds having shifted pushing us onto the other shore of Honeymoon Cove on Isla Danzante.  Our anchoring routine is getting old, as we’ve had a broken windlass remote, sketchily holding the hot power…

  • Going North despite Northers

    After the quietest night ever for New Year’s Eve (not even the sound of lapping against the hull) we woke to a brisk expected west wind and pulled anchor.  Setting the main sail and Code Zero (screecher), we sailed NORTH, which is an unexpected gift in the Sea during these winter prevailing winds.  We gladly…

  • New Year Musings as We Click off 1,000 miles

    After our Navidad rest, we were ready to start our two-month northward journey up the Sea of Cortez, an excursion before heading back south to cross the Pacific Ocean in late March.  We started with exploration of three Isla Espirtu Santo anchorages. Into El Empachado, a tiny cove, we were a bit disappointed to find…

  • Northerlies for Navidad

    Into the Sea, we were greeted by the expanse of white sand beach and turquoise waters that is Playa Bonanza.  In sheer bliss, we paddle boarded to shore, dug our toes into the sand, delighted in new shells, swam; then realizing we had brought neither water (nor beer) to shore; paddled back to the boat,…

  • Winter Solstice Musings & Mirages

    San Jose del Cabo had the perfect marina to regroup for two nights – fuel up, scrub the salty boat, fill the fridge, do the laundry.  It was quite the fancy marina, as we tucked between mega yachts feeling small and dirty, fancy art sculptures along the marina sidewalks.  I wanted to do my own…