Tag: catamaran family

  • Day 3: Passage from MX to FP

    What a difference a few hours make.  I left my night shift with only 8 knots of wind, boat going 3.7.  I woke up at 8am with up to 20 knot gusts and the boat moving along at 6-8 knots.  Seas VERY lumpy; combo of wind waves and swells.  No seasickness yet, but we’re not…

  • Day 2: Passage from MX to FP

    Starting the day out with minimal wind (5.3 knots) with boat speed only 2.5, down to gentle ocean swell and light chop.  All of us were a bit tired due to keeping watch and the loud bridgedeck slap keeping us awake (a “special” feature of catamarans).  Breakfast was homemade granola from Christine (thanks!) and fresh…

  • The Night Before Departure

    Out at anchor, to-do lists checked off (mostly), last minute food prepped and stowed, the dinghy tied up tight to our stern, the weather checked…one cannot help but be contemplative about the upcoming voyage.  We plan to pull the anchor by 8am and be on our way.  The passage from Mexico to French Polynesia is…

  • La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Bandaras Bay

    Underway from Chacala, motoring at first, started to play with our asymmetrical spinnaker in light winds, jibed around the point, and had a ripping sail as the winds built to 15-19 knots into the famous and busy Banderas Bay, making a steady 7 knots downwind to our destination of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle.  We pulled…

  • Isla Isabel: A Gem in a Rockpile

    We timed our 310 nm crossing of the Sea of Cortez to arrive at the remote Isla Isabel during daylight and during a calm period, as it is a fair-weather anchorage only.  To call it an anchorage is an over-statement.  Not only is there poor holding, there is minimal actual holding and instead a pile…

  • 310-miles from Baja to Pacific Mexico

    6:45am, underway from Cardoncito (Isla Partida) to Isla Isabel with NW winds steady 15, gusts higher, and steep close together 5-7 foot seas.  We decided to go north around the tip of Isla Partida and then make a straight shot southeast across the Sea of Cortez to Isla Isabel.  In retrospect, this was the wrong…

  • 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…

  • 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…