Wrapping up the 2021 Sailing Season - Part 2

Well here it is, the long awaited completion to the story of how I finished my first sailing season. What??? It only took almost an entire year!!! I think we can all agree I’m not much of a blogger. And, here it goes…

After leaving the lovely anchorage at Isla de Coronados the group of us would continue our journey north with the next stop being Punta Pulpito. We three boats tucked in behind the point. Here there were cool caves to explore so I took to my paddle board to do just that. In one that I found it appeared that someone had be living inside for a time. Interesting seeing as though it didn’t appear to be easily accessed from above. Another of the caves I was able to paddle into but on my butt, not standing. Whereas it was not tall it was wide. I was able to turn my 11’ paddle board completely around without hitting the sides.

Later in our stay I paddled out around the point where I was met with cool rock formations, an arch I dared not attempt to paddle through, and a rock full of Blue Footed Boobies! That was unexpected.

We didn’t linger here too terrible long and on the day of our agreed upon departure I decided to get an earlier start than the other two boats. It was time for me to feel what it would be like to be completely solo out on the water. Of course I had the comfort of knowing the others wouldn’t be too far behind me. I pulled up anchor in the dark and relied on the chart plotter and compass to make sure I missed the rocky out cropping of Punta Pulpito. To be honest, it was a little nerve racking considering how dark it actually was. I couldn’t even make out the tall tower of land that made up the point. (see below)

Punta Pulpito

Obviously I made it out into clear and open water. There wasn’t too much wind to speak of however I was able to sail for some of the way. Putting the boat on a close reach to take advantage of what wind there was I found myself closing in on an island 6 or so nautical miles offshore. It was about this time that the sun was beginning to peek above the horizon. Let me just say I don’t know that there is anyplace I’d rather be to take in a sunrise than out on the water.

As I was underway with no other boats on the water near me I experienced a calm like no other. Just me, Wahine Toa, and the water below us. The day was proving to be quite perfect. As if it couldn’t get much better I noticed a large disturbance in the water off my starboard quarter. It was gaining on me. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was soon to be joined by a huge pod of dolphins. Next thing I knew I was surrounded. My modest guess was to say there were 100 or so playful dolphins cruising alongside, surfing my bow wake, ducking under the boat, and zipping this way and that. It was all I could do to stay onboard.

The plan was for us all to make our way to Punta Chivato. Of course I was in the lead however due to my trying to sail and tacking out 6 miles Catpaw and Mapache quickly came into sight. They were motor sailing straight along the coast. At some point one of the others ran into engine troubles, if I remember correctly, and instead of continuing on to Punta Chivato they ducked into Bahia de Coyote. The other boat followed suit to ensure they were safe and could offer up whatever help possible. I made it to Chivato and dropped anchor for the night.

Over VHF communication I was brought up to speed on the progress. After sorting out the issue the decision had been made to skip Chivato and go straight to Santa Rosalia, our next scheduled port. I would go ahead and arrange for us all to have slips.

I arrived in Santa Rosalia and docked. After securing slips for my buddy boats I was met my Tony Lacava and we went to dinner. Tony and Irma of S/V Simplicity I met down in La Paz where we had been dock neighbors, and quickly became friends. Their home is situated close to Santa Rosalia and I had been looking forward to meeting up with them again. Irma, unfortunately, was away in the states however Tony came into town to show me around. What a treat!

Leaving Santa Rosalia in the wee hours we were to make a 78 nm hop to Bahia de San Francisquito.

The reward for getting motivated early in the morning! What a day to be on the water.

Our jaunt to San Francisquito took 14 hours. From the water in the picture above you might be able to tell that we had to motor much of the way. Very calm.

Bahia de San Francisquito is quiet little bay to rest in. Plenty of room for us to all anchor comfortably along a sand shore surrounded by rocky ledges and sea caves to take in. Here I rigged a hammock on the bow so I could sleep under the stars and watch the full lunar eclipse. Pretty darn magical.

Another sparkly part of this anchorage was all of the bioluminescence!!! Coming home after a group dinner aboard CatsPaw I noticed the glittery reflections on the disturbed critters. Once I tied up the dingy I launched myself into the warm-ish waters for a glitter swim. Bioluminescence and dolphins, neither ever gets old.

Our next hops would be to Bahia de Las Animas then around the corner to “The Village” in Bahia de Los Angeles. I had underestimated my fuel consumption, feeling a bit uncomfortable about the upcoming 120+ mile jump over to the mainland. This village was to be the last place I would have access to diesel so it was imperative I get my fill here. The problem though was that I would need to walk my 5 gal jerry cans about 1/2 mile or so from the beach most of us cruisers dingy to in order to fill them up at the only petrol station in town. I was so not looking forward to that!!! Catspaw had an idea…

Catspaw motored with me up to the small base of sorts, some municipality maybe like a local coast guard but I’m not sure. All I knew is that there was a tall concrete wall facing the sand beach visible at both low and high tide. If I could leave my dingy here it would cut my walk in half. As we motored up one of the uniformed occupants came to see what we were up to. Cynthia whose Spanish was way better than mine helped to relay the message of my needing gas and wanting to leave my dingy tied up there while I went to retrieve it. The guy/guard nodded in agreement! Yay!!! He even took my painter (the rope on the front of a dingy to tie it up with) and secured it for me. I grabbed 2 of the 6 jerry cans, plopped them up on the wall and jumped up myself. Okay, so it took a couple of tries to get up there but hey it’s been awhile since I’ve done anything like that. The guard directed me toward the road and pointed me in the direction of the gas station making sure I knew where to go. Turns out there are two gas stations but only one with diesel.

Off I went, one bright yellow can in each hand, walking along on the sidewalk that was quickly coming to an end. I don't think I make it 5 steps into the dirt before a truck stopped and the driver offered his assistance. As best I could I explained the mission and he nodded in understanding, or so I hoped. There were two hombres in the truck. The passenger got out to help with putting my cans into the back and offered me his seat. I got in repeating “gracias” multiple times.

The gentlemen not only delivered me to the station but also filled my cans for me and took me back to the base where my dingy was. The one guy also took the cans for me and walked with me to my launch. Once there he noticed the 4 empty cans still waiting for their fill. He motioned for me to grab those. “Vamanos”. With the help of these two I was able to make what I thought would be a couple of hours hard work into a quick and easy 40 minute task. I’ve got such gratitude for the kindess of these locals!

Of course having to jump over walls to get to and from my little dingy made it more of an adventure. I am also very grateful for the guys who let me come and go from their base. Most likely they were shaking their heads the whole time thinking, “gringa loca”!

One other gift I received from this particular day was finding a turtle shell! In my spiritual practice a ‘gift’ such as this is meant to bring your awareness to the being it comes from, inviting one to meditate on the meaning in hopes to understand the entirety of what it’s offering then honor it. I communed with Turtle Medicine for a few days before leaving the shell to the land which it belongs.

Of the many things I find to be beautiful in this land I’ve been exploring one major one is the murals I happen upon in highly unexpected places. This particular mural was painted on a concrete wall extending past a pretty run down building in this remote village. What talent!

Next up for our flotilla was to anchor in Alcatraz Cove. This hop would only be 14 miles as the crow flies so meaning more like 20 nautical miles sailing. With mountains dotting the coast line, white sandy beaches and dunes, and Isla Angel de la Guarda to the east of us roughly 10 nm away we were surrounded by loveliness! Here the we three boats anchored before we were meant to make a stop in San Felipe before crossing to our final destination, Puerto Penasco.

The stop in San Felipe would eventually get vetoed. After waiting for a good weather window we were seeing nothing that would both get us there and be good for crossing the last 100+ miles. So, straight to Penasco it would be.

On the morning we had all decided would be the day to go Catspaw and I pulled up anchor and headed out. As we were approaching the main channel the winds were picking up to around 18 / 19 kts. I was having a hard time keeping Wahine Toa on track. The auto helm didn’t seem to want to cooperate so I kept rounding up into the wind despite already having a reefed mainsail and a full headsail. It was going to be a loooong day! Mapache had stayed back to get a current weather report. Over the radio Mapache called to Catspaw reporting that the winds would only get stronger past the point of land shielding us. Catspaw hailed me to ask what I wanted to do. For me it was a no brainer. I was already feeling spent trying to manage weather helm for the hour plus we had been underway. Hearing that the wind would only get worse made it an easy decision. Catspaw and I headed back to anchor.

After waiting the day and night we were afforded another opportunity, one with much more relaxed conditions. Around roughly the same time the next day all three boats got underway. This would be my longest solo passage at 120 nm, an estimated 24 hours sail. I was exhilarated and oh so happy to have my companion boats to usher me across.

For our last night on open water we had a spectacular moon to gaze at. Starting out deep red then fading to what is most expected the moon came up with Venus close by.

And then… a most spectacular sunrise as we approached Penasco.

Just 2 months shy of 1 year since leaving Portland I find myself many miles away in the first foreign country I have sailed my own boat to finishing up my first cruising season. This is one of those moments where words simply cannot impart the feelings experienced. To say I feel blessed is quite the understatement.

In the two weeks to follow my arrival Wahine Toa would be pulled from the water and stored on dry land while I returned to the states. That in and of itself was a lot of work, and yet another new experience.

In Penasco to have your boat lifted out requires a lot of attention to the tides as the tidal swings are huge! It’s approximately a 4 - 6 hour block of time that the tide is high enough to put a boat into position for the lift to reach it. Once that window is open the operators work quickly and safely to grab one boat, get it blocked on land and out of the slings before going after another one. So, for the first couple of nights Wahine Toa hung out close to the slip. Soon after she was put on a ‘skate’ and relocated to where she would sit until I came to get her in the fall.

Once in her summer then came the task of getting her closed up and put away with care to protect her from the harsh summer sun, deter rodents and other pests from trying to infiltrate, and secure all to avoid losing any valuables. So much to do!!!

Catpaw and Mapache also came out of the water and were set up in the same lot as Wahine Toa. After weeks of sailing together we were all pretty occupied with the work ahead of us on our respective boats. We did, however, find time for one more dinner together.

And there you have it… the whole story of Wahine Toa’s first cruising season! Thank you for your patience.