By Lowell | June 27, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Leg 8 – San Carlos to Puerto Penasco, Crew – Lowell, Sally, Suzanne and Lew (June 13 – 21) June 13: Leg 8 – Team Cholla Bay on the final Leg 17: Heading North from San Carlos 17: Big Winds on Isla Tiburon & On to Bay of LA 19: Anchored In Puerto Refugio.. 20: […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 22, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Gato Loco Leg 8 crew back in Puerto Penasco (Sat June 21st) It’s near 4 AM and I hear Lew on the foredeck. Poking my head out of my cabin hatch, he’s showing some concern about the fact we are now closer to the power boat that anchored off the launch ramp late last night. […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 20, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Wednesday… Winds blowing up the channel from Bay of LA gave us a good ride as usual in the morning. By mid day light easterlies prevailed making for a down wind motor sail towards Bahia Willard. . These small whales (maybe pilot whales) were heading south. They had no interest in the boat so we […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 19, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Wednesday June 18thJust after noon, we’re mid way up Canal de Ballenas on our way from Bay of LA to Puerto Refugio and the excitement on the boat is at a fever pitch. A huge pod of dolphins are putting on a great show. There are hundreds racing south down the channel and we tacked […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 17, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Monday June 16th With the main sail hoisted on the 3rd reef and no head sail Gato Loco eases out of our well protected anchorage just north of Punta Willard on the SW end of Isla Tiburon. Winds were blowing during the night but had stopped this morning. The crew went ashore for some exercise […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 17, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Lew, Lowell, Sally & Suzanne (Team Cholla Bay) Let this bus ride be over… I’ve been talking by phone with the crew, they arrived a couple hours earlier and have finished shopping at Mercado Super Ley. They’re waiting for me to grab a cab from the bus station and pick them up. The bus ride […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 13, 2008 | Category Baja 08
It was last October when this Baja 08 eight leg cruise “By Land and By Sea” began to take shape. Now the cruise is nearly over… But wait maybe we saved the best for last??? It’s hard to believe we’re now down to the final leg of Baja 08. Making plans we were very careful […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 9, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Happy Birthday Xochitl’s!!!! We love you Sally and are wishing we were all there helping you celebrate 15 years of business! With the alarm going off for us to weigh anchor at 3AM, we were blessed by the wind gods and after motoring out of Mulege, we shut off the motors and are sailing!!!! And […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 8, 2008 | Category Baja 08
We woke early to the sound of Bill weighing anchor and the murmur of the motes. The wind is light and the sea glassy. We motor to the center of Bay of Concepcion and head towards Mulege. As we glide through the blue, we spot 2 tips slicing through the water in front of us. […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 8, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Our anchorage last night was quiet and peaceful. We woke to a light breeze and of course, sunshine. We lounged on the boat for a few hours, spied an island, rock and shore and headed off to our first snorkel adventure of the day. Bill eased Gato Loco into a perfect little spot next to […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 8, 2008 | Category Baja 08
San Sebastian Cove was good to us all night. We pulled anchor by 8:00, cleared the reef and headed Norte. We have a long leg ahead of us today of around 8 hours. It could be shorter if the winds pipe up from a favorable direction. We are hoping for South winds in the 10 […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 6, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Life is good on Baja as Neely and I enjoy a sunset on Conception Bay. Driving north from Loreto it didn’t take us long on stop at playa El Requeson at the south end of Conception with a sand spit creating both a east and west beach. We set up camp mid-day on Sunday and […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 4, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Hurray!! Alisa has arrived!! After being delayed on the Phoenix to Hermosillo flight and experiencing another delay in Hermosillo, they lifted off for Loreto only to find the airport was closed. Well, off to La Paz! Anyway, after another delay in La Paz, Alisa is on the boat. We pulled anchor around 1:00 and by […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 2, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Mike, Heather, and Brian arose early Thursday morning in Cholla Bay and headed south to San Carlos at 5:30 AM. We arrived in San Carlos around 12:30, found our funky and colorful hotel . It didn’t take us long to make our way over to the Soggy Peso on Catch 22 beach for margaritas and […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | June 1, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Bill, Frankie, Neely and I headed north from La Ventana Friday morning for Loreto, a 400Km drive. It’s been a nice 2 day stay on the beach. Wind has blown like clockwork every afternoon making it very pleasant and entertaining watching the kite boarders. La Ventana impressed us enough to spend time with a real […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 30, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Homes on the north shore at La Ventana After two cool breezy days on the Pacific side we decided to head for the East Cape and warm up a little. Leaving Scorpion Bay we drove south to San Carlos near Bahia Magdalena the huge bay about half way down Baja on the Pacific side. This […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 27, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Tuesday morning May 27th… Bill, Neely and Frankie are driving south on HW 1 back towards La Paz while I write this update in the back of Pee Wee. We just drove the 30 mile dirt road out of Scorpion Bay. Bill, Sydney and Chuck had tried to make it to this area on their […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 26, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Its been about a week since I said goodbye to all of Gato Loco crews and boy have I seen a lot of beautiful beaches. Giving up Gato Loco for Pee Wee was really hard but I am doing better cuz of all the places I have been especially the beaches! I love walks on […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 24, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Sunday, 5/18 – Day 1: Eve and I arrived on Friday and met up with everyone, spent the day in La Paz on Saturday and sailed out with Bill on Sunday morning, a little later than we anticipated but around 1130am. Bill gave us a quick low down on the sailing for dummies which most […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 24, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Savoring our last minutes on the cool Pacific, Frankie and Neely pose in front of the morning surfers after we had breakfast and said adios to Cerritos staff we come to know over the past two days. As we arrive for breakfast they greeted us with a welcome home but it’s time to move on […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 23, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Cerritos Beach and Surf Camp (resort) our first stop on the west cape turned out to be a perfect stop. We stumbled into a very friendly little beach resort with great surfing. Arriving on Wednesday after driving from the east cape through Cabo and up HW 19 to KM 64 in high wind conditions and […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 22, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Hello from Los Barriles on the east cape of Baja in game fishing country and the kite surfing capital of Baja. This is where serious fisherman hang out in search of the big fish (marlin, Sailfish…). We drove over the mountains from La Paz to Los Barriles mid-day Monday finding 4 RV park options finally […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 20, 2008 | Category Baja 08
The Gato Loco Crew. Leg 1 April 11-19, Crew: Lowell, Bill, Dave – Puerto Penasco to San Carlos Leg 2 April 29-4, Crew: Bill & Clyde (opening for crew) – San Carlos to Puerto Escondido Leg 3 May 4-11, Lowell, Frankie, Bill, Richard & Kerry (from Australia) in the Loreto area.. Leg 4 May 11-17, […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 20, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Tres Amigas in La Paz It’s time to catch-up on our arrival and activities in La Paz. Our boat computer bit the big one at our last anchorage north of La Paz (Celeta Partida) Wednesday night. Our sail to Celeta Partida was a windy leg with the wind first at our backs from the north […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 17, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Manuel, you’re our guy.. Frankie holds one of 6 lobsters and a fish from Manuel. After a quiet night at anchor we awoke to cloudy skies allowing us to sleep a little later. Water is very clear and inviting for swimming. Bob spent 20 minutes on the foredeck orchestrating a puffer fish ballet. With no […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 15, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Leg 4 starts Mother’s day with us becalmed in Puerto Escondido. Crew change and provisions in place, we motored south from Puerto Escondido with light SE winds. It’s 3 PM and not a lot of time to cruise to our next anchorage. We’ve hoping to make Candeleros South 15 miles south, a new anchorage for […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 14, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Hi, my name is Neely and this is my update… Thank goodness I didn’t have to go in Pee Wee to help provision the boat instead I got to stay with my dad, sleep and hang out at the Mothers Day brunch that was held at the marina. Boy it sure smelled heavenly but I […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 14, 2008 | Category Baja 08
Tres Amigos… A special thanks to Richard for his wonderful updates. It’s very interesting to bring someone who travels the world to see our Sea of Cortez and see them enjoy it immensely. The absence of civilization makes Baja and the Sea of Cortez very special compared to the rest of the world. I’m sure […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 10, 2008 | Category Baja 08
May 9th -an important day. We wake to an overcast sky, the first time there has been even a hint that sometimes it rains in Baja. As we prepare Neely for her morning shore excusion, a fishing boat races at speed towards us. Immediately we’re excited at the prospect of buying fresh lobster to help […]
Read MoreBy Lowell | May 10, 2008 | Category Baja 08
……….. Thursday morning……like no other one before. At 7.20 as the boat awakens, already the sky is an impossible blue and the sea turquoise clear. Gato Loco sits gently in the calm of the small V shaped Bay at the northern tip of Isla Carmen, surrounded by the chalky white limestone cliffs, pockmarked by thousands […]
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