Big Winds on Isla Tiburon & On to Bay of LA
| Monday June 16th
With the main sail hoisted on the 3rd reef and no head sail As soon as we clear our anchorage, still in the lee of Tiburon, winds seem to be even stronger, but things are stable. Soon we begin to clear Tiburon’s Punta Willard exposing us to swells from the south and gusts are now above 30kts. My crew is l Yesterday afternoon winds lighten around 3pm after blowing a solid 22kts on our ride Monday afternoon… 2:30 – Winds seem to be backing down a little. We hiked, swam and fished and are ready to move on towards Bay of LA. Ready to hoist the anchor and the wind is still gusting to 20. I think we’ll leave the 3rd reef in and sail with the jib on a aft beam reach to Isla Partida. Clearing Punta Willard this time is much better. Wind is still gusting to 25 but surprisingly the seas are only 2-3′ and we are moving 9-10kts with auto steering and everybody is smiling and enjoying the ride. We arrived at Partida after 6 with fading wind and had to fly the screacher about 2/3s through the leg and finally shook out the reef from the main to keep our progress steady. A great day of sailing after the apprehension this morning. Could Dave be at our Partida anchorage? As we pull in to the The Partida anchorage has a low saddle in the center of the island which should be comfortable providing a breeze tonight. Tuesday… Weather overnight was cool with hatches closed and under sheets and we woke to fog spilling over the island from the SE. Suzanne, Sally and I went to visit our neighbors and then off to check out the bird life. Partida has a western portion of the islands that is a major bird sanctuary. Suzanne is very familiar with birds and is excited to see blue footed Boobys. Today’s ham net weather is for light winds (5-10) so we should have smooth sailing into Bay of LA. If winds are strong enough we hope to fly the spinnaker a Gato Loco tradition for entering the Bay. We hope to arrive by 3 PM.. Crew report… Lew is enjoying himself and now our fishing expert hoping to catch a Yellowtail today. He’s getting to know the boat quiet well and hasn’t slipped and fallen in days. He’s run out of diet coke (and Bacardi) and can’t wait to get replenish supplies in Bay of LA… Sally is doing great, soaking up all the scenery and sea life . . . . . . . . . . Lowell, Sally, Lew & Suzanne Team Cholla Bay heading to Penasco. Saturday is still our targeted arrive day. Leg 1 April 11-19, Crew: Lowell, Bill, Dave – Puerto Penasco to San Carlos . .
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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 and arrived back at the boat after 8 to depart for Bahia de Los Angeles 57 miles west on Baja. Like yesterday, winds are back up with gusts to 22kts. Things seem to be building. Is our anchorage funneling winds making winds stronger than out in open water? Only one way to find out!!
ooking a little concerned making the decision easy. We’re tacking and running with our tails between our legs back to the anchorage, a good judgment call! Back at our Willard NE anchorage winds are now 25 and gusting over 30. The plan is to wait for things to lighten up. Isla Partida is 25 miles west so we could do that short leg later today. We will see.
north to Tiburon. The morning excitement was hooking up Lew’s 30″ sierra mackrell with following winds and waves which is always a challenge dousing head sails to reduce boat speed. After a bit of work we landed the fish and were on our way with dinner in the 
cooler. After 4 hours of steering it was time to get the crew evolved, first Lew and then Sally spelled me with 5 foot seas and Gato Loco surfing down waves at 10kts. Big smiles on their faces with slight white knuckled. Yes, I did see Sally smile.
north Partida anchorage, a large fishing charter boat with a string of pongas under tow is heading out. Dave, one of our partners on Gato Loco, is on a charter trip with his dad out of San Felipe. Someone waved. Maybe it was him???
It’s damp and cool. We have another boat anchored with us and soon find out it’s Doubloon from Darango Co. with Buz, Keith and his daughter Brook on board. They trailered their 30′ boat down to San Carlos and are spending a month on the Sea.
. The first day she took meds for sea sickness and is now fine without. Yesterday she was practicing standing and walking on deck with the boat rocking through the swells. She’s now got her sea legs… Suzanne, like Sally, is enjoying the scenery and sea life. They’ve both been snookeling every day except today with cooler weather and water. Her knowledge of birds and pleasure to spot something new is interesting for us…. Everybody is glad there are many days left on the cruise.
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