Foggy days in Baja
Tuesday May 17th
Fog banks have been following us the past day to the east. We woke this morning with the Mulege river channel covered with a fog bank making it a little worrisome that the fishing boats heading in and out in the early morning will see Gato Loco in the channel. Things are totally soaked on the boat. We plan on leaving early this morning and will need to pay close attention to our GPS tracks coming in to Mulege to make sure we stay on the channel over the shoal entering the river bay. The tide is out and we only have 4.5 feet under the keels as we ghost out of the channel in thick fog. We have good navigation on board to find our way as we head north toward Punta Chivito . Checking in on the Amigo net I have to disable auto helm and things get disoriented and we’re almost doing a full circle before we get things together. It just reminds you how tuff it must have been before modern navigation.
Nearing Punta Chivato we pop out of the fog bank and see 9 fishing boats working in deep waters to the east. They’re not shrimpers but surface net draggers. Not sure where they would be out of..
We’re headed to Santa Rosalia today with a stop on Isla San Marcos and the magical Los Arcos cave aquarium area. Waters today are clear and emerald green. It starts with a dinghy ride through the huge rock with a hole you can motor the dinghy through to an inter beach. Water is little cold for snorkeling. Paddle boarding is the best option today to explore all the cool little bays with large rock structure in the water that fish love to hang in.
The arch entry and enter bay
Emerald green clear water
Tonight we’re at Marina Funatur in Santa Rosalia to pickup fuel, provisions and show Kurt and Gwen the unique little town.
Yep this is
Santa Rosalia. Some fun shots on our way back to the boat with groceries.
Dinner at our friends Tonka Grill. Heather and I order carne salads that were huge and tasty. Daniel, who our bartender on our last visit, is our waiter tonight. Heather talked him up and found out about all his school and dance activities. Arturo, one of the owners, is there to greet us. Edwardo, his brother, is in Mexicali for medical appointment but doing well. On our way out of the restaurant Gwen finds Poncho the house dog gets her pets in. She’s missing her animals. On our way back to the boat we stop by to see if John Teefy is on duty. Tomorrow we’re off to San Francisquito 78 miles north the 2nd longest day of this leg. We leave at first light a bit before 6.
Wednesday May 18th
The fog was threating as we retired and we’re very happy to find the skies clear as we prepare for departure. Sails are up immediately to take advantage of the westernly winds that always blow north of Santa Rosalia. Early morning for crew that soon find blankets for some more snooze time. 10 miles north and we’re in a sea of dolphins which gets the crew up. They’re the small guys that are scattered for miles around us. Some come to visit, most don’t. Numbers in the thousands. Heather wanted sea life and she got it.
12.5 hours later and we’re in San Fran. The last 2 hours winds were all over the place finishing at 20kt as we find our anchorage. If only could have that wind early in our crossing. Overall a tough passage with rough sea for the first half and light wind and slowly improving seas during the second half. We slipped into slot anchorage for a conformable evening. Our evening photo is a bit blurry and so are we.
Thursday May 19th
There seems to be a theme here. Fog Fog Fog… We wake up with dense fog with visibility 20 meter. Morning Amigo net and we find boats on our path north also have fog. It’s not going to lift anytime soon so we start the slow passage north with Kurt and Heather on the bow and navigation guiding us along. Kurt and Gwen are from Portland and apologize for bringing the fog to Baja.
We sail until mid-day before fog cleared and talking to 2 other boats moving in these conditions. All clear now, Bay of LA here we come. We should be there 4ish.
Until the next Update
Thank you for staying in touch. I am vicariously traveling with you! But the FOG, YIKES! Prayers and Blessings being sent on a daily basis. Salute, to the Gato Loco Crew!
Puerto Peñasco has some serious wind happening! 24mph – safe travels on your crossing!!