Part 4: Northbound Crew

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By Lowell McCulley | May 26, 2024 | Category Baja 2024

May 23, 2024 (Day 8)

 

Entering the home stretch, heading to Bay of LA today.   Started off with some rolling waves but then smoothed out.  Intersected with a very large dolphin pod and they broke off to run with us for about 10-15 minutes. It was incredible.  They are so fast, and you can see that they are enjoying zipping in and around the hulls of the boat.  After they broke off then they came back to us trailing behind the boat and treated us to some dolphin aerial stunts.  Winds were calm enough we got out the screecher for a while. We found anchorage in the Bay of LA, refilled our fuel tanks, then motored into Guillermo’s restaurant with all 4 our of gas cans.  One of the staff called up a friend and Lowell and he drove up the street to get gas. We had a great dinner, very excellent fare.   Paul’s only complaint was that the beers were super tiny—it was like mini bottles of Pacifico. There was an skeleton of a whale in the back yard of the restaurant.  The restaurant was connected to a hotel, where people were checking in in preparation for a fishing charter tomorrow.  Apparently, the main catch down here is yellowtail.   We head back to the boat, make sure our anchor is set well as there can be elefantes in this area with heavy gusty winds.  Both Lowell and Doug have been blown out of the Bay of LA in the past so we are hoping the night ahead is smooth and we don’t have to deal with any overnight anchorage drama.

May 24, 2024 (Day 9)

 

Had one big gusty wind in the middle of the night that roused Paul and Lowell to check on the anchor, but all was well.  The anchor alarm was set, but no issues. We had a quick breakfast of breakfast burritos which were delish, then headed out. We set the main at the second reef as we are preparing for heavy winds and revisiting the Whale Channel which had the fateful de-masting 2 years ago. We are taking no chances.  Only hiccup was running across an unexpected sandbar in the Bay of LA that we didn’t catch in time.  No damage done, but we did transfer ballast (aka Doug, Kate and Paul) to the bow to assist with getting off the sandbar.   No issues with the Whale Channel was actually quite calm all the way through until the end we we caught some great wind that allowed us to shut off the engines for a while as we could keep up a good 8 knots with just wind power. Arrived at Puerto Refugio, what a cool anchorage, very protected from the winds and very scenic with beautiful mountain in multicolor, reminds me a little bit of the painted desert. There are very rugged rocks spotted here and there so we have watch out closely. We pull into the middle bight where there are several other boats there and a nice beach area. We jump in after anchorage to cool off.  The water was extremely brisk but tolerable and certainly worth it to take a quick plunge. We headed into shore to walk the beach.  Lots of sea polished seashells, rocks and a piece or two of sea glass. We also find a desiccated  sealion carcass which was interesting in terms of anatomy.   Headed back to the boat for an easy dinner of pizza and also grilled up the rest of the bonito we caught.  Doug prepared the bonito with lemon pepper, onion and olive oil.  It was very rich and very tasty. Plan tomorrow is to rise early and head to Gonzaga, our last stop before heading. home.

 

May 25, 2024 (Day 10)

 

Some gusty winds overnight, but no problems. Made a quick breakfast of the last of the bacon and french toast. We again reef the main anticipating heavy winds and  rougher seas today.  We get out of Refugio no issues, the sea is consistently rolling with winds from the south so a good day to exercise our stabilizer muscles but from a sailing perspective, we can set our sails and follow our course without a lot of adjustments to our sails. However the rest of the ride was very bumpy with lots of wave action despite no strong winds.  We finally got to Gonzaga after feeling like we were treading in place for quite a period of time. The area of Gonzaga Bay which abuts Willard Bay (separated by a sandbar) is really beautiful.  The beaches are smooth golden sand and there is a very cute hotel and restaurant that has recently been renovated.  We anchor close to the beach for it is quite deep, take a quick dip and then head in to get an early dinner.  The hotel and restaurant are already hopping as there are several groups there.  One, a motorcycle/BMX group and the second people partaking in a poker run.  I haven’t seen this many Americans since Loreto and I realize how close we are to Tijuana and the other cities of the north Baja. There is also a party underway given by the restaurant (Alphonsina’s—now run by her son Joaquin) for the local residents that have houses along the beach.  Apparently this was a yearly tradition for many years, however it had been about 8 years since the last party. They are smoking a huge yellowtail on a vertical spit, carving off portions at a time. The music is fun and the mood is very light and happy.  After dinner, Paul and I took a walk down the beach.  He told me the last time he was here, he found a small sand dollar.  Lo and behold, during our walk he found another sand dollar, this one large and perfectly intact.   We also saw a small coyote running along the sandbar between the bays then jumping into the bay to swim to the land on the far side.  That was a first for me; never have I seen a coyote swim before, but in Arizona, I guess they don’t have much need or opportunity.   The upbeat evening was a perfect way to spend our last night at sea.  We are heading to bed early as we have a 0230 wakeup call in preparation for the long haul back to Puerto Penasco tomorrow, hoping for calmer seas than we had today.

 

May 27, 2024 (Day 11)

Up a few hours before sunrise, no issues getting up and out of the bay.  We had a full moon which really helped.  The seas while initially calm, become choppy quickly but still no consistent wind to take advantage of our sails.  Lowell and Paul take turns manually steering the boat as the autopilot is making for a bumpy ride since it can only react rather than anticipate changes.  Eventually though, the seas stabilize, and we are able to go back on autopilot under full sail including the screecher. Hoping these winds continue throughout the voyage home. We got up prepared for an 18 hour trip, but crossing fingers it won’t take us that long.

Using up the last of our supplies.

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