This will be the 13th annual Baja Rally bring sailors together cruising the Loreto Bay National Park of Islands. Follow this link to read more about the pristine area of the Sea of Cortez Loreto Bay Park. Our good friends at WestCoastMutihulls have been organizing and sponsoring the annual reunion of friends and new sailors […]
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The Gato Loco crew is sailing back to Loreto for the 2024 Baja Rally after missing last year’s season. We missed the Rally due to the Gato Loco recovered from the mast rig failure we experience in 2022. Gato Loco is fully recovered and ready for the cruise after many shake down cruises in the […]
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Friday May 20th It was a pleasant afternoon yesterday in Bay of LA. We arrived 4ish and soon headed to Guillermo’s for a well deserved margarita. I found someone to take me to the gas station for fuel while the crew walked to the Mercado for a few provisions. We decided to have dinner […]
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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 […]
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Sunday May 15th Heading Conception Bay today but first we wanted to make a very special visit to the cruiser tree so Heather could see Brian’s memorial we created 3 years ago. As you might expect this was very emotional for Heather. She brought 2 personal items of Brian’s to add […]
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Thursday May 19th Frist leg 3 crew Kurt and Gwen arrival today. They’re flying the new American Air fight from Phoenix directly to Loreto like the leg 2 crew and arrive 1:30 and make it to the marina by 2. The marina continues to get busier due to the huge fishing tournament […]
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Saturday May 14th A quick update as we will be out of cell range for a couple of days. New crew on board. Heather Kurt and Gwen.. This is going to be fun. North winds that potentially could have delayed our departure have subsided and we’re headed north to anchorage San Juanico. […]
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Monday May 9th Yes the tradition continues as Moon Drifter hosted French Toast breakfast for the boats that were still in Coronados this Monday morning. Randy and Jody put together the caramel apple topping like Helen always made. I know Ralph and Helen are following the Updates and will appreciate the thought and […]
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Saturday May 7th Starting this Update with humpback photo that Trever sent us taken on our way to Monserrate. They saw us make maneuvers to follow the whale and joined us getting this shot. Nice peaceful cool night after the beach party. Today we’re racing to Bahia Salinas. Gato Loco got an early lead […]
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Thursday May 5th The Multihull rally begins with a Cinco de Mayo meet and greet party at Marina Puerto Escondido. Great little 2 piece band sets the mode for the evening keeping everyone moving. Some past rally friends are here but mostly new sailing crews to get to know. It was very […]
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Wednesday May 4th Sailed into Puerto Escondido mid-day to drop rally shirts and fuel up. A quick lunch at the marina café and we’re off to find a near by anchorage for the night. While in the café memories came of from 2014. The picture right show how this marina has grown. […]
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Tuesday May 3rd Jumping ahead a bit. San Juanico and Coronados report later. Nice overnight anchorage at Isla Coronados. No bees to report. Motoring to get Murril in to Loreto in time for his covid test for his 4 pm fight back to LAX. Murril and Rick departing after 9 days on […]
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Friday May 29th After the longer passages in the northern Sea we now have legs 45nmi or less. Today we’re headed to Conception Bay Playa Santispac to enjoy a dinner on the beach at Armando’s. The Santa Rosalia to Santispac leg is 45 miles. The slow start after Tonka’s, we depart 11ish, […]
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Thursday April 28th Sunset my ass!! We use an average boat speed of 6kts when we figure an arrival time which puts us arriving 6:30ish for the 76NM passage. We cross into Baja Sur just before Santa Rosalia putting us on mountain time making it 7:30 basically a sunset arrival. Chris and I […]
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Wednesday May27th Big plans today. We’re heading down to Isla Salsipuedes to hike the island have lunch and then further down to our over night anchorage at San Francisquito. Chris and I are up at 5:30 to haul anchor and get an early start on the day. Heading south down the lower Whale […]
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Tuesday May 26th Crew up early in Refugio for the 46 mile run into Bay of LA. No morning coffee with our propane problem. Another quite cool night. We’re sleeping under blankets. Looking south down Whale towards Bay of LA winds look light. We pass a 2 masked schooner as we carefully pass the exposed […]
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Monday May 25th The Gato crew appreciated a comfortable cool night to decompress from the stress preparing, provisioning and launching the cruise. THe leg to Puerto Refugio is 57 miles an easier day so it was a no alarm morning and we made way at 7:15 with north winds at 10. The Lobos […]
Read MoreDisclaimer I’ve had a good happy hour before writing this blog. The decision to sail toward Puerto Lobo turned out to be a great plan. After getting a later departure out of Penasco winds did us a big favor pushing us into Puerto Lobos. As I reported in the last blog winds started […]
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Yes Our departure finds Arizona with weather creating strong winds. There’s Arizona forest fires being fueled by strong winds. One fire is only 10 miles from our Prescott cabin and the other is in Flagstaff and burned through Dave’s neighborhood. We’ll be keeping a close eye on progress to control the fires and a huge […]
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The 2019 beach party on Isla Coronado was a fun time as you can tell from the group photo near sunset. This years Rally looks to be another fun sailing reunion of friends. Below photo, the Rally anchored in San Juanico on Baja 20 miles north of Loreto. We’ve been busy organizing the […]
Read MoreLet’s go sailing. It’s been TOO LONG. The last blog about upcoming cruises was “Sailing into a new decade” published in February 2020. Covid put sailing out of reach giving us a 2 year break. The good news we’re going to break out of our home port of Penasco to go hangout with friends out […]
Read MoreGato Loco sailed into the Penasco harbor last Saturday 6ish pm, crossing the Sea 85 miles from Puertecitos. The photo right is the crew as they arrive with big smiles and ready to tell the tails of their cruise. They reported having a great trip and the challenging weather they had in Puerto Refugio […]
Read MoreBill has his drone with him on this cruise and getting some great aerial shots. While they’re anchored near Alfonsina’s in Gonzaga Bay they sent 3 shots as a preview of things to come. Yesterday they departed Gonzaga for the islands north probably anchoring there for the night. Weather is warming and north winds […]
Read MoreGood news, I heard from Gato Loco last night (Monday) after just arriving in Gonzaga Bay. They reported an exhilarating leg with good winds sailing from Puerto Lobos to Puerto Refugio. Friday night strong north winds rolled into the anchorage along with chilling temps. There was 3 other boats in the anchorage as they […]
Read MoreThe Gato Loco crew reported light winds and flat seas on their first leg to Puerto Lobos. They departed at sunrise as captured by Rob who must have been up very early. Phone service out of Puerto Lobos was good sending texts and emails. The sunset was spectacular from their anchorage. They’ve had […]
Read MoreAwesome news, after not sailing during the spring due to the pandemic Gato Loco departed today for a cruise to some of our favorite northern Sea anchorages. Co-owners Bill and Dave along with Cholla friend and neighbor Dawn brave the fall weather challenges where winter cold fronts have to be watched closely. They departed […]
Read MoreSailing into the new decade hasn’t turned out anything like we hoped. We watched in March as the Covid 19 Virus slowly closed all options for our spring sailing season. We had Gato Loco out day sailing in the Penasco area before heading back home in Phoenix and found we couldn’t return until finally mid […]
Read MoreDos Buenos anchored on the hard in Cholla Bay Crossing our 4th decade sailing feels like a significant achievement and deserves a little reflection into this major influence and how sailing has affected the Gato Loco crews. For me, Lowell, it all started a long way from the Sea on a farm in Missouri. Life’s […]
Read MoreWishing all our sailing friends the best for 2020. Plans are underway for the 2020 sailing season. More on that soon. Here’s a link to our 2020 calendar for download. It’s formatted for a 11 x 17 print and also prints well on 8.5 x 14 legal paper. Of course you can make it your […]
Read MoreMonday June 3rd Santa Rosalia to San Francisquto Best Passage Yet The day started with a typical weather forecast, West winds early near Santa Rosalia, and light WSW winds blowing from the Punta Trinidad basin. Some how our wind conditions came together giving us […]
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Thursday June 6th Gato Loco is making the final journey home to Penasco today. We started our journey from Puerto Refugio on Angle Island 105 miles due south of Penasco. We had an awesome total darkness start with stars aglow. Winds have been building since sunrise. Our first 4 hours we covered 31 miles sail […]
Read MoreSunday June 2nd we’re off to Santa Rosalia Departing Coyote Bay I have to thank Ed and Cindy for bring a cool little cactus on board to make us feel more at home. Dave napping looks like a […]
Read MoreFriday May 31th The final photo from San Juanico as we prepare to head north to Mulege. I guess I have to start this update with the fishing report. Light winds out of the east as we head north towards Punta Pulpito where fishing is good. Approaching we […]
Read MoreThursday May 30th And the “Fish On” leg 5 is underway. First stop is Isla Coronados for some beach time for Ed and Marcia in this beautiful island anchorage. Back on the boat and we’re all in the water cleaning the bottom so we can be in the “go fast” mode heading […]
Read MoreMemorial Day at Agua Verde Light breeze is the forecast for today.forcing us to motor sail for the 20 mile run south. Only 2 boats set in the north anchorage of Agua Verde as we arrive. Water and weather are perfect to put the paddle boards in and play. Kids at […]
Read MoreSunday May 26th After a beautiful sunset and peaceful evening western wind swells blew in on us overnight making for the most uncomfortable night of this sailing season. Luckily our crew was pretty tired still and was able to get some sleep. It’s one of those nights that you lay […]
Read MoreSaturday May 25th Our new Crew has arrived. Yes, I know I’m a little bit behind on my Updates. We wasted no time heading out sailing. Their flight from Tijuana arrived on time. A quick stop at El Pescador for provisions and most importantly Cactus liquors for the essential […]
Read MoreWednesday May 22nd Winds settled down for a comfortable anchorage overnight. Today starts with the traditional French toast morning that is normally hosted by Ralph and Helen on Moon Drifter. Good breakfast but we did miss Helen’s special syrup with almonds. Shortly after breakfast Eddie and Guinevere have us out on Balm’s […]
Read MoreSky Pond, Meriwether and Balam (click on any photo to enlarge then save image) Tuesday May 21st Isla Coronados weather is perfect for a weenie roast, No bees on the boat is the best bonus for the anchorage, a first for us. Everybody is enjoying the turquoise water with great […]
Read MoreSaturday May 18th & 11th annual Multihull Rally begins Early arrival Rally boats collect at the residential dock at Puerto Escondido. There’s now 6 boats in this years’ Rally, The marina has a big fishing tournament and there’s no room for us so we get an upgrade the Waicuri residential development just west of […]
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