Victoria, BC to the Sea of Cortez

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FlyWright said:
Does the USCG provide real time reports of the sea state and wx conditions?
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In the PNW the USCG provides excellent current information for all the inlets and will also for seas outside. However, that's not the situation otherwise. The USCG in San Diego can probably provide some info, but as soon as he leaves San Diego he's out of the US.
 
Just finished the run from SF To LaPaz

Wish you a great ride down look me up when you get to La Paz we just arrived Yesterday after stopping in Magnalina Bay, Cabo Del San Jose, Bahia Los Frailies and Ensenada de los Muertos. The last two are must stops. Finally you can see you anchor in 20-25 feet of water and the fish are everywhere and that ai just the beginning. We had pretty good cell coverage with T-Mobile and got predict wind for weather. We are currently in Marina De laPaz.
 
VicTrawler said:
Attempted to leave San Diego this morning at 0400. Rain aside, the forecasted conditions were quite benign. When we cleared Pt. Loma it turned out not to be the case at all and we immediately turned back towards San Diego. Forecasted swell was 1-3ft at 9s and wind waves two feet or less with 10kts variable wind. Instead I'd say we saw 4-5ft swell, very short period, with 2-3ft wind waves and 20+ kts of wind. We even had a hard time steering back towards the channel due to the beam seas.

I suspect that yesterday's conditions hadn't quite settled as quickly as expected. I think things will be a lot calmer tomorrow when we make our second attempt for Ensenada. For now we're safely back at Sun Harbor Marina eating popcorn and watching movies in bed.

This was our first "abort" of the entire trip. I'll have to see if I can pull weather data from additional sources from now on - maybe buoy data or something else.
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We went out yesterday and looped Anacapa island and spent a bit at Santa Cruz Island. The forecast was definitely better than the actual. The only issue we had was the current was ripping around the east end of Anacapa, perpendicular to the swell and opposite the wind. That really stacked up. We rolled enough it actually tossed the chart book off the dash.

I'm not sure what you're using for weather, I don't remember chatting about it in SB, but here's a few sources I like.

NOAA pacific weather desktop. It's good to look at the big picture.
http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/Pac_tab.shtml

This is the marine forecast discussion for the eastern pacific. This is where the forecasters discuss their thinking about the forecast. These are the best, as I've learned more about weather from regularly reading these than anywhere else.
http://www.opc.ncep.noaa.gov/mobile/mobile_product.php?id=NFDMIMPAC

CDIP is great for swell and current buoy readings. Their swell models are the best by far, and it's handy to see what's really going on out there before casting off.
http://cdip.ucsd.edu/?nav=recent&sub=observed&units=metric&tz=UTC&pub=public&map_stati=1,2,3

Thus is the National Buoy Data Center home page. This one is map based and covers the world, but it makes it easy to drill down to the area you want. Great for current conditions as well as trends.
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

Those, along with a couple area specific ones (you're past here, so I didn't include them) are the quick links I have on my phone. As a (reforming) sailor, I tend to check the weather every day, if I'm planning on going out or not. I'm kind of a weather nerd that way.

Here's a quick "cool story bro." My family was anchored out at Santa Cruz Island in the sailboat. There were a bunch of boats in the anchorage, and we were just enjoying the day in the cockpit when a pair of guys caught my eye cruising around in a dingy with a propane outboard. They stopped within earshot, and had a conversation amongst themselves about which boat in the anchorage would be the most likely to know the weather forecast. They picked ours (I guess we look salty or something), and came over. They were thinking about leaving and wanted to know if it looked good to cross back. It didn't, but they went anyway. It made a good teaching moment for the boy about seamanship and schedules.
 
questionmark said:
I'm not sure what you're using for weather, I don't remember chatting about it in SB, but here's a few sources I like.

Hey Mark was checking in on your "adventure".

Saw some of the great feedback on weather. Cause "there is an APP for that :) I'm sure you're familiar with all of the real time Buoy reporting Apps and BuoyWeather forecasts. In addition a couple of them that we use to look at the weather which may be useful.

Thunderstorms/Squalls: A super App that aggregates multiple weather radars as an overlay to your position is RadarScope. When we were Southbound in August there were a couple of squalls offshore and it was awesome providing us with insight into the intensity and movement (which was South to North) and not moving along our route. Not sure how well this works in Mexico but worth a look see.

Predictwind has several layers and graphs with rain, swell, isobar maps and a graphing function for the wind. There are also a couple of pricey upgrades for weather planning and departure planning that I know are used by a couple of delivery Captains I know.

WeatherMap+ has multiple layers and a Horizon of several days.

OutCast is another one with multiple functions including Marine Weather predicting both swell direction and estimated wind waves as well.

Hope this helps and look forward to hearing about your arrival in Mexico!

CB
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Dswizzler said:
Wish you a great ride down look me up when you get to La Paz we just arrived Yesterday after stopping in Magnalina Bay, Cabo Del San Jose, Bahia Los Frailies and Ensenada de los Muertos. The last two are must stops. Finally you can see you anchor in 20-25 feet of water and the fish are everywhere and that ai just the beginning. We had pretty good cell coverage with T-Mobile and got predict wind for weather. We are currently in Marina De laPaz.
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Will do! Can't wait to be cruising in that clear water...
 
questionmark said:
Here's a quick "cool story bro." My family was anchored out at Santa Cruz Island in the sailboat. There were a bunch of boats in the anchorage, and we were just enjoying the day in the cockpit when a pair of guys caught my eye cruising around in a dingy with a propane outboard. They stopped within earshot, and had a conversation amongst themselves about which boat in the anchorage would be the most likely to know the weather forecast. They picked ours (I guess we look salty or something), and came over. They were thinking about leaving and wanted to know if it looked good to cross back. It didn't, but they went anyway. It made a good teaching moment for the boy about seamanship and schedules.
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Thanks for all the weather tips. I've also been able to tune into some of the HAM/SSB nets for the first time and it's good to know I'll still be able to get info without cell phone connectivity, though I just got a TELCEL sim card for my phone and apparently coverage down the Baja coast is quite good.
 
CeeBee said:
questionmark said:
I'm not sure what you're using for weather, I don't remember chatting about it in SB, but here's a few sources I like.

Hey Mark was checking in on your "adventure".

Saw some of the great feedback on weather. Cause "there is an APP for that :) I'm sure you're familiar with all of the real time Buoy reporting Apps and BuoyWeather forecasts. In addition a couple of them that we use to look at the weather which may be useful.

Thunderstorms/Squalls: A super App that aggregates multiple weather radars as an overlay to your position is RadarScope. When we were Southbound in August there were a couple of squalls offshore and it was awesome providing us with insight into the intensity and movement (which was South to North) and not moving along our route. Not sure how well this works in Mexico but worth a look see.

Predictwind has several layers and graphs with rain, swell, isobar maps and a graphing function for the wind. There are also a couple of pricey upgrades for weather planning and departure planning that I know are used by a couple of delivery Captains I know.

WeatherMap+ has multiple layers and a Horizon of several days.

OutCast is another one with multiple functions including Marine Weather predicting both swell direction and estimated wind waves as well.

Hope this helps and look forward to hearing about your arrival in Mexico!

CB
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Thanks Chris. I'm familiar with a couple of those apps but not all. I'll be sure to load them up before we leave Ensenada. I now have a TELCEL data plan so hopefully I'll be able to use them on the way down the Baja.

Speaking of Ensenada, we successfully arrived on our second attempt (Saturday). It was still a little bumpy when we left San Diego but nothing near what we experienced the day before. By 10am it had flattened out nicely and the remaining miles to Ensenada were very pleasant.

We have now been at Baja Naval Marina for four days. The staff here are amazingly professional and helped us with every step of the customs / import process. We had done absolutely none of the paperwork online before we left, and were completely cleared in after one morning, including fishing licenses. My only complaint about the marina is the surge as we're bouncing around like crazy. We actually got a hotel room last night to get off the boat for a bit and sleep somewhere without the sound of noisy lines and fenders. Granted, we don't have fender covers or any other gadgets for reducing dock noise...

It's amazing how far $120 will go at a hotel. We got the junior suite with jacuzzi tub, free champagne and two free breakfasts at the restaurant across the street (great food)! The hotel was Posada El Rey Sol if anyone's interested...

For those of you following the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/mvhalcyoni/) you would have seen that we were hauled out yesterday. This was the first haul out since we had the boat surveyed prior to purchase in March. The paint was in okay shape but will definitely need to be re-done next year. I had the boat power-washed and zincs replaced. They had 3 of the 5 zincs on hand and the other two were left - they were only about 30-40% wasted. Considering I hadn't had those two zincs replaced in February, they are holding up very well.

There was also a considerable amount of kelp and fishing line wrapped around the shaft so it was nice to get that cut off (see photo). Once we're in the nice clear water of the Sea of Cortez I'll be sure to check the shaft/prop with a snorkel on occasion. The prop was free to turn even with the fishing line, so I don't think it will make a big difference as far as propulsion goes...

Tomorrow we're making the 10nm trip over to Isla Todos Santos. The main goal of the trip is to finally run the watermaker for the first time and make sure everything is operating correctly, then we'll dinghy ashore and do some hiking. We'll return to Ensenada by the end of the day and we're planning on staying here until the middle of next week. There's some significant swell coming down the coast so we're going to wait for it to roll through before we begin the trip down Baja in earnest. Also I think I've finally made the mental switch to cruising mode... I wanted to make La Paz by Christmas but we may or may not. Regardless, we'll be in Mexico and having a blast. We actually can't wait to be anchored in the middle of nowhere again!

For those of you looking to learn Spanish quickly, I highly recommend the "Duo Lingo" app (Android, and I'm assuming iPhone as well). It's incredible. I feel like I've gone from "no clue" to being able to read 80% of every sign in only 48 hours. It helps that I speak French but the app is very, very effective.

S6EbBYu.jpg
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Great trip report! Filled in a few of the gaps from FB. Love the picture of you guys at the top of the hill on FB, y'all looked like conquering heros :)
 
Hey Mark,
Sounds like a great trip. We did it in our 38' DeFever in 2006, and the boat's still down there! There is a lot to see on the outside of Baja and the fishing should still be pretty good south of Mag Bay. Do you plan to cross to the mainland for the winter?

You probably have already discovered this, but Geary at Bahia Concepcion in the Sea of Cortez, does a daily weather forecast on the Sonrisa ham net. The frequency is 3.968 MHz, LSB, at 1345Z, or 0745 local (Baja California Sur) time. He covers the outside very well and will answer questions if you are a ham. Most cruisers rely on his forecasts.

This short video will let you see some of the fish in the Cortez around the Puerto Escondido area. I took it in October when the water temp. was about 82, and the visibility was great. https://youtu.be/bNtuN97ViG0.

Buen Viaje
Steve
 
CPseudonym said:
Great trip report! Filled in a few of the gaps from FB. Love the picture of you guys at the top of the hill on FB, y'all looked like conquering heros :)
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Kind of feels that way right now! ;)
 
BajaTrawler said:
Hey Mark,
Sounds like a great trip. We did it in our 38' DeFever in 2006, and the boat's still down there! There is a lot to see on the outside of Baja and the fishing should still be pretty good south of Mag Bay. Do you plan to cross to the mainland for the winter?

You probably have already discovered this, but Geary at Bahia Concepcion in the Sea of Cortez, does a daily weather forecast on the Sonrisa ham net. The frequency is 3.968 MHz, LSB, at 1345Z, or 0745 local (Baja California Sur) time. He covers the outside very well and will answer questions if you are a ham. Most cruisers rely on his forecasts.

This short video will let you see some of the fish in the Cortez around the Puerto Escondido area. I took it in October when the water temp. was about 82, and the visibility was great. https://youtu.be/bNtuN97ViG0.

Buen Viaje
Steve
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Still unsure of our plans once we get to La Paz, though I can't imagine we'd skip out on crossing over to the mainland. Thanks for the tip on Sonrisa - will tune in this morning, especially now that I figured out how to get the ham frequencies on my ICOM 802.

Great video!! Can't wait to do some snorkeling.
 
Yesterday we took a day trip to Isla Todos Santos for two reasons: 1) to finally run the watermaker and ensure everything was operating correctly, and 2) explore the island. Unfortunately the abalone farms have extended into the recommended anchorages. We tried positioning ourselves a little further south but almost ran over a huge submerged rock which Navionics showed to be 100 yards south of our position (it was actually 5 yards to our north)! This was our first lesson in the inaccuracy of Mexican charts.

We backed away about 400 yards and drifted while running the watermaker. After completing the break-in process and preservative purge, we successfully made 30 gallons of water in an hour!

Back at Baja Naval now... probably until the middle of next week.
 
VicTrawler said:
Yesterday we took a day trip to Isla Todos Santos for two reasons: 1) to finally run the watermaker and ensure everything was operating correctly, and 2) explore the island. Unfortunately the abalone farms have extended into the recommended anchorages. We tried positioning ourselves a little further south but almost ran over a huge submerged rock which Navionics showed to be 100 yards south of our position (it was actually 5 yards to our north)! This was our first lesson in the inaccuracy of Mexican charts.

We backed away about 400 yards and drifted while running the watermaker. After completing the break-in process and preservative purge, we successfully made 30 gallons of water in an hour!

Back at Baja Naval now... probably until the middle of next week.
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Question???

Why Baja Naval with it's surge? Why not Cruiseport, with its nice breakwater?
 
ksanders said:
Question???

Why Baja Naval with it's surge? Why not Cruiseport, with its nice breakwater?
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Good question, well asked. As a result of this question, and us having no good answer, we're moving to Cruiseport today.

Seriously though, we went to Baja Naval because our boat buddies were there and we needed a quick haul out for a wash/zinc replacement. Due to personal reasons, our boat buddies are now staying in Ensenada for at least a month, so we're on our own again.

I just reserved the slip at Cruiseport and we'll be moving there in a couple hours. I walked over and saw that none of the boats are moving! Yay, stillness! The surge at Baja Naval has been driving us nuts. It's an okay stop for a couple of nights or if you're getting hauled out, but otherwise it's quite annoying.

Thanks for the idea. Yet another win for the trawler forums!
 
"Yesterday we took a day trip to Isla Todos Santos for two reasons: 1) to finally run the watermaker and ensure everything was operating correctly, and 2) explore the island. Unfortunately the abalone farms have extended into the recommended anchorages. We tried positioning ourselves a little further south but almost ran over a huge submerged rock which Navionics showed to be 100 yards south of our position (it was actually 5 yards to our north)! This was our first lesson in the inaccuracy of Mexican charts."

Mark,
A cruising couple, Shawn and Heather, has put together a series of charlets for all the anchorages and cruising areas in the Cortez. They personally visited them and their descriptions and positions are extremely accurate. Blue Latitude Press publishes these in a cruising guide, and you can also get them as an add-on to the iNavX app for mobile devices. We have used both and can attest to their value.

If you make it to the mainland this winter, I'm sure you'll enjoy the warm temps. Between Mazatlan and PV there is a lot to see and enjoy, and lots of other cruisers, but not too many other trawlers.

Don't think you'll be able to pick up the Sonrisa net until you're a bit further south, and out of the marina, then the propagation should increase.

Buen viaje
 
VicTrawler said:
Good question, well asked. As a result of this question, and us having no good answer, we're moving to Cruiseport today.

Seriously though, we went to Baja Naval because our boat buddies were there and we needed a quick haul out for a wash/zinc replacement. Due to personal reasons, our boat buddies are now staying in Ensenada for at least a month, so we're on our own again.

I just reserved the slip at Cruiseport and we'll be moving there in a couple hours. I walked over and saw that none of the boats are moving! Yay, stillness! The surge at Baja Naval has been driving us nuts. It's an okay stop for a couple of nights or if you're getting hauled out, but otherwise it's quite annoying.

Thanks for the idea. Yet another win for the trawler forums!
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Glad it worked out. I am admittedly green with envy! :eek:

Today i am stuck working at literally the top of the world in Northern Alaska. My boat is sitting with snow on it, and here you are in sunny Ensenada

AHHHHH :blush:
 

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BajaTrawler said:
A cruising couple, Shawn and Heather, has put together a series of charlets for all the anchorages and cruising areas in the Cortez. They personally visited them and their descriptions and positions are extremely accurate. Blue Latitude Press publishes these in a cruising guide, and you can also get them as an add-on to the iNavX app for mobile devices. We have used both and can attest to their value.
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We met a boat in Newport, OR that actually had two copies of this very cruising guide, and gave us his spare, so we've got it! It definitely looks like it'll come in handy.
 
ksanders said:
Glad it worked out. I am admittedly green with envy! :eek:

Today i am stuck working at literally the top of the world in Northern Alaska. My boat is sitting with snow on it, and here you are in sunny Ensenada

AHHHHH :blush:
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Brrr! We just paid for a month of moorage here. Not *necessarily* staying that long but it's nice to have the option. After about 10 days it makes sense to just pay for the month.

We're starting to think that spending Christmas and New Year's in civilization might not be a bad idea. Maybe head down the rest of Baja in January? Definitely in cruising mode...

Now just need the Canadian dollar to stop crumbling to nothingness...
 
VicTrawler said:
Brrr! We just paid for a month of moorage here. Not *necessarily* staying that long but it's nice to have the option. After about 10 days it makes sense to just pay for the month.

We're starting to think that spending Christmas and New Year's in civilization might not be a bad idea. Maybe head down the rest of Baja in January? Definitely in cruising mode...

Now just need the Canadian dollar to stop crumbling to nothingness...
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To us, Ensenada was the start of the enjoyment of Mexico and it continued all the way through. Great marina, easy to clear in (although we'd actually prepared for entry), and some wonderful places to explore near by. Prior to landing there, the only Mexico we'd seen was I had been to Juarez once years earlier to have dinner with a group in a Chinese restaurant and we'd crossed by land from San Diego into Tijuana for a day.

Since you have time there just some of the places we enjoyed. We went horseback riding and zip lining, went to the cultural center, the wine museum, went walking/shopping along First Street, Avenida Ruiz, and Avenida Lopez Mateo and found local art at Bazar Casa Ramirez. Also some great seafood restaurants pretty much surrounding the port.
 
Been almost a week since the last post. We're still in Ensenada and much more comfortable (but not too comfortable!) in Cruiseport. When we went out to Islas Todos Santos I stumbled across the Ensenada Cruisers net on VHF 69 which meets daily at 0800. We now check in on the net daily and have met all sorts of great people as a result. We're going for Spanish lessons this morning with some other cruisers and this evening we'll be attending a "yacht club" meeting (dinner).

Through the net I also learned about the CanMex net on HF SSB. I've also started to check in there at 0730 to become more comfortable with operating the radio so that we'll be familiar with routine and emergency comms procedures as we meander down the Baja coast. Terry Sparks, himself, actually came down to the boat yesterday to program my ICOM 802 with the ideal channel configuration. He also gave me a quick tutorial on DSC calling and tested the radio to ensure my installation was correct. What a privilege to have the guru of the 802 on our boat!

Next window for departure appears to be no earlier than next Wednesday, the 16th. Some pretty big swells out there and we're supposed to get a good blow, maybe even rain, tomorrow.
 
I don't know if you are aware of the PNW local magazine - Northwest Yachting - but if not, there was a long multi month series of a cruising couple adventures in the Baha area. Their names are Bob & Carolyn Mchaffy. The last issue had them back in the US but past issues are online at - Issues Archive - Northwest Yachting Magazine.

Lots of reading if you have the time.
 
We're on our way to Ensenada right now, just passed Los Coronados islands. The swells are about 5-6' but are pretty gentle (long period). Beautiful day on the water so far, ahead of tomorrow's blow. I can taste the dollar tacos already.
 
I'm enjoying this thread. Living in Los Angeles I've visited Ensenada many times, stayed in most of the hotels and eaten from street venders to the best restaurants. It's a fun town. Are you going to visit the Coral Hotel north of you a few miles? I've spent many a night there too.

Wish I had seen this before and had you stop in the LA Harbor for a cruise by drink. :thumb:
 
goboatnow said:
We're on our way to Ensenada right now, just passed Los Coronados islands. The swells are about 5-6' but are pretty gentle (long period). Beautiful day on the water so far, ahead of tomorrow's blow. I can taste the dollar tacos already.
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Excellent! Hope you had a safe arrival. We're in C-1 at Cruiseport if you want to stop by and say hello. Probably having a quiet day on board with the rain and wind today.
 
Capthead said:
I'm enjoying this thread. Living in Los Angeles I've visited Ensenada many times, stayed in most of the hotels and eaten from street venders to the best restaurants. It's a fun town. Are you going to visit the Coral Hotel north of you a few miles? I've spent many a night there too.

Wish I had seen this before and had you stop in the LA Harbor for a cruise by drink. :thumb:
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Don't think we'll make it up to Coral but it's obviously a great part of town based on the number of cruisers staying at the Coral Marina.

If we end up bashing our way back up the coast in the spring instead of heading south, we'll have to stop in LA as we missed it on the way down. :)
 
Typing on my phone so may be a little brief.

Departed on Wednesday the 16th to start the anchorage-hop to Turtle Bay. We arrived at Cabo Colonet and anchored 250 yards out in 20' in a gentle swell. Around 9pm we got tossed by a significant roller that we were lucky didn't break on us (approx six foot). Immediately pulled the anchor and got the hell out of there. We had been warned that some of the anchorages had the potential to turn into a sea of breakers but didn't think the conditions we were seeing had that potential. Wrong.

Spent the next 26 hours motoring to Isla Cedros (the next anchorage that wasn't in a bay). Anchored in the dark (getting good at that) and again we found ourselves in uncomfortable swell. No sleep was had as we waited for dawn to complete the passage to Turtle Bay. We had been told there were significant amounts of lobster floats so we wanted to finish the final leg in daylight.

Well, it was a beautiful 7-hour passage that (almost) made up for the previous two nights' lack of sleep. Now in Turtle Bay with another boat from Ensenada and we'll be spending Christmas here.

Great progress and more lessons learned. Running the genset and making water before we settle in for a great night's sleep!

Oh, and the engine drank 1.25 quarts of oil in 43 hours.
 
That is fantastic!

You'll get lots of time in Turtle Bay to explore, then is it off to Mag Bay?
 
ksanders said:
That is fantastic!

You'll get lots of time in Turtle Bay to explore, then is it off to Mag Bay?
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If conditions are good we will attempt the anchorage-hop route down to Bahia Santa Maria. Weather looks good for a departure from Turtle Bay on the 28th.
 
VicTrawler said:
If conditions are good we will attempt the anchorage-hop route down to Bahia Santa Maria. Weather looks good for a departure from Turtle Bay on the 28th.
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Thats a good long time in Turtle Bay. :)

Are you able to get provisions, like fresh local produce there?
 
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