Entering the Sea of Cortez

We started our track early to Cabo with a nice amount of wind, and we were even able to make a batch of cinnamon buns while underway. We had some nice buddy boats along for the ride, and we could keep an eye on each other as we all head towards Cabo. 

During this passage, we didn’t see much wildlife, though it has started to pick up in this part of the sea. We’ve seen a few more whales, and few groups of rays that jump out of the water and belly flop over and over again. It’s quite the sight. We’re also starting to see sea turtles pop up. It’s very cool. 

After an uneventful overnight, we arrived to the rocky outcropping and arch around lunch, and it was a welcome site. Cabo is a lot to take in in one shot, and we had been warned that it’s a pretty busy anchorage. We discovered that not only is it busy, it’s also a little rough but thankfully it’s also really beautiful. We were happy to get off the boat and see that the water was now 25°C and we were able to go to shore and splash in the waves right away.

Cabo is the first city where we’ve been almost literally accosted by sales people on the street. It’s always a surprise when you’re walking down the beautiful sidewalk only to be saying “no Gracias” over and over and over again. You get used to it I suppose, but it is a little tiring. What Cabo was good for was a quick grocery restock as it was really close and the dinghy dock access was easy. The marina is full of some crazy boats, and some of them really interesting, like the pirate ships that would go out every night for a booze cruise (along with many others) - there was always something to see in the water in Cabo.

It was a nice stop to reconnect with a few friends we’d met along the way, but we were happy to have a full fridge and to be out of there. Now that we’ve rounded the peninsula, we are properly in the sea of Cortez. The water and the weather are both warmer, but we’re no longer going downwind. As we round the corner and start to head north, the wind is now coming towards us on the nose of the boat.

Our journey around the corner was our first northern passage and it was a little wild. There was a lot of splashing and bashing of the boat though the boat handled just fine. It’s just the way it is when you’re motoring up north. I guess this is something we have to get used to as we plan to journey north a little bit more.

In little anchorages like this, there’s often a bit of life on shore, maybe a restaurant or a small fishing village. It’s always fun to explore and see what they have to offer. It’s often a very nice resort or a very meagre village - not a lot of in between. If there is a chance, we try and go to shore just to check it out and maybe have a beer or some Coke. And of course it’s always nice to get your feet on solid ground. Also, in these new bays we’ll often meet other boats at anchor, and get together for an impromptu happy hour where we can chat the night away until the sun goes down. We’ve met some really cool people this way, and it’s one of the best parts of this cruising lifestyle.

The next stretch we were making our way towards La Paz, where my mom had booked a plane ticket and time at an Airbnb to visit us. It’s always nice to have people come and visit, but it does put a teeny bit of strain on our schedule. Luckily for us, the weather was cooperating, and we just needed to keep our pace up to get to La Paz on time.

We’ve heard lots about La Paz being a really great place to meet people and to get really good supplies and groceries and that it’s just a nice town to explore in general. It did not disappoint. They have a really beautiful and accessible boardwalk that takes you down the main drag of town and it’s a pleasure to walk down. The whole town is really clean and well kept with an assortment of shopping and restaurants and it’s easy to spend a lot of time there.

We were able to get some laundry and some grocery shopping done before my mom arrived and we could set her up in her Airbnb that was a seven minute walk away from the dinghy dock. My mom would stay on shore with some of us in the Airbnb while, Matt and the rest of us would stay on the boat. We kind of swapped sleeping arrangements every couple nights so that my mom was never on her own. It was really nice to have a land based home even for a little while, and we soaked up that unending warm water shower like crazy. She had a nice little pool at her place too and that was a really nice spot to cool off during the day. We would often start the day with a walking adventure to somewhere in town, like a museum or shopping, and then during the middle of the day get back to Mom‘s for a quick dip and a happy hour at her place, and then see where the night would take us.

We were also able to get Mom on our boat for a day and we went to explore a beautiful beach at Balandra Bay near La Paz. It’s a postcard perfect beach with white, white sand and crystal clear turquoise water. We could do some really basic snorkelling and just enjoy the beautiful beach together. My mom did better than expected getting in and off of the boat, and we were all able to have a nice adventure out together.

Before we knew it, it was time to get mom back on the plane. We were able to load her suitcase up with secret Santa presents for home, as she had come down with a full suitcase, loaded with tools or parts for the boat and some things we missed from home. We are so grateful she could visit and it was bittersweet to say goodbye.

La Paz has been great for us to make some connections for the kids too. We’ve met some really nice families with kids of all ages, not many with similar aged teens, but very close. There is quite a gathering of family boats in La Paz and I can understand why. It is an easy place to be long-term. We look forward to keeping up some of these relationships as we travel, as a good number of us are headed in the same direction. It’s always more fun to do these adventures with a team.

For now, we are trying to solidify some of our winter plans, especially where we’ll be for Christmas. We had originally thought to head north as far as we could, perhaps getting to Loreto, but the more we talk with people and look at the weather forecast, it might be a better idea to actually cross the sea of Cortez and head towards the mainland of Mexico , moving towards Mazatlan, and then further south towards and past Puerto Vallarta. There will be plenty of family boats out that way, and it’s a better place to be during this season as the wind is predominantly from the north. That way we can have a nice passage heading south and all those locations are near to each other, so we can always wait for a nice calm weather window if and when we need to head a little bit north.

We’re learning a lot about weather routing and making plans in the sand at low tide. The kids have been really desperate for some connection with others and we need to take that into consideration as we make our plans, especially our plans to cross the Pacific in the spring. It would be really nice to be able to have some other friends or some family boats to do that journey with.