Arrived in La Cruz

La Cruz de Huanacaxtle

Intermezzo is safely anchored in La Cruz, captain and crew a bit tired, but happy. It's a hot, sunny day, clear sky to seaward, hazy along the shoreline. The boat is gently rocking on calm waters as we clean up the boat and ourselves.

The second half of our three-day passage was delightful after a tough first half. We sailed almost the whole way after leaving Bahia La Paz and the San Lorenzo Channel. It was one of Intermezzo's highest percentage sailing passages ever. No bashing into headwinds and seas, no becalming. Intermezzo performed well, as did Dan and Robin. Dan now has several night watches under his belt and Robin is getting more confident in making decisions on her watch. I'm very grateful to have had such a great crew for this trip.

Our entry into Bahia Balandra early this morning was exceptional. In the pre-dawn darkness, a planet was perfectly aligned with our course into the bay, shining a guiding, sparkling light on the surface of the water. Then the thinnest crescent moon rose over the mountains ahead, a golden sliver, hanging in the sky ahead like an ornament. Finally the dawn sunlight behind the mountains bathed the sky in a soft yellow-orange glow, a gently changing the night into day. All three sources of light were visible for a bit of time, as if the planet, moon and sun were briefly greeting each other.

We were also treated to three whale sittings as we sailed further into the bay, the whales briefly surfacing before diving again, their tail flukes in the air. A very pleasant welcome, indeed.

We'll have a lazy day today, going into shore this morning, then heading back to the boat for afternoon siestas, I expect. We'll stay anchored here until at least Wednesday. Dan will be leaving the boat and Robin and I will continue southward.

Calmed Down

En route to La Cruz

We just passed the Tres Maria's islands, located about 70 nautical miles northeast of La Cruz. The weather has calmed, a light breeze from the north and a gentle swell. Captain and crew are much happier, glad that 36 hours of strong winds and steep, uncomfortable seas are behind us.

We're reaching under full main and jib, barely making 3 knots. We might need to motor soon, though there is no need to make any great speed or we'll arrive in the La Cruz anchorage in the dark. Better to go slow and arrive after sunrise.

The sky is clear, powdery blue-white on the horizons,light blue overhead, turning the sea into an appropriate Navy blue. As we approach the mainland, the air has turned more humid, a big difference from the dry desert air of Baja. I haven't got a whiff of the musty jungle scent of land yet, as the wind is blowing from the sea. I find that odor to be a welcoming one for a landfall.

I found half a dozen small squid on the deck this morning. They jumped out of the water at the wrong time last night. Surprising that these little four-inch long mollusks can launch themselves more than four feet out of the water to make it over Intermezzo's gunwales. I thought about cleaning them and having them for breakfast, but was too lazy to recall how to clean squid. Had eggs instead. Squids returned to the sea with brief moment of silence.

Intermezzo has behaved very well, so far. Nothing has broken, knock wood. Looks like we have a small leak from a broken hose clamp for the water maker intake, but that will be an easy repair. Meanwhile, we'll close the seacock when we're not running the water maker.

I'm going to time our arrival in La Cruz for between 0700 and 1000 tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to a lazy day and a restful night in these calm conditions.

Boisterous Conditions

En route to La Cruz, about 42 miles SE of San Jose del Cabo.

It was a boisterous night. Winds built to 23-25 knots with gusts nearing 30, waves grew to 6-8 feet. We hugged the coast line until about 0300 and then turned southeast towards La Cruz, sailing under just a double-reefed main. It was chilly enough to need layers under foulies, plus socks and shoes, a rarity in these waters for me.

The wind models suggest that we will continue in these conditions for most of the day. The boat is slewing around some, but not uncomfortably. The morning sun is shining through hazy cloud cover, with streaks of light blue sky to the east. Dan is on watch and he's seen several whales, one close enough to make out the details of its fins as it broached.

We're making good speed in these winds. I won't hoist the jib unless the wind falls below 20 knots. The boat is happy as it is.

Nice Day, Getting Windy

En route to La Cruz

Intermezzo departed La Paz around 0930 this morning. It's been a great day sailing under clear skies, a bit slow and bouncy at first. Since mid-afternoon we've been bounding along downwind with steep following seas, fortunately wave heights less than 6 ft. Now the wind has built to over 20 knots and we have rigged for nighttime sailing, main and jib double reefed.

Dan stood his first watch this morning and is next up at 2100 for his first (supervised) night watch.

The trick tonight is to sail deep enough downwind so as to be west of the highest winds tomorrow morning, heading toward Cabo San Lucas before turning westward and heading to La Cruz.

I'm getting my sailing legs. It's been awhile since I've sailed in conditions like this. Glad to have a safe, sturdy boat that I know so well.

Intermezzo's 2022 Cruise Begins

 La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Intermezzo sets sail from La Paz to La Cruz (de Huanacaxtle) tomorrow morning, pending a satisfactory final weather check to begin our 2022 Cruise.  I suppose the cruise actually started on January 16 when we departed Puerto Escondido for La Paz, but I didn't start blogging until now, so I'm calling this the official start.

Intermezzo had spent the hurricane season in dry storage in Marina Puerto Escondido. We launched on November 16, 2021 and spent a month working on the boat and on short shakedown cruises until the holidays. We departed Puerto Escondido on January 16 and took a leisurely week to cruise down to La Paz, with stops at my favorite anchorages, Los Gatos, Isla San Francisco, Ensenda Grande, and Caleta Partida.

We spent the last three days enjoying La Paz, getting some work done, and provisioning for the cruise. It's been sunny, warm when the wind isn't blowing, cool when it is.  The marinas are all filled and the anchorages are pretty crowded. A lot of people seem to be sailing this season.

We'll weigh anchor tomorrow morning around 0900 and head to the fuel dock and Marina Costa Baja to top up with fuel.  It will take us about three days to get to La Cruz. I'm sailing with my longtime friend, Dan and with Robin, who sailed with me in the Bahamas and the Florida Keys last year.  It will be Dan's first multi-day, open water passage and one of Robin's longest.

It looks like it will be a spirited downwind sail most of the way to La Cruz. Winds will likely be 15-20 knots from the north-northwest with gusts up to 30 knots through Friday evening and steep waves up to 6 feet, then the winds will lighten considerably and the seas will get smoother  I expect we'll have to do some motoring towards the end.

 I'll post updates via satellite en route.

The overall plan for the 2022 Cruise is to head south as far as Zihuatanejo, then turn around in March to head back to sail in the Sea of Cortez until May when we'll haul out again for another hurricane season. I'll probably leave Intermezzo in a marina and head back to California a couple of times along the way.

I'm looking forward to re-visiting places I haven't been back to since the beginning of The Voyage in 2015-16.

Done!

Intermezzo is all put away and resting on the hard at Marina Puerto Escondido and I'm back in California. We're done sailing for a while.

We hauled out last Thursday afternoon. The TraveLift slip is a tight squeeze for Intermezzo, only a few inches on either side, but with some help from the marina guys, we backed into it without any problems. A diver pulled the slings under the boat abd Intermezzo was lifted out of the water. We blocked the boat perfectly and I spent the next couple of days putting things away and cleaning things up for long term storage.

It was really hot in the afternoons, so I would get up early to get my work done in the cooler morning hours, then head back to the hotel to cool off in my air conditioned room. By the time I left to fly home on Sunday afternoon, I had had enough of hot, humid, tropical climates. Arriving in San Francisco, the cool evening air was a very welcome change.

I always feel a bit melancholy when I leave Intermezzo behind. I gave the boat an affectionate pat as I walked away. I'm going to enjoy land life until November, when Intermezzo will be launched again to cruise the Pacific coast of Mexico and the Sea of Cortez this coming winter and spring.

La Paz to Puerto Escondido With Johan

My friend Johan and I sailed Intermezzo from La Paz to Puerto Escondido over the past few days. We left La Paz on Sunday morning making overnight stops at Isla San Francisco and Punta San Tolemo along the way, arriving here yesterday evening.

I met Johan when I was in La Paz back in 2017-18.  He's a young 75 year old, a very capable sailor, knows his way around boats and has a great sense of humor. We enjoyed each other's company, good conversation and just being out on the beautiful Sea of Cortez for a few days.

The weather was great, light blue skies, some puffy white clouds, dark blue seas with gentle swells. It was hot during the day, but with a breeze blowing most of the time, it was comfortable in the shade of the hardtop.

I had removed the sails for transporting Intermezzo on the ship and didn't want to wrestle the heavy mainsail onto the boom, only to have to remove it again for hauling out in Puerto Escondido for hurricane season. Johan and I hoisted the jib in La Paz so we might get a little help from the wind.

We motored the 40 nautical miles (nm) to Isla San Francisco on Sunday, dropping anchor their around 4 pm. There were quite a few boats crowded into the southern end of the big crescent shaped anchorage, where we found some protection from the southerly swells. We took a swim to cool off, enjoyed cocktails followed by a nice dinner.

The next morning, we weighed anchor at a gentlman-ly 10:30 am and set sail for Los Gatos, another 36 nm north. The wind piped up enough in the afternoon for us to shut down the engines and let the jib pull us along at a nice 4-5 knots. The wind caused a southeasterly swell to build which was unfortunate, as the Los Gatos anchorage is exposed to the south and east. Rather than risk an uncomfortable rolly night there, we pushed on a few more miles to Punta San Tolemo where we anchored on the north side of the point. It was more comfortable than Los Gatos would have been, but the swell bent around the point and rocked us a bit when the boat swung beam to the seas. More swimming, more cocktails, another dinner.

The highlight of our trip was during the passage from Punta San Tolemo to Puerto Escondido yesterday. We spotted a giant pod of spinner dolphins hunting as a pack, roiling the water white with their jumps and splashes, some dolphins herding fish into a dense school while others ripped through the school, chomping away. We turned of the motor and drifted, the dolphins moving around us like whitewater on a river. I took a video and posted it to YouTube (click here to watch it).

I forgot how much I love the scenery in this part of the Sea of Cortez. The steep mountains along the coast are striated with colors shades of tans, browns, gold, reds, purples, maroons. The taller mountains further inland are in the background, hazy purple-blue, often with clouds brushing their tops. It feels really good to be back here.

Intermezzo is in a slip at Marina Puerto Escondido, near the town of Loreto, about a third of the way up the inside of the Baja peninsula. Construction of the marina had just started when I was last here in 2017. Now it's finished and it's one of the nicest marinas I have ever been in. Everything is well designed with quality materials, well executed and well maintained. I was so glad to say hello again to my friend Javier, the harbormaster. He is a really great guy, very friendly, very professional. The entire staff is customer-focused and clearly oriented to creating a premium image. 

Tomorrow we haul Intermezzo out of the water, again, to sit on land for a few months to wait out the hurricane season. I'll spend a couple days buttoning up the boat and then head back to California. I've been living on the boat for over a year now, with time on land only over the Christmas holidays and a brief break from waiting for the ship in Florida. 

Coastline of the Sea of Cortez, San Toleme anchorage

Johan at the helm of Intermezzo