When we set out on this adventure we were happy to put the Baja Peninsula behind us at the get go. It is so desolate with only a few stops available that we were happy to get it over with and continue our way south. And we certainly never wanted to bash back up North. Wind right on the nose and waves crashing over the bow, oh joy. Well Sean Connery said he never wanted to do another James Bond and well, we all know how that went. Which brings me to our current plans. We are bashing back up the Baja Peninsula to spend summer in Ensenada, Mexico and then will turn around and come right back down in the fall. Why you ask, would we do such a damn fool thing? Well we think we have some pretty valid reasons for making this decision. We decided some months back that with all there is to see in Mexico, we really needed to spend another cruising season here. Once that decision was made our next concern was what to do about hurricane season, which runs June 1 – October 31. One option was to find a safe hurricane hole to put Sereno II and rent a local apartment for us during the hottest months or install a cheap window air conditioner in Sereno II to hibernate in while it is a balmy 120 degrees outside. I think not! Our other option was to get out of hurricane zone. Since we had only four months to get the boat ready before we started this adventure, there are some things we want to do to prepare the boat before continuing south. So it made the most sense for us to spend the summer in Ensenada. We can get to San Diego easily enough by bus or take the boat up for a few weeks to get large items (kayaks!). Plus the climate in Ensenada mirrors San Diego, allowing us to stay on the boat and actually spend time outdoors. We can consider this year our shakedown cruise. Most people take their boat out to someplace like Catalina Island for that. No, we go half way down the freaking Mexico mainland for our shakedown cruise.
The plan is to leave La Paz on Tuesday and anchor in Muertos Cove for one or two days depending if we like the local cantina. We will then sail around to Los Frailes for a night before heading to the marina at San Jose del Cabo. The waiting begins for a 2-3 day weather window for us to round the dreaded Cabo Falso at the very tip of Baja and make our way to Magdalena Bay or on to Turtle Bay if the weather is looking good and we can both stay awake during our watch. In Turtle Bay we fuel up, get some shut eye and once we have another 2-3 day weather window will sail on to Ensenada. Sounds easy without all the scary details lol. But all plans are written in the sand at low tide so any number of things could occur that would cause us to totally change our minds and hightail it off to the hurricane hole in Puerto Vallarta for the summer.
We always have a backup plan.
Fair winds,
Cindy
