Crossing the Sea of Cortez to Bahia San Carlos

March 11, 2023
On March 11th at 02:45 we started our engine and headed out of Punta Chivato.  We raised our main sail before leaving the anchorage and we were sailing as soon as we rounded the point.  It was Falcon’s first day of sailing. 
It was not long after the sun rose that we spotted land, and then over the next hours we watched the land behind us fade in the distance as the land in front of us grew in size.  It took us about thirteen hours to sail across the Sea of Cortez, but we had crossed the Sea!   
The winds were very varied all day, sometimes we only had ten knots of wind, but other times we had closer to 25 knots.  We reefed our mainsail, then raised it back up to full, and then reefed it again before once again raising it back up to full.  Eventually we reefed it one more time and simply left it reefed even when the winds dropped back down.  Falcon watched us at work each time we went about reefing our sails, and he was wide eyed and looking around taking in all of the new sounds and motions as we heeled over on a beam reach. 
When we arrived at Bahia San Carlos we were surprised to find the small bay that we had planned to anchor in jam packed with party boats.  After lowering our sails we motored in and around the area of Bahia San Carlos.  Looking in at the large, main anchorage area it looked quite full of cruising boats, so we poked into a couple of other bays and picked one to anchor in that was empty. 
The shoreline was primarily rocky cliffs with large, fancy houses on the top.  After anchoring we relaxed in the cockpit, but we were surprised to find that we were anchored close to a main attraction for the party boats. 
There was a hole in the rock, and each party boat would come along, with music playing loudly, and drive bow-in at the hole.  They would pause there for a bit for everyone to get a picture, then back out, turn to starboard, and carry on towards the next hole in the rock attraction.
Eventually there was a steady line of party boats coming out of the marina area and lining up for their turn at the hole.   As evening came, many boats gathered just outside the bay to watch the sunset and we counted 24 boats coming back in after the sun had set.  It distinctly reminded us of a mini Cabo San Lucas.   
Although it was not the quiet little anchorage that we had expected, we were happy to be sitting peacefully at anchor and were ready for bed. 

Comments

  1. Jan BellamyApril 29, 2023 at 11:32 AM

    Falcon looks happy and rested. I can't beliee how fast he is growing. I bet it was quite a day for him, but who knows? The party boat thing was too bad but at least you crossed the sea.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ColleenApril 29, 2023 at 9:10 PM

    ugh, Party goers! I was just saying to Martin that you are see parts of Mexico that are so remote and beautiful, not the Mexico that I have seen.I would love to go to places that you have shared. Falcon seems to love sailing, I bet he will be able to swim before he can walk.😂

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