Puerto Escondido to Agua Verde
| DATE: | 6 October, 2021 |
| DEPARTURE: | Puerto Escondido |
| DESTINATION: | Agua Verde |
| DESTINATION LAT/LONG: | 25°.31.376N 111°04.427W |
| TRIP: | 25.1 |
We have left Puerto Escondido countless times before in the last couple of years, but this time it felt very different. We were not coming back, in fact leaving Escondido really felt like we were truly on our way on the big adventure of the 21/22 season. Our first stop on this now familiar route was Aqua Verde.
Arriving in Aqua Verde we anchored in the north part of the cove, which gives better protection in these conditions and is super pretty but it is a little way from the village and beach of the south end. On the second night we were actually joined by another boat, Canadians no less! But they arrived late and as we set off early the following morning, it was just a passing wave.
Agua Verde to San Evaristo
| DATE: | 8 October, 2021 |
| DEPARTURE: | Agua Verde |
| DESTINATION: | San Evaristo |
| DESTINATION LAT/LONG: | 24°54.817N 110°42.158W |
| TRIP: | 46.4 |
| ENGINE HOURS (at Destination): | 610.24 |
Taking advantage of the northerly winds we had a great sail with both a spinnaker run and then going dead downwind with the poled out jib, and made great time towards San Evaristo.
Each time we have made the trip between Agua Verde and san Evaristo we have had different conditions, but always enjoyed the dramatic scenery on the way, passing through the San Jose Channel and the isolated village under the dramatic Punta Alta that guards the entrance to the narrows. We have always been somewhat dumbfounded however of the appearance on the Navionics charts of a number of mysterious land masses mid-channel, but in this instance, just trusting the depth sounder more than the charts, we just drove right over them. Crazy! It’s a mystery for sure how they ever got there.
Arriving in San Evaristo, we anchored on the north end of the Bay, where we had been on a previous occasion for some fairly strong wind conditions, so we felt good about the location which, while its gusty, is nicely protected, also very pretty and surrounded by excellent snorkeling.
We spent two nights in San Evaristo and were joined the second day by a Leopard 46 Catamaran CALISTA, and after waving a few times as we swam by, we chatted with Peggy & Don and agreed that we would meet at Lupe’s bar for Dinner that evening. With the long-range forecast showing possible unsettled weather making it’s way towards Baja, and thinking it would be good to get into a marina in La Paz as soon as possible, we made the decision to leave the following day and make the leap to Isla Partida, avoiding a stop at Isla San Francisco.
San Evaristo to El Cardonal, Isla Partida
| DATE: | 10 October, 2021 |
| DEPARTURE: | San Evaristo |
| DESTINATION: | El Cardonal, Isla Partida |
| DESTINATION LAT/LONG: | 24°33.040N 110°23.220W |
| TRIP: | 29.8 |
| ENGINE HOURS (at Destination): | 611.39 |
With the wind already blowing and expected to increase, we left fairly early, but seeing Calista leave just 30 minutes behind us, the pressure was on, and we were doing all we could to get Boundless moving as fast as possible. The sailing was great and sure enough, the wind did pipe up to over 20knots as we passed Isla San Francisco, and the boat was loving the sporty conditions. Approaching Isla Partida, and the entrance to El Cardonel which is a deep cut that we thought may give us a bit of respite from the breeze, we could see Calista just about to catch us. Regardless, we were pretty pleased with the day’s performance given the difference in the two boats.
We swam over to Calista and agreed to return for dinner and got to enjoy a very pleasant evening with Peggy and Don, as well as experience their very comfortable boat.
El Cardonal to Bahía Falsa
| DATE: | 11 October 2021 |
| DEPARTURE: | El Cardonal |
| DESTINATION: | Bahía Falsa |
| DESTINATION LAT/LONG: | 24°15.483N 110°19.019W |
| TRIP: | 24.0 |
| ENGINE HOURS (at Destination): | 614.26 |
We made the jump down to Bahia Falsa in fairly light condition, but enjoyed the sail nonetheless. Unlike the previous day, the light wind was much more favorable conditions for Calista than for Boundless, but we were happy to be in our familiar spot just outside of La Paz.
We fixed a reservation for the marina and also scheduled for the few jobs we had in mind to get done while we were there.
Bahía Falsa to La Paz – Marina Palmira
| DATE: | 12 October, 2021 |
| DEPARTURE: | Bahía Falsa |
| DESTINATION: | La Paz – Marina Palmira |
| DESTINATION LAT/LONG: | 24°10.996N 110°18.186W |
| TRIP: | 5.69 |
| ENGINE HOURS (at Destination): | 615.46 |
A quick trip in from Falsa and were were back in Marina Palmira, with a few weeks in La Paz ahead of us.
Marina Palmira , Bahía Balandra and Back
| DATE: | 26 October, 2021 |
| DEPARTURE: | Marina Palmira |
| DESTINATION: | Bahía Balandra and back to Marina Palmira |
| DESTINATION LAT/LONG: | 24°10.961N 110°18.194W |
| TRIP: | 20.8 |
| ENGINE HOURS (at Destination): | 619.20 |
| GUEST ON BOARD | John & Kay of sv PAPAHOBO (1997 Mason 44) |
We had met John and Kay through Charlie and LeeAnne, as they had connected initially because John and Kay had bought a Mason 44, the same as JULIET. They had bought the boat from the U.K., sight-unseen, and moved ‘on-spec’ to La Paz to start cruising. Other than the trip back and forth from the boatyard, they had not left the dock, and therefore had not seen anything of the Sea of Cortez.
We had a good sail up to Balandra, with a reasonable wind on the port quarter, and headed into the north part of the Balandra, despite there being a bit of swell. It’s just a lunchtime hook after all, and its actually nice to feel the boat moving again.
After a round of quesadillas and a beverage we jumped in and swam over to the north point of Balandra and saw a whole bunch of fish in crystal clear water. Quite a treat for Kay and John, and a good reinforcement of why they were putting in all the effort.
The wind, however, died down during our snorkel, and motored back to the Marina, just happy to have had the day out and the opportunity to get in the water.
While in La Paz
While in La Paz we got a few jobs completed including new isinglass for the dodger, and a touch up on the varnish by Chava and his crew.
We also sourced new, larger and more up-to date solar panels, going from 550 watts to 770 watts (~40% increase) with new panels that were only slightly longer, and still fit very well on the existing frame.
We had few evenings out and a particularly fun night at a bar with an excellent live band with Charlie and Leanne (JULIET), Peggy and Don (CALISTA), and Kay and John (PAPAHOBO). We also took in the super colorful Día de Los Muertos celebrations in La Paz.
Cruising Logbook 