Vivo O Sonho

Our initial itinerary had us leaving Alameda on Mon., Sept. 18, 2022 (my 58th birthday), following our Bon Voyage Party on Sept. 16 at Encinal Yacht Club and arriving in San Diego on Wed., Oct. 19, 2022. We would be entering 10 different ports and staying at six reciprocal yacht clubs. It was a relaxed journey and each stay would be at least two nights, with only one overnight at sea.

Fate had other plans.

Due to the late delivery of essential parts and projects taking waayy longer than expected, we ended up leaving Alameda with our hair on fire on Oct. 10, 2022, with a reduced itinerary of now entering only seven ports and staying at three yacht clubs (two of which were in San Diego). We had to add a second overnight at sea and shorten our stays in each port.

Still, our plan was to leave San Diego with the Baja Ha-Ha Rally on Oct. 31 with Aaron’s dad, Jim, and our grandson, Cody, onboard and arrive in Cabo San Lucas on Nov. 14. From there, we’d easily make it to La Paz by mid-December. Our friends Dave & Speranza would meet us and boat/pet sit while we went home for the holidays and returned to Mexico in early January 2023.

Our revised itinerary ended up being this:

Oct. 10, 2022 – Alameda to Pillar Point
40 nautical miles; 7 hours, 32 minutes

Oct. 11, 2022 – Pillar Point to Monterey
70 nautical miles; 10 hours, 14 minutes

Oct. 14-15, 2022 – Monterey to Port San Luis
130 nautical miles; 23 hours, 6 minutes (overnight at sea)

Oct. 16-17, 2002 – Port San Luis to Oxnard
125 nautical miles; 20 hours, 50 minutes (overnight at sea)

Oct. 19, 2022 – Oxnard (Channel Island Yacht Club) to Two Harbors
60 nautical miles; 9 hours, 5 minutes

Oct. 21, 2022 – Two Harbors to Dana Point
45 nautical miles; 7 hours

Oct. 22, 2022 – Dana Point to San Diego (South West Yacht Club)
65 nautical miles; 6 hours, 25 minutes

Not only did Fate step in again, it laughed. Heartily.

I broke my ankle in Catalina. Aaron single-handed us to Dana Point and then on to San Diego. The diagnosis of two spiral fractions ultimately meant that we wouldn’t be able to participate in the Ha-Ha. I needed to spend time healing dockside.

After a month recuperating at the very generous and accommodating Silver Gate and South Western Yacht Clubs’ guest docks, an updated x-ray showed my healing had progressed enough for us to head south again, if we had crew. Fortunately, Jim and Cody were available, so we set a new date to cut the docklines and continue to Mexico. But yet again, our itinerary was altered due to a necessary boat repair and weather. Just before Thanksgiving we left the United States.

Our revised-revised itinerary from the United States to Mexico:

Nov. 22, 2022 – San Diego (Police Dock) to Ensenada
71 nautical miles; 11 hours, 16 min
This should have been a two-day stop and ended up being three due to high winds

Nov. 25-27, 2022 – Ensenada (Cruiseport Village) to Turtle Bay
310 nautical miles; 52 hours, 37 minutes (two overnights at sea)

Nov. 30-Dec. 2 2022 – Turtle Bay to Bahia Santa Maria
240 nautical miles; 45 hours, 10 minutes (two overnights at sea)

200 Dec. 4-5, 2022 – Bahia Santa Maria to San Jose del Cabo (Puerto Los Cabos)
nautical miles; 29 hours, 43 minutes (one overnight at sea)

Since we weren’t going to be able to meet Dave and Speranza by Dec. 8 and go home for the holidays, we thought we’d sail south to Mazatlan for Christmas to meet up with about six of our cruising buddies. But we couldn’t get a slip and one came through in La Paz, so heading north was the new plan.

Being a full month behind in the cruising season, we found ourselves faced with the famous “northers,” strong winds and bumpy seas coming straight down the Sea of Cortez, and on our nose. Not only do these make for an uncomfortable ride, they make progress almost non-existent, wearing on the boat and crew and wasting fuel. Having no schedule to keep, we waited them out. And waited and waiting.

We had initially expected to leave San Jose del Cabo on Dec. 9. Our crew would head home on the eighth and we would provision, head north up the Sea of Cortez, and arrive in La Paz around Dec. 16. We’d enjoy a few leisurely days at each of the two ports along the way.

The northers had other ideas. We weren’t able to leave San Jose del Cabo until Dec. 11.

Dec. 11, 2022 – San Jose del Cabo (Puerto Los Cabos) to Bahia Los Frailes
30 nautical miles; 6 hours, 2 minutes

Dec. 18, 2022 – Bahia Los Frailes to Ensenada Los Muertos
46 nautical miles; 7 hours, 36 minutes

Dec. 23, 2022 – Ensenada Los Muertos to La Paz (Marina de La Paz)
55 nautical miles; 9 hours, 49 minutes

Los Frailes should have been a two night maximum stop. But the winds kept us at anchor, and unable to leave the boat even for a dinghy ride to shore, for a full week. Muertos was planned for two nights and ended up being five. This was a very long time to be bouncing around on an anchor. Fortunately, we keep our freezer and pantry (and liquor cabinet) well-stocked and we did eat very well, did a lot of reading and napping, and with Starlink we were able to watch movies and even tv shows.

Finally, we made it to La Paz. HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF!!!

We are berthed most happily in Marina de La Paz, which will be our homeport for the foreseeable future. There will be plenty of adventures in the Sea of Cortez as well as being engaged with our new yacht club, Club Cruceros, and the local community. This isn’t a vacation, it’s our life. We don’t feel the need to discover every beautiful island and cove this year. We’ll do it on our time and thoroughly enjoy every port along the way.

I created this blog to chronicle our preparation and journey and now it’s time to catch up with the actual details that brought us to La Paz. My goal is to publish at least two blogs every month describing the incredible joys and deep disappointments, hard decisions and life-changing experiences. I hope you’ll enjoy reading our story.

Vivo O Sonho … Living the Dream … one port at a time, on our time!