So I have a sense of “it’s the last time” for everything we are doing and the anchorages we are visiting. 2026 will bring some big changes for Cariba but before we unpack that… let’s reflect on the last few months. A lot has happened since our last blog post, so let’s start there and see where this post takes us.
Continue reading “Fifth and final season in Mexico!”Anyone who cruises long term knows that the weather determines when and where you sail. A key part of that planning is where to be for hurricane season. In the Sea of Cortez it is prudent to consider hauling out the end of August. Hurricane season lasts until November but the storms that come north in the Sea of Cortez are often in the late summer into September. The weather could have been a big issue for us if we didn’t come this far north.
Continue reading “Weather watching 101”
So yes it is very hot in the Sea of Cortez in the summer but we feel the benefits outweighed the negatives… at least that is what we kept telling ourselves when it was 40C with 75% humidity! But in reality we had a great season in the northern Sea of Cortez this year. We were able to go to anchorages that we would never have attempted in the winter. The prevailing wind direction in the summer is southerly as opposed to the “northers” we have experienced in the winters here. In this blog I will take you on a journey through the most amazing places we saw between June and August!
Continue reading “Summer in the Northern Sea of Cortez – aka hot hot hot!!!!”
So OK, I know it has been a while, but we have been busy! We have travelled over 734 nautical miles since I last wrote, and I will confess I have been suffering with a bit of writers block. We’ve been back to lots of places that we had been to before, and I didn’t want to bore you with endless sunrise and sunset shots..though some will be included here! As we retrace our path back up the Baja our focus this season will be exploring new anchorages. Despite it being our 4th season here, there are still many places we have yet to visit!
Continue reading “Cruising Baja – Episode 4.0!”So it has been a while since I last wrote…. and there have been many reasons for my delay: a great family visit with a trip inland, a horrible flu and then the resulting lethargy/apathy while recovering and a severe case of writer’s block!!! But despite the flu and recovery, we had a great time in Zihuatanejo and the surrounding area. I am writing this in an anchorage in Manzanillo after a fairly challenging 57 hour passage north… but more about that after I fill you in on the last two months of adventures. Get comfortable because this is a long post!
Continue reading “Heading north again”
If you read our last blog post you will know that after a rough start, we had a successful splash on December 5th. The next 9 days were spent in Safe Marina busy with final boat preparations, moving out of our apartment, and watching for the best weather window to head south. The plan was to flee the cold in Penasco (the overnight temperatures were 6 to 8C). We wanted to head south til the “butter melts”. We left on December 14th and the plan was Mazatlán or bust!…but a few gremlins that surfaced along the way did manage to alter our course.
Continue reading “Getting south fast! It’s cold here!”
Cabrales boatyard and Puerto Penasco are starting to feel like our second home. We have tried to leave twice without success and we are really hoping that the third time is the charm. A lot has happened over the last few weeks and it has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster. This is a long tale, so sit back, get comfortable and I will try to fill you in…..
Continue reading “Failure to launch”
I can’t believe that we have been in Puerto Penasco for well over two months now. So much has happened and there is so much more work to come, but I thought it best to try to catch you all up! Cariba is having a mini-refit and things are progressing slowly under the hot Mexican sun… thank god for air conditioning both on the boat and in our little apartment!
Even before we arrived in Penasco, we knew it was going to be a long hot summer. On the Whatsapp group for the Cabrales Yard someone was selling a used air conditioner for $100USD. Let me tell you.. that was the best $100 we spent by far. It sits in the companionway and keeps the temperature inside the boat at least 10-15 degrees cooler than outside. This has been significant as we have had many days with the outside temp is higher than 40C! We have definitely embraced the Mexican custom of siesta – which translates into starting work very early and retreating to the air conditioned apartment by just after lunch.
The first several weeks were spent getting the hull of Cariba stripped down to her barrier coat. We needed to assess for any areas of blisters and there were none found fortunately. It took Brian the equivalent of 40 hours of back breaking work in the heat to get all the layers of old bottom paint off. He did this by scraping by hand with a carbide scraper, then grinding with an angle grinder and finishing it off with a palm sander. He kept the hose nearby and would douse himself off every 30 minutes or so to cool off. On average he would consume 4 to 5 litres of water and juice each day!
After Cariba was stripped down we moved onto several other projects: replacing thru hulls, new cutlass bearing, and replacing a water logged rudder that was draining rust coloured water.
To make a long story short, the rudder was toast. There was significant delamination and we were concerned about the integrity of the internal structures. Options for getting a new rudder could be a very lengthy and costly process. Then Brian had a brilliant idea! Our welder friend, Jorge from Guaymas had come to Penasco to install a new stainless steel arch for our solar panels. Brian showed him the rudder and asked if he could create one made of stainless steel for us. He was thrilled to take on the project and was able to take our old rudder home to use as a template.
Out with the old!
Once home, Jorge sent us pictures of the state of the inside of our rudder. The internal tangs had rusted off the rudder post and there was significant corrosion and pitting on that post. We were so glad that we decided to replace the rudder! Jorge returned to Penasco in early September with our new shiny rudder. He sent us some pictures of the stages of construction which I have shared below. Of note, the new rudder weighs 50 pounds less than the old one!
In with the new! Can’t wait to see it installed!
Jorge has been such an integral part of our refit. In addition to the rudder and the arch, he repaired our exhaust elbow and fabricated an additional one as a spare. He also made us a new water tank that essentially doubles our water capacity on Cariba. We have loved working with him and consider he and his wife dear friends! Mucho gracias nuestro amigo!
Exhaust elbows, new water tank and new arch!
We did escape the heat for a quick trip home to Canada. We were there for three very busy weeks. We managed to complete several medical appointments, shop for things we could only get at home and catch up with friends and family. We can’t thank enough our dear friend Sheila for allowing us to invade her home in Vancouver. And a big shout out to the crew from SV Committed Sardine – Emily and Scott. They enabled us to downsize to a much smaller and less expensive storage locker. In a single morning, we moved all our belongings and they helped us get rid of all the excess “stuff” we had. It takes a village to support this cruising lifestyle!
After all the chores in were completed, we connected with our kids and grand kids. We had a great visit with Chloe and Tom in Vancouver and a lovely visit with the Merritt crew. Then we flew to Calgary to stay with the grand kids while their parents had a kid free weekend! I have put a collage of pictures from that visit below. We miss you all so much!
So the wiring, fiberglassing, plumbing, new equipment installations continue. (So excited for the new windlass!) We are taking our time and working slowly towards the goal of splashing and continuing our cruising adventures. We have time on our side as hurricane season won’t end until the beginning of November. Stay tuned for another update on our projects before our journey further south.
The picture above is just one of many that show the lovely colours and landscapes in the Sea of Cortez. And the colours of the hills change as the day progresses and the sun changes it’s angle to the land. It is so beautiful here. We have travelled just over 4200 nautical miles since leaving Neah Bay last August. We have put down some land roots for now. As I write this, we are busy in Cabrales boatyard in Puerto Penasco. Cariba is up on the “hard” and we have many projects on the go. But I will fill you in about Puerto Penasco in a later post. We had such an amazing time over the last two months cruising up the northern Sea of Cortez….more stories and pictures than I can share!
Continue reading “Reflections: Northern Sea of Cortez cruising”
It is hard to believe that it has been almost a month since we crossed the Sea of Cortez to the Baja. The crossing wasn’t the easiest as we didn’t get the forcasted southerly winds. I won’t bore you with the details but it was just shy of 48 hours and we had to motor for 20 hours of that! It wasn’t long but it felt more arduous than our 5 day crossing from Cabo to the mainland! But we did see a blue whale – sorry no pictures. But since we arrived to the Baja we have had such a good time and want to fill you in on our adventures.
Isla San Francisco was our first stop. This is an iconic anchorage that looks just like the postcard pictures you see on the internet. We initially anchored on the east side of the island to gain protection from some strong westerly winds. We anchored next to our buddy boat SV Committed Sardine and we were the only two boats in the bay.
The next 6 days were filled with snorkelling, hiking and swimming. We really enjoyed our time with the “Sardines” Scott and Emily as we affectionately called them. Scott is an avid fisherman and when his freezer was full he gave us a fish. When it was time to move on from Isla San Franscico, they turned south as we headed north. We hope to see them in Vancouver when we go home for a few weeks this summer. Scott and Emily have decided to return to Canada with their boat and as I write this, they are starting their way north from Cabo San Lucas. We do miss them! And don’t let Scott downplay his guitar skills; we had a great night of music with singing and playing!
There are some big “pluses” to being on the Baja side. One is it is warmer – and stay tuned for future blogs when I start whining about the heat! Also all the anchorages are close together making moving just a short day sail.
Our next stop was San Evaristo. We had heard there was a store there and hoped to replenish our vegies and a key staple – beer! The store had very little in the way of supplies and no beer. But the restaurant more than made up for that! The food at Lupes Sierra & Maggie Mae was outstanding and some of the best we have had in Mexico especially on the Baja. And the kind owner there did sell us some beer, so while we had no tomatoes or carrots we did have our “barley” lol.
We stayed a few nights hoping some of our cruising buddies would catch up, but the last night proved to be quite rolly so we headed on. As we were sailing, SV Cosmic Wind hailed us on the radio. Readers of the this blog might remember Chris who crewed with us on the first leg of our trip. Well fast forward to the present, he was crewing for his buddy Tom on Cosmic Wind. Connecting with them and also with our buddy Steve on SV Southern Cross led to many nights of great meals, music and fun. Chris knows the Sea like the back of his hand so he showed us some anchorages we hadn’t been to before and may not have chosen ourselves.
The first was Bahia Los Delores. On shore it looks like a tropical oasis with palm trees and signs indicating it is a turtle refuge. We assumed from the signs that there might be nests on the beach so didn’t go ashore. The snorkelling was pretty good and Chris speared us fish for dinner.
SV Cosmic Wind woke us up early the next morning with the sound of pulling anchor just after sunrise. We were keen to follow so right after making coffee, we did the same. Our next anchorage was Punta San Telmo on the north side. We had a great sail albeit slow, but no diesel burned as Big Bird moved us along. The snorkelling here was also fantastic – need to get an underwater camera. Some fishermen came by selling lobster and we all bought some. Cue the lobster fest on Cariba.
Chris had told us about a great anchorage with choice snorkelling that was only 12 miles north. So after a short motor the three boats dropped anchor in the most beautiful spot – Bahia Berrendo. The cliffs there are spectacular and there is a big sea cave – see the video – that you can actually drive your dinghy into. If we had stayed more than one night I would have inflated a kayak to explore it further. We did snorkel the opening, but it was a bit freaky snorkelling into the dark, so we didn’t venture far in. The night was the epitome of Baja cruising with more laughs, great food (sushi) and a beach fire complete with a full moon.
Our next stop was a bit of a milestone for Brian and I. Aqua Verde was where our tracks on Calidris and Cariba intersected. We had spent some time in each of our last seasons here, but this was different without the strong “northers” blowing. The calmer weather did allow boats to anchor throughout the bay instead of all huddled together in the NW corner for wind protection. Having said that we did experience some significant swell; the worst being our last night there.
We reconnected with Lenore who runs the Brisa Del Mar palapa restaurant and her tacos de camerone are still amazing. We bought a few supplies at the nearby tienda and then explored the town looking for a second tienda. We did find one and the lovely young ladies there took us on a further walk to see if we could find some goat cheese. Unfortunately we didn’t get any cheese but saw lots of cute goats!
Cruising can be described as the great equalizer. You can be on a retiree budget or a Taiwanese billionaire, but you both get the same view! SV Sea Eagle shared the anchorage with us and according to one internet source she is the second largest aluminum sailboat in the world at 81 meters long. And if you have deep pockets, she can be yours to charter for a mere $550K USD/week. We saw the guests come ashore for a walk but they didn’t interact with any of the other cruisers. It was funny watching the crew scurry around to have towels to dry their feet and assist with launching the paddle boards!
So where are we now. Well it feels like we are in our “second home”. We spent many a week last season in Puerto Escondido and the staff here know us well. Welcome back was what we heard when we arrived. We are on a mooring attending to a few chores. We rented a car and Cariba is well stocked with provisions for the next few weeks. We will be exploring the many anchorages in the area and we are so excited to visit the places we missed last year. Cosmic Wind and Southern Cross have parted ways for now and SV Raicilla is not far behind. We have just under 2 months to explore till we have to be in Puerto Pensasco. I am not sure when I will have good wifi to post another blog so it might be a while. As usual you can follow along on our Predictwind tracker to see where we are! Off to explore!
https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/SVCariba/
Two adventurers setting sail
s/v BOUNDLESS; Colin, Julian, a Passport 42, and a big cruising adventure.
Adventures of Mapache
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. - William Arthur Ward. We've lived on sailboats for 34 years. In February of 2020, I retired and we were finally free to start our dream of cruising, both on land and by sea. Then Covid hit. Since then, we've simply been adjusting our sails.
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The Adventures of SV Cariba and her crew.
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SV Cariba 