Mazatlan to Los Muertos on the Baja peninsula

Lunch underway

 We departed the depressing marina in Mazatlan in the afternoon on the long overnight passage to Muertos bay on the Baja peninsula, raising the sails as soon as we left the marina with 10-15knots of wind pretty much on the nose so we beat our way across the sea of Cortez towards our destination. We were in no hurry and I was determined to sail as much as possible knowing that our zig-zag course would be much longer. The winds shifted slightly to the north which gave us a better wind angle and then at 5am the winds died after drifting along at 2.5 knots for a while so reluctantly I turned the engine on. The winds picked up again later in the morning and we raised the sails again and continued our beat towards the anchorage. We all enjoyed the passage despite going to wind, the seas were only 2-3 feet so the ride was comfortable. The seas were crystal clear and there was a cool breeze that made being in the cockpit very comfortable. We finally arrived in Los Muertos at 8:30pm in darkness and dropped our anchor amongst 5 other boats and relaxed in the early evening. The passage was 217 miles.

Enjoying the new arch features..

Muertos was just a stopping point on our way to La Paz, which is the gateway City to the Sea of Cortez so we had a leisurely start to the day then upped anchor and made our way north to La Paz through the Isla Cerralvo Channel. The winds were a very pleasant 10-15 knots and we had one of the best sails of our trip in Mexico, flat seas, great weather and interesting desert scenery.

We checked into Marina Palmira at 7pm having travelled exactly 60 nautical miles. several pods of Dolphins escorted us down the channel to La Paz, playing on the bow with some ‘talking’ to Jude who was sitting on the bow. What a great greeting to this interesting town.