Arriving in Mexico was very different than arriving in Canada or the United States. We chose to clear into Mexico in Ensenada, the northernmost port of call. Ensenada is about 60nm from San Diego, and we arrived at Marina Coral late in the afternoon. A health inspector came to the boat, took our temperatures, checked our vaccination card, and then allowed us to check in with the marina office. At … Read more
The first night in Cabo was a blur. We arrived late in the afternoon, had a celebratory drink with the Brown Eyed Girl crew, and headed to dinner. More celebratory drinks, then a cab ride to San Jose del Cabo for more celebrating. We stayed at Marina Puerto Los Cabos, a huge, modern facility a few miles outside San Jose del Cabo. The marina caters primarily to sportfishing boats and … Read more
The trip so far has been uneventful. That ended today. We departed Mag Bay in predawn darkness for the 185nm, 28 hour run to San Jose del Cabo. This is the most barren section of coast on the Baja Peninsula. No services, no anchorages, just bluffs and beaches and maybe a few villages here and there. The first ten hours were easy. A bit of fog as we exited Mag … Read more
The last week has been a flurry of activity and near constant movement. Officially we’ve spent nights in two Mexican ports—Ensenada and San Quintin—but we’ve yet to really see anything in Mexico. In Ensenada, we cleared customs and went to dinner at the marina, never venturing more than a few hundred yards from the boat. In San Quintin, we arrived at night and departed before dawn, never actually seeing the … Read more
We didn’t intend to run 67 hours, but that’s what happened. And it was great. Most people view overnight passages as an occasional, necessary evil. They can be exhausting. Running at night can be disorienting. Someone must stand watch at all times, watching the radar and other instruments and avoiding traffic. With just two of us on the boat, that means sleeping four hours at a time, then standing watch … Read more
At four in the morning, the rumble of the Lugger main engine startled me awake. A few minutes later we slipped the lines and headed out of the marina in darkness. San Diego is a busy port, even in the dark, and as we motored out the channel towards the ocean we passed several incoming vessels. Two radars, one set close in, the other further out, made collision avoidance easy. … Read more
“Interested in helping take a Nordhavn 40 from San Diego to La Paz in November?” Escaping Seattle in November sounded good. Spending time on a Nordhavn 40 seemed like a great way to learn first-hand about a potential next boat. And cruising down the Baja Peninsula sounded challenging, exciting, and rewarding. “Where and when do I show up?” I asked. Cruising down the Baja coast is far different from cruising … Read more