VL Trip Report: Usher, Apathy, and Irieguy Sail the Sea of Cortez
11-05-2007
, 04:53 AM
The following is a long trip report with many pictures detailing our recent sailing trip to the Sea of Cortez, departing from and returning to La Paz, Mexico from 10/14-10/22/07.
Introduction
I've always loved being on the water, and with a father named Skipperbob I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually find may way under sail. But it wasn't until this year that I finally got around to taking sailing lessons and chartering a boat. I had been on several cruises before and while I had a great time on each of them, I never really cared for all of the other people on the boat and the commercial-resort feel of a large ship. So early this year I went on a Windjammer Barefoot cruise with my college roommate and my special lady friend for a more intimate feel and hopefully some open water sailing. The barefoot cruise was amazing, but still not quite what I had hoped for. While trying to watch the sunset during a damn limbo contest my SLF (who was already a certified sailor) suggested that we charter our own boat for the next trip. I spent Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends this year completing my Basic Keelboat and Coastal Cruising certifications and scouted our first destination. We chose the Sea of Cortez due to its proximity, favorable weather and wind condidtions, and reputation as an excellent fishing and diving destination (unfortunately I injured my eardrum diving a few weeks before the trip which meant i'd only be snorkling on this trip.) Our next step was to find our crew.
The Crew
As with most exciting trip ideas I figured it would be easy to find a group of willing companions but difficult to get anyone to actually commit to anything. Our early list included over a dozen interested people, so I booked it and shipped it and tried to get a serious list of 8.
Our (almost) final list included: me, my SLF(ISLF), Usher, Usher's SLF (USLF), Durrr and a yet-to-be-determined SLF, and two non-2+2 friends of mine, J and JSLF. But 24 hours prior to departure Durrr called to say he was out and we had one day to find two people who could leave for a week long vacation on a boat with a bunch of people they may not know. Fortunately, it took two phone calls.
For phone call #1 ISLF called a friend of hers and asked if she wanted to go sailing for a week with her and 7 people she had never met. The trip was already paid for, but she would have to share a cabin with whomever would be taking the other spot. She said "ship it," and dropped off her small dufflebag and passport at my place a few hours later. We'll call her Apathy's Roomie (AR.)
The second phone call involved both Usher and I calling Apathy and telling him that he should probably come on the trip. He was too drunk to resist and by the time he sobered up Usher had already booked his ticket from Toronto to La Paz via Mexico City. I told him he'd have to share a cabin with a chick whom I hadn't yet met and he said "ship it."
Me and ISLF:
Usher and USLF:
J and JSLF:
Apathy and AR:
All of us except Apathy took off from Las Vegas and flew through LA to La Paz. We arrived on Sunday and had plans to stay at a hotel at the marina that night before setting sail at 10am on Monday. Apathy would arrive near midnight on Sunday... a little bit sketchy, but not particularly worrisome.
Arriving in La Paz
Usher at the hotel
La Paz's Palmira Marina
Palmira Marina by day, with the charter fleet
Apathy made it to La Paz by midnight, but his luggage didn't. Fortunately he was able to retrieve it by midday on Monday and we departed the marina by 2pm.
The Boat
When chosing a boat for a charter trip there are basically two considerations: size and hull. Obviously I just asked for the biggest boat they had. When deciding between a catamaran and a mono-hull keel boat I didn't think it was very close. A catamaran is larger, faster, more stable, and easier to maneuver under power (due to the presence of a propeller on each hull.) So we chose a 43' cat. The only disadvantage to that choice was the fact that neither I nor my SLF had ever sailed one before.
Here are some views of our cat, the Panache V:
View from the helm
Under sail
One of the main attractions of a catamaran is the large trampoline spanning between the twin hulls and creating a very nice area to nap, party, and lounge about under sail:
In between the twin hulls and aft of the trampoline was our main salon and kitchen. This is where we would prepare food, find shelter from the sun and wind, chart and plan, and sometimes eat meals.
Most of the time, however, we would eat our meals on the open deck in the area aft of the main salon and beside the helm
Usher and USLF at the helm
Below deck there were two forward cabins and two aft cabins, each with their own head.
We also had a dinghy that we towed behind the boat which we used for scouting beaches and running for supplies. I put Usher in charge of the dinghy, a decision that only cost us one dinghy tow line (the other one I ran into the starboard prop on my own
)
Shoving off and sailing away
So at around 3pm on 11/15 we had finished stowing our
and we
toward our first night's destination, mushroom rock.
We swam and partied and watched the
Then we partied some more and sequentially passed out. Apathy and AR had no issues about sharing a cabin nor did anyone have any issues with anything for that matter. We drank and smiled and swam and snorkled and fished and laughed and partied for 7 days and 7 nights without a raised voice, snide word, or sideways glance. It was a good crew indeed.
Swimming with fish and sailing with dolphins
On day 2 we made a quick pitstop at
to do a little
with the
After that we set sail for a 20 mile trip to our next destination when one of the most amazing things I've seen took place. A few
started swimming between our two hulls moving along at around 8 knots. Then there were 3. Usher set the line at 5 dolphins, I took the under, and within a few minutes there were 6 dolphins swimming along with us in between our hulls surfacing and playing together close enough for us to reach down from the trampoline and touch them.
Sportfishing, sushi, and J's special Mahi
We rented a fishing pole, and since we only had 4 nights worth of dinner food we were hoping that we could catch our own meals at least a few of the days. Usher and J took charge of the fishing operation and USLF stepped up in a big way and did all of the fish gutting and cleaning. With the exception of a bit of Skipjack Tuna sushi, J prepared our fresh fish on the BBQ and the girls glitzed up our meals with spices, sauces, salsas, and sides. Our fishermen caught a Skipjack tuna, two Dorado (aka dolphin or mahe), and a Bonito. The Dorado made for one of the best seafood meals i'd ever eaten.
J or Usher would hook 'em, Usher would reel 'em in, J would snag 'em and put 'em in the fish cooler, and JSLF or Apathy would bop 'em on the head after a Bacardi gill-bath to make their end as swift as possible.
Beaches
Each evening we would try to find a secluded cove in which to anchor. If we arrived early enough, we would have some time on the beach. For most of our time at sea we didn't see another boat, and on most evenings we were anchored without another human in sight. It was perfect.
Beer and ice
When I ordered the supplies I was considering the fact that neither Usher nor his SLF nor Durrr nor likely his SLF would be drinking any beer. They had ordered booze and Crown, so I planned for enough beer for the remaining 4 of us. But when Apathy and AR joined the crew, we were seriously under-supplied. Another problem was that we were sailing in a remote part of Baja California and there was only one town outside of La Paz with ice. By day 3 we were just about out of ice and beer so I decided to make day 3 a 70 mile travel day and try to make it to Loreto for supplies. The wind was what the locals call a "noserly," reflective of the local winds' tendency to always blow directly at you no matter which direction you are trying to sail. So we were under motor the whole way, leaving at sunrise and arriving just ahead of sunset and a looming storm just behind Puerto Escondido, 13 miles south of Loreto. It was a long but enjoyable day where I mostly
and the crew mostly
Though I did let anyone interested take their turn at the helm.
The next morning we started off with Mimosas
until we ran out of orange juice
Then I sent J, Usher and Apathy into Loreto for supplies
While I looked after the boat and the ladies
Upon their noble return with full stock of Tecate, ice, supplies and hot cheeseburgers, we had our first man overboard
Fortunately he was ok, didn't lose his shades, and was still able to come up with the best line of the trip. Immediately after surfacing Apathy said simply, "my beer is f...ed."
More underwater adventures
During our pre-trip briefing one of the Moorings Charter employees told us about some of the highlights of the region. He described a small island with sea lions where you can snorkle amongst the 2 ton creatures. He explained that if you swim too close to the pups, the large male sea lions will bare their teeth and charge at you at full speed. He reassured us that the sea lions rarely hurt anyone, so if we got charged we should just calmly swim further away. Apathy and I immediately looked at each other with a giant smile and said "ship it!"
We were not disappointed with our snorkling-with-the-sea lions experience, though our underwater pictures didn't turn out that great. I got charged by a giant male sea lion and I was glad I had the briefing because if not I would have been convinced I was going to die.
Apathy diving to get a closer look
Party
Every night was a pretty good party but the night of the 20th was my SLF's birthday and we partied just a bit harder that night.
Injuries and near misses
Anytime you get 8 inexperienced sailors on a 43' boat in the middle of the sea with an ample supply of alcohol there is a pretty significant risk of tragedy. We kept our serious partying for our time at anchor and tried to remind each other to keep "one hand for the boat and one hand for yourself," and thus managed to avoid any serious injury. J cut his foot pretty good on the first day slipping in the entry way to the salon and I sliced my foot on the barnacles under the hull while unraveling the dinghy line from the prop. Neither injury was a major setback, though I couldn't stand firmly on my right foot for the rest of the trip and for a week after our return (rather than closing the wound I chose to leave it open in the interest of reducing the risk of infection at the expense of a longer healing time.)
Our most serious risk of disaster occured on the 4th evening when our arrival to our destination cove was delayed by some successful fishing. Normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but on this particular evening I was planning on anchoring in a cove that was surrounded by a giant underwater reef extending almost two miles out from the shore. The charts showed a very specific approach to this cove and there were warnings in every guide book about how dangerous this anchorage could be if caution wasn't taken on the approach. By the time we arrived it was pitch black and the seas were about 5 feet. I motored in blind using only the GPS and the charts and it was a little unsettling. The whole process took about an hour and as we approached the cove a boat that was anchored there radioed us and talked us in to shallow water to set anchor. Our friendly covemate called us "ballsy" which i'm pretty sure is a sailing euphamism for "stupid." We gave the live-aboard trimaran couple a bottle of Bacardi and a bottle of Courvoisier as a thank you. I was hoping to have breakfast with them in the morning, but by the time I awoke at around 7am they were already underwater with their dive flag up.
Our second near-miss occured on our very last night when heavy winds pulled us free of our anchor. We were drifting at about 4 knots straight toward a giant fishing ship at 2am when J fortunately noticed and woke me up. It took us almost two hours in heavy winds and no visibility over a poor anchorage to finally set a firm anchor again. We traded off watches for the rest of the night without incident.
The final night
Our last night, before the anchor broke free, we took the dinghy to shore to eat and drink at a small restaurant located a few miles north of La Paz. It was a great way to end the trip.
Apathy, J, and JSLF dancing to Eye of the Tiger
This picture pretty much sums up the mood of the whole trip
Sunsets
Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was our evenings of enjoying cocktails and each others' company at sunset. I'll leave you with some sunset pictures and a final group shot.
I know it was long, but I hope you enjoyed it.
Irieguy
Introduction
I've always loved being on the water, and with a father named Skipperbob I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually find may way under sail. But it wasn't until this year that I finally got around to taking sailing lessons and chartering a boat. I had been on several cruises before and while I had a great time on each of them, I never really cared for all of the other people on the boat and the commercial-resort feel of a large ship. So early this year I went on a Windjammer Barefoot cruise with my college roommate and my special lady friend for a more intimate feel and hopefully some open water sailing. The barefoot cruise was amazing, but still not quite what I had hoped for. While trying to watch the sunset during a damn limbo contest my SLF (who was already a certified sailor) suggested that we charter our own boat for the next trip. I spent Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends this year completing my Basic Keelboat and Coastal Cruising certifications and scouted our first destination. We chose the Sea of Cortez due to its proximity, favorable weather and wind condidtions, and reputation as an excellent fishing and diving destination (unfortunately I injured my eardrum diving a few weeks before the trip which meant i'd only be snorkling on this trip.) Our next step was to find our crew.
The Crew
As with most exciting trip ideas I figured it would be easy to find a group of willing companions but difficult to get anyone to actually commit to anything. Our early list included over a dozen interested people, so I booked it and shipped it and tried to get a serious list of 8.
Our (almost) final list included: me, my SLF(ISLF), Usher, Usher's SLF (USLF), Durrr and a yet-to-be-determined SLF, and two non-2+2 friends of mine, J and JSLF. But 24 hours prior to departure Durrr called to say he was out and we had one day to find two people who could leave for a week long vacation on a boat with a bunch of people they may not know. Fortunately, it took two phone calls.
For phone call #1 ISLF called a friend of hers and asked if she wanted to go sailing for a week with her and 7 people she had never met. The trip was already paid for, but she would have to share a cabin with whomever would be taking the other spot. She said "ship it," and dropped off her small dufflebag and passport at my place a few hours later. We'll call her Apathy's Roomie (AR.)
The second phone call involved both Usher and I calling Apathy and telling him that he should probably come on the trip. He was too drunk to resist and by the time he sobered up Usher had already booked his ticket from Toronto to La Paz via Mexico City. I told him he'd have to share a cabin with a chick whom I hadn't yet met and he said "ship it."
Me and ISLF:
Usher and USLF:
J and JSLF:
Apathy and AR:
All of us except Apathy took off from Las Vegas and flew through LA to La Paz. We arrived on Sunday and had plans to stay at a hotel at the marina that night before setting sail at 10am on Monday. Apathy would arrive near midnight on Sunday... a little bit sketchy, but not particularly worrisome.
Arriving in La Paz
Usher at the hotel
La Paz's Palmira Marina
Palmira Marina by day, with the charter fleet
Apathy made it to La Paz by midnight, but his luggage didn't. Fortunately he was able to retrieve it by midday on Monday and we departed the marina by 2pm.
The Boat
When chosing a boat for a charter trip there are basically two considerations: size and hull. Obviously I just asked for the biggest boat they had. When deciding between a catamaran and a mono-hull keel boat I didn't think it was very close. A catamaran is larger, faster, more stable, and easier to maneuver under power (due to the presence of a propeller on each hull.) So we chose a 43' cat. The only disadvantage to that choice was the fact that neither I nor my SLF had ever sailed one before.
Here are some views of our cat, the Panache V:
View from the helm
Under sail
One of the main attractions of a catamaran is the large trampoline spanning between the twin hulls and creating a very nice area to nap, party, and lounge about under sail:
In between the twin hulls and aft of the trampoline was our main salon and kitchen. This is where we would prepare food, find shelter from the sun and wind, chart and plan, and sometimes eat meals.
Most of the time, however, we would eat our meals on the open deck in the area aft of the main salon and beside the helm
Usher and USLF at the helm
Below deck there were two forward cabins and two aft cabins, each with their own head.
We also had a dinghy that we towed behind the boat which we used for scouting beaches and running for supplies. I put Usher in charge of the dinghy, a decision that only cost us one dinghy tow line (the other one I ran into the starboard prop on my own
) Shoving off and sailing away
So at around 3pm on 11/15 we had finished stowing our
and we
toward our first night's destination, mushroom rock.
We swam and partied and watched the
Then we partied some more and sequentially passed out. Apathy and AR had no issues about sharing a cabin nor did anyone have any issues with anything for that matter. We drank and smiled and swam and snorkled and fished and laughed and partied for 7 days and 7 nights without a raised voice, snide word, or sideways glance. It was a good crew indeed.
Swimming with fish and sailing with dolphins
On day 2 we made a quick pitstop at
to do a little
with the
After that we set sail for a 20 mile trip to our next destination when one of the most amazing things I've seen took place. A few
started swimming between our two hulls moving along at around 8 knots. Then there were 3. Usher set the line at 5 dolphins, I took the under, and within a few minutes there were 6 dolphins swimming along with us in between our hulls surfacing and playing together close enough for us to reach down from the trampoline and touch them.
Sportfishing, sushi, and J's special Mahi
We rented a fishing pole, and since we only had 4 nights worth of dinner food we were hoping that we could catch our own meals at least a few of the days. Usher and J took charge of the fishing operation and USLF stepped up in a big way and did all of the fish gutting and cleaning. With the exception of a bit of Skipjack Tuna sushi, J prepared our fresh fish on the BBQ and the girls glitzed up our meals with spices, sauces, salsas, and sides. Our fishermen caught a Skipjack tuna, two Dorado (aka dolphin or mahe), and a Bonito. The Dorado made for one of the best seafood meals i'd ever eaten.
J or Usher would hook 'em, Usher would reel 'em in, J would snag 'em and put 'em in the fish cooler, and JSLF or Apathy would bop 'em on the head after a Bacardi gill-bath to make their end as swift as possible.
Beaches
Each evening we would try to find a secluded cove in which to anchor. If we arrived early enough, we would have some time on the beach. For most of our time at sea we didn't see another boat, and on most evenings we were anchored without another human in sight. It was perfect.
Beer and ice
When I ordered the supplies I was considering the fact that neither Usher nor his SLF nor Durrr nor likely his SLF would be drinking any beer. They had ordered booze and Crown, so I planned for enough beer for the remaining 4 of us. But when Apathy and AR joined the crew, we were seriously under-supplied. Another problem was that we were sailing in a remote part of Baja California and there was only one town outside of La Paz with ice. By day 3 we were just about out of ice and beer so I decided to make day 3 a 70 mile travel day and try to make it to Loreto for supplies. The wind was what the locals call a "noserly," reflective of the local winds' tendency to always blow directly at you no matter which direction you are trying to sail. So we were under motor the whole way, leaving at sunrise and arriving just ahead of sunset and a looming storm just behind Puerto Escondido, 13 miles south of Loreto. It was a long but enjoyable day where I mostly
and the crew mostly
Though I did let anyone interested take their turn at the helm.
The next morning we started off with Mimosas
until we ran out of orange juice
Then I sent J, Usher and Apathy into Loreto for supplies
While I looked after the boat and the ladies
Upon their noble return with full stock of Tecate, ice, supplies and hot cheeseburgers, we had our first man overboard
Fortunately he was ok, didn't lose his shades, and was still able to come up with the best line of the trip. Immediately after surfacing Apathy said simply, "my beer is f...ed."
More underwater adventures
During our pre-trip briefing one of the Moorings Charter employees told us about some of the highlights of the region. He described a small island with sea lions where you can snorkle amongst the 2 ton creatures. He explained that if you swim too close to the pups, the large male sea lions will bare their teeth and charge at you at full speed. He reassured us that the sea lions rarely hurt anyone, so if we got charged we should just calmly swim further away. Apathy and I immediately looked at each other with a giant smile and said "ship it!"
We were not disappointed with our snorkling-with-the-sea lions experience, though our underwater pictures didn't turn out that great. I got charged by a giant male sea lion and I was glad I had the briefing because if not I would have been convinced I was going to die.
Apathy diving to get a closer look
Party
Every night was a pretty good party but the night of the 20th was my SLF's birthday and we partied just a bit harder that night.
Injuries and near misses
Anytime you get 8 inexperienced sailors on a 43' boat in the middle of the sea with an ample supply of alcohol there is a pretty significant risk of tragedy. We kept our serious partying for our time at anchor and tried to remind each other to keep "one hand for the boat and one hand for yourself," and thus managed to avoid any serious injury. J cut his foot pretty good on the first day slipping in the entry way to the salon and I sliced my foot on the barnacles under the hull while unraveling the dinghy line from the prop. Neither injury was a major setback, though I couldn't stand firmly on my right foot for the rest of the trip and for a week after our return (rather than closing the wound I chose to leave it open in the interest of reducing the risk of infection at the expense of a longer healing time.)
Our most serious risk of disaster occured on the 4th evening when our arrival to our destination cove was delayed by some successful fishing. Normally it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but on this particular evening I was planning on anchoring in a cove that was surrounded by a giant underwater reef extending almost two miles out from the shore. The charts showed a very specific approach to this cove and there were warnings in every guide book about how dangerous this anchorage could be if caution wasn't taken on the approach. By the time we arrived it was pitch black and the seas were about 5 feet. I motored in blind using only the GPS and the charts and it was a little unsettling. The whole process took about an hour and as we approached the cove a boat that was anchored there radioed us and talked us in to shallow water to set anchor. Our friendly covemate called us "ballsy" which i'm pretty sure is a sailing euphamism for "stupid." We gave the live-aboard trimaran couple a bottle of Bacardi and a bottle of Courvoisier as a thank you. I was hoping to have breakfast with them in the morning, but by the time I awoke at around 7am they were already underwater with their dive flag up.
Our second near-miss occured on our very last night when heavy winds pulled us free of our anchor. We were drifting at about 4 knots straight toward a giant fishing ship at 2am when J fortunately noticed and woke me up. It took us almost two hours in heavy winds and no visibility over a poor anchorage to finally set a firm anchor again. We traded off watches for the rest of the night without incident.
The final night
Our last night, before the anchor broke free, we took the dinghy to shore to eat and drink at a small restaurant located a few miles north of La Paz. It was a great way to end the trip.
Apathy, J, and JSLF dancing to Eye of the Tiger
This picture pretty much sums up the mood of the whole trip
Sunsets
Perhaps the most memorable part of the trip was our evenings of enjoying cocktails and each others' company at sunset. I'll leave you with some sunset pictures and a final group shot.
I know it was long, but I hope you enjoyed it.
Irieguy
11-05-2007
, 05:40 AM
11-05-2007
, 05:46 AM
11-05-2007
, 06:15 AM
11-05-2007
, 08:17 AM
11-05-2007
, 08:19 AM
11-05-2007
, 10:32 AM
11-05-2007
, 01:21 PM
11-05-2007
, 01:48 PM
11-05-2007
, 02:08 PM
WayTooCool 
Great TR about a great trip with good Friends Doesn't get any better than that 
Just a note to all young 2+2'er's reading this TR
You're only young once Enjoy yourselves Get out from behind that computer and go "DO" somethings.....When you get to be real old (Like SFB) I will guarantee you that you will never say "Gee; I wish I'de spent more time playing online poker"
Irieguy works very hard = I'm so glad that he gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor with waycool friends like those that made this trip
Great TR about a great trip with good Friends Doesn't get any better than that Just a note to all young 2+2'er's reading this TR
You're only young once Enjoy yourselves Get out from behind that computer and go "DO" somethings.....When you get to be real old (Like SFB) I will guarantee you that you will never say "Gee; I wish I'de spent more time playing online poker" Irieguy works very hard = I'm so glad that he gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor with waycool friends like those that made this trip
