The New Year of 2017 took off in fine form, with us still enjoying all that La Paz had to offer. Unfortunately, the relatively cool and humid winter weather soon caught up with GB and gave him a cold that quickly developed into a lingering case of bronchitis. We both made sure he stayed medicated…
[Photo of north lobe, Ensenada Grande, via.] Weather forecasts can change suddenly and often, especially these days as our planet's climate changes in sometimes squirrely ways. I had gotten into the habit years earlier of using The Fox's satellite email to download text-only spot forecasts from NOAA's National Weather Service to supplement the daily forecasts…
December 17, 2016: the conditions remained calm in San Evaristo's north lobe but GB got skunked again with dinghy fishing all the way around the rocky point and back again. He reported that out in the channel the winds were blowing from the SW to S to SE in the mid-teens, much like they had…
December 14, 2016, was breezy and whitecappy but we had ourselves a short and easy downwind trip of 7 miles from Punta Salinas on Isla San Jose, south to Isla San Francisco's most popular and sheltered anchorage, The Hook. As is typical at The Hook when the breeze is in the low 20s, about 9…
The December 13, 2016, forecast gently suggested that we had two days to find some shelter from some southwesterly winds. Cazadero is totally exposed to any westerly or southerly breeze, so it was prudent to move on. We were close to a couple of suitable anchorages, so in the meantime we decided to move slowly…
The fleet anchored at Agua Verde awoke on December 10, 2016, to a forecast of good weather for the next three days. Several sailboats – including The Fox and Kia Ora – took the opportunity to move along. We heard on the VHF radio that at least three of the other departing fleet were aiming…
[Photo on left by Darlene Topilko] Kia Ora and The Fox temporarily parted company at Isla Coronados as we both raised anchor at 0700 on December 2, 2016. The winds were a mere 12 knots from the SW in the Coronados southern anchorage. However, only 1/4 mile offshore from the anchorage, we had the winds…
Long-term cruising ingrains some habits that normal people may find a bit odd. Like a fixation on weather forecasts. Comparing and contrasting differing meteorological opinions. Analyzing and discussing – at length – which forecast might turn out to be the correct one. Discussing them all over again. So it was for us on the Thursday…
The Fox and our buddy-boat, Kia Ora, raised anchor at Punta Pulpito for a very short 10-mile southbound voyage to the popular anchorages of Caleta San Juanico. Both vessels were underway just after 0700 on Sunday, November 27, 2016. The morning air was calm with skies overcast. Arriving in San Juanico we found only two…
The Fox put to sea out of San Carlos a bit over an hour after our buddy-boat, Kia Ora, had set sail. We intended to make a 90-mile northern crossing of the Sea ending in a nighttime landing in the anchorage at Punta Pulpito. Although it is our policy to avoid nighttime arrivals, we knew…