One of the reasons we don't have a land-house is, my dwelling preferences are unrealistic. I am most comfortable looking up at 14-foot ceilings and beams made out of whole trees; stepping lightly upon floors of hand-made tile, and caressing 2-foot-thick walls of adobe. Passing beneath hand-carved stone arches with finely-executed artistic appointments are a…
So, we'd bused it from Mazatlán to Morelia and had a great time. We rented a car in Morelia, the better to tour Pátzcuaro and its nearby lake. Late August is the off-season and we pretty much had the whole district to ourselves for the 4 days we were there. If you can find your…
One of the many advantages of using Mazatlán as a summer cruising destination is the ease of inland travel. Maz summers are oppressively hot and humid, giving incentive to travel to the drier, cooler climes of the central highlands. Last summer we'd bused from Maz to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato (still my favorite…
We arrived in Mazatlán on July 31, 2009, technically 2-1/2 months after the start of hurricane season. From our own experiences and from what we heard from other long-term cruisers during the summer of 2008, most of the tropical storms and other strong weather events don't get active this far north in the Eastern Pacific…
Once we passed the upper-Baja drift net and entered the port of Santa Rosalía we had a grand time seeing cruising friends again, and meeting new ones. Most cruisers in Santa Rosalía in July were making their way north; only The Fox and a very few others were going south, ever mindful of the summertime…
Folks who cruise their boats up in the northern Sea of Cortez during the whole summer – and there are quite a few of them – are far tougher than we are. Things were really beginning to heat up in the northern Sea during July. The hours from 1100 to about 1400, when the sun…
On July 5, 2009, the wind rose with the sun and at 20 knots out of the SW it made our anchorage at Isla Mitlán too choppy for snorkeling. However, it was perfect wind for sailing, so sail we did. Destination: about 35 miles NNE to the northernmost tip of Isla Angel de la Guarda…
Cruising can be easy in the area around Bahía de los Ángeles. If you travel a few miles to the NE, you encounter a small group of islands that have pretty little anchorages that are best for one or two boats at a time. Ah, privacy in a wilderness setting. Just be mindful of the…
There are dozens of very nice anchorages throughout the northern Sea of Cortez and the Midriff Islands – there are at least 6 in Bahía de las Ánimas alone, and another 4 continuing north along the Baja shore before you get to Bahía de los Ángeles, a mere 35 miles distant. If you stop at…
A few words about bail-out anchorages in the Sea of Cortez during summer cruising. By now you may have the impression we've had to use them a lot. Well, we used them occasionally, maybe more often than in other places we've cruised – but do not let that deter you from coming here. The vast…