Starting Down The Baja

November 11, 2004 26 22.09’N 111 25.79’W North anchorage in beautiful San Juanico, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

At first light we were off in 10 to 15 kts wind from the west. We sailed for a short time without the motor. Then the wind went dead behind us and increased to 25 kts as the sun got higher in the clear sky. So we motored with the main up for most of the 45 miles down the desolate barren coast. No houses or roads but we did see an abandon magnesium mine that looked like a fort.

The ride was too rough for a really pleasant ride. Punta Pulpito (Pulpit) is rock knob 475’ high connected to the Baja by a low flat ridge that gives protection from north or northwest winds. Just what we needed. The anchorage had flat water but the wind roared over the low flat ridge. I slept in the cockpit until the wind calmed down. A cruiser on one of the evening ham radio nets told us he was just 10 miles further down the Baja in protected, gorgeous, large anchorage.

So… dawn we were motoring southeast to San Juanico. By 9:30 AM we were anchored in the best anchorage we have been in to date with two other cruisers. One of them a big catamaran named Dream Caper was on our dock in San Carlos. They left three days before us. The other vessel was an Islander 41 Harmony, the guy we talked to on the radio the previous night. We all ended up having dinner together on the cat. We had a very pleasant evening.

We have always been told that meeting fellow cruisers was the best part of cruising. We also made some good friends in San Carlos that we will meet again down the road.

San Juanico is a collection of anchorages in a small bay off several long sandy beaches in shallow water. We are anchored in only 13 feet of water at low tide. This is the prettiest anchorage we have been in to date.

We will stay put for an extra day hoping the northwest winds calm down.