Cruising in the Sea of Cortez
We had left San Diego in early November and spent a month sailing down the west coast of Baja California on board Distant Drummer, our Liberty 458 sloop. After a week in Cabo San Lucas, a brash and brassy town at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula where we provisioned the boat, topped up the fuel tanks and enjoyed the many delights the town had to offer, my husband, Neil, and I were looking forward to a couple of months exploring “the Sea” as the locals call the Sea of Cortez. The Gulf of California, as it is also known, is bounded by the Baja Peninsula to the west and the Sonora and Sinaloa coasts of mainland Mexico to the east. Cabo is the starting point for cruisers looking to explore the Sea.
WEATHERBOUND IN BAHIA SAN LUCAS
Bahia San Lucas is a pleasant anchorage with good shelter from the northerly winds that predominate during the winter months. Unfortunately, when the wind veered to the northeast the bay became a washing machine with winds gusting up to 30 knots driving a steep choppy swell into the anchorage. The cruising yachts and pangas that crowd the narrow northern shelf were pitching and rolling and swinging almost randomly. A cruise ship anchored in the deep east-west channel that bisects the bay swung unexpectedly and almost sank us. It was nerve-wracking being there, and after three days we were relieved when the wind finally eased and
