San Carlos to Puerto Escondido and Environs

October 27 – November 16, 2018

Once we came to terms with the fact that we were now down 200W of solar (and ordered new panels to be hand-delivered by our good friends making their way south for Thanksgiving), we jammed back across The Sea to make Puerto Escondido in time for the grand opening of the marina with our buddies Kurt and other West Coast Multihulls folks. Stops included San Juanico, where we spent a quick couple of days with S/Vs Liahona, MoonDrifter, and Volaré; Islas los Coronados, where we had the place to ourselves; and Loreto where we reunited with Shanti. While loitering around PE, we also got to spend a few wonderful days with David and Grant of Jean Butler, complete with a road trip to the Misión San Javier and playing cribbage while fishing from CD. Too fun!

This area of the Sea of Cortez is definitely one our favorites among the many cruising grounds here. The mouth-watering sailing, the jaw-dropping landscapes, and unencumbered night skies make for an almost surreal existence. We haven’t felt anything like the feelings we have when we’re sailing on flat water in 12-15 kts of breeze on the beam, or from behind powered by the pretty sail. Nothin’ like it.

The opposite of this tranquilo feeling is zipping around in a 30-something-foot Boston Whaler with duel 450-hp outboards. Holy crap. We were offered this experience by the Hamann family, part owners of the PE Marina, in an effort to give the WCM staff a feel for the area, as WCM has just set up a charter base in PE and the captains are new to the area. We hit 30+ kts as we made our way up the leeward side of Isla Carmen – hats were flying, eyes were watering, voices were lost in the wind. Can you imagine sailing on an America’s Cup 72-ft cat? They’ll do almost 50 kts in less-than-half that amount of wind! Yikes!! We’ll stick to sailing FL, topping out at 10-ish kts while surfing 😉

The grand opening of the marina was a grand event, complete with a hosted bar and a couple of roasted pigs. Several dignitaries came out, there was music and dancing, and even a few sparklers. We’re very encouraged that, after numerous fits and starts since the 1980s, this time around they’ll will be successful. The best part about this little party was that WCM timed its own grand opening to match, so we got to spend a few days with Kurt, Lance, and Andy, who we would normally only see if we landed in San Diego for hometown visits. So fun to get to show them around a bit, watch Kurt nurse a rare hangover, and share some meals together.

The trip up to Misión San Javier with David and Grant was a nice treat because we so rarely do land-based travel in Mexico, which we really need to rectify – there are so many amazing places to see. The day was glorious and the old mission has such grandeur. That’s one thing about Mexico – the churches here are typically the most well-kept buildings in any given pueblo, with beautifully manicured grounds; San Javier was no exception.

After a couple of weeks in the PE area, we were off to Bahía Concepción to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Sacketts…Yay!

Warning: The following vid is long; if you enjoy cribbage, you’ll enjoy it. If not, too bad. Ha!

Ok, this vid is short. It offsets the length of the previous.