We just got back from our short cruise...

Posted By: Doug C.
Date: 11/1/06 9:32a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Jeff, no firm departure yet, work got in the way... (Doug C.)

Shorter version: We left Puerto Penasco on Oct. 21 and motorsailed to San Felipe. Ancorage is ok but breakwater does not provide much protection from the wind that rolled in on Sunday. Also fuel and supplies are approximately 3 km down the road towards town. Departed San Felipe for Puertocitos on Monday morning. Could see lightning in the distance over the mainland from hurricane Paul. Mostly motoring but did get some sailing after the sun came up. Arrived Puertocitos early afternoon, no luck on our gas or ice search ashore. Puertocitos is just too shallow to be very useful for protection from East wind that was building. A rough night anchored in an adjacent bay. Departed Puertocitos for Gonzaga Bay on Tuesday morning. Best sailing day so far. Arrived Gonzaga late afternoon checked Willard Bay first then anchored in the lee of the point in Gonzaga for shelter from the East wind. Wednesday was fantastic. Tony at Alfonsinas let us use his truck to run to the market for fuel and provisions. Great day on land enjoying the food, people, and beach. That evening we got word of the Norther that was to move later in the night. By 6:00am on Thursday the Norther was giving us it's best shot. We were protected from the waves but the wind was still funneling down the hills and I saw gusts up to 35 frequently. The anchors were dragging in the rocky bottom so we moved to a cove that had good sand for holding and got two down that held us firm for the next two days. Spent all of Thursday aboard partly because we did not want to try the kayak in the high winds and partly because of concern over the anchors. We did get an offer to ride to town on the dinghy from an adjacent boat but passed. By Friday the winds had eased some and we were able to make acouple of shore excursions. Had a nice afternoon. Winds continued to dissapate overnight and we were hopeful of a departure window on Saturday. Saturday morning dawned with only the slightest of breeze from the South and the 8:00am forecast relayed by Jim "Parrothead" via VHF showed flattening seas and low winds. We pulled anchor and headed out for Puertocitos. Many thanks to Jim and all of the folks in Gonzaga for making our stay safe and fun. Motorsailed from Gonzaga to Puertocitos on lumpy seas. Arrived Puertocitos early afternoon, scored beer and a 25lb block of ice at the market. Had a terrifict dinner at the resturant prepared by Eddie. Got some sleep in a fairly calm anchorage. Up at 3:00am to head out for Puerto Penasco. Sunday motor sailed from Puertocitos back to Puerto Penasco. Flat seas. Arrived late afternoon at sunset. Upon return we found out that the Norther had been very bad, sinking a boat out from Cholla Bay and tossing a Hobie unto the rocks at Bird Island. The folks at Safe Marina were worried about us in part because of some confusion over our return date and also because of the unusually bad Norther. Great trip. Pic is our boat at anchor near the beach in Gonzaga.