free advice La Paz to San Carlos

Posted By: Pat Rains
Date: 4/14/08 10:38a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: La Paz to San Carlos Questions (Eric Christenson)

Congratulations on your new boat. I've done that trip six times in four different boats. Free advice is worth every penny, so here goes. In La Paz, introduce yourself on the morning VHF Cruisers Net, and ask for "experienced crew" - one guy or a couple. Expect to pay them $300 to $500 for the whole "delivery" plus their food, and buy them a plane ticket back to La Paz (or ferry & bus, if they're willing). From La Paz, it's about 240 n.m. of beautiful coastal cruising up to Santa Rosalia, making 5 or more overnight anchorages in between, depending on the weather. (When you said well-outfitted, you did include a good SSB radio, or some means of getting WX broadcasts, right?) Then you've got a 75 n.m. open water passage from Santa Rosalia harbor over to San Carlos. That's when you need to have a good weather window (no norther) predicted before departing. Plan your departure from Santa Rosalia so you make landfall on San Carlos with sufficient daylight to see your way in. I've tried to stop at Isla Tortuga, but never found a good overnight anchorage, so don't count on that. With a brand new-to-you boat, it's probably wise to have a back-up plan, in case for example the fuel tanks are fouled or some of the standing rigging fails, etc. Puerto Escondido and Santa Rosalia are both "soft places to fall" in case you can't get all the way to San Carlos in one try. Have a wonderful adventure!