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Sailing and Surfing the Sea of Cortez
by Stefan Paul Ries
Stefan is a German sailor exploring the Baja peninsula and the Sea of Cortez. Having taken his time in sailing and surfing down the Pacific side of Baja from San Diego in his 25 foot boat, his attentions now turn toward exploring the Sea. Here is a narrative from his log that takes you along as he sails and surfs his way from Cabo San Lucas to La Paz.
I left Cabo on April 7 in southwesterly winds in the 10-15 knots range. The weather was nice and it was pleasurable going so I anchored off the Westin Regina Hotel a few miles before San Jose del Cabo for the night. I had passed a few possible surf spots in the Corredor Los Cabos (the 31km long stretch of hotels between Cabo and San Jose del Cabo) but nothing looked too inviting. Plus, I wanted to get away from the Cabo crowds.
The next morning I just sailed for about 5 miles and anchored behind
Punta Palmilla, outside a surfbreak called Acapulquito (aka Old Man's)
in front of the Cabo Surf Royale Hotel. The break is an easy to
identify surf spot because about 15 people were in the water already.
So much for escaping the crowds.
/I found Old Man’s is a mushy reef break, but I still enjoyed a long afternoon session with some waves being head high. Almost all surfers were Americans and I got some info about the other breaks nearby. Zippers, which you could see just a little further down towards the beach. The book refers to Zippers as "the most famous and most crowded of all breaks south of San Miguel, possibly in all of Mexico". I did not surf it.
After an early morning session at Old Man's (The break is called this
due to the longboard crowd) I left for "Shipwrecks" after being told
good things about that spot. The Surfer's Guide writes, "Once you
leave San Jose del Cabo (civilization) heading east you are on the
East Cape. Give yourself lots of time, have a full tank of gas and
bring water. There's not much out this way." I found this to be very
true. I got there in time for an evening session with only 3 friendly
and talkative Mexicans out… “Si, soy de yate... solo, si, porque? Mas
libertad... de San diego pero no soy un gringo, soy de Alemania...Si,
el mundial de futbol en junio...” (Everyone mentions Oliver Kahn when
talking about the world cup). Hay buenas olas aqui.... Si, mucho
gusto....Adelante..
At Shipwrecks the wave is a "fast right reef-point.
The shipwreck, for which the break is named, isn't there anymore, but
the surf still is. It's a really fun wave that picks up a lot of
southerly swell." I stayed there for 3 days and enjoyed the surfing
very much. In my first morning session I saw 4-6 foot waves, clean,
fast, powerful. Before sunrise there were already 6 surfers (all
Americans now) in the water. But everyone was cool, well behaved and
polite and no drop ins. I surfed for about 5 hours every day, board
shorts and rash guard only. The water was warm enough that no more
wetsuit was needed. The only negative thing on the day was my leash
breaking and the board getting some dings from the rocks on the beach.
I switched to my 6'3" which worked just fine for the rest of the day.
Wave rating:"F@#k’n A!"
With more spots to explore so I got underway on April 12 in very light winds and stopped at a break in front of the Arroyo de Mauto. It turned out to be a pretty slow longboard wave. But the break was long and the water was so very clear you could see the bottom all the time.
Due to the lack of winds to power me on my way I stayed another day and tried my luck spear fishing around an underwater rock near the boat. That rock had only about 3 feet of water above and wasn't shown on the chart. Luckily I saw some ripples and gave it a safe distance. I took some shots at pompanos, but the fish were faster and escaped my attacks. No luck on trawling either, even so I switch between different lures...where is that yellowtail?
My next break was "Nine Palms". The book describes it as "....long,
fun right reef/point. good waves with good shape even if a bit mushy.
I enjoyed 3 nice sessions and met some great people. I would have
liked to stay longer but, in the afternoon a strong north wind came up
and made the anchorage untenable. When I got back on the boat I
already found my favorite coffee cup broken on the floor. The boat was
rolling heavily in the wind chop. within minutes I was underway
towards Los Frailes, a well protected anchorage 15 miles to the north.
Making it to Los Frailes hat meant beating into the wind for 5 hours. This made for very uncomfortable and wet sailing. The only cool thing was that I saw manta rays jumping out of the water and somersaulting for the first time.
I spent 2 relaxing days at Los Frailes. The beach was pretty packed with Mexican families camping during their holiday of Semana Santa. The surf report says: "some beach- and reef breaks” but the truth is, from here north the Sea of Cortez does a pretty good imitation of a lake. Swells need to be strong out of the southeast or very strong south..." neither was the case and my surfing is on hold now as my journey takes me further north into the Sea. Well, it will be replaced by a lot of swimming and free diving.
You meet a lot of interesting people traveling the way I do. I met Bob
and Janett on the boat "Kelly Marie" and was invited for dinner on
their 44 foot boat. They were on their way to La Paz to get their boat
shipped back to Seattle with Dockwise Transportation (a big ship that
transports boats). They had tried to sail back north on the outside of
the Baja Peninsula but turned around between Cabo and Magdalena Bay
after getting a taste of very strong headwinds.
From Los Frailes I slowly worked my way northward. Sailing in short day hops, as the wind permitted. 32nm to Punta Pescadora, 25nm to Isla Cerralvo, 18nm to San Rosario and 15nm to Bahia Ballandra before reaching La Paz. I left the anchorages around 10am when the prevailing northwest wind came up.I did some more (no more ocean swells in the Sea) or less ( but strong tidal currents can really slow you down) enjoyable day sailing ( I was mostly close hauled and had to reef the main after around 1pm, though) and got to the next anchorage in the afternoon/evening.
The best spot in this leg of the trip was Bahia Ballandra, just a few miles from the entrance to the ensenada de La Paz . I went snorkeling in the clearest water I have been in yet. It is a very beautiful cove where rocky arms encircle a brilliant white, sandy beach with several smaller, inviting beaches tucked into smaller niches. I shared the anchorage with 2 other sailboat. This beautiful spot is only about 12nm from La Paz. You can count on the fact that I'll be back.
Stefan Paul Ries
S/V Ky-Mani
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