We checked in at the Port Captain’s office in Loreto, assuming it was just a courtesy, but he assured us it was required even for local sailing and would in fact cost $186 pesos again, though just to sail locally we would not have to deal with Migracion or Customs. . .oh well. BUT he was closed for the day and would see us tomorrow morning for the paperwork. We grumbled, but returned to Escondido to rig and launch the boat and spent the night at anchor in the new boat basin. In the morning it was a quick run into Loreto, a good breakfast in my plywood shack restaurant, then the forms and fees and back to the boat. The wind was fine Northwesterly and it was a joyful beat across the channel to Danzante again and we couldn’t bear to stop. Tacking steadily up the coast a few hours we finally came to the beach below the monster golf resort at Nopolo and called it a day, swung the boat around and ran off on a broad reach back to Honeymoon cove at the north end of Danzante in just over an hour.
One way or another, the fine sailing weather next day went to waste and we
tramped all over the hills and beaches at the north end of the Island. In the
afternoon we paddled two bays South and went ashore for a walk that direction
and found the water in the third bay (rocky beach but fine sand bottom in reach
over low tide) was just warm enough for swimming. A glorious day, and a fine
evening visiting aboard Grand Duc, who was anchored in the bay working on the
deck getting ready for paint!
For the first time ever, I took a long line ashore to tie to a large rock and take some of the swing out of our excursions toward the beach. Reflecting on the consequence of a wind from anywhere in the South I realized we’d be on the beach probably before I’d wake up since both the rock and the main anchor were well inshore. Accordingly I carried the 10 lb Danforth offshore to the south to the full extent of its rode and dropped it. Snugging all three lines up had a startling effect on the boat. She sat absolutely solidly in one place, didn’t tack around at all and faced quietly into the wind. I slept well.
Our third day was to have been a sail 16 miles south to anchor in the lee of a reef next to a prominent high hill where a hot springs is said to flow from the reef at low tide, so we cleared for sea and got our anchors and shore line aboard and headed off straight downwind in about 10 knots right after breakfast. Not over an hour later there was real weight in the wind, we were running wing and wing at over 6 knots on the gps and the chop was starting to build. I reconsidered running 16 miles to leeward toward an unknown anchorage that was only described as “okay” in a sharply rising wind. It had all the feeling of a strong Norther rising. Just clear of the south end of Danzante we hove to and took in one reef. Before I finished securing the first reef I decided the right number was two and pulled the second down as well. With the 110% jib (the one I’ve been calling the working jib til now) aback and the helm lashed we were making about a knot to leeward and lying in the trough. The last of the rocks off Candelero Bay were getting quite close quickly and while I had the main trimmed part way in to tie in the reef points a stronger gust hove the boat well down. She popped back up again as the mate cut loose the main sheet, but after that my decision was to tack back up hill and return to the anchorage in Danzante, where I knew there were good hikes and possibly swimming available at least and from which we would be able to return to the boat launch to get my mate to the airport on schedule even if otherwise wind bound. With the rug rolled up in the cabin and two reefs down we began the slog up hill and the boat again did very well, going to weather at better than 4.5 knots on each leg, long and short up the coast about 110 degrees between tacks per the gps. That said, she was carrying slight lee helm and I was luffing the main at least a little, quite a lot of the time. Once again we were considering tacking up the coast for the fun of it when the wind took another sharp increase about half a mile north of Danzante and it was clear I needed to get rid of the big jib and either run off to the anchorage or get a much smaller jib up front. We got the jib muzzled on deck forward and tried sailing on for a bit with just the double reefed main. She would not make way into the wind at that strength, simply sitting in the water, perhaps making a little leeway at half a knot or less. . .but when I turned and ran off on a broad reach for the anchorage the boat made 3.5 to 4 knots and felt safe as a house.
We waited out the gale 3 days on the island, exploring all the ridges and beaches and finding many wonderful spots. . .but finally decided to leave immediately and drive home together rather than flying/driving separately. That cost me almost a week in Baja but gained me 4 days of my favorite company driving the long way back. The wind had slacked down to probably only 20 or 25 steady and the meanness had gone out of the rollers in the channel. We got our stern anchor and shoreline aboard again, hanked on the smallest jib and double reefed the main, shortened up the main anchor to just the chain, then broke it out and broad reached slowly out of the anchorage under full cabin top and no sails while I cleared away the chain and secured the anchor. Then I gave the mate the main and jib to work with and we sailed out into the open with a farewell toot on the horn to the Grand Duc. It had been blowing long enough for the swell to be fully mature, though the breaking crests were much gentler than they had been the day before and the sea was no longer streaked all over with foam. Still the boat rose and fell grandly with the swell and I occasionally swung her up to take a sharper crest more nearly on the bow. Mostly we rolled across the channel to Puerto Escondido on a beam reach, making 4.5 knots and feeling like old salts on a well snugged down vessel. The tide was at max ebb in the entrance to Escondido and the wind, funneled through the gateway was straight on the nose. Outside we tacked twice but finally admitted we wanted to get into the harbor and hauled out, so one last time, hove to, secured the sails on deck, and motored in.