Author Archives: Michael

It is now Saturday, Nov 16, 2019 and all is well here on the reasonably good ship Milagro. After enjoying a pleasant overnight at Isla Coronados (Upper 70’s, light breeze and flat water) we were treated to a large pod of dophins swimming and cavorting around us while we had morning coffee in the cockpit. Try THAT at home! 🙂 Then, it was off to Pto. Ballandra on Isla Carmen which we reckon offers the best protection from Tropical Storm Raymond’s somewhat confusing and fickle winds. At 0938 our anchor was set at 26 01.108’N, 111 09.899’W in 25′ over sand. The OAT is 80F, it’s 60% humid, the pool is 78F and there is currently no wind. Skies are 80-90% covered by a high, thin overcast. 5 other boats here with us are also watching the changing forecast trying to work out when to make their next moves. In the past 48 hours of reports, nearly every one has offered different views of what’s coming. In all cases though, the winds here are not likely to be scary strong, maybe as much as 30kts but likely somewhat less. This is a well protected spot to see what actually happens. Several of those here are long time friends so there’s already been a bit of a reunion atmosphere. Looks like we should be able to move along by Monday afternoon so our current thinking is to go then to Point Nopolo and hang for a few days though, by then, we may have a different plan. Stay tuned. Hasta pronto.

Surprise, we’re back! Maybe that should read more like: “We are finally back”. But, I think I always say that. It seems to have become a pattern. Our summer visits North of the border last more like 4 months now rather than the 3 months we tell ourselves we’re aiming for. There just always seems to be one more thing that must be done or event that must be attended. However, for this year at least, that season is behind us and we are once again boat people. Arriving back at Milagro on Saturday, Nov 9th, we found the usual several surprises but eventually pulled it all together and made our exit from the marina midday on Thursday, Nov 14th. The wind and sea conditions were forecast to be perfect for motorboats and dissapointing for sailors but the next forecast change was decidedly unappealing – Tropical Storm moving up from the South will bring big seas and strong winds contrary to our purposes – so motorboating it is. We passed an uneventful night under clear skies and a full moon over mostly flat seas and arrived into the South anchorage at Isla Coronados at 0752 this morning, Friday, Nov 15. Our anchor is set (yes, we did remember how to anchor) in 18′ over sand at 26 06.167’N, 111 16.906’W. The OAT is 80F, the water temp is 78F with visibility about 20′. Wind is flat calm as is the sea. We are only a few miles from several anchorages in the general area of Loreto and will move tomorrow to one of them. And, should the forecast conditions develop as advertised, we will move again several times over the next several days to put ourselves into locations protected from whatever direction the wind and seas are coming from that day. We are excited to be back and are glad you’re here for us to share with.

It is Sunday, June 30th, 2019 and all is well here. As advertised, we moved into the marina early this morning. An early go allowed us to maneuver without the benefit of the strong afternoon winds that we’ve seen each day. We definitely didn’t need that kind of interference when navigating slow speed close quarters and squeezing ourselves stern first alongside a very wide Hylas. And, it all worked out perfectly. At 0735MST Milagro was berthed at 27 56.869’N, 111 03.357’W. It was 89F at the time, pool 84F and a SE breeze ran at 5kts. It was humid with about 80% cloud cover. After a very warm (89-90F)and humid (+/-80%) night at anchor we were more than happy to have shore power for full time A/C – I’m predicting we will sleep much more comfortably tonight. 🙂 We’ve already begun the cleaning, sorting and configuring process that we go through to leave Milagro on her own for several months. As hot as it is here we will start our work day very early and stop well before noon each day. With luck (that means, if there are no surprises and nothing important breaks) we may be on the road as early as Wednesday morning. If things don’t go so well, then, it could take much longer. Next for us is motorhome projects, continuing improvements to our RV parking spot and I have a new motorcycle to put some miles on. Thanks for joining us this sailing season, we’ll be back in the fall.

Today is Saturday, 28 June, 2019 and we’re doing fine here on the Milagro. Yesterday afternoon winds reached 26kts but it was a hot, humid wind and, for our part, very unwelcome. We actually ran the generator and A/C for several hours in order to escape it. This morning we weighed anchor, visited the fuel dock at Marina San Carlos and then settled in the San Carlos Harbor with full tanks. Here we will move the dinghy onto the foredeck, drag out the dock lines, fenders and other accoutrement needed to convert from a sailing boat to a marina condo. Once you get so used to anchoring all the time, the monkey motion needed to tie yourself to a dock sure seems like a lot of work. First thing tomorrow morning we will slide into our slip at Marina San Carlos and get serious about packing things, securing systems, etc. For now we are at 27 56.744’N, 111 03.717’W in 23′ over sand. The OAT is 92F (going up to 102!?), it’s 83F in the pool and the wind is SE at 8 to 10kts.

It is Friday, 28 June, 2019 and everything here is good. And, we are in San Carlos! After reviewing the latest wind/sea forecast Thursday morning it seemed that the best odds for a comfortable passage was likely that day. Overnight winds for that evening and for several days following were going to be WNW to NW to N on the order of 20kts with the most westerly winds that night. Since we’d be going due North, Westerlies would be good. Considering that seas build greater with longer wind exposure, the seas would be a bit more lumpy each of the coming days. So, there it was. Not what we wanted exactly but the smart move was to get going or wait until sometime after the coming weekend, something we did not want to do either. As is often the case on a passage, we saw many different sea/wind combinations and motored, motorsailed, and sailed at one or more times during the 125nm. In general, the seas were mostly flat although a NW swell accompanied by some chop developed after sunrise today. In the end, we managed to complete 42% of the passage under sail alone while the remainder was either motorsailing or simply motoring. Now our anchor is set at the San Carlos waterfront (Caleta La Posada) at 27 56.808’N, 111 02.793’W in 28′ over sand. The OAT is 91F, it’s 83F in the pool and the wind is W 15 gusting to 20. We are in the lee of the town’s shore so our water is flat. We are scheduled into Marina San Carlos on Monday, July 1 but we may see if we can sneak in on the day before. Stay tuned folks as there is at least one more post coming before we bail out for the summer.

It is Monday, 24 June, 2019 and all is well here. We enjoyed a calm, peaceful night at Isla Coronados before moving South this morning back to Point Nopolo. Before heading up to San Carlos we have a need to pay a visit to our friend Pedro here, plus, as you must surely know by now, we really like this place. At 1106hrs MDT our anchor was once again set in front of the Hotel Loreto Bay at 25 55.442’N, 111 20.807’W in 12′ over sand. The OAT is 85F, the pool temp is 81F and there is a SE breeze running 6 to 7 knots. We intend to stay for several days so the sunshades have been put in place to help keep the afternoon temps under control. We will be closely watching the weather forecasts over the next several days but, based on what we see today, we are thinking we will leave here for San Carlos on Thursday. That would give us several days anchored in the San Carlos area before taking our slip at the marina there on July 1. Time we could use as we prepare Milagro to be left alone for several months. But, we will see about the weather as that day draws closer.

It is Sunday, 23 June, 2019 and all is well here on Milagro. At Bahia Cobre yesterday, the afternoon water warmed to 83F. A steady N breeze of 7-9kts added its contribution. With the OAT in the low 90’s the breeze and the pool felt pretty darned good. This morning we made our move toward our next intended anchorage, V-Cove on the N side of Isla Carmen, however nature had other plans for us. Very shortly after we got underway northbound, the N wind increased to 15kts and the seas built to very closely spaced 2′ to 3′ wind swells. Not good conditions for any anchorage open to the North, like, well, V-Cove. We battled our way slowly into the wind then made our turn to go West over the top of Carmen and, as we advanced westward, the wind and seas gradually settled until we were on a nice beam reach in 8-9kts of N wind over mostly flat water. What a difference just a few miles makes. So, after a very nice sail we planted our anchor on the South side of Isla Coronados at 26 06.061’N, 111 17.041’W in 23′ over sand. The OAT is 85F and the pool temp is 81F. Water vis is only about 10′ here and green in color so its not nearly as inviting as at Cobre. We are not certain of the timing of our next move although we have decided to leave the 2 anchorages on the N side of Isla Carmen for next season. It’s time to get serious about the timing of our move to San Carlos so we’ll be reviewing the weather forecasts closely with that in mind. More to follow.

Today is Saturday, 22 June, 2019 and all is well here. Our afternoon at Pta. Perico was actually 1 degree warmer than the day before at Blanco but there was a nice breeze running that made it much more bearable. The water did warm up to 80F so a little swimming helped cool us off, too. Around midnight a South swell of 2′ developed setting up some pitching movement. Not too bad but enough to keep it from being an entirely peaceful night. This morning we weighed anchor and moved counterclockwise around Point Perico and into Bahia Cobre. A total distance of 3nm. Here we are protected from that South swell and surrounded by more amazing geography. Oh, to be a geologist and understand all these different layers, colors and shapes. We are set at 25 58.954’N, 111 04.121’W in 23′ over sand. OAT is 86F and the pool is 80F with visibility close to 25′. There’s a SW breeze of 6kts. Our plan is to move again tomorrow as we still have 2 more anchorages on Carmen we wish to see and by the end of next week we need to be making our move up to San Carlos. Hasta manana, y’all.

It is Friday, 21 June 2019 and all is well here. Our stay at Arroyo Blanco was nice but yesterday afternoon was stifling hot. 94F and ZERO wind. Zip. Nada. Much swimming occurred in an effort to cope but we eventually caved, drug out the generator and ran the A/C for several hours. Ahhhhh, so nice. Kayaking the shore and sea caves this morning we saw some pretty impressive scenery. We tried to capture some of that beauty in photos which I intend to post to the blog one day. After breakfast we moved to our next stop, Punta Perico South. Only 7.8nm NE of Arroyo Blanco we are now settled at 25 58.238’N, 111 04.500’W in 25′ over sand. OAT here is 88F but the pool is only 78F. As we are right at the end of a point of land there is a bit of breeze running NE at 7kts. Of course, we hope that breeze holds and that the thermometer doesn’t try to return to yesterdays numbers. That same SE swell continues to stay with us and, while it was not uncomfortable at Arroyo Blanco, we’re hopeful the breeze and currents keep us from sitting abeam of the swell here. Next stop is literally just around the corner. More tomorrow. Hasta entonces.

It is Thursday, 20 June, 2019 and everything is good here on the Milagro. The sea swell that I mentioned yesterday did smooth out and we enjoyed a comfortable night under an intense canopy of stars. It wasn’t long however, before they were upstaged when the nearly full moon presented itself around 2200. Muy hermosa. So, today, we moved about 2nm North to a spot that does not appear on any of the charts or guides that we’ve found. It’s at the mouth of a normally dry wash aptly named Arroyo Blanco as the wash cuts through low, white colored bluffs. There are small sea caves cut into these white bluffs and a small, sandy beach at the mouth. Nice as well as pretty. Friends of ours stumbled onto this place a couple of months ago and suggested we might like it. We do. We’re here for tonight and will decide in the morning whether to stay put or move on to the next stop. For now we are at 25 52.916’N, 111 10.951’W in 23′ over sand. OAT is 86F, the pool is 80F (it warmed to 83F yesterday afternoon at Colorada!) and wind is light and variable. 2kts from NE at this moment. More on our progress tomorrow or Saturday.