Author Archives: Michael

It is Friday, May 17, 2019 and everything is fine here on the Milagro. We weighed anchor this morning leaving Point Nopolo behind in favor of Puerto Ballandra on Isla Carmen, about 12nm East from Nopolo and Loreto. We have friends who love Ballandra and spend much of their time anchored there. While we don’t love Ballandra the way they do we wanted to enjoy their company for a few days so we’ll have a visit then move along. It was a motorboat ride for us as we needed to run our engine to make water anyway and that process consumed most of the time it took to cover the short distance. Our anchor is set at 26 01.178’N, 111 09.960’W in 35′ over mixed sand and gravel. The OAT is 80F and the pool, with about 20′ of visibility, is 78F. The wind is from the NE at 11kts gusting to 18 but our spot is well protected from wind in that direction so we’re sitting on flat water. We’ll be back in a couple of days with the next update.

It is Wednesday, May 15, 2019 and everything here is good although I reckon it’s time for a Farkwar update. We’ve been in the same spot at Point Nopolo since our last report on May 8th but there just hasn’t been much to say. You may recall that we’ve planted our anchor here in the past and then just stayed and stayed and it seems we’re doing it again. Although, yesterday, we broke the anchor free and dashed the 5.5nm North to Loreto as we needed some fresh provisions and to have some laundry done. We did get all of that done then met last evening with boating friends on their way driving from La Paz back to the US. It was a pretty full day and a successful one, as well. After a peaceful night on the Loreto waterfront we returned again to Point Nopolo this morning and are parked once more on nearly the very same spot as before. We have boating friends staying at a relative’s home here in Nopolo and we’re joining them tonight for dinner after they enjoyed a particularly fruitful day of fishing. Judy may be less exited than I am at the prospect of a fresh fish dinner but she says she’s game. Then, she says she needs internet (we have a good source here) tomorrow night after which she says I can consider relocating. With that in mind, we reckon to move on Friday, East across Loreto Bay to Bahia Ballandra on Isla Carmen and hang out there for a while. So, that’s our update from Nopolo. More in a couple of days.

Today is Wednesday, May 8, 2019 and everything is just fine here. Today we made a leisurely passage North from Candeleros to Punto Nopolo, just a few miles South of Loreto. There is a beautiful sand beach here backed by a community of condos and the Hotel at Loreto Bay. Several restaurants are within easy walking distance, there’s great snorkeling around the point and kayaking up a little estuary where you paddle your way through an attractive golf course. There’s no weather protection from anything coming from an Easterly direction so it’s definitely NOT an all weather anchorage but it’s great otherwise. Light Easterlies and mill pond flat water this morning moved us slowly along under our light air head sail and main in what we would call idyllic conditions. At 1354MDT our anchor was set at 25 55.472’N, 111 20.855’W in 12′ over sand. the OAT is 82F and it’s 77F in the pool which is kinda greenish with poor visibility. Not really “yucky” but not quite inviting like it usually is either. There’s a SE breeze running at 6kts and a small Easterly swell moving the boat around just a little. Our sky is clear. We expect to hang out here for a couple of days though how much more than “a couple” we don’t know yet. Good cell coverage here and we’re working on getting internet – I suppose THAT could influence when we leave as much as anything else. 🙂 Hasta pronto, y’all.

It is Monday, May 6, 2019 and all is well on the Milagro. It is apparent that I need a refresher course in how to read a calendar but, otherwise, all is well:-) As I’m sure you saw, I incorrectly dated yesterday’s post as being the 6th. I’m sure didn’t fool any of you, but, to be clear, TODAY is the 6th. Really. So we vacated Agua Verde this morning and made our way to Bahia Candeleros. No favorable winds to work with today so we did what one has to do in that case. At 1213MDT our anchor was set in front of the Villa del Palmar resort at 25 43.373’N, 111 14.237’W in 15′ over sand. The OAT is 80F, the pool 75F (getting better!) and there is a NE breeze of 6kts. The sea is flat with small wind chop and our sky is sunny and clear. The only other boat here is another C42 like ours and belongs to friends of ours. They bought Macadamia last fall after we declined to sell them Milagro (mistake?) and spent the winter in San Carlos modifying and equiping her to, more or less, equal our set up. We will get a chance to visit with them and also review with the resort, details of our family stay here in a few weeks. We’ll want to ensure they have all of the details correct. After a couple of days we will move along to one of the many other terrific locations here in the greater Loreto area. Hasta pronto, y’all.

It is Sunday, May 6, 2019 and all is good here. We enjoyed passage today all the way to Bahia Agua Verde- about 15nm beyond our initial target. Conditions today allowed some off then on then off again sailing the hightlight of which was about an hour running dead down wind under main and Code Zero sails set wing on wing on totally flat seas. The wind petered out altogether though leaving us with perfect trawler conditions- glassy, flat seas and zero wind. If you’re gonna motorboat, that is surely the way to do it. Because we were making such good speed over ground while motoring we decided to press on to what would have been tomorrow’s destination so here we are. At 1607MDT our anchor was set in the South lobe of Bahia Agua Verde at 25 30.943’N, 111 03.748’W in 21′ over sand. The OAT is 89F, the pool is 76F and there is a 5-8kt breeze from the NE. The sea state here in the anchorage is flat. We will move again tomorrow with our sights set on Bahia Candeleros, the bay South of Loreto where lives the Villa del Palmar resort is found. Hasta manana.

It is Saturday, May 4th, 2019 (May The Fourth Be With You!) and all is well here. As advertised, this morning we made the 26nm jump to Isla San Francisco and enjoyed another good sailing day. We didn’t expect it to be and the available wind did vary but, in the end, we were able to sail a bit over 60% of the passage. Combine that with sailing 80% of yesterday’s passage and we’re doing pretty good so far. We aren’t likely to be quite so lucky with favorable wind conditions over the next several days but we’ll just have to see how it plays out. At 1208 MDT today, the anchor was set on the East side of Isla San Francisco at 24 49.698’N, 110 33.969’W in 15′ over sand. The OAT is 82F, the pool is 74F and the water vis is about 20′. There is a 4kt breeze from the SE and the sky is clear. Our friends on the SV Liahona (Bret and Marne) are buddy boating with us and we have a card game and group dinner planned for later today – after a fishing expedition to see if dinner can be pulled from the sea. We will be celebrating 2 birthdays, mine (today) and Bret’s (tomorrow). Then, tomorrow it’s off for someplace further north, maybe to the anchorage at Los Gatos. Tune in tomorrow and see. In the meantime, hasta manana, y’all.

It is Friday, 5/3/19 and all is well here on the Milagro. We got up early this morning after a night of mild Coromuel winds. Coromuels are overnight winds spilling into the Gulf of Mexico from the Pacific side of the Baja common to the La Paz area especially in spring. They come from a Westerly or Southwesterly direction and can be quite strong at times. Anyway, we had a bit of that overnight and got underway early for our next stop. The winds were forecast to be from the South around 10kts early but diminishing throughout the day and swinging around to be on our nose by afternoon. If we were to get to sail we needed to go early. Coming out of Bahia Falsa we were able to raise the sails and, by using various sail combinations, were able to sail to within a mile of our destination. Very nice! We are now at an unnamed cove just North of Punto Lobos on the East side of Isla Espiritu Santo. We’re calling it Liahona Cove as we learned about this spot from our good friends on the SV Liahona. So, we are anchored at 24 29.249’N, 110 18.306’W in 20′ over sand/gravel. OAT is 80F, the pool is 74F and there is a NE breeze running at 5kts. The sea is flat and we are under a high stratus overcast. Manana we continue moving North with our sights set on the East side of Isla San Francisco. Wind forecast is for mostly light and variable but we will just have to see what hand tomorrow deals us. Hasta manana, y’all.

Greetings Farkwar family. Long time no speak, eh? Well, we’re back and if the tune you hear sounds familiar it is because it is. You know, the one where we go on about how we are FINALLY underway again after so long at one place or another. It has become a common refrain but no less true. Yes, we have finally broken through the force field that is La Paz and have ventured out and about. We have certainly enjoyed wintering there and, in particular, have enjoyed our new mooring set up just outside the entrance to Marina de La Paz. It seems to offer the best of being anchored out combined with with the convenience of social interaction with our many friends in La Paz. So, that’s our excuse this time…at least it’s a new one. Today we’ve made it as far as Bahia Falsa, just outside the La Paz channel, and are staged to move tomorrow to the East side of Isla Espiritu Santo and then on North from there. We are set at 24 15.499’N, 110 19.063’W in 25′ over sand and are the only boat here. The OAT is 83F, the pool is a chilly 74F and there is an 8kt breeze running from the NW. Water vis is about 15′ and the surface is flat. More from Espiritu Santo manana.

It is Tuesday, 12/18/18, and all is just fine here. We moved today into La Paz and took a mooring just at the entrance to Marina de La Paz. This one belongs to a friend but is immediately next door to where ours is supposed to be. What? Yes, we’ve bought a mooring here. However, the fellow who placed it and manages it for us has been unable to secure the ground tackle to it because of the recent winds and sea state. Once he gets that done we will shift over a few feet to our new home in La Paz. At 1340MST Milagro was secured to the mooring at 24 09.339’N, 110 19.730’W in 17′ of water (and is low tide almost to the minute. The OAT is 79F, it’s 69F in the pool and there is a N breeze blowing 11 to 15kts right now. Forecast calls for 20-25 tonight and tomorrow before starting to settle on Thursday then become mostly calm for a few days starting Friday. The dinghy is launched, we have a dinner invite ashore for tonight and Judy has already been scheduled for a card game tomorrow. I guess we are home! For a while, until well into January I reckon.

It is Sunday, 12/16/18 and all is good here. As advertised, we moved closer to La Paz today. Conditions early were pretty rowdy with N winds to 27kts (27.7!) and following seas 3′-4′, occasionally 4′-6′. Slowly through the day the conditions gradually improved to eventually become mostly flat seas and 10kts of NE wind by the second half of the day. Again we went through many sail configurations with the changing conditions but the good news is that we were able to sail almost the entire way. The skies remained overcast today and even spit a little rain at us. We kept being reminded of sailing on SF Bay or maybe the PacWest! We are now anchored just outside of La Paz at Bahia Falsa at 24 15.470N, 110 19.145’W in 30′ over sand/gravel. The OAT is 75F, the pool is 74F and the wind is 5-10kts from the N. At this location we have cell coverage which even gets us a little internet. Tomorrow or Tuesday we will move into La Paz and our new mooring (more on that later) where we will hang out until sometime after the New Year. More to follow.