Sleigh Ride to Don Juan

Puerto Don Juan, BLA, BC, Mexico

With a weather prediction of north winds for the next few days, yesterday we took the opportunity to head back south to the Bahia de los Angeles area and the safety of Puerto Don Juan. We did not want to get caught in the exposed anchorage in Puerto Refugio during a northerly blow. Interestingly, the other 6 boats in the anchorage decided not to head south but instead just moved to the slightly better protection of the West bay at Refugio. They probably know something we do not.

The journey south was pretty exciting. We left around 8 AM and for the first 2-1/2 hours we had virtually no wind at all, just some current against us (no more than 1 knot for the most part) and some choppy water, reminiscent of the Strait of Georgia back in British Columbia. We had our mainsail up, but it did little except stop us from wallowing back and forth as we motored along at about 5 knots.

At precisely 10:30 AM, the north wind came up, just as if someone had turned on a switch. It immediately started blowing at around 15 knots. After trying to sail with both the main and genoa for a brief while, we elected to take the main down - the boat just does not like sailing down wind with this configuration - the genoa gets blanketed by the mainsail and the boat keeps trying to round up into the wind - the autopilot had the tiller hard over most of the time just to keep on a broad reach.  So we turned into the wind and wrestled the main down, then resumed our course using the foresail alone. Both boat and crew were much happier.

The tide now started to go out and we sailed down wind in some building swells from the north, with a following wind and a current now in our favour. We sailed the rest of the way to Puerto Don Juan in about 5 hours at a speed that held between 5.5 and 6.5 knots the whole way, gybing only 3 times in total. The seas were up to about 5 feet at very close intervals and looked pretty intimidating, but since they were all going our way, they posed no problem.

The winds built to about 20 to 25 knots by the time we reached Puerto Don Juan and we were very happy to get into the anchorage around 4 PM. After 3 attempts at anchoring (I kept misjudging how close we were to shore and ended up in too shallow water for our comfort), we got our hook down by 5:15 PM. We were in bed and asleep by 7:30. Lack of sleep on the previous 2 rolly nights in Refugio plus the exhilarating sail took their toll.

There were two other boats in the anchorage when we arrived but they both left for the village this morning. So we have the entire place to ourselves. We have had our usual effect on this anchorage and have managed to chase everyone else off (maybe they saw my attempts an anchoring?)

Last night, the winds died and we had a wonderful calm night with no wind or swell. Today, the north winds have been blowing, as predicted, all day. But they never got much over 20 knots and there is very little fetch here so we are very comfortable. The winds are expected to stick around or get stronger for the next few days, so I guess we will just wait them out. Our next passage is likely to be a long one, as San Carlos is some 150 miles away, on the mainland side of the Sea. We would like it to be an easy passage if possible.

{GMST}28|56.5|N|113|27|W|Puerto Don Juan, BC, Mexico|Puerto Don Juan, BC, Mexico{GEND}