Even though our path as we drove south toward the Bahia de Los Angeles on the Sea of Cortez seemed to be converging with the forecast track of Hurricane Simon, we ended up having a great time on our Montgomery 15, Sky, while we were there last week. We left Bishop after work on Friday and drove to Temecula to spend the night. After visiting with family there in the morning and shopping for food, we got to the border at Tijuana about noon. We had gotten our temporary vehicle import permits online so getting across the border with the boat was no problem at all. Even though some roads near Bahia de Los Angeles had been washed out by the prior hurricane, Hurricane Odile, roads were generally in good shape with some pothole-y sections. Even though the roads were generally in good shape, they tended to be bumpy and narrow. The bumpy roads coupled with the stiff trailer suspension meant the boat had a pretty harsh ride the whole time south of the border. There are a lot of towns to get through between the border and El Rosario, which is a bit over 200 miles south of the border, I think, so we got there about dark and stayed at Baja Cactus hotel, which was outstanding and cheap, and ate at the restaurant next door. The next morning we drove the rest of the way to Bahia de Los Angeles, a little under 200 miles, I think, and got there mid afternoon. This part of the drive was great with spectacular scenery the whole way. There were a few washouts on the road from the main Baja highway, Highway 1, to Bahia de Los Angeles, but they had excellent detours and were no problem. We spent the afternoon exploring the area and then stayed and ate dinner at the Casa de Sol hotel. The next morning we loaded up the boat and launched near high tide on the only ramp in Bahia de Los Angeles that was open after all the damage caused by Hurricane Odile. The ramp was narrow, shallow, and rough due to the damage but entirely usable with a trailer extension (our trailer actually doesn't have an extension so we use a trailer hitch extension instead). We sailed to the south end of the bay in a light east wind under cloudy skies. This part of the bay is known for its whale sharks at certain times of the year and they were all over the place! We had the chance to swim with them and while I was swimming with these fish much longer than the boat, one ran into the boat. We also saw dolphins (or porpoise, I realize I don't know the difference), turtles, and all sorts of birds enjoying various feeding frenzies. We sailed around the south part of the bay and out to the local hurricane hole, Puerto Don Juan. There were 7 other boats there while Simon decided what it was going to do. We spent 2 nights and one rainy day there and a lot of our stuff got wet. But, it wasn't bad with two people spending all that time on a little boat waiting out the weather. Along with the rain were some moderate winds, which I don't think ever got out of the 20's. The next day we sailed out of Puerto Don Juan north up through the islands of the Bay. The sailing was great and the day was warm despite the overcast. We ducked into one bay on the north side of Isla Ventana and found three small two masted boats anchored near shore with another sailing that way. They were very attractive boats, especially under sail, and apparently associated with some sort of college class or club. We sailed on from there beating into a wind in the high teens against substantial chop to a pleasant lagoon near the south end of Isla Coronado. There was about a 10 foot tidal swing while we were there and there was a substantial current coming out of the lagoon when we went in. The next morning a low tide, the way out was essentially dry so we had to wait for the tide to come in to get out. When it came in, it came in with a vengeance. But not a bad one I guess because it was a lot of fun snorkeling around the entrance waiting for the water to get deep enough and the current to let enough to get out.
From there we motored to the north end of Isla Smith in sunny and almost calm conditions, motored back south a ways to snorkel along the island's west side, and then motored back north for the night. Through the night the water got shallower and shallower until it was less than 2 feet deep and we hoped the common strong west winds that pick up some times during the night wouldn't appear and bring some 2 foot-or-so waves with it. It worked out fine.
Because of all the rain from the various hurricanes that had been through in the last few weeks, there were a lot of insects. Most were just regular flies that were just irritating but some places on land had some biting flies and our last night on the boat near the north end of Isla Coronado we had a real problem with biting "noseeums". These things were tiny but they bit us all night. We still have some bumps from those little buggers. The next morning we left the boat and hiked up the 1,500 foot volcano at the north end of Isla Corronado. The hike was brutally humid for two people used to a dry desert climate. We made it to the top and had a great view of the bay and surrounding islands. We motored and sailed back to the Bahia de Los Angels town and got back there right at high tide so we could get the boat out of the water as easily as possible. We got weather every morning from a shortwave net and that worked really well. We had bought a $100 Sony shortwave receiver for the trip. The bugs were irritating but were completely overwhelmed by all the great things about the trip. We really hope to make it back next fall. Getting back across the border was miserable and involved sitting in line for 3 hours and a special inspection. The inspection was fine. Also, the Mexican temporary import permits for the truck and boat required that we check in with the Mexican authorities at the border but, after that 3 hour wait, we found we had to go somewhere else to find those Mexican authorities. Not checking out when we left Mexico may make it hard or prevent us from bring the truck or boat back next year. I haven't written the best report here but I have to say it was a really great trip! We would highly recommend Bahia de Los Angeles as a cruising destination for a trailer sailor. David Grah Bishop California Montgomery 15 - Sky