Jim and crew woke up in Bahia Santa Maria on the morning of day 4, savoring how good sleeping in a still bed feels. Although Jim has come down with a head cold, he’s feeling on the up and up. The winds in the anchorage were gusting to 30 knots and so they waited to refuel from the jerry cans. They made breakfast and waited until 10am when the winds calmed a bit. There were two other boats at Santa Maria, an Island Packet we’ve seen before and a sport fishing boat we’ve seen in the La Cruz area.
They are headed for Asuncion today, about a day and a half to two-day motor sail from Bahia Santa Maria. This next passage is through the “middle bight” of Baja. There is a deep indent scooped out of the pacific coastline here from Bahia Santa Maria to Asuncion where you naturally end up further offshore. The average wind speed is 15-20 knots with gusts between 25-30 knots. Shortly after leaving Bahia Santa Maria, with 20-25 knot winds on the nose, they eventually made the decision to fall off for a stop in San Juanico; the swell was getting too big to continue with the increased wind speeds. It was a smart choice, and with the improved wind angle they sailed much of the way to Bahia San Juanico.
They arrived in San Juanico on May 22, day 5, around 6am. Everyone hung out jackets, long underwear and fowl weather gear to dry. Solitude has been getting buried in waves on this last passage and the captain and crew were a bit soggy. This was a welcomed stop over to get off the boat and have some lunch in town. They launched the dinghy without the motor and paddled hard against the winds to get in to shore. Ahhh, there is nothing quite like setting your feet on solid ground after a few days in rough seas and enjoying a few burgers and tacos! They found a great little spot in town replete with the company of the beloved dogs and cats of Baja. They picked up another loaf of bread before heading back to the boat – a trip like this calls for sandwiches over meals with utensils. Jim has a few boat projects today and they will spend the night here before leaving for Asuncion in the morning.
At 6:30am on day 6 Solitude pulled out of San Juanico and headed for Asuncion. This is almost at the top of the middle bight section and marks Solitude reaching the halfway point up the Baja peninsula! Soon after getting underway a large wave buried the bow of the boat and buckets of water came flooding into the forward cabin. The hatch was left slightly cracked from the night before and rough waters coming over the bow soon found its way in. A discovery that unfortunately soaked Ralf, but was good to find sooner rather than later. Afternoon winds built to 25 knots and continued well into the night. With Solitude jumping off of the big swells, sleeping below was a challenge.
With the full Flower moon coming up tonight they have had great light on their last few overnighters and enjoyed tonight’s beautiful full moon rise on the ocean.
They arrived in Asuncion on day 7 and met up with Lery, a local fisherman who we met on our way headed south from LA in November 2021. Lery’s name has since been spread across cruising channels as the go-to guy for refueling; he is reliable and charges reasonably for his services. Lery’s uncle owns a restaurant in Asuncion, named Sunset Mary, that they all went to for lunch and split plates of lobster tacos, coconut shrimp with mango dipping sauce, and octopus (pulpo) in a spicy cream sauce. There is a photo here of the restaurant, the palapa in the photo was there first and Lery’s family built the restaurant around it.
There are currently seven sailboats anchored at Asuncion. They will spend the night in Asuncion as they watch the weather and decide when to make the next hop to Bahia Tortuga or Isla Cedros.
SV Solitude 