Author Archives: svsolitude

We left Muertos for La Paz and made a few quick stops along the way. We had a slow, bumpy cruise thru the Cerralvo Channel, a stretch that is known for strong currents and funneling winds. We stopped at Playa Bonanza on Isla Espíritu Santo to rest for the night. After anchoring and when theContinue reading “Entering the Southern Sea of Cortez”

We waited a few extra days in Mazatlan while another norther came roaring down the Sea of Cortez. We took advantage of one last long walk from the marina to the malecon and into centro. We stopped at a palapa restaurant on the beach and had the Zarandeado; a whole fish split head to tailContinue reading “Baja Bound”

For the first time since early February we are moving on, it’s time to head north and start our adventures in the Sea of Cortez. This is really our focus for the season and we have enjoyed waiting out the cool temps and heavy “El Norte” (the north/northerly) winds that develop in the sea whenContinue reading “Points North”

As we wait for the northerly winds to settle down in the Sea of Cortez, we sailed across Banderas Bay to spend a few nights in the remote fishing village of Yelapa. There are no roads into Yelapa, no streets and therefore no cars. Locals travel by foot, donkey, horse or four-wheeler. The land inContinue reading “Yelapa”

We spent the month of February in Banderas Bay anchoring between La Cruz and Punta Mita. Like most, we typically keep a schedule in one way or another that structures our days, but this past month the days flowed organically and with no schedule to prod us along. We leaned into doing what feels goodContinue reading “Friends, Food, and Sailing on Banderas Bay”

We pulled out our warm clothes, headlamps, offshore life jackets, tethers, emergency strobe lights, set up the lee cloth, pulled out the sleeping bag and prepared an easy dinner for our overnight passage to Isla Isabel.

While we were delayed an additional week in Mazatlan, we connected with our friend Jerry, a local Eco Taxi driver we met last spring, for an inland tour. Jerry was born and raised in Mazatlan and is a certified tour guide. Jerry picked us up at the marina at 8:30am for a full day excursionContinue reading “El Quelite, Los Osuna and La Noria”

We are back in Mazatlán and ready for another cruising season! Solitude is in great shape from the summer with only a few items to address before we set sail. 

A short day sail from Punta Mita, we set anchor in Jaltemba to break up our trip to Matanchen. There was one other sailboat in the anchorage off Isla La Pena and the island beach was crowded with locals during Semana Santa (Holy Week). We sat on the cabin top and watched water taxis takingContinue reading “Mazatlan, the Pearl of the Pacific”

Solitude has been in La Cruz for the month of March while we enjoyed a little more time in one of our favorites stops, flew home to see family for a week and spent time in Bucerias with friends who flew down from Colorado. It was wonderful to have the conveniences of home and celebrateContinue reading “Let’s get back out there”