This article was previously written by Rachel Messerschmidt for and published by Vancouver Family Magazine in November 2022.
It was July 2022. The daily temperature, both of the air and of the water, continued to climb. We could find reprieve in the water, but even the efforts needed for that got to be bothersome. We lived much of the time misting ourselves with water and sitting in front of the fans. It was time to get outta there.
It was time to head further north and prepare for our last passage of our first year in the Sea of Cortez. But first, one more sweet little anchorage to share with friends: Isla Coronados.
We arrived at Isla Coronados with our friends aboard Captain Musick and we anchored between two islands in the shadow of an ancient volcano. This was a really nice anchorage, secluded and protected from the dangerous and unpredictable nighttime winds known as chubascos.
Chubascos are a local weather phenomenon that happen frequently in the Sea of Cortez in the summertime. These winds build into thunderstorms along the mainland coast and often blast westward across the Sea of Cortez and can hit the Baja Peninsula with extreme violence, including lightning. The strength can vary, sometimes not even reaching the peninsula or hitting the boats in the anchorages, or sometimes hitting with near hurricane force and thunder and lightning lasting for up to several hours. Besides the larger threat of an actual hurricane making its way up into the Sea, chubascos are the biggest weather concern for any Sea of Cortez cruiser in the summer months.
But, this anchorage that we’d picked was protected from the east and from the west, both of the primary directions to watch out for nighttime winds, so we felt good. It was also visually and geologically interesting and the wildlife in the area was ever-entertaining. At any given time, we could look out at the bay and see rays jumping from the water and hear the telltale ‘thwap’ as they splash back down.
We spent several days here, exploring the terrain, enjoying the rays, and spotting enormous osprey nests on the rocks. As is the way for sailors, we watched the weather and waited for a good window to move further north.
We had to plan our next moves carefully. We would need a solid 2 days of decent weather to move from our current spot, stop for a night in the last anchorage, and then make the overnight jump from Refugio up to Puerto Penasco.
For this passage, ideally you want a little wind to fill your sails but not very much as the waves can quickly build to a very uncomfortable state as the wind blows up the length of the sea. Plus, you have to carefully time your arrival to Penasco to hit at mid-tide or better or there won’t be enough water depth in the channel to be able to enter the harbor. The tides swing 15-20 feet every 12 hours or so up in the northern Sea of Cortez.
Timing the tides right, and watching for developing chubascos, and waiting for good-but-not-too-much wind can be a real dance to try to make for a decent passage.
We saw a few days that started to develop to look like a good chance to make our jump. We moved up to Refugio on a Monday, watching potential openings to ‘go’ on either Tuesday or Wednesday. In the end, we waited until the Wednesday window and we awoke at 5am to be ready to leave at first light. We lifted anchor at 7am, and we were off!
We had little to no wind and thankfully no chubasco so it was a smooth ride. With a current pushing us though, we ended up going faster than expected and even though we slowed ourselves down for the last few hours, we still arrived before dawn on Thursday. We had to slowly and carefully enter the tiny harbor in the darkness before first light.
After a desperate search, we finally tied the boat up to the only available dock space, one where we had been told to expect to be hit by the commercial fishing vessels coming and going. This was not an ideal or even a safe place to put our boat, but it was the only option. Thankfully, we were able to get ahold of the owner of the boat yard and he arranged for our haul out that very same day!
So, our final passage wrapped up, we carefully prepared the boat for us to be away for a few months. We packed a few bags and drove north, back into the United States, and to the Pacific Northwest to visit friends and family that we hadn’t seen in a year.
Rachel Messerschmidt and her family are Clark County natives living and cruising full time aboard their 40-foot sailboat, Mosaic. They traveled down the US West Coast and have been cruising in Mexico since November of 2021. Rachel shares her family’s adventures on her blog at www.mosaicvoyage.com and on Facebook and Instagram (at)mosaicvoyage. She writes a monthly column for Vancouver Family Magazine.
Don’t click here. I know you want to – but don’t say I didn’t warn you.