Gone Floatabout

Sailing, Photography, Wilderness

Category Archives: Mexico


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Thank you for your patience…

Hi everyone!

Thanks for your patience with our lack of blog posts this summer! We were (predictably) off sailing and have only just now returned to the land of fast internet. Baja sunset

I have to admit that (barring a few frustrations with getting our work sent off), we both enjoyed being so disconnected and unplugged for so long. I know it sounds ridiculously cheesy, but it really allowed us to focus on “the present” in a way that just doesn’t happen when we have Wifi and mobile data…. So the challenge now is to maintain that mental state while also being connected again.

That said, it’s been great fun to check my email (yes, you read that right – I hadn’t checked one of my accounts in literally 4 months!) and read all the wonderful comments from our readers! Thank you all for your kind words and positive thoughts! I’ll respond to them all right after this post!

And then I hope to start writing here fairly regularly again.

Thanks again to all our lovely readers, and wishing you all a happy fall (or spring if you’re in the southern hemisphere!),

Ellen & Seth


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La Paz, Mexico: Desert hiking and boat projects (Early March 2018)

La Paz is a great spot for cruising sailboats – a big anchorage, a bunch of marinas to choose from at different prices, almost any shop or service you might need, etc. As the capital of Baja California Sur, it’s actually quite an extensive city but has a low-key vibe and a lovely waterfront area.

Statue on La Paz Malecon

Statue on the La Paz Malecon

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Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, Part 1: Passage to La Paz, a family visit, and snorkeling with whale sharks! (February 2018)

Several sailors we had met in Alaska had highly recommended the Sea of Cortez, so that was our goal in Mexico. So when we left San Jose del Cabo, we pointed the bow north again. At first – when our course was really more northeast along the coast – we had beautiful sailing on a close reach, once again flying along under clear skies. Sailing fast upwind

But as the land curved more north and we altered course, the wind was right on the nose. With relatively little chop, we nonetheless made good progress, despite sailing lots of miles out of our way, as you do when you beat to windward. By evening we had reached Cabo Pulmo, a national park that was recommended in our cruising guide for having the best protected anchorage south of La Paz.  Continue reading →


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The West Coast of Baja, Part 2: Whales, fish, and more great sailing (February 2018)

Good wind!

Great wind on passage to Bahia Magdalena

When we left Bahia Tortugas to continue south down the Baja peninsula, the light northerly wind we’d had on the first part of our Mexican voyage had built to a perfect 15-20 knots and CELESTE positively flew on her way! It only lasted a few hours, but it was a great start to our next two-day passage to Bahia Magdalena, a giant bay famous for the gray whales that mate and give birth there each winter.

Desert Hills and White Horses_2

Sailing off the desert hills of Baja

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The West Coast of Baja, Mexico, Part 1: Great sailing, snorkeling, sunsets, and scenery! (February 2018)

Desert Hills and White Horses_2

Desert hills and white horses! Fun, fast sailing off the Baja coast

We had a wonderful time cruising down the west coast of Baja – it’s a beautiful, wild place, and it was especially interesting and unique for us as it was the first time we have sailed off a hot desert coast. (Much of the Arctic is a desert, of course, but it’s very different from the red hills of Baja!) It made quite the change from the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest that we’d grown so used to over the last few years!

 

Sailing off the desert hills of Baja
Forests and glaciers of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

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Stunning sunsets, a different country, and a total eclipse of the moon: Passage to Ensenada, Mexico (January 2018)

Super Moon

Super Moon rising just after our departure

We left off the log of our current voyage with departing from Marina del Rey, California on January 30, 2018. Since it was getting late in the season (most sailors bound for Mexico try to head out in October as soon as hurricane season is over), we decided to make a nonstop overnight passage to Ensenada, the northern port of entry on the Baja Peninsula. We had a dead calm for the whole 28 hours of the passage, but the spectacular clear skies and the total eclipse of the super moon made up for it!  Continue reading →