s/v KEWA Cruise Log

Ninety-five miles from La Paz, this bay is a popular cruise stop.  Amazing scenery, a local village, good protection, diving and fishing make the days melt away.  We over-nighted to get there at a reasonable hour the next day.  DO NOT anchor in the south bay.  You may well see boats there, but the holding is terrible.  We experimented with our three anchors (75lb CQR, 20KG Bruce and Fortress FX-55) with probably 20 attempted sets and were not able to get a good hold.  The anchor would set, but eventually give way when backed down on hard.  Some boats were anchored there (sail and power), so either there are a few good spots or they simply didn’t back down as hard as I like to do.

Easily accessed just 2 - 3 hours north of La Paz, this stunning island has a series of picturesque bays on the West side.  The island is a protected sanctuary, so you can’t fish and should have a permit to go on shore.

A wonderful 240nm cruise back across the Sea of Cortez. We left Mazatlan on Friday night after provisioning and prepping the boat. Stiff wind with opposing waves resulted in short-period, steep waves and an uncomfortable departure, but the seas soon settled down and we ended up motoring across most of the Sea. Approaching Baja, the winds picked back up for some good sailing.

Truly amazing cruising in the islands north of La Paz. We stopped at Evaristo and San Francisco for diving, fishing and kayaking. Could have spent weeks instead of days, but soon we were off to Marina Costa Baja for berthing and then back again to work and school.

See the photos

We pulled KEWA into her temporary slip and trekked back to San Francisco for work and school obligations. Next cruise will be a quick hop over to La Paz and a full week of enjoying the Sea of Cortez.
Mazatlan exudes basic comfort. It’s a real town augmented by tourism, not a slave to it. Marina El Cid is a wonderful place. The only issue is the constant surge and sometimes extremely strong winds. Docklines literally melt with the constant action. The experienced locals use ratcheted tie-down straps to mitigate the inevitable sawing action on the docklines.

Just under 100nm from Mazatlan, it was an easy downwind cruise to reach Isla Isabela. We gave ourselves three days to enjoy the island — hiking amongst frigate birds and blue-footed boobies that were completely unafraid of humans, fishing for rockfish, kayaking and scuba diving filled the bill.

The island has a bad reputation for eating anchors. The protected locations tend to be over questionable ground — ground that fouls anchors. We finally got the anchor to hold in the area immediately south of the twin rock formations. I later dove on the anchor and was not surprised to see a very rugged and rocky bottom, complete with large boulders and small cliffs.

see the photos

A major storm up North delayed our planned departure from San Francisco. Quite unfortunate as a great crew had signed on, but couldn’t be available for a delayed departure. Avoiding the forecasted 10′ to 14′ waves and 25K+ winds was an easy decision for me. Not something I was afraid to get caught in, but something that I didn’t want to leave the dock and step right into. A weather window appeared a week later and a second crew came together — a very cool crew and people that I would sail anywhere with.

The 450nm cruise ending up being a lot of motoring. Point Conception was a lake in mid-afternoon when we rounded it — almost a let-down. The boat performed flawlessly and there were some magical sites — dolphins, stars and coastline. We wanted a big tuna, but caught no fish. Unfortunately, a sea lion was the only interested party in our lures, ripping one right off the line as we sailed into Southern California waters.

We cruised from Elliott Bay Marina in Seattle, WA to Emery Cove Yacht Harbor, in Emeryville, CA. Total distance was 822nm, including one stop in Brookings, Oregon for fuel. The crew was Will Kruka, Scott Kruka, Chris Hanlon, Pete McGonagle and Bob.

MONDAY, 8/15 Time for KEWA to sail to her new homeport — San Francisco, California. We purchased the boat in Seattle and spent the later part of the summer flying there on the weekends to prepare her and also explore Puget Sound, the Straits of Juan de Fuca and the San Juan Islands. The Seattle area is now high on my list of places where I like to spend time. Amazing cruising grounds anchored by one of the more funky larger cities I know of.

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