We left the beautiful town of Santa Rosalia to continue our movement north. We left after taking on water. We had hoped to be out by 9:00 AM but the watering process took much longer than expected and we finally got off at noon.
Our goal was to get to Bahia San Francisquito, which is a reasonably protected bay and a good hopping off point towards the Midriff islands. Due to time constraints and limited airports that serviced Tijuana, we decided to cross to the east side of the Sea of Cortez at the Midriff islands to get to San Carlos and take flight out of Hermasillo. There seemed to be a number of nice stops while crossing the sea in the midriff islands.
The late start and the high winds slowed our progress, and we did not arrive at San Francisquito until just prior to 11:00 PM. It is always a bit scary pulling into an unknown port or harbor after dark, so we took a safe moorage location that was less protected.
It was a beautiful spot, so we decided to take a tour prior to departing again.
We launched the dinghy and puttered around the edge of the harbor. It is a very large harbor with little coves and clear green water. We saw a large leather back turtle swimming in the clear water, but I could not get a picture of him.
We spent a couple of hours looking into the water in amazement. There is a contrast between the cool water and the stark desert.
I just would not like being in the desert unless there is water around to cool off in. The air was not hot yet, but the 80 degree afternoons were an indication of things to come soon.
We swam to cool down in the 68 degree water and then we were off to the islands crossing the sea to the east side.
Technical Data:
Time: 10 h 38 m ( 12:25 to 23:03 ) Distance: 77.46 nm
Fuel: 18.61 Gallons Fuel Rate: 1.75 GPH Fuel Economy: 4.16 NM/G
Avg Speed: 7.27 kn Max Speed: 9.14 kn
Engine Runtime Start: 3387.35 Hours Runtime End: 3398.00 Hours Fuel: 18.61 Gallons Fuel Rate: 1.75 GPH Fuel Rate Max: 3.70 GPH Avg RPM: 1264.38 Max RPM: 1318.75 Avg Oil Pressure: 52.12 Low Oil Pressure: 32.49 Avg Temperature: 190.65 Max Temperature: 192.20
This sure sounds like an adventure trip. What is the next major port you are heading to? You mentioned some airports. My son and family just returned from Puerto Vallarta and flew in to the mexican airport and then picked up the shuttle to scripps ranch. . This way they walked thru customs and there were no covid requirements. He said each trip gets easier.