Sailing to the Sea of Cortez in August

[arleen]

Aside from keeping a close eye on weather, does anyone have any good info about sailing from LA, down the coast of Baja, and up the Sea of Cortez in August and September?? Although there are 2 of us; it's sort of a 1-1/2 handed venture.

Thanks for any input or advice!
Arleen (& Steve)
s/v Ubuntu
KP44

[RaptorDance]

Well - I haven't done a rigorous statistical analysis, but my gut tells me that one of three things will happen. I am ranking them based on my guess on the probabilities:

1. You will end up sweating up a storm and griping about having to motor the whole time.
2. You will get whacked by a hurricane that you couldn't anticipate and get out of the way of (no really good place to hide on the outside of the Baja) - you may or may not survive.
3. least likely - you will have an enjoyable time.

Our recommendation: Enjoy cruising the California Coast, go down on the Baja Haha, cruise the Mexican Riviera from November to March and don't go to the Sea until late March or April.

Fair winds,

[Bash]

Most policies restrict coverage during the hurricane season. That's why so many folk wait until Halloween to jump south from the border.

[zeehag]

go in nov--ye will actually enjoy the trip.......

[senormechanico]

I second all of the above.
During the summer, we left the boat in San Carlos Sonora and went back to Seattle.
The second year when we returned in mid October, it was still 95 degrees with 95% humidity.

After that, we didn't go back to the boat until November.

Steve B.

[neophytecruiser]

All the cogent points, regarding a trip down the Baja peninsula in August have been well covered in the previous replies. Hurricane season for Mexico officially begins June 1 and is 'finished' around the beginning of October. Frequency of tropical depressions and cyclones in Baja California historically increase towards the end of the 'official' season (August and September). Currently, hurricane Jimena is threatening Baja California Sur (follow eastern Pacific tropical storms at National Hurricane Center). Regardless of future cruising plans, it pays dividends to check weather predictions before heading down the Pacific side of Baja. There are places along the way that provide fair to good shelter from the prevailing winds from the north, but there will be stretches where you may find yourself many hours away from the nearest protective headland or bay. There are many good sites on the internet that do a respectable job of making fairly reliable predictions. One that we use is at SailFlow.com - xt_Baja California Wind Data. This site gives five day forecasts for both the Baja Pacific coast and Sea of Cortez. Keep in mind, the further out the prediction (e.g., day 3-5) the greater the chance of error. Never rely on one source for your weather information and don't discount your own weather eye and personal observations.

[Cheechako]

The current Cat 5 Hurricane bearing down on Cabo would be a good example of why not to go in August.....