Offshore From Cabo to San Diego - Clipper Route

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Zzmeyer

"Jim using Anne's computer" is right (even though his/her name is a bit strange perhaps). There are a couple great cruising guides for the baja coast. One is specifically about the Baja Bash. They talk about anchorages, but their discussion of weather patterns have been excellent in my humble opinion. I have found the Baja Pacific anchorages lovely and ssecure. One advantage of going the offshore route, though, is you don't have to have an anchor.

Cruising World had an article called The Baja Dash a number of years ago detailing just this approach.

Sorry, my copy of it is too big to upload. pm me if you want it.

[autumnbreeze27]

Here's some info from Latitude 38
Latitude 38 Changes in Latitudes August 2009

I remember seeing something with a marked chart, but can't find it now.

Enter this in google and you can see all the info on L38's site.
site:latitude38.com "clipper route"

[Greg4cocokai]

Of my 8 bashes, in 2004 I did the clipper route, bringing my friends J44 from PV to Long Beach. I originally thought I would be 400nms off Turtle Bay and extended the insurance to cover it. Turns out we had great weather, end of April, and ended up tacking over to port just 200nms out! We did the 1500nms in 9-1/2 days, all sailing, 6 days on starboard and 3-1/2 days on port. Best part was having 3 delightful ladies as crew!!!

Now I am in PV again and will be getting our 64' schooner ready for the bash after our 9 year circumnavigation. I won't even think about the clipper route on ours as it doesn't go to weather like a J boat!

Others that need to get up to Wash. Or Canada, go to Hawaii on your way. Much easier!

Cheers, Greg, sv Cocokai


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[highseas]

Just did the coastal route up Baja,motorsailing in 10 days,solo.It was smooth after Cabo Falso to Turtle bay,things got a bit bumpy after that,but all in all a smooth trip to Ensenada,no problems,and only 20hp.Now waiting for warmer weather to continue north to BC.I would say clipper route is not worth it unless going straight through to at least San Francisco.

[Annie in WA]

Originally Posted by Triumphant

Just a thought, I am hearing that 2015 is an el Niño year, what effect will this have on the "standard" weather patterns in this area?

I'm still looking into the clipper route versus the bash (while cruising in the Sea of Cortez this month - boy, is it beautiful) and it does look like an El Nino year. What I've found in my research is that an El Nino can make the normal trade winds light and fluky (bad for clipper) and also the Pacific High can get established early which squashes and intensifies the N winds down the coast (bad for bash). If we do end up doing the clipper route I will provision and prepare for going to Hawaii if the winds don't ever become favorable. Then, head further North than San Diego. If we do the bash I anticipate we might head offshore at times for lighter northerly winds.

Someone mentioned using the diurnal winds changes. That might work for part of the bash (off Cabo Falso, for instance) but there will be many passages greater than 12 hours so you get the offshore winds and the onshore winds during the passage.

The nice thing is that we have no schedule and no set destination. Thanks for keeping the thread going. I'm reading all I can.

[zeehag]

2015 has been declared gonna be a super el nino year... will be most interesting, as last year, also an el nino year, was most intense offshore named stornmation. watch your offshore weather very very closely

[highseas]

After a 10 day trip from Cabo to Ensenada and another 5 to Morro Bay,I am happy about choosing the coastal route,so far..

[SV THIRD DAY]

Oh sure...lots of cruisers like to talk about the "clipper route"....but its mostly just talk from what I've seen. And the few that I know did it....well it took them longer than the Baja bashes I've done....so what was the point again?

If you have no get back to work schedule that bash can be easy...we just waited until the weather was good and then motoroed on up. Its when people have a schedule that the bash can kick their teeth in.

[Nicholson58]

I read an article in the last year where the North bound sailor kept close to shore to play the shore breeze shifts. Ducked behind the Islands at Ensenada, etc. We often find shifts near land of up to 30 degrees sailing a close hauled on Lake Michigan. Major elevations near the shore can make the effect quite dramatic.

[highseas]

My coastal bash is done,and it was a breeze.Cabo to Neah Bay in 28 travel days,very little waiting with smooth seas most of the time.Nice to be back in the PNW.

[TacomaSailor]

Originally Posted by highseas

After a 10 day trip from Cabo to Ensenada and another 5 to Morro Bay,I am happy about choosing the coastal route,so far.....My coastal bash is done,and it was a breeze.Cabo to Neah Bay in 28 travel days,very little waiting with smooth seas most of the time.Nice to be back in the PNW.

Congratulations - you are a more hardy sailor than I! That sounds wonderful - can you provide some details?

- what percentage of the time did you sail?
- what was the wind angle when you were able to sail?
- where did you stop along the way?
- what was the longest time you had to wait for a decent weather window?
- how many overnight passages did you do?
- how far offshore did you get?
- how accurate was the weather forecasting, especially the sea state?
- can you estimate the fuel burn rate compared to other long trips?

Your prior note said you left Cabo on May 1 and it is now June 4 so it sounds like you must not have had to stop anywhere for more than a day or so?

[Zzmeyer]

Pushing in having done the same. Motored 160 hours, sailed 15 minutes. Wind always on nose. Waited one extra day for fog and one day for wind. No big deal. EVERYONE has problem first 4 hours out of Cabo and most from North of Turtle Bay for a dozen hours. Both extra stops allowed more time in wonderful places. Coast is not straight so amount offshore hard to really answer. Wind never greater than 15 knots (which still feels like a lot goint to weather.) Those with more experience can tell you how long to wait. We didn't press on simply because of a favorable weather window because the stops were nice. You can jerry can diesel several places but I'd plan to be able to moor to/from turtle bay.

[Zzmeyer]

... burn fuel rate. I was on my Jeanneau 42 ds which burns 1.4 gph at 7.1 knots (Yanmar 53 hp). I figured .6 gph at 5.5 knots clam water (1800 rpm to conserve fuel). I averaged 5.0 knots which I think was a bit lucky given current and headwinds. My 34 gallon tank plus 20 in cans was just enough. A great syphon is at Charlies Charts for next to nothing for fuel transfer.

[highseas]

I bashed Baja in late March to Ensenada,went home for a month.Returned to complete trip to pnw in May.Baja was toughest part,also most sailing done.Turtle to San quintin was tough,the rest was easygoing,many days with light Southerlies.I think May is best month.1 week in Sanfran. for weather.About half gallon per hr. A staysail you can put inside shrouds helps as a lot is almost on the nose.Pt Sur was not much fun,as well as north of Cedros.About 8 overnighters,and one 2 nighter Newport to Neah bay.Passage weather was bang on.Fuel is expensive in Mexico,a deal in the US

[robert sailor]

We sailed in loose formation with a Niagara 35 enroute to Hawaii, when we were about a thousand miles from Hawaii he did a right turn and sailed north and then east to Santa Barbara. It was an el Nina year and the trades were very light.