Last Spring, I decided to jump into sailing for 3 reasons: 1) I used to sail (and race) small sailboats when I was a teenager and always enjoyed it, 2) I thought it would be a fun new sport to pursue to take me into "Retirement", and 3) we bought a small place in Baja California overlooking the Sea of Cortez, and it just looked like it would be a blast to sail out there.
In May I started my ASA101 and ASA103 certifications with the local sailing school in Denver and sailed on the reservoirs here through the Summer months. In August, I found a very well maintained 2000 Capri 18 and hauled it over the Rocky Mountains from Pagosa Springs to Denver where we sailed her several times in the Fall. On Thanksgiving week, we drove the boat across the border and made it to our place in Mexico.
We sailed several times in La Bahia de San Felipe, Baja Mexico and learned a TON including: making friends with the Port Captain at the marina, connecting with the director of Tourism (who manages the small dock facility), practiced launching/retrieving on the boat ramp with no floating dock (it's on the other side of the marina), stayed out of the way of the local fishermen in the mid-afternoon when they're returning with the day's catch (there's only one ramp at the marina, and you can only launch/retrieve one boat at a time), dealt with Mexican authorities to acquire a Temporary Import Permit which allows me to sail in Mexican waters (recreational only) for the next 10 years, Mexican boat insurance, and of course learned how to sail on a body of water much larger than a reservoir in land-locked Denver - one that has large tidal shifts, currents, and waves. I already learned that when the wind is 18-25 knots with waves around 3 feet, very choppy and only 2 seconds between waves - don't go out! My little Capri 18 was getting thrown all over the place; twice the bow came completely out of the water before I said "Hell with this", turned around headed back to the dock. Never got the sails up.
I still have much to learn, but I can't wait to get back down there in March for more sailing adventures (especially looking forward to close encounters with the dolphins we frequently see swimming off the coast near the beach). We'll be storing it on the trailer in between visits, and renting a slip at the marina when we're there for an extended period of time so we don't have to rig/un-rig every time. I'm happy to answer any questions from folks to might be considering this kind of adventure. Attaching a few pictures from around Christmas 2022.
In May I started my ASA101 and ASA103 certifications with the local sailing school in Denver and sailed on the reservoirs here through the Summer months. In August, I found a very well maintained 2000 Capri 18 and hauled it over the Rocky Mountains from Pagosa Springs to Denver where we sailed her several times in the Fall. On Thanksgiving week, we drove the boat across the border and made it to our place in Mexico.
We sailed several times in La Bahia de San Felipe, Baja Mexico and learned a TON including: making friends with the Port Captain at the marina, connecting with the director of Tourism (who manages the small dock facility), practiced launching/retrieving on the boat ramp with no floating dock (it's on the other side of the marina), stayed out of the way of the local fishermen in the mid-afternoon when they're returning with the day's catch (there's only one ramp at the marina, and you can only launch/retrieve one boat at a time), dealt with Mexican authorities to acquire a Temporary Import Permit which allows me to sail in Mexican waters (recreational only) for the next 10 years, Mexican boat insurance, and of course learned how to sail on a body of water much larger than a reservoir in land-locked Denver - one that has large tidal shifts, currents, and waves. I already learned that when the wind is 18-25 knots with waves around 3 feet, very choppy and only 2 seconds between waves - don't go out! My little Capri 18 was getting thrown all over the place; twice the bow came completely out of the water before I said "Hell with this", turned around headed back to the dock. Never got the sails up.
I still have much to learn, but I can't wait to get back down there in March for more sailing adventures (especially looking forward to close encounters with the dolphins we frequently see swimming off the coast near the beach). We'll be storing it on the trailer in between visits, and renting a slip at the marina when we're there for an extended period of time so we don't have to rig/un-rig every time. I'm happy to answer any questions from folks to might be considering this kind of adventure. Attaching a few pictures from around Christmas 2022.
