We are taking our Catalina 42' on the Baja Ha Ha next October and are looking for opinions and/or information on the two options of getting the boat back to the SF Bay area. Any bashers??? How did it go??? Would you do it again? Anyone truck?? How did it go?? Recommendations?? Where did you haul in Baja? How did the Mexican and US truck hand off go?? Thanks for the advice. Steve Phillips /
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Depends on boat performance & crew stamina
We "bashed" our Hunter Legend 43 back to Santa Barbara in 1993 without problems. However, we had good upwind performance (fully battened new main with 2nd and 3rd reef points), an inner staysail, a reliable Yanmar engine and two collapsible 35 gallon diesel bladders, all of which were essential to keep "powerpointing" (motorsailing) into wind and waves. Also, we had a crew of 3 (4 may be preferable, as there is likely to be a lot of handsteering unless you have an autopilot or windvane that can reliably steer an apparent wind angle of 20-30 degrees). We only stopped in Turtle Bay to refuel and in San Diego to clear back in, (don't forget to do that even if your are headed for SF, unless you are more than 200 NM offshore, or else you might be treated roughly on suspicion of drug running and fined thousands of $$). Expect lots of poorly lit shrimping vessels, fishing nets and insetting currents (with the risk of being "embayed", e.g. south of Turtle Bay), as well as all manner of large freighters, cruise ships and naval vessels. Also, make sure to return before June as cyclones tend to be early in southern Baja and may keep you locked in the Sea of Cortez for days or weeks (unless they are now operating the planned overland vessel transit across Baja, about halfway up). At the time we thought it was all great fun since it was our first long coastal trip and we were learning new tricks every day. Now, we would opt for going at least 300 NM offshore, depending on wind and weather, in order to avoid all coastal hazards and leave plenty of searoom. In fact, it has often been suggested that this offers the perfect opportunity to visit Hawaii on the way back....... just make sure you don't do that in a full-fledged El Nino year or you might not find any tradewinds (as happened to us in May 1997). Alternatively, why come back at all? There is plenty of space in the new marina in San Carlos and your boat will be taken care of like royalty by people like Abel Anaya (the skipper of Miss Teton) and his family for a very reasonable fee. San Carlos is far enough North to have low cyclone risk (i.e. acceptable to most insurers) and you can drive there from Phoenix in about 12 hours, or so. We liked it so much there that we barely managed to escape after 2 years. It was "now or never" or we would still be sipping Margueritas and listening to Jimmy Buffet tapes instead of visitng the South Pacific.........
)) Whatever you decide, by all means DO GO! The Sea of Cortez is worth all the trouble. Where else do you have a chance to swim with sea lions, dolphins, whales, hammerheads, whale sharks and manta rays while catching plenty of dorado, wahoo, tuna, squid and lobster and beachcombing for exotic shells (not to mention the food, drinks, music and friendly people), all in the same place? Good luck and fair winds! Flying Dutchman "Rivendel II" (currently dry-berthed for the S. Pacific cyclone season in Vuda Point Marina,Fiji)
We "bashed" our Hunter Legend 43 back to Santa Barbara in 1993 without problems. However, we had good upwind performance (fully battened new main with 2nd and 3rd reef points), an inner staysail, a reliable Yanmar engine and two collapsible 35 gallon diesel bladders, all of which were essential to keep "powerpointing" (motorsailing) into wind and waves. Also, we had a crew of 3 (4 may be preferable, as there is likely to be a lot of handsteering unless you have an autopilot or windvane that can reliably steer an apparent wind angle of 20-30 degrees). We only stopped in Turtle Bay to refuel and in San Diego to clear back in, (don't forget to do that even if your are headed for SF, unless you are more than 200 NM offshore, or else you might be treated roughly on suspicion of drug running and fined thousands of $$). Expect lots of poorly lit shrimping vessels, fishing nets and insetting currents (with the risk of being "embayed", e.g. south of Turtle Bay), as well as all manner of large freighters, cruise ships and naval vessels. Also, make sure to return before June as cyclones tend to be early in southern Baja and may keep you locked in the Sea of Cortez for days or weeks (unless they are now operating the planned overland vessel transit across Baja, about halfway up). At the time we thought it was all great fun since it was our first long coastal trip and we were learning new tricks every day. Now, we would opt for going at least 300 NM offshore, depending on wind and weather, in order to avoid all coastal hazards and leave plenty of searoom. In fact, it has often been suggested that this offers the perfect opportunity to visit Hawaii on the way back....... just make sure you don't do that in a full-fledged El Nino year or you might not find any tradewinds (as happened to us in May 1997). Alternatively, why come back at all? There is plenty of space in the new marina in San Carlos and your boat will be taken care of like royalty by people like Abel Anaya (the skipper of Miss Teton) and his family for a very reasonable fee. San Carlos is far enough North to have low cyclone risk (i.e. acceptable to most insurers) and you can drive there from Phoenix in about 12 hours, or so. We liked it so much there that we barely managed to escape after 2 years. It was "now or never" or we would still be sipping Margueritas and listening to Jimmy Buffet tapes instead of visitng the South Pacific.........
)) Whatever you decide, by all means DO GO! The Sea of Cortez is worth all the trouble. Where else do you have a chance to swim with sea lions, dolphins, whales, hammerheads, whale sharks and manta rays while catching plenty of dorado, wahoo, tuna, squid and lobster and beachcombing for exotic shells (not to mention the food, drinks, music and friendly people), all in the same place? Good luck and fair winds! Flying Dutchman "Rivendel II" (currently dry-berthed for the S. Pacific cyclone season in Vuda Point Marina,Fiji)Baja Bash revisited
Dec.29, 2000 Dear Steve, We have friends who have trucked their boats north from San Carlos, and apart from the trauma of seeing their baby swaying on a truck it went smoothly for all of them. There are plenty of trucking companies moving boats - just check the yellow pages and have them give you references, or you can arrange the whole thing when you get to San Carlos. Just for clarification, their is no "hand off" needed since the firms involved are all licenced to operate through out North America. Blue Lagoon for example was trucked through three countries from Mexico to Canada. They had the same driver all the way but changed lead trucks from time to time. A 42 foot Catalina is plenty of boat to put on a truck, and frankly I would rather take my chance sailing it back while waiting for weather to give me the most comfortable ride. As for the Baja Bash check out the discussion between Justin Wolfe and myself on this topic titled "Baja Bash". You will find it in the archives dated 12/13/2000. Justin sharply disagreed with my suggestion of using southerlies in the spring to return rather than sail in reduced northerlies later in the winter. He should be getting ready to do the bash this week so we hope to hear from him when he gets a chance to tell us how it went. One thing neither of us discussed was heading north when the Baja Haha fleet is heading south at the end of October. The fleet has had remarkably light conditions for their passages most years. Since your in Vallejo make sure you say Hi to my friends Willi Robles of August Wind and Micheal and Casey aboard Freya. They are both at the Vallejo Marina and Willi is Commodore. We had a great time with them when we were in San Fransico. You will see in the earlier posts on the Baja Bash that Willi has made the passage north in the spring. You might want to talk to him about his experience delivering a yacht from Puerto Vallarta to Point Roberts Washington at that time of year. Fair winds, Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Dec.29, 2000 Dear Steve, We have friends who have trucked their boats north from San Carlos, and apart from the trauma of seeing their baby swaying on a truck it went smoothly for all of them. There are plenty of trucking companies moving boats - just check the yellow pages and have them give you references, or you can arrange the whole thing when you get to San Carlos. Just for clarification, their is no "hand off" needed since the firms involved are all licenced to operate through out North America. Blue Lagoon for example was trucked through three countries from Mexico to Canada. They had the same driver all the way but changed lead trucks from time to time. A 42 foot Catalina is plenty of boat to put on a truck, and frankly I would rather take my chance sailing it back while waiting for weather to give me the most comfortable ride. As for the Baja Bash check out the discussion between Justin Wolfe and myself on this topic titled "Baja Bash". You will find it in the archives dated 12/13/2000. Justin sharply disagreed with my suggestion of using southerlies in the spring to return rather than sail in reduced northerlies later in the winter. He should be getting ready to do the bash this week so we hope to hear from him when he gets a chance to tell us how it went. One thing neither of us discussed was heading north when the Baja Haha fleet is heading south at the end of October. The fleet has had remarkably light conditions for their passages most years. Since your in Vallejo make sure you say Hi to my friends Willi Robles of August Wind and Micheal and Casey aboard Freya. They are both at the Vallejo Marina and Willi is Commodore. We had a great time with them when we were in San Fransico. You will see in the earlier posts on the Baja Bash that Willi has made the passage north in the spring. You might want to talk to him about his experience delivering a yacht from Puerto Vallarta to Point Roberts Washington at that time of year. Fair winds, Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St Lucia
Barge?
Steve, from time to time I see an ad, and sometimes in Lat 38, concerning a seagoing barge service that runs from Mexico to Washington and offers bottom jobs, etc in transit. The ad shows about a half dozen boats on cradles as I recall. Never priced it, but might be an attractive option. Rick D.
Steve, from time to time I see an ad, and sometimes in Lat 38, concerning a seagoing barge service that runs from Mexico to Washington and offers bottom jobs, etc in transit. The ad shows about a half dozen boats on cradles as I recall. Never priced it, but might be an attractive option. Rick D.
C42 bash
I took my new 42 back from Puerto Vallarta to San Diego mid-February 2000. It was ugly from Cabo north. We power-tacked close-in because the seas seemed to get worse further offshore. I stayed on 2nd reef and kept the jib small all the way. The main probem was confused seas coming from west and northwest simultaneously. I had to pick a course and speed that would keep the hull from getting slammed by the waves. It was miserably uncomfortable but the cockpit was very dry and the autopilot handled it well. Worst moment was in 35 kts just south of Turtle bay at night where I had to steer by hand for an hour in absolute darkness to get into the anchorage. Several times I swore I would never do it again but I will next year, this time with 3 instead of just 2 people. We had the 18 gal aux fuel tank and 3, 5 gal jerry cans and stopped for fuel at Mag and Turtle. It took 2 weeks to SD with a 2 day hold for weather. Chartplotter and radar were invaluable. Rick
I took my new 42 back from Puerto Vallarta to San Diego mid-February 2000. It was ugly from Cabo north. We power-tacked close-in because the seas seemed to get worse further offshore. I stayed on 2nd reef and kept the jib small all the way. The main probem was confused seas coming from west and northwest simultaneously. I had to pick a course and speed that would keep the hull from getting slammed by the waves. It was miserably uncomfortable but the cockpit was very dry and the autopilot handled it well. Worst moment was in 35 kts just south of Turtle bay at night where I had to steer by hand for an hour in absolute darkness to get into the anchorage. Several times I swore I would never do it again but I will next year, this time with 3 instead of just 2 people. We had the 18 gal aux fuel tank and 3, 5 gal jerry cans and stopped for fuel at Mag and Turtle. It took 2 weeks to SD with a 2 day hold for weather. Chartplotter and radar were invaluable. Rick
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