I began the morning by listening to Geary’s weather forecast on the Sonrisa net from 7:45 to 8:00 AM. Geary is a retired gentleman who lives in Bahia Conception just north of my current location. Every morning Geary wakes up at 4:00 AM and collects weather information from a variety of sources. At 7:45 each day he gives his weather forecast over the Sonrisa Net. The Sonrisa Net is broadcast over the single sideband radio each day at 3968 kilo hertz beginning at 7:30 Central Time. Geary’s weather starts at 7:45. It is the highlight of the Sonrisa Net and is probably the primary reason people listen to the net. Geary’s weather forecast covers both the outside and inside of the Baja Peninsula as well as the Mexican mainland. His information is used by almost everyone who cruises down here in Mexico and his service is deeply appreciated. The primary weather event here in the winter is something called a Norther because they produce strong winds that blow from the North down the Sea of Cortez. The Sea of Cortez runs north to south for over 700 miles, so when a strong wind blows from the North we get very short and steep waves all down the sea of Cortez. It is miserable to try to fight these waves, so when a Norther is forecast, most people hide in a well protected anchorage. Geary forecast is the primary tool for knowing when a Norther is on the way. The Northers develop when a winter storm blows through California, Arizona, or New Mexico and the resulting wind blows down the Gulf of California.
I departed Agua Verde at 8:15 AM bound for Puerto Escondido. The winds were initially light from the North at about 5 knots. After an hour or so, a strong 30 knot wind arose out of the West. Fortunately, it was coming from just forward of the beam so I was able to use it to help me sail north. I was initially puzzled because Geary had not mentioned such a strong wind in his forecast. After taking a close look at the mountain range to the west, I concluded that the wind was probably blowing from the western side of the Baja Peninsula. The wind found a relatively low spot in the mountain range running north to south along the spine of the Baja Peninsula where it could pass from west to east. It rushed through the gap in the mountain and then down the mountain’s leeward side and spread out at the foot of the canyon. The result was a very strong local wind from the west south west. About an hour further along there was a second gap in the mountains and the wind there was even strong blowing over 40 knots. That is quite a lot of wind because the strength of the wind increases with the square of the wind speed. A 40 knot wind has 4 times more energy than a 20 knot wind. Eventually I passed both gaps in the mountain range and the wind dropped back to 15 knots or so as I approached Puerto Escondido.
I arrived at Puerto Escondido at about 12:30 PM. I stopped at the fuel dock to buy diesel. I fill the boat’s diesel fuel tanks whenever possible because it is sometime hard to predict when and where fuel will be available. I dropped anchor inside the main harbor at about 1:30. After putting away the boat, inflating the dinghy, and mounting the outboard engine, I went ashore to check into the anchorage, discard my trash, take a shower, do laundry, and eat dinner at the marina restaurant. There was no hot water in the shower, but it still felt good to take a real shower. It always feels good to finish the laundry and have clean clothes, towels, and linens.
The washing machine at the marina was not working properly, so it took a long time to complete the laundry. It had grown dark by the time the laundry was finished, so I rowed back to the boat in the dark. Fortunately, my eyes eventually adjusted to the darkness, and I was able to find the boat.
Tomorrow, I hope to catch a ride to Loreto to see the old mission town. It is about 18 miles north of here and the town is said to be very pretty.
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