It was done. After some months planning finally a group of 8 Mexican kayakers did the crossing of the Sea of Cortes, from Bahia de Kino in Sonora to San Francisquito in Baja California Norte. Among those, 3 did the four laps, in spite of the very heavy weather encountered on the second. Three did three laps and some of the other. Two did less than three laps. The Mother Boat assisted those who did not finish a specific section. There were One Caribou from Current Designs, two Veracruz and three KANIK from Mayan Seas (Mexico), one plastic Tempest 170 from Wilderness Systems and one foldable Feathercraft. We chose to cross through the Islands of Tiburon, San Esteban, San Lorenzo and Finally Baja. One Island each day, taking shelter after noon from growing winds and waves. We picked up the lowest tidal motion days, when the Moon is in the growing quarter, and were able to appreciate how really rough it can get in full or no moon and bad weather. In order to get there 4 travelled by plane. Two came to my hometown of Queretaro by bus and then 5 of us (our cook included) drove for two days to Kino, with the camping stuff, cooking pans and kayaks. The weather predictions through Weather Channel and Mexican official navy and electrical utility were not good enough to really show what was going on locally. We had better luck with HYPERLINK "http://www.buoyweather.com"http://www.buoyweather.com that was very accurate for the day and the next, but highly inaccurate for the following days, when we had no way to check the weather forecasts. Pictures at HYPERLINK "http://community.webshots.com/user/cayucochief"http://community.webshots.co m/user/cayucochief Expedition started on Friday April 11, 6:30 AM and no fishermen dared to go out that day. Our captain thought we were not going out and overslept, but we started paddling and he had to come to the launching place and put everything on the boat and start following us. That first day we paddled about 4.5 hours with heavy wind and waves up to 4- 5 feet and breaking, against us on our front right quarter. No chance to get under the sprayskirt to get energy bars, or anything, just holding the paddle, drinking water of the camelbag or getting something you might have on the PFD pockets. Two kayakers climbed on the boat. We struggled hard. I had a bad experience and learned a lesson. My Gatorade was in front of me and when I tried to drink from it, I found out that it was sealed and needed both hands to open the lid and remove the paper cover. No chance, one brace, bottle gone. So for more than 4 hours only had water, and after that I was cold and stiff, with nobody to raft with for eating or getting some energy food. Things like that I suddenly go over in a silly wave. Try to roll and fail twice stiff as I was, wet exit and Jose comes and holds my boat without emptying it, and I climb and pump water out and keep going cold and hungry. Water was cold (60F maybe). I paddle for another twenty minutes or so and then a weak sculling and I go over again on my right side. I do my Mexican Rescue Technique with expertise and there I am sitting on my kayak after a paddlefloat reentry and roll and paddle transversal placement with the rope attached and free hands. As I start bailing out Jose and Ricardo come and give me some Gatorade, a chocolate bar, a cereal energy bar, and I retake the paddling with good pace and balance and reach the island like new. Nobody else capsized there or anywhere in the trip. One kayaker had a foldable Feathercraft kayak wide and heavy, very stable but hard to paddle against waves. The guy had a very heavy paddle and he was a hero withstanding all that with such slow, heavy and hard to handle equipment. He was always the last to arrive but with good spirit. Now we were on the South East tip of the Island and had to go to the South West end. ( 4 miles). No big deal, protected by the island from the NW winds; but reaching the West end it was impossible to go around the tip to our camping place. Wind was sending heavy breeze and waves looked huge and powerful. Nobody could go through and we had to paddle back to the South wall, where we picked up a place to camp, but the Mother boat could not dock there or anywhere around. Our only option was to get on the boat, with the 8 kayaks and travel some 3 miles to a shallow place with nice shore and a half built shelter with brick walls and metal roof. There the wind would roar and scream but we were pretty well covered. Sand was soft but nobody could place their tent and so everybody camped inside the building. I was the only one camping outside. I rather have soft sand for my bones and free air away from building scorpions and spiders. But, I had to put anchors to my tent, that was flying like a kite. The first night it moved with me inside foot and a half towards the water, in spite of anchors. Our cook prepared a fantastic meal with fish and shrimp and rice and soup, that we did really enjoy. Some beer here and there and maybe a little tequila, since things looked like no paddling the next day. Saturday 12. Our SPOT watchers must have been surprised to see the points steady. No paddling that day. Visits to the inside of the biggest Island in Mexico, where we could see traces of Deer and Cimarron Goat, and on the hill some jackrabbits. Evening superb dinner with 2 pounds of lobster for each. The head in a soup and the tail Termidor style, unbelievable dish. On this second night the side walls of my tent hit my face right and left as the wind shook it like a palm tree leave. Sunday 13.- The Mother boat went out of the shelter and then told us that the weather was very bad out there. Wind stopped blowing after 2 AM, and they knew thingswere going to be rough. But. We were not ready to stay there for another day. We were running out of a vital surplus, you guessed right beer. So off we went, and as soon as we made the turn towards open water and seeing far away the next island (San Esteban ) wind and waves started hitting. Immediately three kayakers climbed on the boat and 5 of us started paddling. After one third and more than an hour and a half of 6 foot waves coming in two directions and heavy wind, I estimated that conditions were worse than the lap before and that I might face the same or worse situation after two or three more hours. So I called the boat and climbed up, assuming that the others would follow, but they were determined and kept on going to the amazement of the crew. At times I thought that kayakers were doing better than the boat, that would climb a wave and the bow would fall more than 9 or 10 feet with a big crash, and a maneuver to pick up the next slightly sideways to avoid those big bangs. The same thing remained for three more hours, until two yakers hit the Northern part of the island, scared to death after a big shark (3 foot fin they said) passed by them, and another paddler, disoriented hit the southern tip. We told them to reunite somewhere close to the center where there was a good shelter for the boat. The three paddlers were Horacio, Jose and Velis, all from Veracruz. That afternoon we also had a great meal with Lisa eggs, Sierra fried fish, rice, apples, bananas, and the last scarce remnants of beer and tequila. The second Island (San Esteban) had no big game. Only scorpions, snakes, and ants and no moskitos (much wind). No shore (only big and small rounded beautiful stones all over, and some beautiful shells of different sizes and species). Walking some 600 feet on stones there was a sandy flat section with cactus, where we could place our tents, and sleep. Monday 14.- Change of Strategy.- Weather improved, nice night sleep with less wind. So we paddled to the third island but with some thoughts to get there only as the leg end but to camp elsewhere. You see, the next stop was Baja, and somebody thought that we might find beer there, and so we should go on the Mother Boat, after reaching San Lorenzo, sleep in Baja, get what we needed, and do the last leg backwards, and then climb on the boat in San Lorenzo, and go back to Kino on the same day. We had planned well on water and food, and we were OK, and we thought people would drink nothing until the end of the journey, but the heat under the sun, the exercise and the long waiting in the afternoon called for one or two beers and so we needed to replenish. So we did. All but one paddled the 25 KM leg, on calm sea at the beginning and some wind and front left quarter waves after half way, and we all reached San Lorenzo. I have to say that on moving the kayaks to and from the boat, my skeg cable broke and I didnt notice until I was in the wind. I paddled the last half mostly on one side doing all kinds of corrections like leaning, edging, long turning strokes, bow rudder, etc. I thought at first I had water, and moved the skeg lever but nothing happened. Of course, the wire was broken and it was hanging way out, and my leecocking was bothersome. But just served as practice and reaching the island I used the magical duct tape to keep it in the right place and no more problems. Neutral boat from there on. On the Mother Boat to Baja I told everybody that San Francisquito was a Mormon town and no beer or liquor was allowed. They stayed disenchanted for half an hour until they started to cross knowledge and reach the conclusion that I was lying. Smiles started again. San Francisquito Bay is as beautiful as it can be with the typical Baja green color water, and nice shelter. There is on the outside of the little bay a nice hotel with simple cottages, a restaurant, some shelter, clean bathrooms and a huge big glass door ice machine full with all brands of beer. We thought we were going to be ripped, but each beer was less than 2 USD, and we only needed two or three each at most, just to kill our curiosity. Again we had a superb dinner, washed ourselves, played domino, and rested. We were allowed to camp on the sand and use the facilities, for 5 USD each. Tuesday 15.- Early launch (6:30 AM), strong paddling, nice weather, and San Lorenzo Island again, with wind starting to build up a bit, and a beautiful sight of a huge humpback whale throwing a big, noisy vapor stream, every now and then, passing from North to South not very near ahead of us. Some of us paddled to it but others against. We were too far away to make contact. Finally we reached San Lorenzo, in a beach shelter quiet, transparent, clean, beautiful, where we gave the farewell to the Baja Sea with some rolls from Ricardo, Jose and myself. We waited for the slow guys, packed on the Mother boat and started back to Kino, and being 14 miles from Port the engines failed and we drifted on the open sea waiting for something to happen, and calling on the again working cell phones and boat VHF for help. Our cook had a card under his sleeve. He told us to open the ice box and got some more fish, Liza egg cakes, apples, ham, boiled eggs, etc, and we enjoyed the last meal. Suddenly one of our kayakers started messing with the motors and cleared somehow the water hoses and fixed the engine heating problem. Off we went and reached the Boat house in no time. Packed everything on the car and trailer and started our journey back to Queretaro. Mission accomplished. LOST OBJECTS.- The sea demanded its tribute. Two VHF radios, one compass, one wallet with money and IDs, a set of dishes and forks and knives, a pair of sunglasses, but nobody harmed or sick, thanks God. LESSONS LEARNED.- Good planning is essential. As Steve Mallard said. . The Sea of Cortes is a place that you can cross if you are lucky with the weather, if not it is not possible. We had the zero tides days and in some places we saw some whirlpools of maybe 800 feet diameter. Eddies around islands can be very strong. If you combine full moon with bad weather it can be a very nasty place. Better training is needed, with strength and lots of confidence in self abilities. I was humbled and realized that my training had been very comfortable and suitable for a medium complication picnic, but this is more serious. I am starting right now a new training program, with rolls every 20 minutes of paddle, lots of work on low and high braces, and recovery with hip snap, left roll to gain more confidence on that side, etc. This combined with a better technique to feed myself while moving. Another very important training is to do real camping with the equipment on the PFD, etc to learn how and where to store equipment and food for quick removal, and to avoid losses. No doubt, well try it again sometime next year, checking other places of Baja. Thanks to my Mexican colleagues for an unforgettable experience and my sincere congratulations to Jose, Horacio (70) and Velis for their accomplishment on the second paddling day. Thanks also to our boat crew who were so professional and safety conscious, great help and great company. Best Regards, Rafael Mexico. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.3/1393 - Release Date: 23/04/2008 8:12 No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.23.3/1393 - Release Date: 23/04/2008 8:12 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 12:35 PM, Rafael en prodigy < silidriel_at_prodigy.net.mx> wrote: > > The weather predictions through Weather Channel and Mexican official navy > and electrical utility were not good enough to really show what was going > on > locally. We had better luck with I spent considerable time (several years, actually) in the Sea of Cortez on a sailboat along with what was then dozens (probably hundreds, now) of others in the cruising fleet. There is a very reliable weather reporting and forecasting system in place but it all takes place on the 40-meter amateur radio band. It used to be 7235 LSB at about 8am but it's probably something else by now. >From about November through April the weather in the Sea of Cortez tends to be fine except for occasional bursts of northerly winds which typically last for 1 to 3 days and then relapse into the fine weather again. In about 1980 we finally figured out what causes them and how to predict them. The Sea of Cortez lies between two mountain ranges; a significant cordillera to the west on the Baja peninsula and then the Sierra Madre to the east (although farther from the coastline than the western mountains). The Gulf Northers are a typical thermal low fed by a cool high pressure. The high pressure is typically located in the eastern California and Nevada and Arizona deserts north of the Sea. Thermal warming causes a low pressure area in the Sea of Cortez and the cool dense air north flows down from the deserts a funneling between the mountain ranges into the low pressure; creating blustery northerly winds of up to 40kts (but typically more like 25 to 30). These winds have hundreds of miles of fetch so the seaway they raise can be significant. The winds die completely at the tip of the Baja Peninsula even when they are blowing heavily only ten miles north. These winds can be predicted if you pay attention to the AM radio weather reports for the CA, NV and AZ areas. If they are having cool, sunny days then expect northerly winds. If it's raining then you'll have fine clear and warm (well relatively warm, anyway) weather in the Sea. A gulf norther can create heavy going for even 40-foot sailing yachts; especially if they are trying to go north. Craig *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Rafael, I enjoyed the report. Gosh, those winds were fierce. And running out of beer! I laughed at the part where you joked with the guys that beer was banned in the next town. Duane *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
[Please remove all old content that is not pertinent to your reply including old headers and footers. It's list policy.... this post was modified to meet policy] Great trip report Rafael, thanks for sharing your experience. I especially like the idea of bringing along a cook! Now that's the way to go kayak camping! Mike Kory In a message dated 4/23/2008 2:30:09 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, silidriel_at_prodigy.net.mx writes: It was done. After some months planning finally a group of 8 Mexican kayakers did the crossing of the Sea of Cortes, from Bahia de Kino in Sonora to San Francisquito in Baja California Norte. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:49 PDT