"The World is Beauiful at 5 Knots..." [the beginning]
On January 7, 2008 after many months of scraping, sanding, painting, varnishing and all other necessary things involved in restoring an old wooden sailboat my wife Debi and I finally set sail on the first leg of our journey, from San Carlos, Sonora on the Sea of Cortez to La Paz near the southern end of Baja California. Our final destination being Placencia, Belize via the Panama Canal.
When ever one stands on a high bluff and looks out over the shimmering platinum ocean and off in the distance sees a sailboat in full sail, healing to one side, fantasies of the mind begin. Visions of swaying palms trees, secluded sandy beaches, emerald green lagoons, warm tropical waters come to mind.
Shimmer And to think that one can actually experience these and more. After all two thirds of the earths’ surface is covered with water and the majority of mankind live on or near the oceans, rivers or lakes. Traversing from place to place, eventually circumnavigating the earth with only the power of the wind gives you the sense of freedom, independence and adventure.
As a kid growing up in Upper Michigan, I too have had these dreams. But sailing for me does something even more. In this day and age of rapid transit, hustle and bustle, sailing makes the world big again. Let me explain. Just days prior to our setting sail I hopped a flight to a remote Native American village in the Tundra on the Bering Sea in Alaska for work. Spent a few days work then hopped a flight and was back in Mexico the next day. Traveling a few thousand miles in a matter of days and not really having an opportunity to take it all in.
But sailing….sailing takes time and much patience. At an average speed of about 5 knots (about 6 miles mph) one would sail about 40 nautical miles in about 8 hours. If you are a person who is locked into a fast pace of living you may find it difficult to adjust to the large amount of ‘time on your hands’. But the beauty of it is… this adjustment comes fast and easy!
Here’s what happens. Once the sails are up and the engine is shut down, you feel the wind on your face and you look up into the sails and you truly are amazed that you are actually moving along the water solely by the energy of the wind. Your body quickly becomes in tune to the rhythm and sounds produce by this motion. You hear the swoosh of the waves as the boat rises up over and then down one wave to meet the next. It is a therapy that only sailing can bring.
Wind In Sail Then .…. you look out over the vast ocean and your mind releases all the anxiety and tension that you didn’t realize you had tangled up within you. It just simply is released and absorbed into the thousands of square miles of vastness. Once that happens you realize that “one can go a very long time without the need of saying word.” An finally…because you are experiencing the most exhilarating feeling that you have ever had .. you feel the need to burst out in laughter and so you do. As awareness takes over, life becomes visible again and you suddenly realize how beautiful life and the world is at 5 knots.
Preparation for the voyage:
I think I should say a few words about preparing for a cruise such as this. How does one prepare? What do you prepare? What are the best charts to use? How do you prepare food stuffs and supplies? How much to take along. These and many more are all good questions and at some point in your preparation will need to address them.
Let me start off by saying that I am in no way a ‘know it all’ or an expert sailor.
Like many other groups of people with the same interest ie.. pilots, bikers, doctors, ham operators and so forth….. Sailors and Cruisers also have their own subculture and they too “tend to watch out for each other.” Our first real experience of this was when entering Barra de Navida Lagoon, a beautiful stopover on the west coast of Mexico.
I ran aground and got stuck in the mud and could not back off. Just then a family of Dad, Mom and their young boys came by in a dinghy and offered help. The dad said, “go to channel 22 and asked for assistance”. Within minutes there was a flurry of cruisers, about a dozen or so, in their dinghies buzzing around Madwenowe like a swarm of hornets. They all put their dinghies up against the boat and pushed me off the sand bar. Then one sailor hopped aboard and assisted in guiding us through the narrow shallow channel into the lagoon. I was not the first boat of the day to run aground. While in Barra I also had the opportunity to repay the kindness when I rescued a sailboat that came off the hook and started dragging to shore. I took my spare anchor and secured the boat. When the owners returned the next day they were very appreciative. In return he gave me two sailing guide books of the Caribbean, our final destination. They had spent a couple of years there and no longer needed them.
So…the approach that I took and am still taking is asking questions from sailors, Cruisers are the best source of information. Most sailors are either heading the same direction or have just made the passage to where you are heading. Because of that, the information that cruisers freely love to share is current and up to date. So don’t hesitate to introduce yourself and share and exchange information with them.
Another valuable source is researching the internet, websites, cruising blogs, links, cruising guide books. The list of information is endless.
There is so much product and information to choose from to suit your needs that after a certain point it becomes information overload. After many hours of research, and knowing the needs and condition of my boat and my knowledge of sailing I had to make some decisions. I chose guide books and charts to cover from the Sea of Cortez, West coast of Mexico, Central America, Panama Canal, and the Caribbean.
I decided upon Cunningham charts and guidebooks for the Sea of Cortez, Charlie’s Charts-Western Coast of Mexico, John Rains Mexico Boating Guide-Baja, Sea of Cortez, Pacific Mainland, Gulf Coast and Yucatan, A Cruising Guide-From Acapulco to the Panama Canal by Charles and Nancy Goodman, Yachtsman Chart Book (5th Edition), Garmin Handheld GPS, Garmin nRoute for navigation, 3 laptop computers as backup. Cunningham, Charlies, Goodman and Rains all have what you need for the areas that you will be cruising.
I recommend having available several different cruising guides. When Debi and I are trying to decide on an anchorage, or port of call, we consider information from all the guide books and based on the current conditions, (wind, weather, sea conditions, time of day, services offered...etc.) we make our decision. As an example, on our way down the Sea of Cortez we were looking at options for an overnight anchorage on Isla Carmen. We decided to anchor at Bahia Salinas, located on the N.E. side of Isla Carmen @ (25’ 58.155 N / 111’ 04.519 W). After considering all the info, Charlie's Charts mentioned, “In strong northerly winds a sharp chop results, making the area uncomfortable.” Those were the exact conditions, but it also had a one line note saying, “A nearby anchorage recommended by Gerry Cunningham is Perico South, located in the first bay on the south side of Punta Perico.”
Having the privilege of sailing with Gerry and knowing that he has a good eye for this sort of thing we went with his recommendation and dropped anchor at Perico South. While the other boats put up with the strong northern winds we had a very pleasant overnight stay.
One other example of different view points happened in the Baja area also. We had sailed up from La Paz and then down to the southern end of the Cerralvo Channel to get into position to cross over to the mainland to Mazatlan. It was getting near sundown and were trying to make Muertos @ 23’ 59.0N / 109’ 49.3W before dark. 
Artic Vixen We new that we would not make it untill after dark and we were not in the mood for a nite arrival. We were approaching Punta Arena de la Ventana just north of Muertos. Charlie’s Charts page 90 says, “In southerly weather anchorage may be taken off the beach on the north side, about a mile west of the point”. On the other hand, Rains’ guide on page 85 states: “We’ve anchored for a few hours 1.5 miles W of Ventana lighthouse, in very calm weather at 24’ 05.6N / 109’53.22W, but it’s not for overnight.” The wind was really coming up strong from the south and by looking at the charts if we anchored at Muertos we would get tossed around, so based on current conditions, weather, wind, time of day etc,, we decided to drop the hook on the north side of the beach about a mile off the point of Ventana about .25 miles off shore, almost the exact location as Rains. But another factor that helped in making the decision was, as we were approaching I notice a huge 3 mast schooner named “Artic Vixen” anchored in that same location. It was a very well protected area for the current conditions. We just pulled up about 200 yards to his starboard and dropped the hook. In spite of the strong southerly wind we had a very pleasant over nite anchorage. My point is: One guide may have a recommended anchorage or port while another may not. One guide may contain more or less information than the others. I find that they all have a little different prospective of the same area. Just to clarify my point of view …. please believe me that by no means do I mean to discredit the authors of these fantastic guides. I appreciate very much their dedication, time, effort, experience and sacrifices that they have made over the years to put together such fine cruising guides. Without them we all would truly be "lost at sea". 
Captain Burton
I am glad to have the value of several different recommendations when making these decision. Ultimately the decision is yours to make while weighing the current circumstances.
(To Be Continued)
UPDATED: 5/17/2008
We left Huatulco, Mexico on April 5th. Now in Bahia del Sol, El Salavdor. I will being adding new entries in a few days. Keep checking back and Thanks for comming to webtiller.com
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