About Baja SOC Northerlies and.......Puerto Escondido has been discovered..........

At this point you are probably thinking: This is a sailboat heading south, why not just catch the northerly winds to sail south? Well......the northerlies can be wicked in the Sea of Cortez. Depending on how strong the wind is and how long it's been blowing the seas can be huge with VERY short intervals (4-5 seconds). It is not safe to be out in those conditions. It also is important to pick an anchorage that has good protection from the northerlies. Puerto Escondido is one of the best protected anchorages in the area. It can get windy, but there isn't much fetch.

Puerto Escondido:

The new marina has been attracting larger and larger luxury yachts and the

API (government) dock has been attracting small commercial type ships. The prices

are going up accordingly.

This is the new marina (fuller than we have ever seen it).

The two large boats on the right are both around 170'.

The closest one is Ice Bear and the one on the far right is Impromtu.

They make the boats that have been there on the left look small, but they ARE NOT!

This is the Safari Endeavor which I mentioned in the last Agua Verde post.

It is based out of Seattle and has been doing the Sea of Cortez winters for

several years. It does Alaska in the summers.

These two Sea Shepard ships tied up to the API dock to get some repair work done before heading to the northern sea to help protect the vaquita porpoise. It is the world's most endangered marine mammal.

The sunrise view of Puerto Escondido from the mooring field.

PE sunrises are some of the best in Baja.

The channel to get into the marina and mooring field now has to be dredged to accommodate the increase in the size of boats:

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S/V Loomba-Loomba

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