Woman Single-Handing to Mexico ?

[Crazy Dane]

Amen to that. Some great premade meals that take minimal effort to dish out and are extremely tasty can be priceless. Did you have a tiller on your old boat, sailndive?

[Sailndive345]

Originally Posted by Crazy Dane

Amen to that. Some great premade meals that take minimal effort to dish out and are extremely tasty can be priceless. Did you have a tiller on your old boat, sailndive?

Yes, I did. In fact, if I had the choice, I'd have one on Layla as well but it is not offered as an option The old boat ('83 Beneteau First 30) was like an oversized dinghy; definitely on the tender side (much like Jennymar's boat) but wonderful to sail. OTH, she was so tender that, when it got rough, she didn't allow for cooking up anything elaborate, hence my prepared food suggestion to Jennymar...

[Crazy Dane]

My old Ericson 29' was like that too, real tender in following seas, and you'd better be right on top of it and square up fast when a big one comes. I'd just eat jerky, can fruit and goldfish on those nights. Though I love locking the wheel on my present boat, sometimes I long for the simplicity of the tiller on the Ericson, how you can stand there and steer with your hip, and windvanes seem to work so much better too.

[Charlie]

Hi Jenny:

I think I've recomended this book to you b4. It is fabulous and goes into all the different spots where you can stop and throw out an anchor. Some of the info on the Marinas is a bit dated. The Cruising Guide to Central and ... - Google Book SearchI I would try to get at least 50' of chain and then another 250 of rope. Also you'll need some other kind of an anchor then a danforth. Given the age of the boat you might want to have a rigger look at the standing rigging. Smallest boat I ever sailed down the coast in was an Express 27. There were four of us on the boat. Pretty cramped. I second I2F on the autopilot. Can't afford to go cheap there.

There is a very good section in the book above on weather. I think that the only other thing I can say is that on that trip you need to watch the weather really close. I ust took the boat from San Diego to Santa Barbara with the family. In SB I was met by some friends and we were planning to go to Cojo and then back to the Channel Islands. We got stuck in SB (yeah a pretty nice place to be stuck) and weren't able to go up to Cojo. It thru the whole schedule off. What I am saying is that you need to build a lot of flex time into your schedule so that if weather doesn't allow you to leave when you want you can stay in port.

[vela42]

Hola Jenny,

I can not find your e-mail but i found your post searching info for bashing north solo.

As for you trip i will not say your crazy but there is a lot you lovely boat will need to make it safely. Maybe you can bash north with me in June and I will be real quiet and you will be la Capitana.
I am solo on Vela now in La Paz, BSC

[Squeaks]

Jenny:
It's been a few decades since I've made the sail down (and up) this coast but my partner, Lisa, and I will be sailing to Ventura this fall (I'll consider myself 1-1/2-handing :-). The feedback here is good, jogging my memory - keep it up.
John

[nonam]

Jenny,do not take "hitch hikers".Many of these people suffer personality changes as soon as it is to far to return them.Also many boats have been run ashore because a watchkeeper didnt give a stuff.Only take people that you think you know well.Otherwise ,you are safer if you watch and worry by yourself.
Vane gear and spray dodger are best equipment you can have.Autopilots are nice but they play up and you have to feed them.

[KevinE]

Jenny,
Why not wait for the baja ha ha in mid fall (see latitude38.com) - you could pick up crew if you wanted or if you went solo, at least you would be in the company of a pile of other boats.

Some other inspiration can be found here: Zac Sunderland

Good luck.

Kevin

[Cheechako]

I think cat napping is acceptable, use an egg timer. Not a lot of freighter traffic west coast of Baja compatively. Doing this is probably better than spending the time to try to find anchorages that will have you rolling all night long and going nowhere. There are a few on the west coast, but not a lot. Expect some 16 foot seas off the beam or behind you.... you wont be sleeping in these, but your arm will be sore!

[Jennymar]

Although I would love to rake off in the fall and sail solo in the company of other boats going south, I do have two school age children. They are not enthusiastic about sailing. I wish they were because in a heartbeat I would have the three of us living aboard ---and the school cirriculum to bring along!
As it is, I must plan my sailing trips for times when they are away on holidays with their father.
Oh, and also, I have scrapped my initial plan of sailing to Mexico because I could not take off the time from work I had originally hoped for. I will sail, but just for a week at the end of July. Perhaps from Half Moon Bay to Monterey and back. I'll play it by ear. Mexico will still be there next year!
Thank you everyone for the really wonderful conversation on this subject. I will be mindful of all the advice given me.
jenny

[dana-tenacity]

Here's a story.

We met a family on another boat in the San Blas Is. As we also had kids we went and said hello.
They told us how their kids didn't want to go either. SO they said they would leave their home port (Boston I think) and sail to Bermuda for a school holiday. Once out of sight of land they altered course for the Virgins. Took the kids a while to figure it out, but by then it was too late.

After a week at their first port of call the kids were converted. I believe they went on to circumnavigate.

[captain58sailin]

Hi Jenny,
I met two cruising couples from Australia in the Homer harbor one time and we talked a good bit about their crossing, from Australia to Alaska, and it was their habit to drop the sails for tea or dinner. At night they would deploy their sea anchor and go to bed. Now I don't know if this would be advisable for the southern coast of California, way too much traffic in my book. However once you got south of San Diego, if you were far enough offshore it probably wouldn't hurt to drop the sails for a nap now and then. Best wishes and good sailing.

[nhschneider]

I have cruised the west coast of North America fairly extensively, especially the west coast of Baja California. This is a passion of mine and I'm frequently encouraging others to cast off the dock lines and head south.

I have spent many hours in flat calm water between northern California and southern Mexico. However, the eastern Pacific Ocean can also be a very aggressive place to sail. Situations can arise where experience can make the difference between discomfort and sheer terror. It would be difficult for me to recommend to someone without off-shore experience to make this passage. Instead, I would suggest that someone sign on as crew on someone else's boat first before trying it on a Coronado 25.

By the way, a Coronado 25 is not eligible to join the Baja Ha-Ha as they require boats to be a minimum of 27 feet.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[Ramblin']

Maptech makes a good chartbook with all the charts you would need from Ensenada to P.V. It is actually Mexico to Panama and also has a disc that you could use in a laptop. There is also chartbook from San Francisco to Southern California that would prevent you from having to individually buy all the charts that cover the region. I wouldn't depend on Charlie's Charts for navigation, but they are good for general knowledge as is Jack Wiliams book about Baha and all the anchorages on the Pacific side and into the Sea of Cortes. Although we have 3 GPS', we use paper charts. Mr. Williams' book has detailed info on each and every anchorage with the added information re how the wind/wave refract around the points and where the rocks are! (Beware of Roca Ben and The Sacramento Reef). Another good guide book is the one by The Rains'. We went down to Mexico in 1997 (from San Francisco) and spent six years before bashing back in 2003. We are leaving again in October to depart from San Diego the first week of November.
Hope your trip is all you could hope it to be! You won't be sorry if you go prepared for whatever will be.

[Cheechako]

Definitely take the cruising guides mentioned. as far as charts you need general area charts but detailed charts I would pass on. Most the mexico charts are based on ancient data that is known to be severely off in some areas anyway, and lights in mexico... well,,,... do you feel lucky?