Log Book
- Departure time: 7:45am on Sunday, February 24, 2013
- Arrival time: 2:15pm on Sunday, February 24, 2013
- Total travel time: 6.5 hours (with a stopover at Los Islotes to hang with the seals)
- Nautical miles traveled: 20nm
- Engine hours start – end – logged: 990.5- 994 – 3.5
- Gallons of diesel start – end – used: 30.6 – 29.2 -1.4
- Weather: The forecast predicted light breezes from the northwest (7-9 knots) with SW swell 1-3 feet, building to 25-35 knots from the N/NW by the evening with 7-9 foot seas (yikes!).
When we awoke we were pleased to find the vestiges of a southwest “coromuel” (as they’re called here), where the temperature differential between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez drives wind across Baja in a southwesterly direction. The weather report predicted a northwesterly arriving on Monday and we wanted to be well anchored in Isla San Francisco by then. We’ve also decided that we want to try to be early morning sailors.
Los Islotes. 
Pelicans perched on Los Islotes.
By 10:30 we were en route to Isla San Francisco with a 10 knot southwest wind still at our back. We sailed on a broad reach at about 4 knots until we were just a couple miles from the anchorage. The wind was slowly tapering off and we were hearing over the VHF that the north wind was steadily moving towards us (such a brief respite). The motor took us the rest of the way and we anchored in the Northwest corner of the island.
When we arrived at Isla San Francisco we were sharing the bay with two other boats, a small cruiser (probably around our size) and an 80 foot sailboat, whose owner (or guest of the owner) was being pulled on water skis behind a dinghy with a souped up motor (driven by a “chauffeur”, no doubt). Fortunately the driver was gracious enough not to create wake in our immediate surroundings. By 4pm other boats started to trickle in and by sunset we were in a neighborhood of 9 boats: four small cruisers, four charter boats and the mega-sailboat.
We were all in for quite a ride that night as the wind arrived with significant force. Two boats drug anchor during the dark of night, one of which came eerily close to us before realizing they had drifted and turning on the motor to reset their anchor. I don’t know about Jeff, but I didn’t sleep a lick, with frequent trips up to the deck to make sure that everything (including our dinghy, Miss Nomer), was secure. I’m happy to report there were no casualties (on that particular night).