We remember what it was like in the Sea of Cortez

“Do you know the area where that boat turned over in the Sea of Cortez,” the friend asked.

“Yes, I remember it well.”

It is called the area of the “Jumping Waters” and it is like a wind canyon running two to three miles off the Baja California coast south of San Filipe where recently a 100-foot fishing boat capsized killing several members of the crew.

They say there were 60 knot winds  in the region at the time.

When we were sailing across the Sea of Cortez from the Island of Tiberon to San Francisco Bay, we hit 35 to 40 knot winds and 8 to 10 foot jumping waters and they were terrifying.

The sail started out like any beautiful day on the Sea of Cortez, so we put up all of our sails. We had just spent the night anchored off Tiberon Island, the island reputed to have been inhabited by head hunters and one of the few places in Mexico where the Conquistadores feared to venture. 

By noon the winds had picked up to between 10 and 15 knots and a smart sailor would have reefed the mainsail. We still had not learned about the full power of the winds and currents in the Sea of Cortez. Like many people because it is called a “Sea” we felt the winds would not reach the power of the winds in the ocean.

This proved wrong as the winds generated in the Sea of Cortez are the same winds that come down from Southern California desert and form a funnel between Baja California and the mainland Mexico. They refer to them as the Santa Ana’s

We continued to sail west and now it was too late to reef the main and the power in the jib made it impossible to roll up. All we could do was maintain course with the sails up and our motor on full blast.

The winds were now between 20 and 25 knots and we were fighting cross currents similar to the Potato Patch just off the Golden Gate in San Francisco, only much higher waves and stronger currents.

The sun was setting and we had to reach shelter before nightfall. We had one other problem. We had loaded 200 feet of anchor chain onto the front deck and roped it down to one of the stanchions. A portion of the chain had gone overboard and was dragging our sailboat down on one side.

At one point the winds were so strong they ripped our flexible solar panel off the front deck and we saw it flying across the water like a flying carpet. A sea gull decided to use it as a surfboard as it floated further from the boat. The solar panel cost about $900 and it was tempting to turn around and get it, but then we had better thoughts and decided our safety was more important.

The winds continued to rise and with them the waves. There was no way to cut across them because they came from two different directions causing the seas to “Jump” straight  up.

We rushed toward the coast of Baja, now frightened that at any moment the winds would catch our 32 foot boat off balance and flip it. Fear is an interesting factor and it brings out different reactions in us. We become very alert to everything around us.

We sailed on as the winds peaked to 35 knots and we prayed for sight of a bay on the coast of Baja. The entrance was small as we made for one we found, and even inside the bay, the winds continued to blow 15 knots. We literally flew into our only hope for safety. 

Only one other boat was in the bay as we tossed the anchor over the bow. It dragged before it set and we ended up 50 feet from the other boat. The captain was waving and shouting as if to say we were too close for his comfort. We did not bother to raise the anchor but dragged it with the full power of the engine off another hundred feet. 

That night we could not sleep longways on our boat. The winds and waves kept rocking us sideways and we ended up sleeping sideways to keep from being rocked out of bed. It was a restless sleep, but we were alive. 

“Yes, we remember that area of the Sea of Cortez.”