Leadership is a critically important factor affecting any team or group venture. In this paper, I analyze the leadership and management style of Dawn Riley, CEO and Captain of the America True Sailing Team, as she guides her team to race for the 1999 America’s Cup.
Dawn Riley is the CEO/Captain of America True, the first coed syndicate to race for the America’s Cup. Over three years, based on her vision for America True, she built the syndicate from scratch, bringing on investors and sponsors, designing and building a boat, and hiring a sailing crew to race it. In June 1999, Riley must decide how to handle the San Francisco office now that America True’s base of operations is moving to Auckland, New Zealand, where racing will begin in four months. She is facing pressure to phase out the office to cut down on costs, but Riley believes that the people in San Francisco and the work they are doing are key to her vision for America True. She must weigh the tension between immediate pressures to win and the longer-term sustainability of her vision.
Leadership Analysis – Dawn Riley at the America True
By Jeffrey Donenfeld, Spring 2016
Executive Summary
The Dawn Riley case (Hill, 2000) describes the circumstances, goals, and challenges that CEO Dawn Riley faces in managing and preparing the America True sailing team for the Louis Vuitton Cup sailing regatta, as well as the challenges of adapting her role to the highest benefit of the team. Dawn Riley is a veteran sailor, and now in this most critical point in her team’s history, she must make decisions as to her leadership style, responsibility undertaking, and focus. Additionally, a veteran upper management team, leading designers, expert office staff, and a solid boat crew all stand to benefit from her leadership. There are various factors at play, including her team and company’s organizational structure, prismatic personalities among the team members, and rapidly changing goal requirements, all on a rapid timescale leading up to the defining event in this team’s history.
Key Issues and Recommendations
Dawn Riley fills a variety of roles within the team, must strive to specifically define her optimized position and fulfillment of these roles.
The America True team is diverse and multi-talented, but also hotheaded and driven. They must bond together and work towards a common goal.
Key leaders within the team must support Dawn in her role as CEO, as well as step up to lead the team within their areas of expertise.
Thesis
Dawn Riley, while an experienced sailor and longtime CEO of the America True sailing team faces personal and team leadership challenges within her team. In this most trying moment, Riley must revolutionize and define her role within the team in order to ascend as the best leader for her team.
Situation
Dawn Riley is the CEO and Captain of the America True Sailing Team. In preparation for the Louis Vuitton Challenger sailing regatta, Riley faces management, organizational, and team challenges which she must address both with herself, as well as the rest of her team. Implications of this case study include analysis of broad team and corporate leadership methodologies, an understanding of basic sailing and regatta mechanics based on the author’s personal sailing and regatta experience, and an in-depth look at Riley’s personal leadership and management style. The key issue of the case is determining the optimal course of action for Riley in defining and refining her role within the team. Recommendations contained within this study are critical because the success of the America True sailing team depends heavily on Riley’s own success as a leader, manager, and sailor.
The Dawn Riley case is difficult to analyse. On one hand, Dawn Riley is an admirable, multitalented, and successful leader who has brought her team to the upper echelons of the competitive sailing community. On the other hand, Riley can be seen as an overstressed, thinly spread micromanager who presents conflicting directions to her team and has driven them almost to the brink of organizational paralysis, unable to effectively compete in the Louis Vuitton Challenger series.
These two sides of the issue make proper evaluation, refined recommendations, and exacting follow through important. At stake here are Dawn Riley’s pride, career, and professional sailing record. More importantly, her entire team’s success is on the line her. Riley getting her act together as CEO and Captain is the most important task at the present moment for Team America True.
Questions
The questions that need to be answered in evaluating this case are:
What roles is Riley currently undertaking within the team?
What does the team most need out of Riley in these final six weeks before the regatta?
How can the rest of the team members step in to help Riley define and refine her job roles?
How specifically should Riley define her roles to best benefit the team?
What else needs to happen on the team to give them the best chance of success in the Louis Vuitton Challenger?
These questions must be answered collectively by Dawn and the team immediately, and deliberation and decision should include all levels of team members.
Analysis and Recommendations
One pervasive issue facing the team is their focus on meetings. The team consistently spends time, energy, and resources assembling themselves in various factions to discuss issues that could have been handled one on one, or by other means of communication. Some amount of meetings are good – they build team synergy, allow for groupthink, announcements, and collaboration. However, the amount of time the America True team spends on meetings takes away from their time and resources they could be spending on other more important items. In the case material it’s noted that Riley seeks to encourage the boat crew to connect and collaborate with the design crew. (O’Toole 1996) This is admirable. However, in the current form, the meetings don’t actually encourage a free and open exchange of ideas. They do just the opposite by setting a rigid and terse environment in which ideas are stifled and time is wasted. In order to step away from the rigid meeting structure and encourage more productive and free-flowing communication, novel new methods should be employed. This could include asynchronous communications such as email and instant messaging, as well as synchronous communications such as one-on-one chats and calls. (Lifehacker 2012) As discussed in class, leaders don’t necessarily always need to be rulers or dictators to effect change and communication among those being led. By relaxing her command over the team with rigid meetings and allowing communication to organically flow, Riley will become a more effective leader. (O’Toole 1996)
Riley works on both a management level as CEO, as well as on a crew level as a member of the boat crew. This creates an increased workload for Riley, and hampers lines between her professional and crew personas. Ultimately, Riley needs to be removed from the crew. In limited instances, Riley should join the boat crews only an outside observer in order for her to maintain basic connection to on-water development. She could sail with the crew on a semi-regular basis in order to integrate between business leadership and on-water intelligence. However, she should not be working as a consistent member of the race day A or B crews.
Unfortunately, sexism is rampant in our world today, and especially with high-level leadership. (Beswick 2015) Riley’s diversified position puts her in the hotseat, and open from attacks from all sides. In order to combat sexism from the outside, as well as within the team combat sexism, Riley should ascend to her core CEO role, and put in the time to make the team shine. By focusing more time on CEO duties, she can make the team better competitively, as well as tackle other “press worthy” tasks that could help gain future sponsorship and funding. These could include gender equality, under dogness, and altruistic funding partnerships/sponsorships. It’s her undeniable success in this one role that may help insulate her from a myriad of criticisms, including the scourge of sexism.
Riley faces a team bonding issue that’s arising from the “A” and “B” crews being selected just prior to race day limits the amount of bonding and “synergy” that can be built.(Beauchamp 2013) Optimally, “A” crew selection needs to happen well prior to race day in order or develop sub-team synergy. Waiting until race day or just prior to race day eliminates the possibility of building crucial sub-crew synergy. It’s that potential synergy that could make or break the team during the critically stressful regatta day.
Currently, the America True team, at the request of Riley, begins their post-practice debriefing on the boat, as they’re being dragged back to port. This is a measure that was implemented by Riley as a way of saving time and getting the debriefs done as soon as possible. However, setting up debriefings so soon after racing fails to give crew members adequate time to decompress and develop their own thoughts and feelings about how the day’s practice unfolded. In order to give the crew appropriate down time after practice, and to enact a structure that allows Riley to stay off the boat during practice, formal debriefs should happen on the dock. Sure, it may take a bit longer, but those minutes of rest and reflection for the crew as they’re being towed into port may prove to be valuable.
Recommendations
In order for Riley to become a more effective leader of her team, she must step fully into the role of CEO, giving up her conflicting duties as a member of the boat crew. As CEO, a number of changes must be made. These include:
Streamline team communications by reducing meetings, introducing novel new communication tactics.
Give the team rest after practice, before debriefs.
Focus on team fundraising and sponsorships as full-time CEO.
Delegate other design and staffing decisions to other experienced members of her team’s senior management.
Conclusion
The core question of the Dawn Riley case was how can Riley change her management techniques and roles within her team in order to give them the best chance of winning the Louis Vuitton Challenger regatta. It was found that there were a number of structural, functional, social, and hierarchical changes that should be made. Class material on ethics and leadership styles, as well as other outside sources was drawn from. Further analysis of the issue could reveal additional efficiencies, techniques, and ideas for bringing the America True team to victory.
Jeffrey, H. L., Beswick, E., & Meade, J. (2015). Learning and unlearning sexism in the workplace. Human Resource Management International Digest, 23(5), 18-20. doi:10.1108/HRMID-05-2015-0086
Bruner, M. W., Eys, M. A., Beauchamp, M. R., & Côté, J. (2013). Examining the origins of team building in sport: A citation network and genealogical approach. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 17(1), 30-42. doi:10.1037/a0030114
O’Toole, J. (1996). Leading change: The argument for values-based leadership. New York: Ballentine Books.
Written by Jeffrey Donenfeld, originally for the University of Denver Daniels College of Business Executive MBA Program Executive Leadership Class, Spring 2016. I received a 94/100 on this assignment. (Original paper PDF)
At the end of June, I embarked with my longtime crew on a sailing expedition to explore the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. This was another epic adventure in a long series of sailing adventures that we’ve been doing as a group, in one form or another, for nine or ten years now.
Although we’ve sailed the Sea of Cortez on a previous trip, we decided to return to rediscover the unrelenting beauty, serenity, and dramatic contrasts of sailing surrounding by the hot, crushing desert.
The expedition ended up being wonderful. We had a great time sailing, fishing, scuba diving, cooking, relaxing, swimming, hiking, and exploring the Sea of Cortez, and surrounding desert. Here are a few photos from our adventure. Video clips and other related media are coming asap.
The sailing trip began by assembling everyone in Cabo San Lucas, on the southern tip of the Baja Penninsula. From there, we rented a suburban, and the 6 of us drove north to La Paz. La Paz is a larger city in Baja, and is the center of operations.
During the northward drive, naturally we had to stop for some delicious roadside tacos. It’s good to be in Mexico!Delicious tacos and drinks, on the way up to La Paz. Sean drove the massive suburban, and did a great job of getting us to the marina. All six of us fit in the car, with all of our gear.On our way north, we were stopped by a few small inspection stations. Enough said.Arrival at the Dream Yachts marina. This marina was shared by a few different charter companies, and was located just outside of La Paz. Our boat was ready and waiting for us when we arrived in the late afternoon.After loading our gear onto the boat, we walked across the street from the marina and took a refreshing dip in the 5 star resort pool, which we had access to since we were living on one of their sailboats.Naturally, we had to take traditional beginning of the trip tequila shots before we did anything else. It was good to be back together as a crew!On the evening of the first night, we drove into La Paz to watch sunset over the water, and have a tasty mexican dinner on a rooftop.First dinner! In downtown La Paz, Mexico.After dinner, we went straight to the grocery store, where we bough about $600 of groceries – enough to feed 6 people for ten days. Not so bad when you divide it out. Here we are deliberating on what to get.Dyana had a bit of a shopping plan, and doled out responsibilities accordingly. Sean was on hot sauce and fruit juice patrol.I was on checkout duty, and managed to keep the checkout girl calm as she scanned $600 of groceries at closing time.Loading provisions onto our boat. Every space on a sailboat is used, and there are endless pockets and storage areas behind the cushions, under panels, and beneath the floor. I love this aspect of sailboats – every bit of space is thought out and used.Sean reviewing the Baja cruising guide, the night before our departure. Sean is sitting at the nav table, with all of the electrical controls and instrumentation. Under the table is emergency gear, and inside the table are charts and guides.Breakfast at the beach club, shortly before our departuer from the marina.And one last swim in the luxurious infinity pool.We rented deep sea fishing gear, and had a great time catching a few dinners.Our first catch – a Bonito that we later ate for dinner.Zac filleting the Bonito. Tasty!One of the anchorages we stopped at, from the midpoint of our desert hike. Our boat is on the left.Dried cactus found in the desert – this makes pretty good kindling for a fire, as we later found out when making a beach fire to cook clams.Shower time at the end of each day. On the boat, we take “navy showers” – jump in the water to get wet, soap up on the transom, jump back in the water to wash off the soap, and then rinse with fresh water from the hose. It’s effective, fun, and saves on fresh water. And you get to do it with friends – here’s Dyana giving Zac a scrub.Dyana relaxing on deck with a sunset drink. This is what it’s all about.Zac adding a little beer to the ground beef, to give our tacos an extra little kick. Cooking on the boat is always fun!Dinner in the cockpit – this was taco night, with lots of hot sauce.Evan and Kaitie right before Scuba Diviing with the sea lions.Me and Sean before diving.Swimming through a narrow passage into a swirling school of fish.Evan checking out schools of fish.Wildlife abounds in the Sea of Cortez – here we saw a whale and her calf.Our crew, minus Kaitie, at the end of our second dive.Evan walking onto the shore to enjoy some post-dive lunch and refreshments.This particular sailboat had a motorized winch, so in order to raise the main sail, we just had to push a button. Here, I’m steering us into the wind while we watch the sail raise. Shorly affter this I steered the boat to “fall off” and catch the wind in the sail.Under sail. It’s peaceful and quiet while sailing, with just the wind whistling and the waves splashing around the boat.Evan reeling in a Mahi Mahi.Zac with our first Mahi Mahi – dinner!Two girls from another boat standing up on their twin kayak at sundown.Dyana dives off the bow for a late afternoon swim.Evan brought along an inflatable donut to lounge in. Perfect!!!Dyana and Evan float in the nearly still water, while our boat floats anchored just off shore.Sean hikes a ridge on one of the small anchorages we stopped at. Sunset hikes are great.We had a small grill on the boat, and used it to cook burgers, fish, and veggies. An essential accessory on any sailing trip.More hikes in the desert with the full group.Isla Coyote, one of the small fishing villages we encoutered. We bought fish and clams here.Chocolate Clams, fresh from the sea and very tasty.Towing Evan behind the boat in his donut. MmmmmApproaching another one of our anchorages, at the mouth of a beautiful valley.Sean and I went exploring the valley at sundown, and found lots of animal bones – and animals!Relaxing while underway.At one of our anchorages, we found the remains of an abandoned hotel.Cactus flowers in the hot desert.Hiking through the desert back to the sea. The contrast is extreme.A dried puffer fish found on the hot, dry beach.Our peaceful beach fire spot, where we cooked and ate lots and lots of clams.Dyana and Evan checking out the first stars of the evening, as our fire burns down to cooking coals.Kaitie and Dyana selecting fresh clams, while Sean, Zac and Evan supervise the fire.We cooked clams directly on the fire, as well as by boiling them.Eating fresh cooked clams by the fire, under an almost full moon.Anchored.Dolphins frequently swam with our boat.The full moon, rising over the desert peaks.Naturally, there are always always minor disasters on every trip – completely expected, and we can ususally deal with whatever we need to. This small engine issue was a quick fix.Dyana reeling in.. a shark!Hot dogs for lunch.Sean made himself a swing from the boom.I got hoisted up the mast on the emergency halyard. A spectacular view!Under way.Sean driving the Dinghy through a small mangrove forest. This was on our last day of sailing. After this, we returned the boat to La Paz, and then got in the car to head back down to Cabo.On our way back to Cabo, we witnessed a large drug bust.Our last night in Mexico was in Cabo San Lucas, and it was the 4th of July! We checked out lots of lively, trashy parties on the beach, and had lots of fun watching fireworlks from afar.Entering spring break zone at El Squid Roe.End of the trip drinks at El Squid Roe. For our final night in Cabo, we stayed at a generic hotel on the main strip. Comfy and easy.
After an excellent season on the ice this year, my first travel stop was in the Phillipines to relax with dear friends Brad and Talitha.
The Mall of Asia – a combination of indoor and outdoor mall stores, as well as a few department stores, and lots of food stands. I bought my Seiko SKX009K2 here.The local welcoming committee, waiting for us in the passenger terminal.I stayed at the Islandfront Hotel, with a great spot on the beach. This is my sunset perch almost every night – beautiful!The dramatic walk into our favourite bar in El Nido, “La Plage”. The swaying palm trees at dusk are dramatic and beautiful.Hiking through the jungle to a less than inspiring waterfall – we still had a great hike!Passing through local villages as we discover waterfalls, jungle farmlands, and hidden beaches.Brad and Talitha strolling on local beach at sundown. The small waves were perfect for bodysurfing.Sunset in El Nido, with outrigger dive boats anchored in the shallows.The tides in Palawan Island are dramatic, and the area outside of where we were staying drained completely during low tide.Ready for a day of sailing!The Filipino Navy, patroling the waters around El Nido.Discovering abandoned religious statues at an abandoned jungle convent.Dramatic tides give way to hidden beaches in the inlets.We got around almost everywhere via Trike.The cutest little girl ever, riding with her father as he biked us around El Nido.We had a threesome Valentines Day dinner at a local resort, with ah complete buffet in the jungle clearning.Brad and Talitha play the dating game on valentines day.Best couple ever!Launching heart shaped hot air balloons – sort of. This one burnt up on the ground shortly after this picture was taken – but Brad and Talitha soar! :)Fish at the local marketFish at the local marketIn Coron, we dove with Neptune Dive Center, which was great. Highly recommended!Our divemaster on the bow of the dive boat. Dive boats in the Philippines are typical double-outrigger boats.Departing Coron for Manila, and then on to Japan .Local kids playing on a dry docked boat on the beach.During our day tour of the local area, we docked at an abandoned convent.Small fish swim in the shallow tidal pools of the hidden coves in El NIdo.One of the hidden beaches – this beach is only accessible by swimming through a small underwater tunnel.Discovering yet another hidden beach – this one accessible through a hole in the rocks, dry during low tide.Triking around Coron.Checking out the hot springs in Coron. These geothermally heated waters spill from the pools directly into the ocean.An incredible amount of fish swim on a the wreck of a Japanese battleship in Coron, Philippines.Ending a great dive in Coron.Diving in Coron.After a day of diving, we decided to get some fresh air on the jeepney ride back to town.Getting ready to dive Barracuda Lake, Philippines.Tracing the wall around Baraccuda Lake, in the middle-layer of water.Me descending into the hot, salty bottom layer of water in Baraccuda Lake. You can see the visual distortion of the hot water I’m descending into.We had a great dive!Talitha and I charterd a small hobie cat sailboat – fun sailing for an hour or two.Naturally, we had to relax in the pool at the Mahogany Resort, where Brad and Talitha were staying.In Manilla, I used the cemetery in the center of town as a running track, to train for the upcoming Tokyo Marathon. Running through the cemetery was interesting – people seem to have moved into the space, creating a shanty town between the graves.Downtown Manila. I stayed at a hotel in Makati, which was interesting enough for four days. Manila is a huge, congested city, and Makati provided a good amount of walkable entertainment.Inside the Greenbelt Shopping Center in Manila, the nose and dirt of the street fades away into a tranquil koi pond. Manila has a ton of shopping centers – some nicer than others.At the newly-opened City of Dreams Manila, I played a few rounds of Baccara, and then checked out an amazing cover band playing in the middle of the casino. Cover bands are hugely poplular in the Philippines, and they’re very talented and precise.Brad, Talitha, and I flew from Manila to El Nido, Palawan on a charters ATR-72 with ITI Air, booked by El Nido Boutique & ArtcafTrikes are huge in Palawan – in El Nido they seemed to be hand-built and somewhat rickety – but they got the job done.
I started my journey by flying Sydney>Manila. Once in Manila, I had a solid four days of time to myself to explore Manila. I stayed in the Makati area, at a mid-range hotel. I split my time between training for the upcoming Tokyo Marathon, exploring various parts of Manila, and beginning the process of wrapping up the antarctic season.
Overall, Manila was an interesting, although not overly majestic experience. The city is a massive sprawl. Giant, modern skyscrapers are intermingled with small shanty towns. The city grid is cut up by winding alleys and backstreets. Large, free-flowing avenues are rudely interrupted by snarled traffic jams, and a constant flow of jeepneys, busses, and motorbikes. People are everywhere, doing everything.
I entered Manila without much of a plan, and was fairly overwhelmed – but ended up having a great time, and getting into the vibe of the capital city. As a word of advice for future travelers – Manila is definitely worth seeing in order to understand the city-dwelling style of the Philippines, but before you go, establish a good plan of what you want to see. Get it and get out – it’s intense. I spent four days there, but could have done with three.
Downtown Manila. I stayed at a hotel in Makati, which was interesting enough for four days. Manila is a huge, congested city, and Makati provided a good amount of walkable entertainment.In Manilla, I used the cemetery in the center of town as a running track, to train for the upcoming Tokyo Marathon. Running through the cemetery was interesting – people seem to have moved into the space, creating a shanty town between the graves.The Mall of Asia – a combination of indoor and outdoor mall stores, as well as a few department stores, and lots of food stands. I bought my Seiko SKX009K2 here.Inside the Greenbelt Shopping Center in Manila, the nose and dirt of the street fades away into a tranquil koi pond. Manila has a ton of shopping centers – some nicer than others.At the newly-opened City of Dreams Manila, I played a few rounds of Baccara, and then checked out an amazing cover band playing in the middle of the casino. Cover bands are hugely poplular in the Philippines, and they’re very talented and precise.
After four days in Manila, Brad and Talitha flew in, and I met up with them at the airport. Flights from Manila to Puerto Princessa, the main town in Palawan, are cheap and easy – however since we were on our way to El Nido, it would have required an additional 5 hour bus ride from Puerto Princesa to El Nido. Instead, we decided to join a charter air flight operated by ITI directly from Manila to El Nido.
In El Nido, I stayed at a mid-range hotel on the beach called Islandfront, and B&T stayed at the newly opened Mahogany Resort, just down the road. Both places were excellent. B&T spent the week in El Nido training for their PADI Open Water SCUBA Certification. I spent my days running, swimming, sailing, and relaxing on the beach. We got together every night, as well as did a few day trips together.
El Nido was wonderful and beautiful. It’s relatively un-developed compared to other towns in Palawan, but has a certain charm to it. Unfortunately, I felt like certain essential aspects – connectivity, dining options, and staff training were a bit lacking, even given the somewhat remote location. For me, I felt like it simply didn’t have quite enough charm to make up for it’s backwoods, 3rd world location. I wouldn’t go back to El Nido, but I did have an excellent time there – especially with the two best travel buddies ever!
Brad, Talitha, and I flew from Manila to El Nido, Palawan on a charters ATR-72 with ITI Air, booked by El Nido Boutique & Artcafé. The flight was perfectly comfortable, and upon landing, the airplane was simple shut down on the uncontroled landing strip, and we all loaded onto a Jeepney for transport off the runway to the passenger terminal.The local welcoming committee, waiting for us in the passenger terminal.Trikes are huge in Palawan – in El Nido they seemed to be hand-built and somewhat rickety – but they got the job done.We got around almost everywhere via Trike.I stayed at the Islandfront Hotel, with a great spot on the beach. This is my sunset perch almost every night – beautiful!The dramatic walk into our favourite bar in El Nido, “La Plage”. The swaying palm trees at dusk are dramatic and beautiful.The cutest little girl ever, riding with her father as he biked us around El Nido.Launching heart shaped hot air balloons – sort of. This one burnt up on the ground shortly after this picture was taken – but Brad and Talitha soar! :)We had a threesome Valentines Day dinner at a local resort, with ah complete buffet in the jungle clearning.Brad and Talitha play the dating game on valentines day.Best couple ever!Ready for a day of sailing!During our day tour of the local area, we docked at an abandoned convent.Discovering abandoned religious statues at an abandoned jungle convent.Dramatic tides give way to hidden beaches in the inlets.Discovering yet another hidden beach – this one accessible through a hole in the rocks, dry during low tide.One of the hidden beaches – this beach is only accessible by swimming through a small underwater tunnel.Small fish swim in the shallow tidal pools of the hidden coves in El NIdo.The Filipino Navy, patroling the waters around El Nido.Hiking through the jungle to a less than inspiring waterfall – we still had a great hike!Brad and Talitha strolling on local beach at sundown. The small waves were perfect for bodysurfing.Local kids playing on a dry docked boat on the beach.Naturally, we had to relax in the pool at the Mahogany Resort, where Brad and Talitha were staying.Sunset in El Nido, with outrigger dive boats anchored in the shallows.Talitha and I charterd a small hobie cat sailboat – fun sailing for an hour or two.Passing through local villages as we discover waterfalls, jungle farmlands, and hidden beaches.The tides in Palawan Island are dramatic, and the area outside of where we were staying drained completely during low tide.
Our final stop was in Coron. This small town is a bit closer in to Manila, and is a hub for tourism and scuba diving. The main draw of Coron is wreck diving on the multitude of Japanese military shipwrecks – the aftermath of an ambush by the USA during WW2.
In Coron, we stayed at the Coron Ecolodge, and dove with Neptune Dive Center. In Coron, we enjoyed boat trips, tasty dinners, views from the top of the mountain, massages, and lots of cafe sessions.
Barracuda Lake Diagram, from AsiaDiveSite.com
By far the best dive of the week wasn’t a wreck dive. It was a lake dive, in Barracuda Lake. Barracuda lake is a brackish lake that’s unique for it’s geothermally heated layers of water, with extremely dramatic thermoclines. The most interesting part of the dive was transition between layers of water, and seeing the shimmering boundaries of each layer approaching, and then traveling between the layers.
In Coron, we dove with Neptune Dive Center, which was great. Highly recommended!Fish at the local marketWe had a great dive!Getting ready to dive Barracuda Lake, Philippines.Me descending into the hot, salty bottom layer of water in Baraccuda Lake. You can see the visual distortion of the hot water I’m descending into.Tracing the wall around Baraccuda Lake, in the middle-layer of water.After a day of diving, we decided to get some fresh air on the jeepney ride back to town.Checking out the hot springs in Coron. These geothermally heated waters spill from the pools directly into the ocean.Fish at the local marketOur divemaster on the bow of the dive boat. Dive boats in the Philippines are typical double-outrigger boats.An incredible amount of fish swim on a the wreck of a Japanese battleship in Coron, Philippines.Diving in Coron.Ending a great dive in Coron.Triking around Coron.Departing Coron for Manila, and then on to Japan .
Another great infographic from Column Five Media, in partnership with my former client Nowness, covering the Volvo Ocean Race. I’m especially interested in this one, since I spent a large part of the summer sailing around the Caribbean. I’d love to someday crew for this race…. and here’s my sailing resume!
“Highlights of one of the sporting world’s most challenging events, the Volvo Ocean Race, are captured in this inspired infographic created by Newport Beach-based creative agency Column Five Media. Featuring pirated waters and severe weather extremes, the grueling quadrennial race is rife with danger. Founded in 1973, the competition tests physical endurance, strategy and sportsmanship as a handful of crews race each other across the most treacherous ocean expanses on the globe. Kicking off in October from Alicante, Spain, the first leg of this year’s race saw the teams journey some 6,500 nautical miles (12,308km) to Cape Town, South Africa. After 21 days the Spanish Team Telefónica arrived first in port: “As you can imagine we are really happy, this is a great victory for the team,” says Telefónica skipper Iker Martínez, the 33-year-old two-time Olympic medalist. In a testament to the brutal nature of the race, three of the six teams retired from the first leg before the finish line. “When we were battling with Team Puma for the lead, their mast broke and we were left out there alone,” continues Martínez. “From there it was more about not breaking anything, and being careful.” As the second leg commences, the teams take sail for Abu Dhabi this Sunday to spend the holidays at sea as they transition from the Atlantic into the Indian Ocean and cross 5,420 nautical miles (10,056km) to arrive in the Emirates on New Year’s Day.”
This past August, I went sailing in the Leeward Islands with a group of friends – Sean Safdi, Zac Schulman, Dyana Kazan, Evan Kazan and Evelyn Dahab. Evelyn was new to our crew this year, and the rest of us have been sailing together for the past couple of years. Here’s a summary of all of the media generated during our trip, with full daily summaries, photos, videos, and Sean’s well written and extensive trip report. Photos on Flickr (Slideshow)
Trip Report – SXM Bareboat Charter
#1329052 – 08/21/11 01:52 AM
This trip we sailed a Moorings Beneteau 43.3 monohull out of the Moorings base at Oyster Pond, St. Martin in the Leeward Islands. Our boat, “Oyster”, was from the Moorings “exclusive” line and appeared almost new, although it still exhibited some of the wear typical on any charter boat (two of the blocks on the traveler failed our first day out). Overall we enjoyed the layout of the boat, with three cabins and three heads and a relatively spacious saloon (although everyone commented on the lack of storage space for provisions, due largely to the space occupied by the shore-power AC unit). Storage space notwithstanding, there was plenty of room for our crew of 6. The cockpit was fine with dual helms and a brand new electronics package including a top of the line chartplotter. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the fridge on this boat worked better than pretty much any boat we’ve had in the past. The Yanmar 54hp engine was in brand new condition and performed flawlessly. The sails on this boat had far less wear than other boats we’ve chartered, and the boat sailed superbly to windward.
The Moorings base at Captain Oliver’s Marina at Oyster Pond is fine, although the shoreside facilities could use a serious upgrade. During our visit, the showers were out of operation entirely. There are a couple restaurant options within the marina complex (one upscale and one more casual) and some other options within walking distance. There is no major grocery for provisioning within walking distance; you will have to take a taxi. The base’s location is well-situated for accessing the most popular cruising grounds, but it is not close to the international airport. Expect a 45 minute to 1hr taxi ride. The Moorings had a taxi waiting for us on our arrival at the airport, which we were not expecting. The staff at the Moorings base was excellent as usual, and the chart and boat briefing were very thorough. Moorings is always willing to accommodate our requests such as providing us with an extra cooler for our drinks. In terms of provisioning, we chose to provision on our own upon arrival, but we did have the Moorings provision the majority of our beverages (soft drinks, beer, and gallon jugs of water). Much easier than having to lug those heavy items back from the grocery. We also always opt for the “charter starter kit”, which includes condiments, paper towels, trash bags, charcoal, etc.
We arrived on Friday, August 5, too late in the afternoon to do the chart and boat briefing that day. The Moorings had the boat ready for us at the dock, with our beverage provisioning already onboard and the shore-power AC cranking. With the benefit of the AC, we had a comfortable first night aboard the boat.
The following morning, we did the chart and boat briefing, topped off the water tanks, took care of a few last-minute issues, and departed the base by about 11:30 in 20-25kt winds and 8-9ft seas! We raised the main with a single reef before leaving the protection of the harbor, and the Moorings sent a pilot boat to guide us out into the ocean. It was a pretty wild ride coming out of the channel directly into the big swell and high winds, and everyone was quickly drenched from the waves smashing over the bow. Doesn’t get any better than that! We were fortunate that the conditions were much calmer upon our return to base, but it is worth noting that Oyster Pond (along with Orient Bay) would be pretty hazardous to enter in much heavier conditions, with the wind and swell pushing you towards the reefs.
After clearing the channel we motored about a half mile offshore directly into the wind, and then set our course for Gustavia on St. Barthelemy, a sail of perhaps about 15nm. After arriving at Gustavia, we motored around for a bit looking for the best spot to anchor, and finally settled on the area just northwest of Fort Oscar and close enough for any easy dinghy ride into the inner harbor. Anchored with good holding in about 15ft of water. The harbor was pretty crowded for off-season, so I can only imagine how it must be in December or January. We cleared through customs and immigration, and had a great dinner at Eddy’s, a short walk from the waterfront.
The following morning we were up early for a longer sail (about 25nm) down to the Dutch island of St. Eustatius (Statia). The winds were still quite brisk, but fortunately had calmed down more to the 18-22kts range rather than 20-25kts. Seas were also down a bit. Had a fantastic beam reach under reefed main and jib, and arrived at Statia far earlier than we had anticipated.
On the northwestern tip of Statia, there is a large depot where oil tankers drop off oil from South America (mostly Venezuela we were told) and other ships pick up the oil to transport it far and wide. The area is marked by a giant oil tanker buoy about a mile offshore, and you should stay well to seaward of this buoy as you are coming up or down the coast. It was pretty surreal sailing through a giant field of anchored tankers waiting to pick up or drop off their load. Just to the south of this area was our destination, Oranje Baai and the capital, Oranjestad.
Take note…there are no mooring balls at Oranjestad! Contrary to 2010-2011 edition of the cruising guide, and what we were told during our chart briefing, the mooring balls that were previously in place here were removed due to the excessive cost of their upkeep. We were not the only boat that came in and searched a good amount of time for the elusive mooring balls. Confusing the matter are the myriad of smaller mooring balls put in place by the locals, but don’t pick these up because they are private and likely won’t hold your boat! The good news is that the anchoring is easy and the holding is good anywhere behind the protection of the breakwater.
Statia was a real highlight of the trip for us, and we enjoyed the quiet, off the beaten track feel after coming from bustling St. Martin and St. Barths. Don’t come here for the beaches, but the diving, historical sites, and natural beauty are all spectacular. After clearing customs and immigration, we went ashore to walk up the hill to the town. Oranjestad feels like something out of old world Europe rather than the Caribbean — many beautifully restored homes. Fort Oranje is also worth a visit and has a great history, including the famous “first salute” to the United States.
The following morning, we arranged a two tank dive with Golden Rock Dive Center, and we were not disappointed! Golden Rock is a great operation and the diving located immediately outside the anchorage is not to be missed. We did one wreck and one reef dive, and wished we could have stayed longer to do more diving — the reefs here are really in great shape compared to elsewhere in the Caribbean. In the afternoon we took a taxi tour overland to get some views of the “Quill” volcano.
The next morning, though we wished we had time to continue south, we cleared out of Statia and headed back north to St. Barths, picking up a marine park mooring ball for the night (free of charge) at Anse de Colombier, on the western tip of the island. Anse de Columbier is a beautiful, well protected anchorage with a great beach and a secluded feel. Do not miss the half hour walk to Anse des Flamandes — the trail is cut into hills and cliffs along the water and is quite beautiful. Be sure to take sturdy shoes.
The next morning, we did two more dives with St. Barth Plongee. Based out of Gustavia, they happily came to pick us up at Anse de Columbier. After returning to the boat, we motored a short distance over to the small island of Ile Fourchue, where we picked up another park mooring for the night. Ile Fourche is another great stop for those who enjoy seclusion. We shared the anchorage with just a couple other boats, and we ventured ashore to explore and had the entire island to ourselves. Hiking the peaks on Ile Fourche was a real highlight — with amazing views towards both St. Barths and St. Martin and down into the anchorage. There are no real beaches here, but the rugged island is definitely worth exploring. We placed our trip geocache, the “Oyster CrewCache”, at the foot of a rocky outcropping. While ashore, we also noticed a dinghy being pounded against the rocky coastline on the windward side of the island — we reasoned that the dinghy must have escaped its owner in St. Barths and floated the short distance across to Ile Fourche. We tried to rescue the dinghy and managed to get the engine started and the boat backed out into deeper water — only to have the outboard fail. We tossed the anchor over the side and spent about 45 minutes attempting to restart the outboard before we gave up and paddled back in to shore between the rocks. Hopefully the owner finds their dinghy — it looked brand new!
After a peaceful night on the mooring ball at Ile Fourche, we departed the following morning for a long sail to the British island of Anguilla. By this point in the trip, the wind had died down considerably and was averaging approximately 8-15kts, with some higher gusts. We sailed and motorsailed on a broad reach and a run around the southern end of Sint Maarten, past the beautiful blue water at Point Basse Terre, and north across the narrow channel and around the western tip of Anguilla. We then headed up the north coast of Anguilla and into Road Bay and Sandy Ground Village. Anguilla is a low-lying island with fine white sand beaches — the white sand gives the water beautiful shades of light blue and green. Road Bay is the main port of entry, but also a great stop in its own right, with a long beach and plenty of restaurant and bar options ashore. We anchored with about 4ft of water under the keel (setting the anchor was easy in the sandy bottom) and went ashore to clear in and pay the park fees. In the anchorage, we watched kids from the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club practicing some very impressive roll tacks on 420s. The club rented us a Hobbie Wave for an hour, and we had a fun time zipping through the anchorage and out into the open ocean. That night, we had dinner ashore and visited one of the local bars for live music.
The next morning, we got a leisurely start, went searching for another geocache, and then departed for Prickly Pear Cays around 11:00am. Prickly Pear Cays are a day-only anchorage within the marine park, with plenty of park mooring balls available. It took about an hour to reach Prickly Pear from Road Bay (heading north past Sandy Island), and we were very glad that we made the trip! Prickly Pear is a beautiful small island with a perfect beach on the north side of the island a little beach bar run by a very entertaining English expat. The sand and water here was some of, if not the finest that we encountered throughout the entire trip, and we regretted that we didn’t have more time to spend on the island. In the late afternoon, we motored back to our overnight anchorage at Crocus Bay. Crocus is a fine anchorage (and supposedly the only other permitted overnight anchorage), but anchoring room was a bit limited with the number of local boats and moorings in the bay. We finally found a spot, and holding (as it was throughout the entire trip) was very good on a sandy bottom.
The next morning we motored the very short distance to Little Bay to explore the caves onshore. Definitely take the time to stop here for an hour or two and explore the caves and rock formations. There are also a couple nice looking beaches tucked in between the rocks. After an hour or so exploring, the dive boat came to pick us up for our fifth and final dive of the trip — another wreck dive. We dove with Douglas Carty, a small operation based out of Road Bay. Though a small operation, Douglas was very professional and offered personalized service; we really enjoyed diving with him.
After returning from the dive, we quickly got underway and sailed up the north coast of Anguilla and through Scrub Island Pass. After coming through the pass, we headed back south to our next destination — Orient Bay on St. Martin. Orient Bay can be tricky to enter and (like Oyster Pond) not advisable to enter in high seas. We had good conditions with calm seas, and we carefully followed the instructions in the cruising guide to enter the bay through the reefs and anchor between Green Cay and the nude beach with only a few feet under the keel. The water in the anchorage is spectacular blue-green, although we encountered many jellyfish (seemingly the non-stinging variety). Orient Bay is a different experience and not necessarily our preferred type of anchorage — it was extremely crowded and touristy during the day, with jet skis and parasail boats flying through the anchorage. At night it cleared out a bit, but the restaurants on shore were still a bit touristy and overpriced. After some searching, we did find a nice bar with friendly waitstaff where we had a good dinner ashore. Even if you don’t like crowds, it may still be worth a visit to Orient Bay just for the experience.
The following morning, our last aboard the boat, we got an early start for our short trip down the coast to Oyster Pond. We pulled in to the dock, packed our bags, did the quick debrief with the Moorings, and were on our way back to the airport by noon — another great sailing vacation in the books!
Overall, we really enjoyed out cruise through the northern leeward islands. Highlights include the diving in Statia, secluded anchorages of Anse de Columbier and Ile Fourche on St. Barths, and the beaches on Anguilla. Moorings as always provided top-notch service and a great boat. We hope to explore these waters again some day.
Wrapping up our epic adventure sailing in the Leeward Islands, here’s Sean Safdi’s well written and thorough trip report, reprinted from his original Travel Talk Online posting. Also, be sure to see the full Daily Logs, Photos, and Video.
Trip Report – SXM Bareboat Charter
#1329052 – 08/21/11 01:52 AM
This trip we sailed a Moorings Beneteau 43.3 monohull out of the Moorings base at Oyster Pond, St. Martin in the Leeward Islands. Our boat, “Oyster”, was from the Moorings “exclusive” line and appeared almost new, although it still exhibited some of the wear typical on any charter boat (two of the blocks on the traveler failed our first day out). Overall we enjoyed the layout of the boat, with three cabins and three heads and a relatively spacious saloon (although everyone commented on the lack of storage space for provisions, due largely to the space occupied by the shore-power AC unit). Storage space notwithstanding, there was plenty of room for our crew of 6. The cockpit was fine with dual helms and a brand new electronics package including a top of the line chartplotter. To everyone’s pleasant surprise, the fridge on this boat worked better than pretty much any boat we’ve had in the past. The Yanmar 54hp engine was in brand new condition and performed flawlessly. The sails on this boat had far less wear than other boats we’ve chartered, and the boat sailed superbly to windward.
The Moorings base at Captain Oliver’s Marina at Oyster Pond is fine, although the shoreside facilities could use a serious upgrade. During our visit, the showers were out of operation entirely. There are a couple restaurant options within the marina complex (one upscale and one more casual) and some other options within walking distance. There is no major grocery for provisioning within walking distance; you will have to take a taxi. The base’s location is well-situated for accessing the most popular cruising grounds, but it is not close to the international airport. Expect a 45 minute to 1hr taxi ride. The Moorings had a taxi waiting for us on our arrival at the airport, which we were not expecting. The staff at the Moorings base was excellent as usual, and the chart and boat briefing were very thorough. Moorings is always willing to accommodate our requests such as providing us with an extra cooler for our drinks. In terms of provisioning, we chose to provision on our own upon arrival, but we did have the Moorings provision the majority of our beverages (soft drinks, beer, and gallon jugs of water). Much easier than having to lug those heavy items back from the grocery. We also always opt for the “charter starter kit”, which includes condiments, paper towels, trash bags, charcoal, etc.
We arrived on Friday, August 5, too late in the afternoon to do the chart and boat briefing that day. The Moorings had the boat ready for us at the dock, with our beverage provisioning already onboard and the shore-power AC cranking. With the benefit of the AC, we had a comfortable first night aboard the boat.
The following morning, we did the chart and boat briefing, topped off the water tanks, took care of a few last-minute issues, and departed the base by about 11:30 in 20-25kt winds and 8-9ft seas! We raised the main with a single reef before leaving the protection of the harbor, and the Moorings sent a pilot boat to guide us out into the ocean. It was a pretty wild ride coming out of the channel directly into the big swell and high winds, and everyone was quickly drenched from the waves smashing over the bow. Doesn’t get any better than that! We were fortunate that the conditions were much calmer upon our return to base, but it is worth noting that Oyster Pond (along with Orient Bay) would be pretty hazardous to enter in much heavier conditions, with the wind and swell pushing you towards the reefs.
After clearing the channel we motored about a half mile offshore directly into the wind, and then set our course for Gustavia on St. Barthelemy, a sail of perhaps about 15nm. After arriving at Gustavia, we motored around for a bit looking for the best spot to anchor, and finally settled on the area just northwest of Fort Oscar and close enough for any easy dinghy ride into the inner harbor. Anchored with good holding in about 15ft of water. The harbor was pretty crowded for off-season, so I can only imagine how it must be in December or January. We cleared through customs and immigration, and had a great dinner at Eddy’s, a short walk from the waterfront.
The following morning we were up early for a longer sail (about 25nm) down to the Dutch island of St. Eustatius (Statia). The winds were still quite brisk, but fortunately had calmed down more to the 18-22kts range rather than 20-25kts. Seas were also down a bit. Had a fantastic beam reach under reefed main and jib, and arrived at Statia far earlier than we had anticipated.
On the northwestern tip of Statia, there is a large depot where oil tankers drop off oil from South America (mostly Venezuela we were told) and other ships pick up the oil to transport it far and wide. The area is marked by a giant oil tanker buoy about a mile offshore, and you should stay well to seaward of this buoy as you are coming up or down the coast. It was pretty surreal sailing through a giant field of anchored tankers waiting to pick up or drop off their load. Just to the south of this area was our destination, Oranje Baai and the capital, Oranjestad.
Take note…there are no mooring balls at Oranjestad! Contrary to 2010-2011 edition of the cruising guide, and what we were told during our chart briefing, the mooring balls that were previously in place here were removed due to the excessive cost of their upkeep. We were not the only boat that came in and searched a good amount of time for the elusive mooring balls. Confusing the matter are the myriad of smaller mooring balls put in place by the locals, but don’t pick these up because they are private and likely won’t hold your boat! The good news is that the anchoring is easy and the holding is good anywhere behind the protection of the breakwater.
Statia was a real highlight of the trip for us, and we enjoyed the quiet, off the beaten track feel after coming from bustling St. Martin and St. Barths. Don’t come here for the beaches, but the diving, historical sites, and natural beauty are all spectacular. After clearing customs and immigration, we went ashore to walk up the hill to the town. Oranjestad feels like something out of old world Europe rather than the Caribbean — many beautifully restored homes. Fort Oranje is also worth a visit and has a great history, including the famous “first salute” to the United States.
The following morning, we arranged a two tank dive with Golden Rock Dive Center, and we were not disappointed! Golden Rock is a great operation and the diving located immediately outside the anchorage is not to be missed. We did one wreck and one reef dive, and wished we could have stayed longer to do more diving — the reefs here are really in great shape compared to elsewhere in the Caribbean. In the afternoon we took a taxi tour overland to get some views of the “Quill” volcano.
The next morning, though we wished we had time to continue south, we cleared out of Statia and headed back north to St. Barths, picking up a marine park mooring ball for the night (free of charge) at Anse de Colombier, on the western tip of the island. Anse de Columbier is a beautiful, well protected anchorage with a great beach and a secluded feel. Do not miss the half hour walk to Anse des Flamandes — the trail is cut into hills and cliffs along the water and is quite beautiful. Be sure to take sturdy shoes.
The next morning, we did two more dives with St. Barth Plongee. Based out of Gustavia, they happily came to pick us up at Anse de Columbier. After returning to the boat, we motored a short distance over to the small island of Ile Fourchue, where we picked up another park mooring for the night. Ile Fourche is another great stop for those who enjoy seclusion. We shared the anchorage with just a couple other boats, and we ventured ashore to explore and had the entire island to ourselves. Hiking the peaks on Ile Fourche was a real highlight — with amazing views towards both St. Barths and St. Martin and down into the anchorage. There are no real beaches here, but the rugged island is definitely worth exploring. We placed our trip geocache, the “Oyster CrewCache”, at the foot of a rocky outcropping. While ashore, we also noticed a dinghy being pounded against the rocky coastline on the windward side of the island — we reasoned that the dinghy must have escaped its owner in St. Barths and floated the short distance across to Ile Fourche. We tried to rescue the dinghy and managed to get the engine started and the boat backed out into deeper water — only to have the outboard fail. We tossed the anchor over the side and spent about 45 minutes attempting to restart the outboard before we gave up and paddled back in to shore between the rocks. Hopefully the owner finds their dinghy — it looked brand new!
After a peaceful night on the mooring ball at Ile Fourche, we departed the following morning for a long sail to the British island of Anguilla. By this point in the trip, the wind had died down considerably and was averaging approximately 8-15kts, with some higher gusts. We sailed and motorsailed on a broad reach and a run around the southern end of Sint Maarten, past the beautiful blue water at Point Basse Terre, and north across the narrow channel and around the western tip of Anguilla. We then headed up the north coast of Anguilla and into Road Bay and Sandy Ground Village. Anguilla is a low-lying island with fine white sand beaches — the white sand gives the water beautiful shades of light blue and green. Road Bay is the main port of entry, but also a great stop in its own right, with a long beach and plenty of restaurant and bar options ashore. We anchored with about 4ft of water under the keel (setting the anchor was easy in the sandy bottom) and went ashore to clear in and pay the park fees. In the anchorage, we watched kids from the Anguilla Youth Sailing Club practicing some very impressive roll tacks on 420s. The club rented us a Hobbie Wave for an hour, and we had a fun time zipping through the anchorage and out into the open ocean. That night, we had dinner ashore and visited one of the local bars for live music.
The next morning, we got a leisurely start, went searching for another geocache, and then departed for Prickly Pear Cays around 11:00am. Prickly Pear Cays are a day-only anchorage within the marine park, with plenty of park mooring balls available. It took about an hour to reach Prickly Pear from Road Bay (heading north past Sandy Island), and we were very glad that we made the trip! Prickly Pear is a beautiful small island with a perfect beach on the north side of the island a little beach bar run by a very entertaining English expat. The sand and water here was some of, if not the finest that we encountered throughout the entire trip, and we regretted that we didn’t have more time to spend on the island. In the late afternoon, we motored back to our overnight anchorage at Crocus Bay. Crocus is a fine anchorage (and supposedly the only other permitted overnight anchorage), but anchoring room was a bit limited with the number of local boats and moorings in the bay. We finally found a spot, and holding (as it was throughout the entire trip) was very good on a sandy bottom.
The next morning we motored the very short distance to Little Bay to explore the caves onshore. Definitely take the time to stop here for an hour or two and explore the caves and rock formations. There are also a couple nice looking beaches tucked in between the rocks. After an hour or so exploring, the dive boat came to pick us up for our fifth and final dive of the trip — another wreck dive. We dove with Douglas Carty, a small operation based out of Road Bay. Though a small operation, Douglas was very professional and offered personalized service; we really enjoyed diving with him.
After returning from the dive, we quickly got underway and sailed up the north coast of Anguilla and through Scrub Island Pass. After coming through the pass, we headed back south to our next destination — Orient Bay on St. Martin. Orient Bay can be tricky to enter and (like Oyster Pond) not advisable to enter in high seas. We had good conditions with calm seas, and we carefully followed the instructions in the cruising guide to enter the bay through the reefs and anchor between Green Cay and the nude beach with only a few feet under the keel. The water in the anchorage is spectacular blue-green, although we encountered many jellyfish (seemingly the non-stinging variety). Orient Bay is a different experience and not necessarily our preferred type of anchorage — it was extremely crowded and touristy during the day, with jet skis and parasail boats flying through the anchorage. At night it cleared out a bit, but the restaurants on shore were still a bit touristy and overpriced. After some searching, we did find a nice bar with friendly waitstaff where we had a good dinner ashore. Even if you don’t like crowds, it may still be worth a visit to Orient Bay just for the experience.
The following morning, our last aboard the boat, we got an early start for our short trip down the coast to Oyster Pond. We pulled in to the dock, packed our bags, did the quick debrief with the Moorings, and were on our way back to the airport by noon — another great sailing vacation in the books!
Overall, we really enjoyed out cruise through the northern leeward islands. Highlights include the diving in Statia, secluded anchorages of Anse de Columbier and Ile Fourche on St. Barths, and the beaches on Anguilla. Moorings as always provided top-notch service and a great boat. We hope to explore these waters again some day.
The last two days of the trip were spent returning to St. Maartin. Waking up in Anguilla on day 9, we quickly made way back to St. Maartin. This time in St. Maartin, we anchored in Oriental Bay, on the Northeast side of the island. Oriental Bay is on the French side of St. Maarten, so the vibe is a bit different. We swam for a bit in Oriental Bay, and then took the dhingy ashore to go find some drinks and dinner. We ended up having dinner and drinks at a great little bar right on the beach. We ended day 9 with late night drinks in the cocktail of the boat.
Day ten was our final day. Waking up in Oriental Bay, we made a quick motor back to Oyster Bay. Getting into Oyster Bay was much easier than getting out, since the weather was relatively calm this time. When we arrived back at The Moorings docks, we did a big cleanup of the boat, and unloaded all of our gear. From there, we got a cab back to the SXM airport. Zac, Dyana, Evan and Sean went to check in, and me and Evelyn went to check in to The Crewhouse, a hostel near the airport. While Evelyn relaxed at The Crew House, I went back to the airport to meet up with Zac, Evan, Dyana and Sean. We all sat in the terminal for a bit until Sean left for his flight. Zac, Evan and Dyana’s flight was delayed, so the four of us took a bus across town to get some food. Then, I took them back to the airport for their flight. Evelyn left the next afternoon. I’m still staying in St. Maarten.
– Woke up this morning in Rode bay. After a leisurely breakfast, we raised the anchor and started to make way for Prickly Pear Cay.
– About halfway through the seven mile passage, Sean’s GPS slipped out of the loop in the bimini that it was attached to, and bounced into the ocean. It wasnt a mission critical issue, since we have a built in chart plotter, but it was a big loss. I set a MOB waypoint on the chartplotter, and we spent the next half hour or so circling around looking for the GPS floating in the water. Miraculously, like finding a needle in a haystack, Zac spotted the GPS floating and we quickly retrieved it.
– Another 4 miles and we arrived at Prickly Pear Cay, where we anchored on the south side. We dhingied around to the pristine beach on the north side, and immediately went ashore for drinks from the grass hut on the beach. Our afternoon was filled with relaxing on the beach and in the water.
– Tonight we sailed back to Anguila, to anchor in Crocus Bay. Tomorrow morning we’re being picked up to do a cool wreck dive in the morning.
– Woke up at Il Forche and made an early departure under motor power.
– Plotted a long course from Il Forche past St. Barts, around the west coast of St Maartin, and then across the channel towards Anguilla. We rounded the west point of Anguilla, and then cruised along the north coast to Road Bay. We anchored in Road Bay/Sandy Ground.
– Sean, Zac and I went ashore to clear through british customs and get more passport stamps.
– Spent some time swimming from the boat
– Went back in to shore to go to the grocery. Evelyn, Zac, Evan, and Dyana took a cab across the island to go grocery shopping.
– Sean and I walked down the beach to the Anguilla Sailing Club and rented a fun Hobie Cat sailboat. We also seemingly challenged one of the kids at the clubhouse to a race. Sailing the Hobie Wave out into Road Bay was fun, and we were eventually caught up to by this other kid in his Hobie Wave. We started following him, and were let way out of the bay into the open ocean – in a tiny Hobie Wave!
– We eventually made it back to shore, and met up with the rest of the crew to dinghy back to our boat.
– For dinner tonight, the five of us went ashore. Evelyn stayed on the boat, after passing out after our evening cocktail hour.
– We had an expansive, but marginally good meal at Ripples. Then, went over to The Pumphouse for drinks and to listen to a live reggae ban an hang out with the locals, including a kid we met at the sailing club.
– Sleep tonight, and tomorrow we’re spending a day on Prickly Pear Cay.
– Woke up in our quiet Columbier bay mooring, and got picked up to scuba dive with Birdie.
– Birdie’s dive boat was very very nice and new, and birdie was a nice and knowledgable divemaster. However, he was very hurried and businesslike with how he handled us. Immediately after we got on the dive boat, he had all the equipment ready, and had us get into our dive gear and ready. The second we got to the dive site, he had us file off the end of the boat, seemingly military style. The whole operation was very swift and precise, and it felt like we were just another group of paying tourists to hurry through the system. It was fairly impersonal and hurried. Our two dives with Birdie were great – amazing coral and marine life, and Birdie was an expert at pointing out interesting things to look at. Of particular note, we encountered a super friendly sea turtle, which hung out with us for a while on our dive.
– After diving, Birdie dropped us back at our sailboat, where we had a quick and tasty lunch.
– After lunch, we departed from Columbier and motored across the channel over to Il Forche, a beautiful, deserted scrub island off the west coast of St. Barts.
– Moored in Il Forche, and then took the dinghy ashore.
– Hiking around Il Forche was amazing. The island is rocky, covered with low scrub brush. Sean and I climbed to the top of one of the peaks, and then went and met the others lower by the cliffs.
– While looking off the cliffs, we spotted an abandoned dinghy which had been pushed into the jagged rocks at the base of the cliff. The dinghy looked somewhat serviceable, so Sean and I hiked down the cliff to go investigate. The abandoned dinghy appeared to be serviceable, although a little banged up from being slammed into the rocks be the large waves rolling in.
– We decided to try to salvage the dinghy and get the motor running. After a few minutes of fighting in the rough waves and jagged rocks, we were able to get all of the stray lines and anchor chain untangled from the rocks. Then, after working on the engine for a bit, we finally got it started.
– The engine ran fine for a bit, so we motored out away from the rocks. However, as we were about to clear out of the rocky area, the motor died. Now, we were out in the water, but getting pushed uncontrollably by large waves into the rocks at the base of the cliff. After frantically trying and failing to get the engine started for a bit, we realized that we were getting dangerously close to being slammed into the rocks. We paddled frantically for a bit with the one oar and a piece of one of the seats, and eventually made a little farther away from the rocks. Once we had a bit of distance from the rocks, we untangled the anchor line, and managed to successfully anchor the dinghy, just a few feet away from the beginning of the rocks.
We then shifted our focus back to starting the dinghy motor. After another 40 minutes of trying, we realized that the sun was setting, and it would ve extremely bad to be caught washing onto the breakers at night. So, we picked the least dangerous pathway around the rocks to the base of the cliff, and pulled up the anchor. Once we were free, we paddled frantically, and eventually made a mostly smooth passage around the rocks, and climbed out of the dinghy onto the rocks. We abandoned the dinghy, and finally climbed ashore and hiked back across the island to meet up with the rest of the crew. We were disappointed that we couldnt salvage the dinghy, but were glad we escaped with our lives!
– Tonight, we had a relaxing dinner on the boat, and are going to sleep.
– Woke up around 8, immediately set sail for St. Bart’s.
– Sailed in 18kt winds about 30 miles to St Barts. Beat upwind the entire day, with the boat heeling significantly.
– Moored in the amazingly beautiful Columbier bay – on the far western tip of St Barts. The bay is secluded from the rest of the island, an has a pristine white sand beach.
– Swam off the back of the boat for a while, and took pictures of each other jumping off the side of the boat.
– Saw lots of fish swimming under the boat, and Dyana and Evan went snorkeling for a bit.
– Got our shore gear together and hiked eastward on St. Barts for about an hour. The hike to the other side of the ridge was beautiful, and halfway through the hike descended through the village of Columbier.
– Hiked back to the beach, and returned to the boat for dinner. Of note, Evelyn ate 4 turkey burgers w/ half a jar of mayo and about a box of mac and cheese.
– Tomorrow we’re waking up early to go scuba diving, and then sailing to Il Forche
– Woke up early at 7:30 and dinghyd over to the diving dock to meet up with Golden Rock Divers. Our first dive of the day was supposed to be on a reef area – however, as we were starting the dive, Evelyn mysteriously floated away and out of sight. Before we could even begin the dive, we had to end it, and all got back on the boat to search for Evelyn. When we finally spotted her, she was a couple hundred yards away from the boat – nobody understood how she got so far away from the boat so quickly. Since there were still divers from the other group on their dive under the moored boat, we couldn’t simply drop the mooring and go get Evelyn. We had to wait another 30 for all of the other divers to get back on the boat, as Evelyn floated farther and farther out to sea.
We had Evelyn in sight, but didnt know her condition – she could have had a dive accident, or worse – she wasnt swimming for the boat, so we assumed the worst. It was important to get to Evelyn as soon as possible to check her condition, so while the rest of the group stayed with the boat, I grabbed a rescue ring, and made sure i had my trusty whistle and safety tube on me. I got back in the water in my full scuba gear with the rescue ring, and swam out to Evelyn – about a 10 minute surface swim, which was not easy with full wetsuit and gear. When i finally got out to Evelyn’s position, I approached cautiously with the ring in front of me, and gave it to her to hang on to.
It turned out that she was fine, but making the swim against the current to the dive boat would have been treacherous and dangerously tiring. Instead, i inflated the safety tube to signal our location, and we floated together holding the rescue ring. Eventually all the divers got back on the dive boat, and they dropped the mooring and came over to pick me and Evelyn out of the water, safe and sound.
Eventually we learned that Evelyn was a bit slower to start her dive than the rest of us, and during her time on the surface, she floated away from the underwater location of the rest of the group – clutching the mooring line. When she did eventually start her dive, she was separated from the group. Since we couldn’t see Evelyn from our position underwater, we immediately aborted the dive and returned to the surface to look for her. However, in the time we were surfacing, she was descending – but not on the secure mooring line. Apparently she stayed under the water for a bit looking for us, however she was being pulled away from the group and boat by the current the whole time. By the time she surfaced, she was very far away from the boat, and we were on the boat looking for her.
– After recovering Evelyn, we. Went back to shore to drop the other divers off, and then headed back out on the dive boat to try again on our first dive. This time everybody stayed together, and we had a great dive looking at sealife.
– Lunch and surface interval were at the pirate restaurant down the street. Also, I took Evelyn back to the boat so she could hang for the rest of the day.
– For the second dive, we went down on a shipwreck. The ship was sunk in 2005, so it was still fairly intact. Diving on the xx was great, and we even saw a very rare frog fish.
– After diving, we got picked up by Bobby, a local resident who has been living on Statia his whole life. Bobby’s entire family lives here on a very nice tract of land, and his son is currently the governor.
– We rode with Bobby in his bus around the entire island.
– Before returning to the boat, we stopped off at the grocery to pick up a bit of food.
– Pasta for dinner tonight, and then sleep.
– Sailing back to St. Barts tomorrow
What a busy day! I’m just finding the time to wright this on my iPhone as i go to sleep in the forward cabin of the boat. Today we made way from St. Barts to Statia.
– Early morning start getting out of the harbor.
– Heavy winds again, around 18kt throughout the day. Now that we’re more familiar with how the boat sails under heavy winds, we unfurled the entire jib, and raised the main to the 1st reef.
– Sailed on a nice beam reach all day, sometimes making close to 9kt. Awesome!
– As we got within range of Statia, we started to see a huge grouping of very large oil tankers offshore to Statia.
– When we got near, we counted about 12 city sized tankers. They were waiting for a spot at the pumping pier to load or unload crude oil onshore. Sailing between the tankers was very dramatic.
– Finding a secure place to stop at the minimally protected harbor at Statia was a bit difficult – our first two moorings were faulty, so we finally anchored. Apparently all of the other boats had the same issues with the Statia Moorings as we did, because they were all anchored too – in an unnecesarily tight formation.
– After a tasty lunch on the boat, everyone except Zac went ashore to explore.
– Walking around Statia felt a little like walking around an extremely well done international theme area at disneyworld.
– The dutch colonial style wa perfectly preserved, and a pleasure to explore – we even found a synagogue with a mickvah!
– For dinner on the boat tonight, Zac and Dyana made us tasty soft tacos.
– Tomorrow we’re staying anchored in Statia, and going Diving and hiking all day.
– So far the trip is great, although I’m not sure Evelyn is getting along with everyone as well as we would have hoped.
– Woke up at the moorings marina at oyster bay. Me, Sean, Zac went over to The Moorings office for the chart briefing, while Dyana, Evan and Evelyn made preparations to the boat.
– The chart briefing was informative, and we went over all of the charta of the Leeward Islands, including our possible routes to Anguila, St. Barts, Nevis, St. Kitts, and Statia.
– I also stopped in the dive shop to discuss dive sights, and also signed up for DAN insurance online using a computer at a nearby hotel.
– After our brief boat orientation walk through with moorings staff, we departed the dock and made our way out of the harbor towards open water.
– Shallow water near the harbor entrance causes large breaking waves, and our exit to open water was very rough. We made it through, and into 22 kt winds.
– We sailed to St. Barts on only our mainsail, with one reef, since the wind was so strong. A bit faster and it would have been a gale.
– The seas were consistently rough, with swells over the beam all day, and a close haul.
– As we got closer to St. Barts, we started sighting the nav markers leading up to the marina – markers were easy to follow, and we anchored just outside of the protected inner mooring area.
– Out in the harbor, there are actually a bunch of moorings in seemingly good repair – but are privately owned.
– Immediately after anchoring, Zac, Sean and I took the dinghy over to the customs dock to check in.
– Dinner tonight was at Eddie’s, a local restaurant Zac has been going to with his family for years. We got there at 19:30, and after a great meal and many drinks, left around 23:30.
– We’re going to sleep tonight around 00:30, and waking up early tomorrow morning to sail Statia.
Sailing the Leeward Islands – my daily log. During this trip, I took some brief notes every day at the end of the day, using the notepad app on my Apple iPhone 4. Enjoy
– Woke up at the La Quinta in Miami – got Wendys via airport van through the drive-through.
– Met up with Sean waiting at the gate at the Miami airport. Surprisingly, neither of us grabbed anything at the duty free shop.
– Flight from Miami to SXM was somewhat uneventful. Landing, me and Sean met up with Zac, Dyana, Evan waiting at baggage claim. They had flown JetBlue direct from NYC
– We got a ride from the SXM airport with Noel, who was a cool. immediately after exiting the airport, we stopped by the Crew House to pick up our 6th and final crew member Evelyn. Evelyn is new to our crew this year, and we’re psyched to have her with us!
– Drove for an hour around the island to avoid crazy traffic, and finally made it to Moorings base in Oyster bay.
– Our Classy Beneteau 43.3 seems like a great boat – although there’s not as much storage as we really want. Also, there are 3 heads – one too many.
– Cabin assignments – me and Evelyn are in the forward cabin. Zac and Dyana are in the port aft cabin, and Sean and Zac in the starboard aft cabin.
– After depositing our gear in the boat, me, Evelyn, Dy and Evan got back in the cab and went shopping for provisions.
– We spent about $600 on provisions, enough for 6 people for 10 days, minus a couple dinners, which we’re planning on doing on shore at various bays we’ll be sailing to.
– Dinner tonight was next to the moorings marina at The dingy dock, where we got good planters punch and fish n chips.
– Tonight, we’re all beat from a long day of travel. We went over the charts briefly, and are now going to bed.
– Tomorrow, chart briefing, boat walk through, scuba organization, and setting sail.
This past weekend I met up with longtime friend Sean Safdi in San Diego and did American Sailing Association 103 and 104 training with the Seaforth Sailing School.
Day 1
Met our captain, Mike Roach, and crew mates, Terry and Rick. All great guys.
Provisioned the boat, a Catalina 36 mkII, prepared the boat for departure
Sailed out of Quivira Basin in Mission Bay, San Diego north up the coast to Oceanside.
Docked in Oceanside for the night, got dinner at a local seafood joint, walked around the Oceanside pier.
Day 2
Woke up on the boat in Oceanside marina, made way northward towards Dana Point.
Took our ASA 103 written exam before making way.
Sailed all day north, beating upwind on a close haul. Sailing on a close haul is an excercise in patience and precision. Sails must be trimmed perfectly for decent speet, and navigation becomes dicier as tacks must be made to stay relatively on course. Great practice.
On 2011/07/14 I sailed with Captain Brian Ohlfest to challange my ASA 101 Certification, and passed with flying colors! I completed the on water practical exam easily, and got a 100% on my written evaluation. Awesome!
Also, I sailed in my first regatta today – Seaforth Sailing Club’s Pau Hana. Although we didn’t win, we had a great time sailing around Mission Bay.
At long last, here’s the official blog post for our 2007 trip to sail in the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico. Slideshow.
Notice that all the photos are GEOCODED. I brought my GPS along on the trip and recorded a track log the whole time, which I merged with my photos.. so for each photo, you can see exactly where it was taken!
Sean’s trip report, posted to TravelTalkOnline.com…
I have just returned from 10 days sailing the beautiful Sea of Cortez in Mexico’s Baja California Sur, as well as another 4 days spent in Cabo San Lucas.
Our bareboat charter was aboard a Moorings Jeanneau 494, 4 cabin 4 head layout. Sailed with 8 friends as usual. The Sea of Cortez is amazing! It is remote and desolate and has a certain stark beauty that you find when the endless desert meets the sea. La Paz and the surrounding areas are a world away from the hussle and bustle of Cabo San Lucas to the south. On most days we were the only boat in an anchorage, and on a couple of days we saw no other boats at all!
Our charter began at the Moorings base located at Marina Palmira in La Paz. Of our 8, three flew directly into La Paz, and the remaining five of us flew into San Jose Del Cabo and drove up from the south. For the drive I rented a VW Jetta from Europcar at the Los Cabos airport. The drive up is just fine and can actually be a lot of fun. It takes about 2-2.5 hours and is all highway from the airport until you reach the outskirts of La Paz. Be warned however, I do not recommend that you do this drive at night. There is no shoulder on the highways, many places don’t have any lane markings, and there are quite a few unannounced detours to dirt roads. You also need to watch out for livestock all over the roads. Still it is a fun drive with some great views as you go through the mountains, and there are a number of small and interesting towns that you will pass through along the way.
Driving in the cities can be a little more interesting. There are mostly no lanes and stopsigns are often ignored. Just be aggressive like the locals and you’ll do just fine.
For our first night we opted to sleep onboard our boat at the docks at Marina Palmira. “El Shaddai” had shore power A/C which was nice in the 100+ degree daytime temperatures, but we wouldn’t get to enjoy that once we left the docks. The Marina facilities are very nice. There is a marine supply and fishing store on site, and the Moorings also runs a small provisioning shop where you can stock up on last minute items as well as water and ice (don’t do your provisioning here though). There are showers on shore accessible with a keycard, and the docks are gated as well. The Moorings operation itself is small and personal. I love these smaller bases compared to the charter madness in the BVI. Our briefer, Kevin, gave us what was by far the best and most in-depth chart briefing I’ve ever had, and he was always spot on with his inside knowledge. We also rented a kayak through the Moorings, and we rented fishing gear from the fishing store on site.
As is our normal custom, we self-provisioned once we arrived, but we had pre-ordered most of our drinks through the Moorings to cut down on having to carry the heavy stuff. If you have a car, your best bet is to drive in to town to the large and modern “CCC” supermarket to do your provisioning. DO NOT SKIMP ON PROVISIONS! You need to plan as if you will not have any opportunity to buy additional supplies for the length of your charter. There are essentially no services once you leave La Paz until you arrive in Loreto. Loreto is going to be too far away for most charters, so you are pretty much on your own. In particular bring way more water than you think you’ll need!
After our chart and boat briefing the following morning, we left the docks to begin our charter. We sailed north to Isla Espiritu Santo and our first night’s anchorage at Puerto Ballena (about 15 miles from the Marina). Puerto Ballena is a beautiful anchorage, but as with all locations on Isla Espiritu Santo and within the Bay of La Paz during the summer months you need to choose your anchorage and your exact location within the anchorage wisely. This is because of a weather phenomenon known as the Coromuel wind. The wind picks up in the evenings and we found that it could last until aprox. 10-11am the next morning. It blows predominately out of the southwest although we experienced dramatic wind shifts almost every night and you need to allow for 360 degree swinging room on your anchor. It was often howling at around 20kts by 3 or 4 in the morning. To counteract the coromuel, it is generally best to anchor tucked into the southern shore of the anchorages within the Bay of La Paz, and to avoid certain anchorages as night stops altogether. The wind actually is not that unwelcome. It provides a great cooling breeze, and can give you some good sailing weather in the early morning hours. Just be sure your anchor is set well for the night. I always put a snorkeler in the water to dive the anchor and help set it manually if necessary. The good news is that the holding is excellent generally in 15-25 feet of water. If you go shallower, just be aware that the tidal range in the Sea of Cortez is greater than many other charter destinations. Moorings should provide you with current tide tables.
The following morning we woke up early to do the first couple scuba dives of the trip. All 8 of us are divers, and we dedicated four days on the boat to diving. I will cover those seperately later in this report. We then headed north until we reached Ensenada Grande on Isla Partida, where we found an excellent anchorage along the southern shore in about 15 feet of water. Ensenada Grande is a convenient location because you can find some protection from the coromuel, it is close to the very cool sea lion colony at Los Islotes, and it is a good jumping off point for the crossing up to Isla San Francisco.
The following morning, after another couple of dives, we headed north yet again to Isla San Francisco (aprox. 20 miles north of the tip of Isla Partida). The hook on San Francisco provides good southerly protection, and this is also just about the northernmost extent of coromuel winds. This is a very beautiful anchorage! There is a long beach, and the best part is the amazing hike you can find on shore. Follow the trail up the steep cliffs overlooking the Bay of La Paz and the surrounding islands. The 360 degree views are absolutely stunning. You can find great hikes like this at most anchorages, but just be sure to go prepared. Take close-toed shoes, bring plenty of water, and consider wearing very light weight long pants. The cacti are everywhere and they are beautiful but they can also hurt! Also keep an eye out for rattlesnakes.
After a couple more dives, from San Francisco we headed north and west, back to the Baja peninsula and our next night’s anchorage at Punta Evaristo. Along the way, we made a day stop at Isla Coyote. Coyote has I would estimate about 20 residents, and that still makes it the second or third most inhabited island in the Sea of Cortez! Don’t expect to find any services here, but you can walk around, explore the small village, and buy some jewelry from a woman’s house about halfway up the big hill. This is basically your only gift shopping opportunity outside of La Paz.
The anchorage at Evaristo is about 50 miles north of La Paz and has a very small fishing village. Holding was good here in 15 feet of water right off of the town. There is a very small and basic general store here…so small it did not even have working lights when we were in town and we shopped with flashlights. You can also walk down the beach and buy fresh fish from the local fishermen. We bought excellent fish here. Whenever you see fishermen you can always ask to buy fish from them, and you might also be able to trade for fish with essentialls such as batteries. It is useful to speak some Spanish because most of these people don’t speak any English.
From Evaristo we headed north on our second longest sail. Puerto Gato is aprox. 30 miles north of Evaristo, but with our tacking we sailed aprox. 50 miles. Boy was it worth it! This was by far the most spectacular and most remote area of the trip! Along this part of the peninsula the high, jagged mountains fall close to the seashore, with endless unspoiled desert in between. You will see the largest saguaro cacti that you have ever seen! Gato itself is also spectacular. There are 2 pristine beaches, a giant sand dune that you can climb up and slide down, and crazy blood-red rock formations that you can explore. Further inland, a dirt path leads into the desert and you can explore in here as well. Listen for the coyotes howling at night, and keep an eye out for what I think are either desert cottontail or jackrabbits, which you will see everywhere inland.
At Gato, my group placed our only geocache of the trip. It is called the “Cromwell Cache” and I think it is probably about 1/4-1/2 mile inland. Take sturdy shoes and sufficient water if you go looking for it. We also explored by kayak and snorkeled here at Gato.
However, the very best part of Gato is a local fisherman, I think his name is Miguel. Kevin at the Moorings told us about Miguel but I was skeptical that he would show up. There is literally no sign of civilization for miles around, yet sure enough about half an hour after we anchored a little boat comes around the corner with Miguel onboard. Miguel is a great guy, just offer him a cold beer or soda and you will become best buddies instantly. Miguel can also provide you with some delicious seafood. We bought 100+ chocolate clams off Miguel for next to nothing (best to get a cooler from the Moorings for all the fish you’re likely to be buying/catching on the trip). We also bought 8 lobsters off of Miguel, and the best part of that was that he let some of our group come along in his boat to help catch them! That was quite an experience.
At night at Gato, we went ashore and built a huge campfire to cook our clams and feasted late into the night. That was really spectacular, cooking out under the brilliant stars in the middle of nowhere, eating an endless supply of fresh clams.
The next day we spent most of the day still exploring Gato, letting some of the crew work off the tequila from the night before. In the evening we slipped around the corner about a mile to Punta San Telmo, the furthest north we would reach on this trip. We experienced a beautiful, blazing red sunset over the mountains here, as we did just about everywhere in Baja.
The following morning myself and one other crew member woke up VERY early to get started for an epic long sail at the crack of dawn. On this day we sailed, motored, and motor-sailed 60+ miles south to Caleta Partida, an anchorage formed by the narrow cut between Isla Partida and Espiritu Santo. Along the way, we watched as a group of pilot whales swam only feet from the boat. We also saw multiple pods of easily 100+ dolphins, as we did just about every single day. Some members of our group even saw manta rays leaping out of the water! I really think that the marine life you can see above water in Baja is almost as spectacular as what you can see below. Keep your eyes on the horizon! You will see huge fish jumping out of the water all the time, you will definitly see sea lions and dolphins up close all over the place, and you may see a variety of different types of whales or even whale sharks.
Along the way down the coast to Caleta Partida, we made a day stop at La Amortajada on Isla San Jose. This is a great day stop, but don’t think about spending the night here because we have heard that the mosquitoes in the mangroves come out in force. La Amortajada is beautiful though. There is a giant cactus forest here. There is also a huge beach, and the best part is a dinghy channel leading through the mangroves into a lagoon. Lots of opportunities to explore here, but we had a short stop because of the distance we still had to travel.
We arrived at Caleta Partida only about 45 minutes before sunset (fortunately sun sets late in the Baja during the summer months…we had sunset at aprox. 8:15pm) and quickly set our anchor. Partida is supposedly one of the most protected anchorages in the area, but we experienced fierce winds all night here. I stayed up most of the night checking and double checking the anchor alarm on my GPS.
The following day, after two more dives, we took off for our next anchorage at Caleta Enmedio which is essentially right around the corner. However, we had excellent wind and decided to take a few tacks out in the Bay of La Paz before heading in for the night. Enmedio is a great anchorage. We shared Partida with 2 other boats (a big crowd for the Sea of Cortez), but we were all alone here, and I found good coromuel protection tucked closely in along the southern shore.
The following day we headed south again for our final night’s anchorage at Caleta Lobos. Lobos is a good option for your last night because it is about 6 miles from the Pemex tanks marking the La Paz channel entrance, yet it still has a wilderness feel to it. This was the only location we had any difficulty setting our anchor (it took three tries). Also exercise caution here because the southern bight (best choice) shoals very rapidly not very far in. You can find 15-20 feet further out, but then it rapidly comes up to a shallow sand bank that is easily visible in good light but not later in the day.
The following morning we returned to La Paz to wrap up another fantastic charter with the Moorings.
SOME NOTES:
* SCUBA DIVING: Diving in the Sea of Cortez is a must in my opinion, particularly if you go during the summer when the water is relatively warm. Still, this is not tropical diving. We experienced surface water that averaged 80-84 degrees, just fine for snorkeling and boat showers, but then a series of thermoclines begining at aprox. 20-30 feet that dropped visibility and water temperatures down into the low to mid 70s. Water temperatures also swing dramatically at different times of year. I wore a 5mm wetsuit on my dives, but for some dives I would have appreciated a 7mm and a hood. Bring more exposure protection than you think you’ll need. Underwater, you’ll find an interesting mix of tropical and temperate species. Don’t expect much coral here, but you will see huge schools of fish, large pelagic fish, and interesting rock formations. You also have the opportunity to dive with sea lions at Los Islotes and elsewhere. The sea lions are great fun and they’ll come and the pups will come and play with you, tug at your fins, etc. Keep clear of the larger males. We also did a dive for hammerheads at the offshore seamount “El Bajo.” Unfortunately the visibility was not very good and we didn’t see any underwater, but I know they’re there because I saw them from the surface. Recommend you give it a shot if you’re in the area. I think the best part of diving around here is that you never know what you might see. Some of the dives are a little dull, but then you also might get the chance to play with sea lions or possibly see a hammerhead or a whale shark.
We dove with Club Cantamar, an operation located about 15-20 minutes drive north of the Moorings base at Puerto Pichilinque. Pedro at Club Cantamar is great. He helped us plan out our schedule to maximize our diving, and he even came to our Moorings chart briefing to help coordinate things on that end. Rendevous diving is not common in the Sea of Cortez, but Club Cantamar was more than happy to do it for us. They operate a fleet of large, well-equiped boats, and although they primarily operate in the Bay of La Paz they agreed to meet us further north at Isla San Francisco because of the amount of diving we were doing with them. If you are on a land-based diving vacation in the area you might also consider staying with them. They are a full-service diving resort and seem to have a lot of good packages. Their staff is professional and multilingual.
*FISHING: Fishing is a must here! Fishing, along with purchasing fish from fishermen if possible, is a good way to extend your provisions. We caught a big dorado (mahi mahi) our first day out, and it was delicious. We caught additional fish including a Bonito and a couple really huge fish that snapped our line. None of us would pretend to be good fishermen, and we never seem to have much luck, but we finally had some sucess here in the Sea of Cortez! This Sea is just brimming with life of every sort…as you’ll see during your travels. You can rent a full set of fishing gear from Marina Palmira. Also, bring some gloves and rent a gaff.
* WEATHER: Overall we had good weather. During the summer months the wind is sporadic, but we expected that. Your best bet is to get up early to do your sailing and catch the last of the coromuel wind. Unfortunately we were diving many mornings so we had to motor-sail a lot, and we burnt through our entire supply of diesel by the end of the trip (something I’ve never, ever come close to doing on charter before). The weather is also extremely hot during the summer, 100+ particularly inland, though you will find some cooling breezes on the water. Baja may be at a higher latitude than the Caribbean, but believe me the sun feels stronger! I think this is because of the lack of cloud cover (we did not have one single drop of rain the entire trip). Bring adequate sun protection and drink plenty of water!
As for weather reports, reliable reports are pretty much non-existant for the charter sailor. Reports MAY be broadcast at 8am on the local cruisers net, VHF 22. If you are concerned, your best bet is probably to try hailing local cruisers to see if they have any info, or give the Moorings a call. Moorings VHF range is limited, and because of the distances on this trip I decided to rent a satellite phone just to be on the safe side. I was glad that I had it.
* GPS: Well, everyone uses them these days, but you need to take care with your GPS here. Basically, the charts are totally inaccurate! If you follow your GPS you will probably end up aground your first day. GPS is great to find anchorages and guage distances with the waypoints alone, but don’t trust any electronic charts. I recommend picking up a copy of the Sea of Cortez mini-guide chart packet by Gerry Cunningham. These are essentially the same paper charts that the Moorings has on the boats, and they are good for planning purposes. They are a good reference if not extremely detailed. Things seemed to be a little better charted around the immediate La Paz area because of the US Navy’s use of the area during WWII.
* MOORINGS/MARINA PALMIRA: Once again a fine charter with the moorings. A few very minor issues with the boat but nothing you wouldn’t expect on a charter yacht. Our boat had a working anemometer which is unusual on a charter boat. The Marina also is very nice. In addition to the Moorings shop and the fishing shop there is a restaurant on site that we did not use. There is ample parking if you rent a car or drive down from California. Be sure to let the Moorings and the marina know if you have a car. You need to register it, and they will keep an eye on it while you’re out on your trip. The Marina will also take care of your Port Captain’s Clearance which is required in the Sea of Cortez.
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After our charter, our three crewmembers that flew directly into La Paz headed home, and the five remaining crewmembers drove back down to Cabo San Lucas. On the drive back we took an alternate route along the pacific coastline, with expansive views of the crashing surf below. This route will also take you through the town of Todos Santos, which has a bit of a touristy/artist colony feeling to it but it worth exploring for awhile to do some shopping, get lunch, etc.
On arrival in Cabo San Lucas we checked into the Cabo Inn. The Cabo Inn was a great find…a perfect little budget hotel! It is not on the beach, but it is a 10 minute walk from the main beach, and it is only about 2 blocks to the center of town with all the shopping, dining, marina, nightlife, etc. The Cabo Inn has a lot of character (check out the open air, rooftop palapa suites), a funky little pool and library on the roof, and a really friendly staff. Stanley, the manager, helped us with all of our sightseeing arrangements and got us some great deals on tours.
In Cabo, we drove dune buggies through the nearby desert, which was very cool and not for the faint of heart. I also did four scuba dives in Cabo. I dove through Amigos del Mar, a first class operation located about a 15 minute walk from the Cabo Inn. I wasn’t expecting much of the Cabo diving but was pleasantly surprised of the 2 dives I did at Lands End and at the Sand Falls. These are worth doing, and it is cool to be diving at what is literally the underwater tip of the peninsula. My other 2 dives were 2 hours away at Cabo Pulmo. Cabo Pulmo is a great site, although the conditions were difficult when I was there because we were diving off very small boats in large ocean swells. This is probably as close to a real coral reef as you will find in Baja. There had been some whale shark sightings in the area as well but we didn’t see any on our dives.
Overall Cabo is a fun town, but it is pretty touristy and after 4 days I was missing the solitude of the areas further north. Crazy bars and nightlife aren’t really my thing, but if you like that then you will love Cabo. One other thing worth doing is walking over to the pacific beaches as well as lands end, which was about a 20-25 minute walk from our hotel. Lands End has amazing rock formations that you can climb through and explore and reach some more secluded beaches. I enjoyed watching the huge pounding surf over on the pacific side as well.
As for dining in Cabo, we mostly stuck to the local establishments in the immediate vicinity of the Cabo Inn. You can put together a big meal at these places for $5-6 with some of the best tacos you’ve ever had (my mouth is watering just thinking about the carne asada tacos). You’ll pay at least double or tripple that at the touristy places.
This was another incredible trip, and I’m already missing Baja a lot. I love the desert southwest in the United States, and I love sailing too, so this trip really had the best of both worlds for me. We also got to experience the craziness of Cabo and the isolation of the Sea of Cortez. Moreover, the people in Baja are friendly and inviting. This area is nothing like Tijuana with all the crime and corruption further north. I would go back in a heartbeat.
Over the past December holiday break, I went exploring in Belize with a few friends. There were 9 of us this year, and this was our 4th big trip together for 7 of us, and the first trip for two others. Sean Safdi, whom I planned the trip with wrote an excellent report of the trip, which I’m re-posting below. Additionally, I’m including links to all of our photo and video galleries, as well as related websites.
Video Log
During the trip, we recorded a daily video log – a daily report of what we were up to and how we were feeling. Here are the full videos, days one through eleven in Belize. We tried to shoot the video during the end of the day, and in different locations each time. The footage was shot on a tripod with the Canon SD-780is Camera. A few of the clips have a little too much wind noise, which was hard to filter out since the camera only has a small built in mic with no windscreen.
Anyway, enjoy the videos – we definitely had a lot of fun making them. The player below has a playlist of all 11 of our daily video logs!
During the trip I also shot a couple clips of our activities.
Flights
To get from Belize City to Placencia and back, we flew on a small Cessna Caravan plane, operated by Maya Island Air – Here are videos from some of our flights. I talked to the pilot beforehand, and got him to allow me to sit in the co-pilots seat. I (unfortunately) didn’t get to actually fly the plane, but the pilot did give me a good rundown of all the flight controls while we were waiting to pick up passengers in Dangriga. Shot with the Canon SD-780is digital camera.
Scuba Diving
While we were sailing in Belize, we did a number of dives with Avadon Divers, operating out of Placencia. The Avadon dive boat would come pick us up from our catamaran at the cay we were currently anchored at, and take us out to the dive location. We loosely coordinated our sailing route with Avadon ahead of time, and used our Iridium Satellite phone to update them on our location while we were at sea. The diving was great, and we did three full days of diving – 8 dives overall. The highlight by far was diving the blue hole. We started the dive at the lip of it, and descended down to about 140 feet, where the circular lip opened up into a wide, deep, flooded cavern, with huge stalactites hanging down from the ceiling. Since we were diving so deep, bottom time was only a few minutes, and the decompression was fairly long. Swimming through the stalactites was dramatic, and we saw a bunch of large sharks swimming directly below us. Diving with Avadon was a great experience – their boat was clean and well rigged, and the staff was fun to dive with – and very knowledgeable. Shot on the Canon G10, with Canon underwater housing, rated to 130 feet – although it survived about 10 minutes at 140/145 feet.
Sean Safdi’s Belize Trip Report, originally posted on Travel Talk Online.
Just returned from another wonderful sailing and scuba diving vacation with the Moorings, this time out of Placencia, Belize. I’ll provide some of the highlights of our trip as well as a link to my photographs at the bottom.
We arrived in Belize on December 23. Our crew of nine flew to Belize City from around the United States, and we flew together from Belize City to Placencia on a Cessna Caravan from Maya Island Air. Highly recommend Maya Island Air – flights within Belize are very informal and you may find yourself stopping at one or more tiny airstrips on your way to your final destination, all part of the fun of it. Ask if you can sit up front with the pilot.
The Moorings base in Placencia has recently relocated from the South Water Resort to a new location several miles out of town. The new base is very nice although less convenient for restaurants and shopping in town. The new location is also located deep inside Placencia Lagoon, necessitating an approx. 30 minute motor through the lagoon to reach open water. Overall it is not a bad location, and the shoreside facilities are more than adequate. I recommend that if you plan to stay on shore before or after your charter you consider staying at the South Water Resort or another location closer to Placencia town. Placencia is a fun and funky town to walk around, stroll down the famous sidewalk, and enjoy some good restaurants. We stayed at South Water Resort the night after our charter.
Our first night we slept aboard our boat at the Moorings dock. This trip we chartered a Moorings 4000 cat. Normally we go the monohull route, but the thin water in Belize really makes a cat the obvious choice. Many times you will have only several feet of water under the hulls. The water shoals rapidly and at times unpredictably, and the charts (paper and electronic variety) are not accurate. It was a little unnerving, particularly at first, watching the depth sounder bounce from 70 feet to 8 feet and back again all the time. If you CAREFULLY follow the instructions and sketch charts in Rauscher’s excellent cruising guide you will be fine. Navigation skills here are critical, and you also need good light and a bow watch to read the water colors in places.
The 4000 cat overall was a great boat. Coming from the monohull world, we really enjoyed the spacious salon and cockpit. The cabins did seem a little small for a cat. Systems worked, fridge stayed reasonably cool, overall a fine boat. We did have one issue with a broken throttle cable later in the charter that was quickly resolved by Moorings mechanics. Of course being a cat two things are definitely true – the boat is highly maneuverable under power and not so great heading upwind under sail. I’m also not a big fan of having all the lines run back to the helm. Gets a little crowded when you have many people wanting to help out with the sailing.
This trip we also did something unusual for us and provisioned through the Moorings. Moorings recommended this because provisioning options are not great in Placencia to begin with, combined with our arrival right before Christmas. Overall I was satisfied with Moorings provisioning, but I would always recommend to provision on my own if at all possible. Moorings always seems to provide tons of certain random items (4 or 5 jars of olives?) and not enough of the real staples. We supplemented their provisioning with additional items purchased after we arrived. I would, however, always recommend provisioning beverages through the Moorings – you can’t go wrong, and it beats having to carry cases of beer and soda and gallons of water all over town.
We conducted the chart briefing the evening of our arrival, and the boat show the following morning before we left the dock. Chart briefing was detailed and overall well done. It helped that we had done or research and extensively planned out our route prior to arrival. Moorings basically confirmed my route and made a few minor course corrections. One thing I was a little disappointed of was their recommendation for a last night anchorage. At the chart briefing Moorings suggested Lark Cay as a possible last night stop. I don’t recommend it! After motoring around Lark Cayes for about half an hour I could not find anything less than about 50ft depth. There are in my opinion much nicer options within a reasonable sail or motor, such as Wippari Cay, South Long Cocoa Cay (our choice), or even the Placencia town anchorage.
After finishing up at the Moorings dock, we departed for our first night’s destination – Wippari Cay. Wippari Cay, like many of the more popular anchorages, had two mooring balls. The Mooring balls are free and we found them to be in good condition (but you should always check). We arrived too late to snag a mooring ball but found the holding to be good on a sandy bottom. Moorings recommends, and I second their recommendation, using a secondary anchor off the bow at most locations. We found the wind to be very shifty, ranging all the way from northwest to southeast, and two anchors will limit your swinging room.
From Wippari Cay we moved north to South Water Cay. South Water Cay is a beautiful location right on the edge of the barrier reef! Navigating to South Water Cay from the south can be a bit tricky. We went through the Blue Ground Range, carefully reading the water colors and meticulously following the instructions and waypoints noted in Rauscher’s guide. The water is extremely shallow in places, but if you trust the guide and your instincts you will be fine. It is well worth the long journey north to South Water Cay. Here we had dinner ashore (one of the few places you can do this in Belize) and visited the small resorts and research station on the island. You can find good snorkeling here along the barrier reef – we found good snorkeling at most of our anchorages on this trip.
From South Water Cay we headed north, sailing inside the barrier reef up to Tobacco Cay. Tobacco Cay is fun and funky – many young people camping on the beach and partying late into the night. This is another beautiful location right on the barrier reef – highly recommended. We managed to pick up a mooring ball here.
From Tobacco Cay we looped back south down the inner channel to Lagoon Cay. Lagoon Cay is a mangrove cay with an interesting lagoon and some pretty good snorkeling around the edge of the island. There are two mooring balls located here. Nice quiet anchorage.
From Lagoon Cay we headed south down the wide open Victoria Channel (enjoy sailing in the inner channel and Victoria channel when you can – there is not much deep, open water in Belize), then headed east back into shallow water to the Queen Cays. Queen Cays are magnificent tiny specks of sand with beautiful blue water. They remind me of the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines or maybe Sandy Spit in the BVI. This is a marine park and the rangers will collect a small fee on your arrival (there are a number of other marine reserves where you may have to pay a fee as well). By the time we arrived at Queen Cays, a norther had blown in with wind and small chop on the water. Not ideal, but still this was a great location and we found decent protection tucked up behind the southern cay. There is great diving and snorkeling to be done around here. We placed a geocache on the middle cay.
From Queen Cays we headed south again to Ranguana Cay. Ranguana is a beautiful small cay with a small resort. There are mooring balls here, but we arrived too late to snag one. We had difficulty setting our anchor in the hard bottom, but eventually got it done. I always recommend putting someone in the water for a close visual inspection and to help set the anchor by hand if necessary. Easy to do in Belize with the clear, shallow water.
From Ranguana we headed back east towards Placencia. Our plan was to anchor at our final location for two nights, so that we could have one full day to dive the blue hole and lighthouse reef atoll. After rounding beautiful Colson Cay (looked like a great day stop if you have time) we headed into the aforementioned Lark Cays but could not find a suitable anchorage. After finding nothing in Lark Cays, we headed out to South Long Cocoa Cay. We were not disappointed with this decision! South Long Cocoa Cay is isolated and quiet, with just a single small local fishing camp (we purchased fish from the fishermen here, as well as at south water cay). There is a single mooring ball that was already taken, but we had a relatively easy time anchoring. You do need to come in very close to shore to anchor, as the water shelves up rapidly from 50+ ft to 5-10 feet immediately offshore. We spent two nights here to facilitate our diving, discussed below, before returning the boat to the Moorings on January 1.
DIVING: Out of our 9 crew we had 7 experienced divers on board. In addition to snorkeling pretty much everywhere, we dove three days on this trip with Avadon Divers out of Placencia. I highly recommend Avadon! Get in touch with them before your trip and they will help you plan out your route to coordinate with the best diving opportunities. They’ll meet you at the anchorage, take you out on a 2 or 3 tank dive in the morning and early afternoon, and get you back with enough time to move to a relatively nearby anchorage. Avadon is a bit expensive, but they have a large boat (stable and never full) and provide first class service. They also have delicious and plentiful food! It is almost worth the cost for their lunches alone! Hot lunches every day and fresh fruit snacks between all dives.
We met Avadon at South Water Cay for a 3 tank dive, Queen Cays for a 2 tank dive, and finally a full day dive trip to Lighthouse Reef Atoll and the Blue Hole. All of the diving was great, but the day trip to the blue hole was really special. This is truly a full day excursion as lighthouse atoll is quite remote and approx 3.5hrs motor from the Placencia area. The water at lighthouse is spectacular! Beautiful hues of blue and green meet the deep blue of the open ocean seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Our trip to lighthouse atoll included 3 dives. The first dive was the world famous blue hole!! Diving this giant crater is really an experience. The dive is short as it is deep – approx 130-140 feet. The water is clear, almost like diving a fresh water cave, and we saw several reef sharks lurking in the distance. After the blue hole we headed out for a reef dive and then lunch on shore at half moon cay, a beautiful island and also a bird sanctuary (take the nature walk and visit the observation tower). One final dive, and then a long boat ride back to our anchorage, arriving well after dark on new years eve. Ringing in the new year in style!
After returning our boat to the Moorings on Jan 1, we checked into our hotel in Placencia (South Water Resort) and then departed on a half day tour down the Monkey River. I highly recommend touring the Monkey River (can be done in half day) or perhaps even going for a full day inland excursion to the mayan ruins if you have the time. Inland Belize is in many ways just as spectacular as the cayes. After traveling by boat down to Monkey River Town, we headed upriver, observing many unique birds, crocodiles, and yes many many howler monkeys! Great fun and a great way to wrap up our trip to Belize.
As previously mentioned – Placencia is also a fun town to explore for a day or two. You can walk everywhere, and there are an interesting mix of locals and expats and other folks just looking to get away from it all. Recommend Omar’s and Wendy’s for delicious creole cuisine. Don’t miss the gelateria! We found a geocache here in Placencia and added Maple Longarms, a travel bug that we first picked up on Anegada in the BVI, later placed in Tahiti, picked up once again after he returned to Colorado, and now will continue his adventures in Central America.
Overall: Belize is great! It feels remote, but you can still find a good mix of inhabited and uninhabited cays, as well as opportunities to both moor and anchor. There are some shoreside dining opportunities, but you should be prepared to be mostly self-sufficent for the length of your charter. Navigation was stressful at times (I’m paranoid and overly cautious) but it was also fun and challenging. You will definitely improve your navigation skills here. If you go – go with a cat for Belize! Moorings, as always a wonderful experience. Yes you will always have minor issues with any boat in charter, but the Moorings customer service is fantastic and they are always there to help out. We’ve been chartering with the Moorings for years, all over the world, and always enjoy the consistent quality (even with the slightly older club line boats).
Until the next adventure, wishing everyone fair winds and following seas!
Sean
In December of 2006, accompanied by a local guide and my longtime friend Sean Safdi, I sailed the southern Nile river in an ancient Felucca sailboat. Although an ancient design, the boat sailed easily, and was maneuverable in the variable conditions and rapids of the river. A few photos from the journey.
