Sailing Dream vs Reality: Is This Really What We Came For?? (Ep.156, CSS)

This weeks video is sponsored by Kamikoto: https://kamikoto.com/CALICOSKIES
For $50 off use the code CALICOSKIES

We finally arrive into the Sea of Cortez after 2,000+ miles of sailing desperate to be back into the swing of cruising; our expectations couldn’t be higher after months of dreaming. We arrive at 6am after a 3.5 day offshore passage from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We crash for a few hours, wake up around noon and by 2pm are out exploring. While Grace is snorkeling around, the sky darkens quickly and all of a sudden a massive storm is on us. We race back to the boat in our dinghy in steep, choppy seas and finally arrive to Calico Skies relieved that she hasn’t dragged. The chart plotter recorded over 30 knots of wind and complete shift in wind direction in the short time we were gone.

Things are off to a rocky start but an evening hike reveals a spectacular view from a nearby cliff overlooking our anchorage. Turquoise water meets red cliff and it is absolutely stunning.

The next day we head to the beach with our friends and enjoy the clear water and beautiful sandy shore. It’s definitely starting to feel like the paradise we imaged. We decide to head out for our first free dive in the Sea’s waters and are stunned to find a massive amount and variety of fish. Then something magical happens: I am shocked to see a large octopus slowly emerging from a rock, perfectly camouflaged and beautiful. I a full spend 5 minutes watching him swim from rock to rock and time stands still.

Meanwhile, our friend Gary of sv OneLife is out already and has speared a snapper. Bill is on the hunt and soon spears a perfect sized Grouper!

We decide that between the two of us we’ve caught enough fish to feed our whole friend group for dinner so we plan to have everyone aboard sv Delos & sv OneLife over to Calico Skies to eat. But as we’re arriving back to our boat we see a swarm of Bees buzzing around and discover a large group hovering over our cockpit. They’re also down below and we’re surprised to see them so early in our cruising season. We’d heard rumors that they could be a problem but we’d hoped not to deal with so soon.

Later, the sunset is stunning and the company even better aboard Calico Skies. We sample the Grouper and the Dog Snapper Gary caught and they are delicious. Watching the moonrise in our quiet, peaceful anchorage is a night to remember.

The next morning we make a team effort to locate 2 items that have gone overboard in the short time we’ve been here: The knife that Bill threw overboard when he cut himself fileting fish yesterday and a dive weight. We marked the spots on Navionics but we’ve swung 175 degrees overnight so it will be a challenge, especially with the bottom covered in fuzzy grass. I jump in and am able to locate the knife without too much difficulty, closely followed by the dive weight. Its been a bumpy couple of first days in the Sea of Cortez but we’re excited to see what the future of our cruising season holds here!

0:00 Intro
1:21 We Made it to the Sea of Cortez
6:22 Hike to the top
8:35 Beach Day
9:50 Spearfishing and diving
10:24 This weeks sponsor: Kamikoto!
11:54 Back to the show! More Spearfishing and diving
18:01 The Bees of Cortez
18:30 Group Dinner with Delos & One Life
23:06 Looking for items we dropped in the water
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