What’s Good about the Sea of Cortez

Acknowledging the adage that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’, we’ll let the accompanying photo by Glenn Twitchell give the definitive answer to what’s so good about the Sea of Cortez.

For the record, the photo is of Caleta Partida, the old volcano crater separating — by a very narrow waterway — Isla Partida and Isla Espiritu Santo. It’s about 24 miles north of La Paz.

Caleta Partida is beautiful and it’s uninhabited — except sometimes by some fishermen. It’s also just one of many fine anchorages on the two islands, and offers the best protection in a Norther.

Actually, back in the early 1980s, it was crowded during Sea of Cortez Sailing Week(s), started — but certainly not organized — by the Wanderer. We had as many as 200 boats stop by for at least part of the ‘event’ there. The Mexico Navy provided a ship for the starting line, the Mexican Air Force had a one-plane flyover, unlimited amounts of beer were for sale on the beach, and West Marine even donated a pig that we cooked in a hole in the ground. Those were the days!

But it was a different era, too, as we actually had Wet T-Shirt contests featuring the women, and Icy Bun contests starring the men. Shameful! Odd as it might sound, these less-than-raunchy events had the effect of bringing everyone closer together. In addition, there were three short sailboat races.

The Wanderer has been to Caleta Partida with, in order of size, a Cal 24; an Olson 30 (two different ones), a Freya 39; Profligate, the Surfin’ 63 catamaran; and Big O, the Ocean 71. It never mattered which size boat we were on; we always had a great time. Well, except for the time we had a disk rupture and had to be flown home to the States on a stretcher.

There was no Internet the last time we were at Caleta Partida, and we doubt there is any now. But if you took your device about a half mile out the entrance, you could get some really slow Internet. It might be better now.

If you have a pet, be aware that animals are strictly prohibited from any of the islands in the Sea of Cortez. There is not a lot of life on the islands, and apparently pets can really upset what little life there is. Sorry.

The best weather times of year for Caleta Partida are October, November and early December — although you always have to keep a weather eye out for hurricanes in October. The other good time is from late March until the middle of July, by which time all of the Sea is bordering on way too hot. Unfortunately, it’s too cold to swim at Caleta Partida in the middle of winter, which is why you should be over on mainland Mexico at that time.

Please, always do your part to keep Caleta Partida, and all of the Sea of Cortez, free of trash.