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May 2018

Missing the pictures? See our May 2018 eBook!

With reports this month from 'commuter cruisers' on Illusion and Baja Fog; the imminent cruising departure of Thane from her home waters; the 10-year circumnavigation of Totem; and Cruise Notes.

Illusion – Cal 40
Stan and Sally Honey
Commuter Cruising
San Francisco

We transited the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean on 19 March. As line handlers we had Tom Condy, Sylvia Seaberg, Kerry Deaver (Dick's daughter), and Dave Wilson, a longtime member of the Pedro Miguel (Panama) YC and Balboa (Panama) YC, and the initial host of the SailMail station in Panama. Dave used to work for the Canal and has done 30 transits. He was terrific to have onboard. I'd transited twice before in the '70s and found that not much has changed.

We started cruising in 2014, heading south in July from San Francisco to and around the Sea of Cortez. The next year, we went from Santa Rosalia to Tenticatita. We left the boat for both of those intervening summers in La Paz at Palmira Marina. Last season we cruised from La Paz South to Chiapas Marina at the Southern edge of Mexico, where we left Illusion for summer 2017.

This season my nephew, John Vrolyk, borrowed Illusion for a cruise from Chiapas to Puntarenas, Costa Rica, with his friends. On September 7, a devastating 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit the area. More than 50 people were killed and many buildings reduced to rubble. Illusion was in Chiapas Marina, in the water, during the ensuing tsunami. Many of the docks were ruined by floating off the pilings, but thanks to heroic efforts by Memo, Ronnie, Rolf, and the other staff at the marina, none of the boats in the water were damaged. Illusion made it through without even a scratch, which is astonishing given the photos and stories we've seen since then.

Sally and then I picked up the boat again in Puntarenas in January and headed to the Canal where we are now. We will probably leave the boat for this coming summer either at Shelter Bay on the Caribbean side of the Canal, or maybe at Boca del Toro. Next season we will probably see the San Blas Islands then wander up the Yucatan channel, but we're not committed to any specific plans. We might get to the East Coast in time for the Bermuda Race in 2020.

We like 'commuter cruising'. The marinas for off-season storage cost no more than SF, flights are cheap, and the
scenery changes.

— Stan and Sally 4/2/18

Readers — if you don't know who Sally and Stan Lindsey-Honey are by now, well, you just haven't been paying attention. They are quite simply two of the most accomplished sailors ever to call the Bay Area home. They share three Rolex Yachtsman/Yachtswoman of the Year awards between them; have both founded and run several successful businesses, and have both raced at the highest levels of the sport, setting numerous records and winning many awards and accolades. (For their whole exhaustive resumes, go to www.honeynav.com)
They have owned Illusion (Cal 40 hull #57) since the late '80s. They originally got the boat to go cruising but, as Stan puts it, "old habits are hard to break" — so they have spent a good part of the last 30 years racing the boat.

But enough of that racing stuff. After kinda-sorta semi-retiring from the businesses they founded (Sally's Spinnaker Shop in Palo Alto and Stan's Sportvision, based in Chicago), they started cruising a few years ago. Here are a few more of their observations on smell-the-roses sailng... (L38) — We remember you mentioning wanting to cruise years ago. Was there some experience that finally catalyzed that desire into action?

(Stan) — Yes. After the Pacific Cup in 1996, we were on the return trip and decided to just stay on the wind to see where we'd end up. That turned out to be the north end of Vancouver Island, at Port Hardy. After that, we planned to sail down inside Vancouver Island and on back to the Bay. But we enjoyed the Northwest so much that we left Illusion in Vancouver for the winter and the next summer (after the 1997 TransPac on other boats) we sailed Illusion up to Glacier Bay, Alaska, and then back down to SF. A Cal 40 with no dodger, and a German Shepherd, might not be the best choice of boat for that trip, but it's the boat we had and we had a terrific summer.

We enjoyed that trip so much that we decided to do more cruising, and even rented out our house. But then I had the opportunity to start Sportvision (yellow first down line, K-zone, etc.) and cruising got postponed — again.

— Do you do most of your cruising together (just the two of you) or with crew?

Just the two of us, although for the transit of the Panama Canal we were joined by the folks mentioned in the story.

—What makes a Cal 40 a good cruising boat?

It's a perfect size for two people: plenty of space and really easy to sail. Cal 40s are very seakindly and have gentle and predictable manners. Lapworth and Griffith used to say that the sea likes Cal 40s and they fit waves very well. Cal 40s make better times on passages than anybody can imagine.

— As commuter cruisers, what months do you normally cruise?

We normally start after I'm done with the Sydney Hobart Race in early January and put the boat away somewhere for the summer in May.

— Any prospects of real retirement and full time cruising?

We're pretty happy with our mix of cruising and freelance work. We also both volunteer for the sport of sailing quite a bit. Sally is chair of the US Safety at Sea Committee. I'm chair of World Sailing's Oceanic and Offshore Committee, Chair of SYRF, and vice-chair of WSSRC. I'm still navigating professionally, currently on Comanche and Rambler88.

— How does life at both ends of the sailing spectrum compare?

Well, Illusion is slower. What matters, however, isn't how fast a boat sails but how well it sails. Illusion sails beautifully and is a delight to sail in any condition. It helps that we've got very nice sails and Sally is one of the best helmspeople alive.

Baja Fog — Lagoon 440 cat
John Schulthess and Monique Boucher
Baja Bashed and Bruised
Santa Rosa

"Let's do the Baja Ha-Ha!"

"Okay, sounds like fun!"

"Wait . . . we're already here. Why would we go up there to come back here?"
It seems like we've spent most of the two years we've owned Baja Fog going against the wind — in more ways than one. So much so that a few times we've thought of renaming her On The Nose.

We bought Baja Fog, a Lagoon 440 catamaran, about two years ago in the Caribbean. The plan back then was to get her through the Panama Canal, then up to San Francisco. Everything went well until about Puerto Vallarta, when we started having troubles with the sail drives — so there she sat for repairs until last spring. Running our local Bay Area businesses with as much commuter cruising as we could do certainly helped our air mileage accounts.

Last summer, we decided to bring the boat as far as Southern California so we could turn around and do the Ha-Ha — a bucket list item. Monique and I, along with our good friend Guy Dean from the Seawind 33, Stray Cat, left La Cruz for San Jose del Cabo in what was supposed to be a "perfect little day and a half run."

The first 18 hours of mostly motorsailing were beautiful — perfect, in fact — and life was good. Somewhere past Islas Marias, the ride started to get bumpy. The conditions deteriorated as it got dark, and we ended up hobby horsing our way through the night. The seas calmed the next morning and we had dolphins joining us for breakfast, ushering us into San Jose del Cabo in smooth, mellow seas.

In San Jose, Monique flew back to the Bay Area to continue to manage our businesses while Guy and I continued on.

We stopped for breaks in Bahia d' Ascencion and Turtle Bay. While in Turtle Bay, we took on fuel and contemplated the weather. Other folks were waiting it out and planned to leave in a day or so. However, we met a delivery captain who claimed to have made this run often and was getting ready to leave on a Lagoon 400 that evening. He said we could get past Cedros around 10 p.m. "and everything would be smooth." He certainly sounded like he knew what he was talking about — so we followed him out.

As they say, never leave port with a deadline. We bounced and bashed our way the entire time into almost 30 knots of wind (instead of the 8 knots that was forecast). We clenched our teeth and endured it until a clew bolt broke, and we tucked in behind Punta San Carlos. We anchored in 14 feet of water with 100 feet of chain and all was quiet and calm; so calm, I was able to make the minor repair to our boom in the moonlight. We noticed campfires up on the bluff, and I made a mental note of what a nice camp area this must be, not realizing the real reason all those campers were up there.

The next morning we awoke to surfers off our midships. We were in the middle of the line up!

During the night, we had swung 180 degrees and the morning brought us a new day of challenges. We began to hoist anchor to get away from the swell as quickly as possible. Of course, the anchor had wedged on something and didn't want to come up. In trying to dislodge it, I reached down to unhook the anchor bridle just as the chain popped taut. Red drips speckled the deck as I brought the rest of the anchor up and we motored out.

Once we got out into deep water, Guy (a retired firefighter) had a chance to look at the damage. The end of the third finger on my right hand had exploded from the inside out and broke the first bone. We carefully put the pieces back together, cleaned and taped it up the best we could and headed for Ensenada. I truly thought the finger would have to be amputated.

Upon arrival at Marina Coral, I went to the local hospital ER. Two doctors worked to clean it, x-ray it, redress it and give me pain meds — all with excellent English in a beautiful hospital. I walked out to pay and they said 2,400 pesos, por favor, I just about flipped when I realized that was about $124 US dollars... amazing people and excellent care for a very reasonable price.

(By the way, in Ensenada we met some of the folks that stayed the extra day in Turtle Bay. They reported totally flat calm and even "boring" conditions on their ways north.)

The finger escapade put an end to our northbound trip — again — and Baja Fog stayed in Ensenada. We thought we might still have time to get her to San Diego in time to start the 2017 Ha-Ha. But in September, our landlord in Santa Rosa informed us she was selling the property and we should be prepared to move our business if needs be.

Then October 8 came along. That evening began some of the scariest, most surreal moments in our lives. Our town was on fire and devastation was all around. People in Sonoma and Napa counties began to start their conversations with, "Are you okay?" and end with, "Stay safe!" The devastation was unfathomable: 5,500 hundred structures, including 2,800 homes, were lost that week. Twenty-two people lost heir lives. While we were lucky in the sense that we did not lose our house or business, we felt that the good we could do helping people in our community outweighed our desire to go on the Ha-Ha that year.

We eventually did get down to San Diego to see everyone off and spend some time on the boat in Ensenada. When things had stabilized at home, we began looking for a weather window to bring Baja Fog to San Francisco for the Summer of 2018, and join the Ha-Ha later this year. In March, it finally came.

John Amen, a fine sailor and sailmaker in the Bay Area, agreed to join me from Ensenada. In San Diego, we picked up Dave Hug, a local sailor and fantastic mechanic who helped replace those Sail Drives in La Cruz the previous spring; and Billy Boyd, a fine young sailor who helps me manage our businesses.

The trip was largely uneventful. We motorsailed in little to no wind almost the entire way. Even at infamous Point Conception, it was like a lake out there. We came under the Golden Gate at 3 a.m. on March 8. Baja Fog currently sits quietly in Richmond's Marina Bay Yacht Harbor, awaiting the next adventure.

My finger? I still have it. Embarrassingly enough, it healed to the point that the damage is not even noticeable. The doctors at Kaiser said that if they had done any surgery to pin the bone, it would not have healed as well. Kudos to Guy for his field triage work!

We will join the 25th Annual Baja Ha-Ha this year, and will particularly enjoy sailing with the wind for a change. Then it's likely back to Banderas Bay and the Sea of Cortez next spring.

— John and Monique 3/30/18

John and Monique run Wind Toys, Northern California's largest kayak and small sailboat dealer, with locations in Santa Rosa and Sausalito.

Thane — 57-ft Spray Replica
Cap'n Rob and Sherry McCallum
Gone Sailing
Victoria, BC

Have you ever seen a sailboat sitting on the hard get struck by lightning? Me neither, but that was how my last cruising adventure ended. It was 2012 and we had been on the way from Panama City to Hawaii on my Columbia 36, Shibumi when a series of unfortunate events (bad diesel fuel and damaged rudder were the main ones) caused us to detour to Guatemala for repairs. Those were completed in a few months and the bottom had been prepped and sanded for new paint.

I was in town having lunch when the lightning hit the boat. They say it was quite the explosion. I only saw the results. The boat was completely destroyed. I flew back to Canada. No boat, no home, no possessions — just a heavily bruised ego!

Back home, I looked for some sign that I was supposed to take away from the experience. Was I once again supposed to be a landlubber? I started to buy into what everyone else was saying, and soon found myself driving a concrete truck between Port McNeill and the site of the new Kokish Dam. It was a grueling, one lane logging road that beat the crap out of the truck and me three times daily.

Then one October morning in 2013, I happened across Thane. I've heard it said that when you see the boat you will know it. And so it was with Thane. Not only was she for sale, she came with an established charter business! Sure, she was in pretty rough shape and would need much more than just TLC, but the price was right and with a five-month season, I would have seven months each year to work on her. The trick would be to keep up her Transport Canada Certification so I could work while I rebuilt her over time. Within a month of first seeing the boat, I owned her and was living aboard.

Thane is a 57-ft modified wooden Spray replica built by Len Pearson over a five year period in the early '70s. She's constructed of 95% recycled, reclaimed and repurposed materials. She was the last vessel built at Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria's inner harbor, and had spent her entire life sailing out of Victoria.

Over the next four years, 'Banjo Pete' Reid and myself ran the charter side of the business from late April through midSeptember. The rest of the time, Sherry, me and our good friend, Maartje Meijer, completly rebuilt her. Just a few of the jobs we completed: new rudder post, new steering cables, new propeller, replace a few planks, pull both masts, sand everything to bare wood, paint/varnish all that wood, new running rigging, new wiring, new cooling system for the engine, new plumbing, a few new electronics, and redoing the interior of the main cabin. Then we sanded and painted again (a yearly occurrence on a wooden boat).

Then we had all new sails made — six in all from Leitch and McBride in Sidney, BC: main, mizzen, jib top, jib, staysail and a 1,200-square-foot asymmetrical cruising chute.

As much as I love to sail, and as much as our customers loved sailing, by 2016, going out for our signature '3 hour tours' three times a day was getting old. We managed to put a lot of smiles on peoples' faces and help many of them check "sailing on a tall ship" off their bucket lists. But we would just get the sails up and be sailing along nicely... when we needed to head back to dock for the next group. The sea was calling. I was a cruiser and needed to go cruising again.

After the 2016 charter season ended, Banjo Pete, 'Cap'n Craig' and I headed out to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Forty days and 40 nights later, we sailed back into Victoria and the cruising bug had bitten me bad. Even Sherry, who had little prior sailing experience, knew that it was time.

T.E. Lawrence once said "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." I was always a dreamer of the day. I had made it possible once and I would make it happen again.

I talked it over with Sherry and after one last season in 2017, I retired and we began preparing to go cruising again. As I write this, Thane is hauled out in Canoe Cove for annual maintenance, as well as a few projects to supplement the cruising lifestyle. A significant one is changing from our old hydraulic windlass to a Lofrans with 400 feet of 3/8 HT chain. We gained 100 feet of chain length and lost 600 lbs off the bow, a sound investment for cruising. We are also installing a SSB to accompany my new ham radio license and call sign, VA7THA. We added solar panels and are doubling our house battery bank. In three weeks we will launch and the boat will be ready.

The plan is to cruise the Gulf Islands and Desolation Sound during May, June and July as an extended shakedown cruise. Then in late August, head south to San Diego and wait for the best weather to carry us south! We are going to sail where the wind takes us, look for a place to retire and just enjoy the cruising lifestyle.

I feel pretty lucky to be going cruising on Thane, and I appreciate that I would not have her without a series of (un)fortunate events taking place. They say everything happens for a reason and it's hard to argue. Without losing my last boat to lightning, we wouldn't be cruising on an amazing boat named Thane.

— Capt'n Rob 4/3/18

Totem — Stevens 47
Gifford family
Tying the Knot and Beyond
Eagle Harbor, WA

When Behan and Jamie Gifford sailed Totem out of Puget Sound in August, 2008, with three young kids aboard, they figured they might be gone a couple of years — five, tops. Not only are they still 'out there,' they celebrated their 10th year by completing a circumnavigation, crossing their outbound track off Zihuateneo on April 8.

We caught up with them on their way to Puerto Penasco (in the northernmost stretch of the Sea of Cortez, about 50 miles from the Arizona border), where they will haul out for the summer.

— Why did you think the cruise would last only two years?

Behan: Partly money, partly societal expectations. We thought we'd have a kitty of savings that could last up to five years, which we expected to be around the time our eldest (son Niall, now 19) would wish for a "normal" life and high school. What changed? The kitty didn't pan out the way we expected; and we couldn't sell our house (late 2000s real estate crash). Because of that, we stopped and worked in Australia. And because of that, the kids went to Aussie schools. And because of that, I think the attraction of the unknown — going to normal school — lost its luster before the kids had a chance to crave it. Turns out, when given the choice after six months of uniforms and school in a box, they preferred cruising.

— You noted that circumnavigation was never a goal, that it just sort of happened. Talk about that...

Jamie: Forty years ago, when I was 12, I read Robin Lee Graham's Dove and dreamed of sailing around the world. Life got in the way and I let that dream go. It was Behan the traveler that brought it back for Jamie the sailor. That said, circumnavigating wasn't a goal. It was about raising our kids as citizens of the world, in tune with nature, and shared experiences as a close-knit family.

Behan: As the likelihood grew that we would complete a circumnavigation, the excitement did begin to build. When we realized that the dates might conflict with our son's school plans, he postponed college applications for a year; we wanted to do this as a family. Now, it feels like another gift we've been able to give our kids.

— What are you doing for the summer while the boat is on the hard — and is any work getting done on it while you're gone?

Jamie: We discovered only recently that a prior owner peeled Totem's bottom gelcoat and didn't do a proper epoxy barrier. The boat doesn't have a single blister, but the hull is saturated. So once we haul out at the end of June, we'll strip off the coat of paint we applied after the discovery and leave Totem to dry for a few months in the arid climate. We hope to come back to a dry hull, perhaps shed of 1,000 pounds of water weight, and do a proper bottom job.
Behan: This summer, we'll do a road trip up the West Coast to visit family and friends – spending a couple of months up in Puget Sound. Niall will start college in August at a terrific west coast school (not public on the name until he accepts). In October, we'll return to Totem down that one crewmember who is starting new adventures.

— What are the long-term plans?

We'll return to Totem in October to rediscover favorite bays in the Sea of Cortez before working south again… we'd like to return to the South Pacific, but South America looks interesting too.

— latitude 4/11/18

Cruise Notes:

What do you know — turns out you can herd cats, or at least West Coast Multihulls is giving it a shot. We're talking about catamarans, of course. 2018 marks the 10th year for the Annual Baja Seawind Rally (May 20-25), "where a group of like-minded cat owners do a little cruising in company among the islands and coves of Loreto and Puerto Escondido." This year, rally participants will help celebrate the opening of WCM's new Puerto Escondido charter base. Closer to home, the 13th Annual Catalina Multihull Rally will kick off in Two Harbors August 16-19. WCM is a charter company/sailing school headquartered in San Diego. For more on these and other WCM activities, contact or see the main website at www.westcoastmultihulls.com.

Elsewhere in this month's Changes you may have already read about Cap'n Rob McCallum, who will soon be wending his way south aboard one of the more picturesque cruising boats out there, the 47-ft Spray replica Thane. As with many folks we feature in these pages, Rob maintains an entertaining blog about his lifestyle, and we couldn't help but admire his New Year's Resolution, which we think we'll adopt for ourselves from now on: "I'm sailing into 2018 with a clear heart and mind. So If you owe me, don't worry about it — you're welcome. If you wronged me, it's all good — lesson learned. If you're angry with me, you've won. If we aren't speaking, just know that "I love you and I wish you well!" If you feel I wronged you, I apologize and ask for your forgiveness. Life is too short for all the pent-up anger, holding grudges, and extra negativity. Here's to a great and positive 2018!"

If you're planning a trans-Atlantic crossing in the near future, you'll be happy to learn that on April 15, the Seven Seas Cruising Association (ssca.org), in cooperation with the Marine Weather Center (mwxc.com) launched a new HF radio net specifically designed to assist trans-Atlantic cruisers. The Coast call sign KPK will operate on frequencies 8.137 USB and 12.350 USB starting at 2130UTC. Four coastal stations have collaborated to ensure that comms remain consistent despite varying atmospheric conditions. They're located in Lakeland and Punta Gorda, Florida; Dover, North Carolina; and Ellijay, Georgia. This should ensure effective communications for vessels making trans-Atlantic passages either east or west-bound.

Like all 'proper' nets, KPK will provide weather forecasts, emergency support and relays, as well as radio checks, float plans and communications with family and friends. These services are offered at no cost to all vessels. SSB nets do not require an Amateur Radio License, only a Restricted Radiotelephone Operator Permit for the radio operator, and a Radio Station Authorization License for the Vessel. No tests are required for these licenses.

There are shakedowns and then there are Shakedowns. As of May 1, Dennis Maggard of San Francisco is on one of the latter. He took off from the Bay on May 1 to harbor hop south aboard his Pacific Seacraft 37 Pamela. In Southern California, he'll pick up some crew for the three-week trip to Hanalei Bay, on Kauai. Upon arrival, "I'll spend a month or two anchored in the bay with my dinghy tied to the first coconut tree in the Hanalei River," he says. Then he'll bash upwind, solo, for the four-week trip back — possibly stopping in Puget Sound for another month before returning to the Bay. All this after he returned in 2016 from a three-year cruise to New Zealand (starting with the 2014 Pacific Puddle Jump) — and wrote a book about it, Endless Quiet. We hope to catch up with Dennis in a future issue to see what's next for Pamela.

The Australia-based Down Under Rally series kicks off this month with the Go East Rally from Australia to New Caledonia. This year's theme is 'Get Your Grotty On' which is apparently some kind of inside Aussie joke, because we couldn't find anywhere where they told you what a 'grotty' is. Anyway, the Go East is just one of several events under the Down Under Rally umbrella (there is also a Go West Rally beginning in September for cruisers headed back to Oz from New Caledonia, Vanuatu "or any other port in the Southwest Pacific" — we don't know if it also involves Grotties), and they all look like a blast. There's so much great cruising info, swag, crew lists, classes and costume parties that it looks like — well, shoot, we'll say it — one of Latitude's events. If you're going to be in the neighborhood, check it all out at www.downunderrally.com.

By the time you read this, Italy's renowned Privelege Boatyard in Civitavecchia (on the country's west coast about 30 miles northwest of Rome) may have been sold. Bidding for the 30-acre, 11-building facility closed on April 18, but it's not known if any of the sealed bids matched or exceeded the estimated 9.4 million Euro (about $11.5 million) value of the site.

Among the really big boats to come out of the Civitavecchia yard was Nabila, a 325-ft Benetti motoryacht for Saudi businessman and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. A few years after its 1980 launch, it gained a measure of fame as a set on the James Bond film Never Say Never Again. In 1987, it was acquired by one Donald Trump for a reported $29 million. At the time, The Donald boasted that he got a $1 million discount for agreeing to change the name (Nabila was Khashoggi's daughter's name). Trump called it — what else? — Trump Princess. The yacht lives on today as Saudi businessman Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal's Kingdom 5KR.

Speaking of superyachts, they're getting to be big business in Fiji. According to a recent report, 65 of them (of 554 total visiting yachts) visited last year. The average stay was 79 days, during which time the average yacht added F$435,000 (about $213,000 US) to the local economy. Superyacht charters (prices start around $200K per week for a 50-meter yacht) were also up, as were the number of refits done in local boatyards. It's all led to a surge in local employment and bolsters the claim of one report that "Fiji is on its way to becoming the hub of the South Pacific for these vessels and a playground for the ultra-rich and famous."

Like the idea of commuter cruising to Mexico? According to Kurt Jerman of West Coast Multihulls in San Diego, one of the least expensive and most convenient options for reaching Mexican destinations is the Tijuana airport, which can be reached via the Cross Border Express in San Diego for a $30 round trip ticket, giving you access to inexpensive flights and numerous destinations. When returning, it's just a walk over the bridge and a short Uber trip to the San Diego airport.

At the end of March, boats in the so-called Waiting Room — the anchorage just outside Marina Puerto Escondido (MPE) — were given 48 hours to vacate. Rumors and misunderstandings have been circulating regarding the reason(s), so we asked the marina what was going on. They told us that API (Administraciones Portuarias Integrales, the Mexican Port Authority), who is the legal owner of the concession for all the water in and outside of Puerto Escondido (PE), decided to vacate the area in order to conduct environmental studies to determine if it's viable to sustain the free anchorage.

"There have been approximately 30 vessels moored or anchored in the Waiting Room area for many years," MPE said in an email. "API has asked Marina Puerto Escondido for support and we agreed to give all the waiting room boats a special rate if they moved to the MPE mooring field — $100 USD monthly, which includes access to all of our services (showers, security, parking and dinghy dock). "To clarify, MPE had nothing to do with [the eviction]. It was API's decision and they simply asked us for support and in the spirit of being good neighbors, we have done our very best to accommodate everyone.

Latitude founder Richard Spindler (a.k.a. the Grand Poobah) told us that PE was a cheap get away in the '70s, before it was slated for development by Fonatur, the Mexican government tourist development agency. Fonatur "first announced plans for grand development in conjunction with plans for 15-mile distant Loreto, the only town of any size in the region," the Poobah wrote on his Facebook page."Fonatur's attempt would be the first of several government and private efforts to make Puerto Escondido the new Cabo or the new Ixtapa."

Years ago, in preparation for the development, Fonataur outlawed what had been free moorings, forcing boats into what would become the Waiting Room.
"Eliminating the free anchorage resulted in the degradation of what was a once a vibrant cruiser community and cruiser destination," the Poobah said. "It's an open question if whether continuing to allow boats to anchor for free would have promoted a more vibrant community and attractive destination, and thus more revenue for Fonatur."

But development in PE never came to fruition — until a recent venture headed by American developers. The proposed development is "committed to the vision of an exclusive Puerto Escondido, with a world class marina and world class waterfront homes.

"Unfortunately for cruisers, the business model does not allow for free or inexpensive anchoring for cruisers on a budget. Sort of like at Catalina."

Missing the pictures? See the May 2018 eBook!