To Go Into the Sea or Not?

When folks get ready to do the Ha-Ha, they often wonder if they should go up into the Sea of Cortez right after the finish in Cabo, of if they should wait until late spring when the water warms up again.

We think there are two considerations. First, are you still going to be in Mexico in the spring, or will you have departed for Central America or French Polynesia? If it’s the latter, we definitely urge you to at least make the 120-mile dash up to Espiritu Santa and Isla Partida, if not La Paz, too. Unless the Northers have started early, the water will still be warm and you’ll be able to see natural beauty the likes of which can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

The second consideration is whether you’re a hard-charging cruiser or a poke-along cruiser. If you’re the former, by all means head up into the Sea right after the end of the Ha-Ha — Northers willing, of course — until the water cools down. If, on the other hand, you like to take things slow, you might head over to the mainland after the Ha-Ha, saving the entire Sea of Cortez for when you head up there in April.

The best months in the Sea are generally May and June, when the water has warmed up but the daytime air temperatures haven’t gotten out of hand.

A little over a year ago, Gabriella and Peter ‘Verdo’ Verdon, who have run big yachts all over the world and who worked for both the Alinghi and Oracle America’s Cup campaigns in Valencia — and are friends of Doña de Mallorca’s from her days on yachts in the Med — sold their home in Queensland and came to California in search of a cruising boat. Much to their surprise, they chose a production boat, a Catalina 42 that had already done one circumnavigation and therefore had much of the cruising gear they were looking for. They christened her Larakin.

While Gabby and Verdo can’t wait to get back to remote places in the South Pacific such as the Solomon Islands, after a winter on the Mexican mainland, they headed into the Sea of Cortez and have been loving it. So no matter when you visit the Sea — right after the Ha-Ha or in the spring — don’t miss it.