Our Final Season in the Sea of Cortez?

When Kevin and I bought Flying Free in 2017, we imagined cruising around Mexico for only two years before we pointed our bow West, toward the South Pacific islands. Because of California's proximity to Mexico, we wished to share our sailing adventures with as many friends and family as possible. At our boat blessing, we read our "mission" statement with our loved ones--as a reminder to encourage everyone to visit us.

In 2023, knowing it would probably be our last season cruising the beautiful Sea of Cortez, we invited as many friends and family as possible to join us. We actually began our cruising in early January, when we had our great friends, Sara and George, join us shortly after we returned to the boat from California.

We only gave them about 3 days' notice to pack their bags (they had planned to join us, but our anxiousness to get moving and the great weather meant they packed quickly.) We unhooked from the mooring ball in Puerto Escondido and headed South to one of our favorite anchorages, Agua Verde.

If you've been following the blog or my Instagram account, this anchorage is familiar. Even though RVers with rugged 4X4 trucks can navigate to this area, it is not for the faint of heart. To campers and RVers, this site can be reached from Baja's Mex 1 highway after about an hour of heart-stopping dirt paths narrow enough to resemble a hiking trail. So, we knew our friends from Baja may not have another chance to reach this remote area, and we couldn't wait to show them around.

Brunch with mimosas at Agua Verde

Our favorite place for shrimp tacos

George, a marine engineer, and Kevin: blissful projects!

Besides Agua Verde, we stayed in Los Gatos, San Everisto, Espiritu Santo, and then we crossed to Isla Isabel before arriving in Banderas Bay. Our time together took about 2 weeks, but then Sara and George mentioned visiting the town of Tequila since they did not regularly travel to mainland Mexico.

So we left our boat at anchor in La Cruz (we had several boating friends there who could keep an eye on FF) and rented a car to travel about 4.5 hours inland. The trip to Tequila gave us a glimpse of Mexican culture that we don't always get, mainly because there were almost no other gringos roaming this bustling town.

blue agave in the foreground and background

The main plaza of Tequila, MX

Not pineapples but giant agave hearts!

Seeing the blue agave plants along the highway, I couldn't help but compare the rolling hills with our vineyards in California. Imagine a sea of blue, in uniform spikey clusters spread to the horizon. Perhaps I have lived too long in California, but the sea of blue agave was so much more stunning than the miles of grape clusters quilting the California hillsides.

Then, within a couple of weeks, we had Dean and one of Kevin's best friends, Chris, join us for about a week. It was the first time Chris had sailed with us, so we were eager to show him a taste of the cruising lifestyle. This, and Chris was deciding whether he wanted to cross the Pacific Ocean with us as crew for Season 5 in Spring 2024; we must have done something right because he's one of two crew members as we set off for French Polynesia very soon!

Chamela beach with Chris and Dean

Huge Crevalle Jack! Not good eating, haha!

Tacos and Pina Coladas at Punta Mita

Regular viewing of Humpback whales in Banderas Bay

We visited some amazing locations with Chris and Dean--and the time was too short with them, but they experienced the Humpback whales in Banderas Bay, caught some chum (non-edible fish), and visited a place called Yelapa, a small town with a signature river, waterfall, and colorful homes jutting out from the canyon surrounding the anchorage.

We said goodbye, and then Quinn joined us for his 10-day Spring break in March. We returned to some of the places we visited with Dean and Chris; the highlights include Quinn surfing at Punta Mita (or trying to, anyway), rock climbing at the Yelapa waterfall, stand-up paddle boarding in Chamela, numerous hikes, and helping me celebrate my birthday in the cute town of Chamela.