By Jeff Hare, Tradewinds Instructor and owner of Emerald Sea
Sailing Vessel Emerald Sea sends her greetings from Gulfo de California!
We have enjoyed exploring several islands in the Mexican National Park system and highly recommend anyone visiting to just go buy the annual pass at this website as it apparently covers all parks. Because you can’t get it all done in a day, save yourself the annoyance and get the annual pass! The water here is an inviting emerald and you just don’t want to get out of it. Hiking the islands offers vistas that are difficult to describe. I cant tell you what a joy it is to meet other cruisers and swap sea stories. You might hear about the strong north winds – be prepared to hunker down for these as they may last a day or so (this is why we bring books to read), but the calm days between the wind storms allow you to move north toward your next adventure at a new and interesting place.
The wise words of the Grand Poobah are not wrong; “Wish you were here!”…
Another bit of advice: We allocated a month to explore the northern areas of the Sea. That’s not enough! Expect to spend an entire season because there is so much to do and see. Come with patience as you will have to occasionally tuck into a protected anchorage for the high winds coming from the north, but you will be rewarded by several days of mild weather, pristine air and water, and sea life many people only see on television – your next new place to explore is only a few hours away! The air here in the north is cooler in the evening, so we had to occasionally wear long pants, long sleeved shirts, sleep with a blanket, and even real shoes (I hate shoes!)
The attached photo encapsulates what I am talking about – Sailing Vessel Emerald Sea on the Emerald Sea of Cortez! While I already quoted the Poobah another appropriate quote from Warren Miller comes to mind (when I used to enjoy winter sports): “Do it! If you don’t do it this year, you will be one year older when you do”.
