By Jeff Hare, Tradewinds Instructor and owner of Emerald Sea
Bahia Tortuga / Turtle Bay is a planned stopping place for nearly every brasher for many reasons. First of all, it represents half-way home (at least to San Diego from Cabo). They have restaurants, fuel, and a couple of good grocery stores. The biggest reason to stop is that they are a fully enclosed bay with full protection from weather coming from any direction. You can sleep in the bay to rest and recover for as long as you wish.
Also while here, SpaceX was nice enough to launch some Starlink Satellites and we took a rather spectacular video of the launch and direct flyover of this bay.
Our buddy boats, Folie A Deux and Dolce Vita had arrived a few days before us. Both having professional crew, Dolce Vita took off early as they had some timelines to meet. Unfortunately they met with some mechanical issues and parked their boat in Punta San Carlos for a couple of weeks while the crew returned to their homes and the owner was able to get back to the United States for Parts. (Today February 25, the owner is back aboard with a crew member and parts with plans to depart tomorrow).
Emerald Sea and Folie a Deux left as a pair on February 12 while the weather was still harsh. With big waves and a very strong headwind we motored at the fullest speed possible to the lee side of Isla Cedros and spent the next few hours continuing slowly as the winds died down. On the Eastern Side of Cedros the winds were still strong so we sailed as close-hauled as we could as far northeast as possible. The winds died down to their predicted 10 knots and we sailed on to a bay called Punta Colonett with a total distance traveled of 204 miles from Bahia Tortuga.
Bahia Colonett is just south of Ensenada and a good place to stop if you are coming in to Ensenada a little earlier than your slip reservation. We stayed their one night and continued to Marina Coral for a few days of Hot Tub soaking and restaurant food.
Here are a few sunrise photos…
