SV ‘Pendragon’ Takes the Mini-Clipper Route

While the sail from California to Cabo is known for the following winds gently sending you south, the return voyage is often called the Baja Bash. In spring, the typical coastal winds are 20-25 knots from NW to NNW. These are not easy conditions in which to sail or motor back to California, hence the infamous Bash!

The Clipper Route, named for the Yankee clippers that used it in the 1800s, is often talked about as an alternate route to get north from the equator to San Francisco. That route is about 1,000 miles offshore of Central America, Mexico and California, with winds from the northeast. If you are trying to make the 800 miles from Cabo to San Diego, it does not make sense to go 1,000 miles offshore, then 800 miles north, and then 1,000 miles back to shore! Most mariners are resigned to waiting weeks for calm conditions to motor north, or resigned to bashing.

I was considering leaving La Paz in late May to head north for San Francisco. As I monitored the weather, I noticed the winds on the Pacific side of Baja were often 20-25 knots and higher from the NW. I also noticed that, from time to time, the winds 50 to 100 miles offshore were a lighter 10-15 knots and periodically changed direction from NW to NNE. This change was usually caused by a weak tropical depression running NW off the coast of Mexico. My sailboat, Pendragon, is a Davidson 44 (highly modified). While it is a fast boat, it is a fairly heavy racing boat of a class called IOR warhorses. In La Paz at Sails & Shades, I was having a used sail refitted to use as a delivery mainsail for my return trip. The delivery main was only about two thirds the area of the racing main.

Day 0, July 6: I motored from La Paz to Los Cabos overnight and topped off the diesel in Los Cabos. Day 1, July 7: I departed Los Cabos at 8 a.m. and headed to Cabo San Lucas. Abeam of Cabo at 11 a.m.: 20-knot headwinds and uncomfortable chop. I motored a few hours past Cabo to get out of the wind accelerating by the point. I was sailing and making a little bit of northing on a starboard tack, but mostly sailing west. After a wind shift, we were not making any northing, so I tacked over to a port tack and headed north.

Day 2, July 8: Overnight the wind lightened up, so I tacked over to starboard tack to head offshore. Later, due to a wind shift, I was not able to make any northing, so I tacked over to a port tack and headed north, making 7 to7.5 knots on smooth seas. By sunset I was a few miles south of Isla Santa Margarita in a dying wind. I tacked to head west and then had to start motoring, heading WNW overnight.

Day 3, July 9: Headed WNW or better and sailing with good speed on flat seas. The winds have started to shift more to the northeast as predicted.

Day 4, July 10: Wet on deck all day, SE swell from tropical depression to my south hitting the prevailing NW swell to make chaotic seas. Heading NNW directly at Isla Guadalupe. Continue reading in Latitude 38’s June issue: The Mini-Clipper Route