Living the Dream Aboard the Saga 43 ‘Stella Blue’
Mike Kalil and Stephanie Propp from Dillon, CO, and Nanaimo, BC, share tales of Stella Blue’s first voyage to Mexico.
We began our journey in the Pacific Northwest in September 2024, and joined up with the Baja Ha-Ha in November. Since parting ways with the rally in Cabo, we have been living the dream!!
We love exploring Mexico, and have had such a great experience here. When we left Cabo, we hightailed it up to La Paz in order to avoid the big-wind event that canceled the final parties in Cabo. We weathered that Norther in La Paz, and really enjoyed the town. From there, it was on to Isla Espiritu Santo, where we enjoyed our first experience snorkeling in the Sea of Cortez. We were (and continue to be) amazed by the variety of fish and other sea life!
After enjoying several days in the area, we sailed north into the Sea of Cortez, determined to see as much of the northern coast of Baja as we could handle. We had heard how intense the Northers can be this time of year, and made a pact to try to “tough it out” in order to see as many places as possible. We are so glad that we persevered, as it has truly been a special experience.
As we pushed north, at times bashing into large, short-period waves, we were rewarded with picturesque islands and bays with endless beaches. We saw countless dolphins, and caught fish that made for some delicious meals on board!
We loved Isla San Francisco and Agua Verde, and had Elephant Rock Cove on Isla Catalina all to ourselves. Here the fish were afraid of us, suggesting snorkelers are not frequent here, and we saw our first shark while snorkeling — a small black-tip reef shark.
When the forecast called for another strong Norther to pass through, we sought shelter in Puerto Escondido for a week. We hiked Tabor Canyon and rented a car to explore the nearby town of Loreto. When the wind abated, we made the decision to continue pushing north into the Sea, and visited such gorgeous places as Islas Carmen and Coronado, Caleta San Juanito and Bahia Concepcion. We enjoyed these spots immensely, and particularly enjoyed meeting fellow sailors in the anchorages and getting together to share our experiences!
As the mild conditions continued, we pushed farther north to Santa Rosalía and San Francisquito. Here we decided we were satisfied with how much we had seen, and were craving warmer water, so we set out across the Sea of Cortez. We departed San Francisquito and stayed at Isla Tiburon for one night, then continued on to our first mainland Mexico anchorage of Las Cocinas. After another stop at Bahia San Pedro, we stayed in the marina in San Carlos for a week to refresh and celebrate our crossing. After that, we continued south for three days, straight down to Mazatlán.
After another week there enjoying the markets and good food, it was an overnight sail to Isla Isabel. So far this has been our favorite spot.