What is it really like? Here is a summary description of our experience doing the Bash North from Cabo San Lucas to Los Angeles. We are certainly not the first to do it nor will we be the last. Overall it was not as bad as we expected, just tedious and a lot of motoring. We expected to motor a lot and out of the whole trip, we got about 1.5 days of decent sailing.
There are many individuals who are willing to offer advice on doing the Bash but have never done it. Of the people who I talked to who have done it, the best advice was seek out good weather windows, be patient, do not have a schedule and go as far north as you can, as fast as you can. Books on doing the bash have lots of advice but in all honesty, it is all up to weather windows and good news does not sell books. Lots of people have done the Bash, you only hear about the horror stories. It is a miserable and often uncomfortable point of sail, but it is possible to complete it without having any major events.
Indeed, we were careful to ensure that the boat and the engine were up to the task. If in any doubt don’t do it, getting major parts or doing major repairs can become a big and expensive problem. Having extra crew, and there were three of us, was helpful to keep watches short. We did three hour watches and having three crew was a good balance for a 36 foot boat.
We had many spare parts on board as well as extra fuel and oil filters. We changed engine oil in Cabo, Turtle Bay and Ensenada. All fuel filters were replaced in Cabo and all fuel taken on board was put through a West Marine (Baja) type filter before going into the tank. We also changed the transmission fluid. It was not clear how much fuel we would need to get us to Turtle Bay or from Turtle Bay to Ensenada so we acquired two ‘Mexican’ Panga style jugs each holding about 11 Gallons of Diesel for about 60 Pesos each in Puerto Vallarta. We already had 6 five gallon containers and while our fuel tank holds 25 gallons, we only used 20 for estimating purposes. The total fuel we carried for each leg was 70 gallons. This was all based upon our estimated burn rate and our speed over ground estimate that allowed for up to three knots plus headwinds. We refueled in Turtle Bay but not in Ensenada and ended the trip in LA with a full tank and five gallons to spare. We had plenty of engine oil on board should we blow a seal or have other engine issues.
The plan called for preparing four pre-cooked main meals that would just need re-heating so that galley time was minimized. We had plenty of snack foods available for whoever was on watch.
We did not have a SSB radio but we did have a Telcel BandaAncha Internet modem which may have worked for getting GRIB weather files in Mag Bay. However, we were too far away from the antenna so although we got a connection, it would drop after a while. It did work in Turtle Bay from the anchorage and also as we passed Cedros Village. While it was slow, we did get the weather information we needed. Otherwise, you have to rely on other cruisers for weather reports or use an internet cafe in Turtle Bay.
We started out from Cabo with a good three day and possibly four day weather window. We cruise at about 5.5 Knots and as recommended we hugged the coast about 2-3 miles off until south of Mag Bay. There was no noticeable south current this close in and we only noticed the current when off Mag Bay which was running at about 1.5 knots. We did encounter sea mist and winds of 15-20 knots on the nose for a few hours at nightfall.
Continuing north with good weather, we closed with land about 30 miles south of Turtle Bay having taken a direct route from Bahia Santa Maria to Bahia Asuncion. After coasting north about 4-5 miles offshore, we finally arrived off Turtle Bay in a morning mist that cleared as we entered the bay and dropped anchor.
The first GRIB download was disappointing as it looked like the next weather window would be five days away. In the end we were anchored in Turtle Bay for a full week along with some other cruising sailboats, one with a leaking oil seal and one with a broken Transmission. During that time a few other sailboats with delivery Captains came and went, usually just spending one night for rest and refueling. One of these boats did return one day as they found the going to be too stiff. The rest of us waited out the weather. The week passed quickly enough with trips ashore for supplies and to stretch our legs. The main concern was fresh water however, we carry 72 Gallons in three tanks along with about 21 gallons of purified drinking water. With careful conservation we still had 25 gallons of fresh water and 5 gallons of purified drinking water when we arrived in Los Angeles.
We finally got another good weather window of four or five days and anxious to get out of Turtle Bay, we gritted our teeth and set out after a week of heavy wind and seas had stirred everything up. We knew we would have a rollicking first day until the seas settled down. Indeed, we had long swells but favorable wind in the 10-15 knot range for motor sailing all of the way to Cedros Island.
Our route took us through the channel between Punta Eugenia and Isla Natividad. We did benefit for the time we were in the lee of Natividad but strong beam seas and wind hit us after that as we continued the crossing to the lee of Cedros Island.
Coasting north we did encounter winds of up to 30 Knots blowing down the steep Arroyos just south of the north anchorage in Cedros. Two other boats that had tried to continue crossing Vizcaino Bay turned back and anchored with us overnight. The north anchorage of Cedros is an open roadstead with a few small beaches inhabited by Sea Lion colonies. We anchored on the shelf in about 25 feet of water about 200 yards off one of the beaches. The bottom is gravel and rock and if I anchor there in the future, I will use a trip line on the anchor.
Our final three days from Cedros crossing Vizcaino Bay found us in long swells, up to 18 knots of wind and a strong 2 knot current. We closed with land just south of the Sacramento Reef. From there, we stayed about 3 miles off shore and inside of the continental shelf. We had been told that north of San Quintin the weather is often benign and it was. The final leg from Ensenada to San Pedro was uneventful and our clearance into the US was handled efficiently at the slip in the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro.
Would I do it again? Probably, but not any time soon. It is a long, somewhat uncomfortable trip where you need lots of patience and some perseverance in a well found and equipped boat. But it can be done safely with careful planning, taking no risks, having no schedule and paying close attention to the weather.