Salty Walt

island hopping near la paz, crossing the Sea and touching anchorages southbound from matzatlan

edit 4/4/24:
update! i picked up crew for the crossing from la paz south to los muertos, then we crossed to mazatlan, hit isla isabella, san blas, and la cruz. we had a blast exploring new places and lots of sailing and diving! I dropped him off in vallarta and picked up another crew for a week cruising around banderas bay,to yalapa and mita, it was lovely. dropped her off and singlehanded it back up to san blas via chacala, and now i’m picking up crew here for a crossing back to cabo pulmo and points north.
i have new crew joining again in la paz, and when we cross yet again to da carlos, that will round out the season of sailing for sv hellebore. It was a total blast ( still is, still going) and i want to thank the greater sailing community of pacific mexico, this forum, and all you salty and and briny people out there who make this culture so amazing! see you in november for more of the same!
Edit, 2/14/24:
I met a novice saillor here in this forum and we had an awesome 5 weeks of cruising the sea of cortez from san carlos to la paz, lots of diving, spearfishing and sailing! we stayed to more remote anchorages and offshore islands and had a blast, i’m sorry to see my crew move on, but it’s time to change thing up!
i have a friend joint the boat for a couple of weeks, and they depart on 2/25/24. i will have space in the boat for the next leg, which is departing la paz, hitting some really cool anchorages around espírito santo and points south, crossing the sea of cortez to isla isabellita, and then anchorages like san blas and chakala down the mainland coast to bandaras bay. stopping to surf punta de mita and ending the section in la cruz around march 18th.
I’m looking for a new crewmate to join the adventure! it will require a commitment of at least 8-10 days to cross, and if it’s working out crew can stay on until puerto vallarta or possibly further… the rest of this advert is what i wrote prior to departure but most of it still holds true. everything went as planned so far, the boat is in excellent shape and ready for more! come join me and Charley the Dog for some fun in the sun.

This will be my 4th Cruise on Hellebore in the Sea of Cortez, and this year I plan to go for longer and make more southing, perhaps to Z-town but at least to Bandaras bay. I want to spend some time surfing around sayulita and punta de mita this season. I will probably have to return the boat back to San Carlos and if that’s the case, will wait until the southerlies fill in around April-May to start back Northbound. I am open-ended on the cruise, but 4-5 months seems about right to me. I’m open to crew coming on and off the boat in various sections of the cruise, or staying for longer if it’s really working out well. I can take up to 2 crew aboard, but prefer not to take a couple as I don’t want to be a third wheel…
Right now, my plan is to drive my truck camper from SF Bay area down to San Carlos, Sonora MX, Where the boat is on the hard. I did this drive last February. This year I will spend a couple weeks getting down there as I want to do some camping in the desert, hit a bunch of hot springs, do some hiking. I plan to leave around 28 December 2023 or perhaps a little later, like after the new year.
I will need a week to prepare the boat to splash her. Hanking on sails, washing the running rigging, oiling the woodwork below, yearly engine maintenance, cleaning and provisioning etc. I would love help with these tasks but can do them alone. so If someone were interested in the pre-cruise adventure, they could share the cost of fuel and do some rad desert and beach camping with me, in their own tent but access my kitchen and camper amenities. Just a thought.
I would also welcome crew aboard for different sections of essentially a 4 month cruise from San Carlos south to Zihuatanejo and return.
Section one Departing San Carlos to Baja around Jan 7–10, landfall either Bahia Conception or San Juanico, island hop south to La Paz.
Section two La Paz anchorage and island hopping to either San Jose del Cabo or Cabo San Lucas
Section Three departing Baja southeast, Stopping Isla Isabellita and ending La Cruz or Punta de Mita
Section four Southbound stopping Yalapa then points south...

I will update this as the cruise and crew develops.

All of this is negotiable and plans may change depending on conditions and crew. I welcome crew input on all decisions on a pleasure/adventure cruise and I am not a hardass "my way only" captain, except when it comes to safety decisions which I am inflexible on.
I expect crew to share equally in all food and fuel costs, but I will cover any maintenance or repair costs to the boat.
when I was crewing on various boats, I learned quickly that as a general rule, one should be willing and capable to depart the boat if things aren’t working out. For example, I had to leave a boat in panama because the captain was a dangerous coked-up rager. I had to hitch a boat ride to the mainland and then find my way on land. If you are out there hopping on boats with strangers, it’s imperative that you are self-contained and can carry all
the gear your brought comfortably on your back to a a bus station or hostel or just the next boat.

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