What to expect Sailing Sea of Cortez

Sailing the Sea of Cortez… what’s the point? Isn’t it kind of boring? Is it scary when the boat tips over? Aren’t there more fun things to do?

“The sheet winches creak, the water murmurs on the bottom as the Joshua gathers way and begins to come alive… People who do not know a sailboat is a living creature will never understand anything about boats and the sea.”

The Long Way, Bernard Moitessier

For our experienced sailing friends, the “Mango Wind” is a Caine and Robertson 45, also known as a Leopard 45 AKA Moorings 45. She underwent a shipyard refit and overhaul stem to stern 2 years ago. Nice rig. We are fitting her out later this spring with a code zero and perhaps also a code 5 to have more fun.

Fully staffed with Captain, chef, and a naturalist/guide/diving instructor. Equipped with twin Yanmar diesels, a generator, air con, gas cooking, and individual heads (bathrooms) and showers in all 3 guest staterooms. The yacht carries a full complement of kayaks, paddle boards, snorkelling, and scuba diving gear. A supply of cold craft beer, good wine, and single malt scotch. Plus a very large cockpit with a shaded outdoor table and couches seating 6 in great comfort.

For all our non-sailors out there, it’s hard to describe the thrill of hoisting sails, catching the wind just right, and feeling the power of the wind as the sails fill and the boat accelerates. It’s a joyful experience, especially when you turn the engine(s) off. A day on the water never fails to leave us pleasantly tired, fulfilled, perhaps a bit windburned and sun-kissed, and immensely satisfied with a day well spent. We are not sure who said, “time stands still when you are sailing” but it is so true. Is it thrilling? Absolutely, especially when the wind picks up, and you are on a beam reach going FAST. Will the boat tip over? Nah. It’s fun to be heeled over, but a monohull is not going to capsize in the Sea of Cortez!

Sounds fun? We think you’d love this personal account of sailing the Sea of Cortez: ‘A Family’s Adventure’

What are our favorite trips?

That’s a really hard call. Sailing quietly past blue whale mommas and calves is very special.

Stories from the Deck: Guest Testimonies

My wife and I regularly see the humpback whales in Hawaii but have never seen the Blue Whales which are substantially larger and equally graceful. While they don’t breach like the humpbacks, they are truly amazing and magnificent creatures to behold!  This trip was a fantastic opportunity to spend time with them as well as whale sharks, which we had never seen before.  It was a wonderful trip filled with adventures and fun!

-Ross

What an amazing adventure! To see so many whales up close in the beautiful setting of the Sea of Cortez was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  A truly magical moment was cruising alongside a group of about 200 dolphins that were playing and jumping in our wake. 

Candy. Denver ,CO.

Find out more about Sailing the Sea of Cortez on Mango Wind, or reach out by email for help planning your dream adventure.

* Bernard Moitessier was an incredible sailor. He spent 7 months sailing around the world in the first Golden Globe Race, a solo nonstop circumnavigation, rounding the 3 great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn. All his competitors were knocked out of the race except for Robin Knox Johnston, but as he closed in on the final leg, he thought “screw it” and headed off for another partial circumnavigation before setting anchor in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, in June 1969. His account of this adventure, “The Long Way”, is a highly recommended read.

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Unveiling the Secrets of Gray Whale Migration

Imagine being a 45-ton gray whale living along the coast of British Columbia, where life is pretty good. There’s an abundance of food, including tons of yummy amphipods and shrimp. In fact, with your hearty appetite, you might devour up to 2500 pounds of these little critters every day. Your dining routine involves diving down to the muddy bottom, rolling over on your side, and bulldozing along the seabed, scooping up both mud and delectable treats. Your baleen-equipped tongue efficiently separates what you want from what you don’t. So, why do gray whales migrate to Baja, Mexico?

What Draws Gray Whales South?

In these waters, your only enemy is the orca, also known as the killer whale. However, you’ve discovered the joy of hanging out in the shallows, sometimes even in water as shallow as 15 centimeters, between the kelp forests and the shoreline. Orcas rarely venture into such shallow waters, making it a safe haven for you. While orcas are known for their playful breaching and jumps, they’re also cautious about getting stuck in these shallows. Any adult gray whale knows that one mighty swipe of their tail flukes can mortally wound an orca, earning them the nickname ‘devil fish.’

The Evolutionary Benefits of Baja’s Winter Waters

But now, imagine you’re a pregnant momma whale facing an intriguing dilemma. Why would you leave this idyllic place, where everything you need for survival is at your fins, to embark on a migration of 2000 to 3000 miles down the coast? This journey involves fasting, all while you carry your precious calf within. The caloric requirements for such a migration are immense, as you must swim thousands of miles and have enough fat reserves to nurse your calf. A calf typically grows 50 to 80 pounds a day during the 4 to 5 months spent in the lagoon in Baja Mexico. In fact, momma gray whales also nurse their calves all the way back up the coast, for a total nursing period of 7 months or longer, with milk astonishingly containing 53% fat (compared to 2% for humans).

So, why the arduous journey to Baja? One theory suggests that the higher salt content of the lagoon’s water may help the calves float more easily when they are newborns. However, other Baja birthing lagoons also have extensive salt flats. Moreover, mommas also give birth to calves in the open ocean on the final stretch of their southward migration, with reports stating that more than 50% of all births occur north of Los Angeles.

Perhaps the salt flats hint at something else – warm water. The lagoons are relatively shallow, which helps maintain even warmer water temperatures. Is there an energy benefit to the whales in these warmer waters compared to the frigid North Pacific? In winter, waters in the North Pacific can drop to 34-35°F in the Aleutians, while British Columbia remains relatively balmy at 46°F. By contrast, San Ignacio Lagoon might dip from 86°F in the summer to 74°F in the winter. The math is fascinating: a big female, after a summer of feeding, might weigh 90,000 pounds. The southward migration, calf care, and northward migration could cost her 30,000 pounds of blubber – about one-third of her body weight. Moreover, calves nurse on milk that is a remarkable 53% fat.

So, assuming warm water provides benefits, could there be more to this story? Orcas! While the thought of transient orcas lying in wait for gray whales during their Monterey Bay crossing is troubling, they are almost never seen in San Ignacio Lagoon. In February 2022, orcas entered the lagoon, causing concern. They took at least one dolphin (remains were found), but that was the first time they had been seen in the lagoon in 17 years. The orcas face a high-risk, high-reward situation. The entrance to the lagoon is tricky, with constantly shifting shallow sandbars. Gray whales are comfortable in the shallows, even when it’s wavy or there’s a swell. Orcas do not have the same comfort zone and could ground themselves, potentially leading to their demise. If they do enter the lagoon, they are in unfamiliar territory – it’s fairly shallow and home to a large seasonal population of big, powerful adult gray whales, known as ‘devil fish.’

We welcome all comments, additional ideas, and suggestions. Our working hypothesis for now is that gray whales migrate to the lagoons of Baja Mexico because the water is warm, has higher salt content, is shallow, and offers protection from orcas.

Of course, only our beautiful gray whales know the actual answer to this. We can speculate all we want, but the only thing we know for sure is that whales are highly adaptive and will likely survive long past humans. They have evolved from four-legged terrestrial animals into the elegant and incredible marine mammals we see today. As they continue evolving in front of our very eyes, adapting to avoid starvation and finding new ways to thrive, we remain humbled and in awe of these magnificent animals.

P.S. Yes, I know that it’s Baja California and not Baja Mexico! In 1804, the Spanish crown divided California into Alto (or upper), which is now California, USA, Baja California (sometimes now called Norte), and Baja California Sur (or south). San Ignacio Lagoon is just south of the dividing line and is located in BCS, but people often get confused by ‘California’ and think we’re somewhere near San Diego!

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Blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), one of the most amazing big animals I have ever seen. I’ll never forget the first time I saw one. I was just down from a summer of Alaska trips and had seen a lot of humpback whales. Loads of humpback whales. We were on our way into Ensenada from Guadalupe great white sharks when I saw two 30 foot high “blows” in front of us as we approached the shallow underwater ridge (and feeding ground) off Baja… And then we saw the blue whales. The size was almost unfathomable. The back of the whale just went on and on and on until we saw the tiny dorsal fin at the back.

And then we saw the blue whales. The blue whale size was almost unfathomable. The back of the whale just went on and on and on until we saw the tiny dorsal fin at the back.

Captain Mike

All of a sudden, humpback whales shrank in our perception to being not much more than minnows. It was an experience I will never forget and once I started reading about the winter aggregation of blue whale mommas and calves off Loreto, I became determined to figure out how to share this amazing experience with our guests. Our first Baja Ultimate Whale trip on our 116-ft expedition yacht, Gallant Lady, is just in and as the following videos attest, the experience was stunning.

Fascinating Blue Whales facts

• An adult blue whale consumes up to 38 million shrimp (krill) per day consuming up to 1,500,000 calories.
• They inhale water and krill equal to their own body weight in one gulp which takes a huge amount of energy but is also very efficient, giving them an energy surplus up to 245 times the energy expended.
• An adult fills her lungs with 1300 gallons of air which gives 20 to 30 minute dives.
• Their blood is so dense with hemoglobin that it’s almost black in colour.
• Their heart is the size of a small car with a heartbeat of only 4 beats per minute.
• The blue whale size is huge and they weight up to 180 tons which is heavier than 2 fully loaded Boeing 737s.
• A newborn calf can be 25 feet long and 8000 pounds and can grow up to 9 pounds every hour as it suckles their mother’s milk.

To experience these whales up close and personal on the whale’s terms is truly a gift that nobody should miss!

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