Weather, It’s A Funny Thing…: November 19th, 2025

Nice sunny morning leaving Refugio.

Ugh! Is this going to be a reoccurring theme for this whole season’s voyage? The weather was forecast, in all models, to be pleasant for sailing. But turned out, again, to be otherwise! Although, definitely like it was during our crossing to Refugio. And thankfully, we sailed during the day. -That always makes things easier to manage than at night.

The weather changing during our sail to the Don Juan Anchorage.

It started out sunny. There were no waves. There was no wind. But that was to be expected early in the morning. Then the wind came. I think around16 knots. Perfect! There were clouds overhead & they looked like they would bring rain but we could tell they were moving away from us. The waves picked up to maybe 3 feet. We were zipping along between 5 to 6 knots. Then the waves decided that they weren’t having enough fun & invited waves from all over to have a wave rave! They were going in all kinds of directions & got up to 6 feet. It sucks that no one can ever capture how big the waves are in video. You just have to take our word for it.

Well, I think the wind got jealous because it up it’s ante to about 30 knots & couldn’t decide if it wanted to come from the southwest or southeast. And then it wanted to throw in a little wind from the north too! Our poor genoa looked like it had enough, even with it reefed in quite a bit. So we rolled it in & motored. Nothing horrifying but definitely not pleasant. I guess at least we got in about 20 miles before everything went to crap but then we still had 20 more miles to go.

I think we were both over this sailing thing. I started thinking of what campers we could afford right now & where we would go. -Although I hate sitting for long periods of time & driving kind of freaks me out.

I think things slowly started calming down 8 miles before we got to Don Juan. Thank God because darkness was creeping in & we didn’t want to anchor in the dark. Luckily we made it & found a good place that was pretty protected.

That feeling of relief when approaching a safe, calm anchorage.

The following morning was beautiful. We could tell though that the winds & waves were crazy outside the anchorage.

There was one other boat there, Rocinante. -Bill & Lisanne kayaked over to our boat in the morning & introduced themselves. We talked for a while. And they let us know that the wind in the Gulf of California is just pretty much crazy! I guess there are just a bunch of micro-weather-systems going on. There is the weather from the Pacific that comes through the mountains in the west & then there is the weather from the Gulf of Mexico that comes over land from the east. They said that basically we should double the highs of the gusts predicted. -And possibly the waves too. After actually talking to a bunch of other cruisers we found out that most people follow these guidelines.

We felt much better after talking with them about the weather. They are both scientists & really had a lot of great advice to give us.

Later that day, we went over to their lovely boat for some sundowners & talked for hours. So fun to meet other cruisers. It’s very easy to make fast friends in this lifestyle. It’s like we are in our own species group!

Matt caught us 4 of these in one fishing session!

On Thursday, we took a hike on the south shore. Zephyr really got to stretch his legs & we could see that the weather outside the anchorage was still a bit crazy. Which really made us glad we listened to Bill & Lisanne’s advice to wait until Friday to leave.

On our way back to our dinghy, we spotted a coyote. -Who probably spotted us a long time before we saw it. I gathered Zephyr up in my arms, even though the coyote didn’t make a move towards us or showed any aggression. I just wanted him to be safe. The coyotes did come out later that night when we had a bonfire on the beach with Bill & Lisanne. -We didn’t bring Zephyr, thankfully. They came up very close to us. Not skittish at all.

Coyote watching us! I was distracting & holding Zephyr at the time.

And yes, we have a video of our experience getting to Don Juan & then mostly relaxing after getting there. Zephyr plays a big part so get ready for a fluffy bucket of joy!

Click above to watch!

Interested in finding some new things to listen to? I thought we’d share just a handful of the podcasts we listen to while sailing or doing busy-work around the boat.

Podcasts we listen to:

Search Engine:

This podcast covers almost any topic you can think of. Those questions that you have in the back of your head but might not think are worthy of talking about or maybe too taboo, in a way, to talk about. Very educational, interesting & entertaining.

Ask Iliza Anything:

Iliza Shlesinger is our favorite comedian! No she’s not a licensed therapist but she definitely gives great advice. She’s smart, witty, sarcastic, kind & hilarious! -A bit of everything. Although, she not might be for everyone, we adore her!

Atlas Obscura:

This is a fun podcast about different places in the world. -Places that are out of the ordinary. Many, or maybe even most, of the places talked about haven’t been heard of by a lot people. -Or sometimes you many have heard of the place but not known all of the history or stories behind it. Definitely an intriguing podcast to check out!

Was I In A Cult?

First thing you’ll learn when listening to this podcast is that almost everyone in a cult doesn’t realize that they are in a cult. The hosts are great! Pretty hilarious in fact. -At least most of the time. There are some moments or episodes that are just too harrowing that comedy just wouldn’t be appropriate. A very fascinating subject thought & a great listen.

So Money with Farnoosh Torabi:

Farnoosh has been around the podcast world for a while. She gives great financial advice & has very knowledgeable guests on her show discussing all the different aspects of money. I’ve definitely learned a lot. In fact, Matt & I got to have a 15 minute phone call with her. -When my review of the podcast got called out on her show & she was offering these calls if she picked your review to read! Pretty awesome!

And that’s a wrap! If you’re a sailor, you’re just vulnerable to the weather. It’s very nice that we have been able to talk with other sailors cruising around here to know that it’s better to err on the safe side & maybe go out when even no wind is predicted. You may still get enough wind to sail & it’s better than the alternative.

Trying to do a family portrait!

Thanks for reading & watching! Come back next week as we head down to San Francisquito. Will it be filled with bees this time?! Until then, just be kind to each other.