Ophelia Offshore

One might think the Pacific crossing posts would start here – right after the Crossing Preparations post. But no, that is not that case. Because that was not the case for us.

We were ready – the boat was ready – and the weather was decidedly not ready. It had been weeks since the last weather window and the boats ready to cross were starting to pile up in La Paz. After over a month at the dock, we needed to get out to somewhere we could jump in the water and rest a night without the La Paz clubs “untz untz untz” DJing our dreams. So we threw off the dock lines and headed to Isla Espiritu. This would also be Dirk and Sarah’s initiation sail on Ophelia.

The short jaunt could not have been more lovely – enough wind to shake the sails out and for Dirk to test out his new eye catching sun-safety retention accessories.

Turquoise water greeted us on our arrival, the whole crew jumping in maybe before the anchor was even down? We took an afternoon snorkel at the small island inside the anchorage. Fish was desired for dinner, so Jesse went back in with his speargun and returned with a lovely one we grilled up on the BBQ. We were treated to a picture perfect sunset while the dive gear dried on deck. Dirk and Sarah maybe started to understand a little bit what all the work from the prior month was about.

Thankfully our new crew was going to get the *true* cruising experience though – there was an unfavorable weather change and a newly discovered Mexican holiday that could potentially interfere with our ability to check out of the country in time for the upcoming crossing weather window. So we had to cut our stay in paradise short and very sadly head back to our slip in La Paz.