July 1, 2026-Spring Cruise and Adventures in the Sea of Cortez

BANDERAS BAY REGATTA 

The wind was up and the line was crowded but we weren’t afraid. Yes, the big boats were out in force: five boats in the start ahead of us, five in our start, and nine in the start behind. All together nine out of 19 were bigger than us, and supposedly faster. So what? Third week in March was the Banderas Bay Regatta, out of the Vallarta Yacht Club, and we sent it. Why not? The crew, a great crew, was ready, the boat was ready and we were excited. 

swanFun images

And the racing was good. Three races and the wind never stopped. We won the first two. Our biggest competition was Swan Fun and they were tough but we got them. But they got us, both Swan Fun and the wind on the third day when we tried to carry the kite on a tight 20kt reach. We were over powered and kept rounding up. (What? No pictures? Who’s taking photos when you’re trying to survive). Swan Fun made the perfect call: At the jibe they dropped the kite and finished with a small jib. By the time we got our kite down they were long gone. I wish I know who made that call, it was brilliant. Was it Joe?

Crew Celebrates

But we won the regatta, and being first on the podium felt really good. 

 

GOING CRUISING TO SEA OF CORTEZ 

But immediately after the BBR Sandy and I got back to work getting ready to cruise to the Sear of Cortez. It was hard work and we didn’t have much time. It’s been like that since November: we work like hell to get ready for a race, then we race as hard as we can, then work like hell to get ready to go cruising. Rinse and repeat. That was the racing season. We had 23 races and two multi-day offshore deliveries jammed into four months. Sandy In the Dingy

Then we headed off for a three month cruise and that wasn’t any vacation. In fact the cruise was another 12 weeks or frenetic work: sailing every day, changing crew every few weeks, new problems every day that needed to be fixed and finally sailing back to La Cruz with an injured crew. 

Crossing to Baja was mostly motoring but it wasn’t trouble free. We broke a fan belt and discovered a broken bolt on the alternator bracket, which we drilled out while sailing (fun). And the AIS was found not to be transmitting (it received, we could see the ships, they couldn’t see us) and a handful of other issues. But we got to La Paz. Yay! 

The big issues were still to come. 

The two problems which really hit us early in April hard were a complete failure of the dingy and complete failure of the refrigerator. 

The dingy went first. A big woosh and air tubes split open. The dingy went suddenly flat. We tried to repair them but it didn’t work. It would hold air, briefly. We took a pump everywhere. The dingy could be used but not trusted. Crew were coming for further cruising but how could we continue cruising without a reliable dingy?

But then another problem cropped up: the refrigerator stopped working. Completely.

THE SAGA OF THE $5000 REFRIGERATOR REPAIR 

On a boat, most boats anyway, the refrigerator is taken for granted. It keeps beverages cold, and veggies fresh, but most of all, it keeps meat frozen. Some salty sailors living it rough go without refrigeration but the guests I had coming were not expecting to live that rough. I never told anyone when they signed up that we wouldn’t have a refrigerator. Without refrigeration it made the possibility of enjoying a cruise for three more months pretty much unthinkable. At least that’s the way I looked at it. So I went shopping, online.

Refrigerator Compressor

The Forbidden Package

Compressor units for my fridge were hard to find. But after a lot or Internet research, I finally found one, only one. Not in Mexico. It was in California. West Marine had one. But it would take two to three weeks to ship it to Mexico. No Bueno. I had guests arriving and anyhow, I couldn’t stay in the marina for that long. But Mike and Judy from Honu lived nearby the West Marine store and could go and pick it up. Then they were flying to La Cruz in four days; that might work. I called them. Done! It was small and they could bring it in their luggage.

But wait, Wings was in Puerto Escondido, 500 miles from La Cruz.

No problem, Sandy and I would just fly to La Cruz and bring the refer back. So we booked tickets, round trip. It took five separate flights but we could do it. And while we were there we could attend the annual Yelapa trip for Mike Danielson’s memory.

John agreed to take us to Yelapa on Edwina.

This would be a holiday.

We thought.

Off to la Cruz we went by air. Checked into Hotel Edwina. Sailed to Yelapa and back, had a good time. Got ready to take the refer back to Wings, which was still in Baja.

But wait! We missed our flights and our connections!

At the ticket counter the lady said, “No Sir, you missed your flight. No more flights until tomorrow.”

How does that happen? I got the date wrong. Oh Shit!

So that was three flights, for two people, that we trashed. And a couple of unplanned hotel stays. Money!

Well we bought new tickets and boarded the plane the next day. We got to Tijuana, where we were supposed to make a connecting flight to Loretto. (By the way, I want to point out that Sandy had an International flight to catch from Loretto to Charlott South Carolina the next day and Dulce Marie, my next crew, was flying in. Things were getting tight.)

“I’m sorry sir, you cannot take that compressor on our aircraft, No way.”

We couldn’t fly. Another two tickets trashed. More Money!

Well Damn! What do we do now? We’re in Tiajuana Mexico with a refrigerator compressor and need to be in Loretto the next day and can’t fly.

Sandy said, “We should rent a car.”

So, we got a car for a one way car rental to Lorretto, extra fee, $1500 USD. Even more Money!!

The drive from Tiajuana Mexico to Loretto in Baja is 14 hours. It was hell. We left Tiajuana at 3:30 PM and drove all night. It was really hell. Two lane road not well marked. Big danger of northbound trucks roaring out of the darkness with lights blazing. God, I don’t know how we made, it. We should have died but we didn’t.

Sandy

Sandy made her flight to South Carolina, I met Dulce Marie who came into Loretto at the same time, and I got the refer compressor to Wings. The new compressor worked! It all worked, but it cost me, all up, $5000. Dang!

FIRE IN THE HOLE 

The New Dingy

Bye Dulce

Happy Hour for Kelsey

Another crew change in La Paz. Dulce helped my find a new dingy then she flew out and Kelsey came in. The month with Kelsey was good. Lots of sailing and few boat problems. Then she left and Rene joined.

Oh yeah, Rene and I continued to find a few little boat problems, but not until the middle of June did things go really wrong again. On Monday the 15th of June, while we were anchored in La Paz charging batteries with the engine the alternator shorted out and caught fire. We caught it right away and shut down the electrical system, but the damage was done. The alternator was ruined and quite lot of wiring nearby was burned or melted. It could have been worse. We replaced the alternator with a spare and put in new wires and were good to go. Wow, was that close!

LEAVING TOPOLOBAMPO 

Parked in Topolobampo

From Baja Rene and I crossed to Topolobampo on the mainland side and sailed up the long shipping channel into that neat little town. I’d been there before and pointed out all the familiar landmarks and anchorages and we navigated that tricky last little channel to the marina without any issues. Yay!

Topolobampo was fun. We walked everywhere. We even took an uber to Los Mochis that week for shopping, bought some fan belts for the engine and had a great lunch, very Mexican. But sailing out after four days later was challenging. The onshore breeze filled and got stronger as we tacked out of the channel and we had slow progress going from buoy to buoy as the wind, waves and current against us made it a slog. We reefed the main. We watched the depths whenever we approached the side of the channel. We had to stay high, and the windvane couldn’t do it. I took off the windvane and steered.

Finally we reached the outer marker on port tack and felt we had enough sea room to tack onto starboard and head south. But the Sea of Cortez wasn’t done with us.

I called out, “Ready to tack?”

“Ready” answered Rene on the jib sheets.

“Tacking”, and I put the helm down.

Wings swung its head through the wind and then stopped for a second. We had flown off a wave then hit the next one head on and it jolted us. Rene was just turning to tail the new jib sheet and she was thrown forward towards the open hatch and landed on her back against the corner of the hatch opening. I heard a shriek and looked to see her lying next to the winch. The jib was flapping.

I said, not knowing she was hurt, “Pull in the jib”.

But Rene couldn’t move. She couldn’t even breathe.

“I think my rib is broken”, she said when got her breath back.

Oh fuck!

Now what? Turn and go back to Topolobampo? It was 15 miles in rough conditions and not easy to do singlehanded. And what then? There didn’t seem be any medical facilities in Topolobampo. We’d have to take a long taxi or uber ride to Los Mochis. For what?

Keep on course to Mazatlan? That was 205 miles to the south, but it was easy sailing, open water and no hazards. Rene thought we should go to Mazatlan. I sent her below to rest and began single handing south.

Rene felt she would survive and that she could do a little to help sail the boa, at least stand watch when I had to sleep. We sailed onward.

This episode brought back to reality something I’ve known forever but never really faced before: When you go to sea in a small boat you are playing for keeps. Rene broke a rib. She could have been killed. Or I could have been killed or thrown off the boat. There is no doctor out there, no rescue services, not even a Coast Guard to call.

But none of those things happened. They haven’t happened to me in 50 years of sailing. We get complacent. But the danger is out there, just waiting.

THE FINAL LEG BACK TO LA CRUZ 

Sailing was easy from then on. We spent long days making great time broad reaching towards Mazatlán and nights motoring. It was good for Rene who needed to rest and let her rib stop hurting a bit.

By the time we anchored in Mazatlán’s old harbor we could breath a little. We were close to home.

On July 1 the cruise was over.

Fred is happy

Click here for more photos.

Fred Roswold, SV Wings, Mexico

In late March I was planning to set sail for a cruise to the Sea of Cortez. 

I had my crew, Rene, lined up and the departure set for March 28.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Fred & Rena

But it was a bit of a struggle to get out of here by then, we had only 5 days after the last race, the boat was still a race boat, race sails, no dodger, no dingy, no life raft, no solar panels, no wind vane, and no provisions

Plus we had major damage which resulted from the collision in the Banderas Bay Regatta. Wing’s bow was mangled and the pulpit lased together with ropes and duct tape.

But I don’t give up easily and my race crew and Rene all pitched in and somehow we got it done and sailed out of La Cruz on March 28.
wingssail images-rene canhamBrainwaves

From day one, when we hooked up with Jim and Deb on Brainwaves sailing to Pta Mita, this cruise has been a success (even though Brainwaves simply sailed away from us).

Over these three months we had a bit too much motoring but plenty of good sailing as well as tough, very tough, sailing. We’ve had breakdowns, repairs, but plenty of gorgeous days in those three months. 

And crew. It took several weeks to recruit the crew I needed for this cruise. I didn’t want to sail Wings single handedly, the boat is not set-up for it, and I have never done it so I worked hard for find suitable and willing candidates.

Rene, Sarah, Jennie, Liz

But find them I did. First Rene, then Sarah, then Jennie, then finally Liz. Each of these amazing women help me sail Wings and made it their temporary home. At times they even sort of took over and made Wings their own. I loved it and mainly due to them the Cruise to the Sea of Cortez was a total success.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold La Paz

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Anchored in Los Gatos

wingssail images-liz miller

Agua Verde

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Balandra Sand Dune

We sailed over 1560 nautical miles but didn’t that far away. Most of our sailing was done going around the beautiful southern Sea of Cortez, back and forth between La Paz and Loretto, visiting all of my favorite anchorages and ports and just chilling.

wingssail images-fredrick roswold And can we dance!

Now I am back in La Cruz and resuming life in port during the summer heat. I have the air conditioner running. I have the awnings up and rain collecting systems rigged. I am back at the gym and also enjoying the local music scene. And most of all I am engaged in a major boat work project. That work list is long and challenging. My friend Rhonda came and helped me on some of the harder tasks (and also went to gym and the local music bars where we danced, even in the summer heat).

So, all is well in Wings’ world. 

I’ll try to keep you updated 

Click here for lots more photos

Fred Roswold, sv Wings, Mexico

April 7, 2024-Moving on in March

wingssail images-fredrick roswold Anchored in La Paz

La Paz, anchored in front of Abaroa’s Don Jose Marina with a dead motor. No working starter so no motor. The starter burned out on the way here from La Cruz when a crack developed on the engine’s water system and salt water drenched the starter. Got out the spare. Oh No! the spare starter needs repair. I was going to do that last year but when Judy went into the hospital and then passed away, my mind went blank and a lot of things got away, like fixing the starter. So here we (Rene and I) were in Baja with no motor. Still had 67 miles to go to La Paz though, so we had no choice but to set sail without a motor.

Those 67 mile were rough. Lots of wind and waves and tacking, and spray and sail changes, (I got drenched at least three times) but we sailed fast and we got to La Paz and anchored in front of Abaroa’s. Now I had to fix the starter and a lot of other things, like the crack oin the cooling system, like the water maker, and a few others, but I got to work and by now Wings is in good nick. 

But what else has been going on? 

Wings in Boat Yard

In March we hauled out Wings for a bottom job and new propeller shaft. That was some but it went well. The new bottom was fast. 

Wings Crew

We also sailed in the Banderas Bay Regatta and got second place, but not without a lot of drama. The worst was a serious collision we had with another boat, it was their fault! They tacked onto port right in from of us and I had about 5 seconds to avoid them but a seco0nd move on their part, another wrong move, made avoidance impossible. BOOM! Fiberglass flying everywhere and bent metal on the bow. The other boat was badly damaged and they had to retire from the race. I decided Wings was OK to continue and we wound up finishing in second place for the regatta. There was a protest meeting and Wings was completely exonerated. 

 

It was fun at the awards party but the damage on Wings put a pall over it all for me. 

Temporary Repairs

But life goes on, 

  Fred & Rene Sailibg

I still had my plan to sail to the Sea of Cortez for three months, each month with a new crew member on board to help me. The first leg was to La Paz with Rene but we had a lot of work to do to get ready and only four days to do it. Many of my wonderful race crew helped and by March 28 we were ready. 

Rene in Colors

So then there was the sail to La Paz which I mentioned above. On April 5 Rene flew back to La Cruz and the next day Sarah joined. She is great too and I’ll write more about our trip together later.

Meanwhile I am getting on with life. Not always as I wanted it to but we have no choice, do we? 

Sarah

Click here for LOTS MORE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS 

Frederico, SV Wings, La Paz

April 30, 2023-Springtime Sailing in Banderas Bay

Springtime sailing is usually good in Banderas Bay and this March and April we’ve had great winds and great competition. And we’ve done well but it’s taken a bit of work getting ready for it all.

Banderas Bay Regatta

john pounder jldigital images Wings About to Round

After returning from Tenacatita we had to get the boat set up for Banderas Bay Regatta and that meant getting racing sails on-board, all the cruising equipment off, the bottom cleaned, and the crew roster finalized. It was quite a bit of work in a short time frame, but we got it done.

Then we had some hard practices with a few mistakes and mishaps but generally we were pretty good at our jobs and we worked out the kinks and were ready for the BBR. This year, with the help of the practices like that, our crew has been our strength; we have a boatload of keen racers with lots of experience on board. In the BBR the boat handling was excellent and as well as good boat speed (credit attentive trimming), good starts, and excellent tactics. All in all, we sailed well in BBR. Second place in our class (class #2) was satisfying. Even more so when we compared our times with the boats from class #1, we would have beat most of them too and would have second there as well. We got our trophy at the big awards party and went home happy.

Saturday Smack Down

llbtr images Wings Leads Olas Lindas

The next (and last) race of the season was a real stunner for the rest of the fleet. It was called a “Saturday Smack Down” intended to resolve a dispute between two bigger boats. The race wasn't about us, they allowed us to enter just to fill out the ranks.

The race went to Punta Mita and back, non-stop. What a race we had. We blew out of the starting box to an immediate lead, and continued to grow our lead all the way. The big boats lacked the windward performance (and also the local knowledge needed to find the fastest way to Punta Mita). It was fun sailing and we covered the faster boats behind us aggressively. We even felt that we pushed them into tactical mistakes. It was fun. We rounded the windward mark at Punta Mita well ahead.

After rounding we set our biggest kite and beam reached in the strong breezes back to La Cruz. It was beautiful, fast sailing. In the end one boat got past us but only by seconds and we were first place on corrected time. The race “fee” was a bottle wine to be shared afterward and we all told stories and lies and we enjoyed the whole event including paying off the bets we all made against each other where the winners of the bets had to contribute to the Vallarta yacht Club youth sailing program. We paid happily.

Bonfire in La Cruz

Spring Cruise Delayed

After BBR we made a serious effort to convert Wings back to cruising mode, another four days of hard work, so we could be ready for our spring cruise but we were in waiting mode because of some pending doctor appointments and stayed tied to the dock. More on this later.

Other Sailing Action

Meanwhile Fred raced on Greg and Gloria’s Beep Beep with a boat load of good sailors and they won that race too!

Next a delivery from Barra de Navidad. Mike from Honu needed to get his boat back to La Cruz so three of us lucky amigos took a car ride to Barra and sailed Mike’s boat back. Good fun.

judy sawyer image We left our wives at home, Judy, Gloria, Deb and Judy

Punta Mita Again (Chaotic), and Yelapa (Slow)

We did get Wings out of the marina and we began what was supposed to be our spring cruise by sailing to Punta Mita (again) and anchoring there.

That sail was pretty good but it got off to a chaotic start. The autopilot broke and Judy was left on deck steering while I fixed it and meanwhile the wind piped up over 20 and it was a real handful for her to manage alone. “Fred, get up here", she shouted.

Then the galley lockers opened up and with a loud crash spilled all their contents on the cabin sole. What a mess. So we were dealing with a broken autopilot, the wrong sail set up and a total mess down below. But we got it all squared away and all was good again. We sailed on to the anchorage, and actually managed another good elapsed time despite the chaos.

So now we had some peace and quiet.

Yelapa

But wait! There’s more! The following Saturday was “Spring Fling” to Yelapa, a part of Mike Danielson’s birthday celebrations. Several of our friends were going so we decided to join and we sailed to Yelapa. It’s not a race, but we’ll sailed like it was.

wingssail images fredrick roswold
Navigation Brick

Yelapa

alexa shanfelt image Five Guys

John, Fred, Mark, Greg, Jim

Yelapa was great fun with a good mooring and lots of fun ashore. Sunday’s race home, however, was disappointing. We got a late start, the winds were light, and our cruising sails just didn’t cut it. We were the slowest boat out there, barely nipping two other boats to the finish. Our friends on Beep Beep were first and they asked, “What happened to you guys?”. “Well,” I answered, "for two oldsters we did the best we could”.

Next: Medical Stuff Puts Our Spring Cruise on Hold

We’ve elected to have some medical procedures that are needed, which will delay our cruise this year, (end it, actually). We’re back at the dock in La Cruz and we will most likely be here all summer. We’ll write more later on this subject.

For more photos of Banderas Bay Sailing, Click here

For more photos of Yelapa, Click here

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Pta Mita, Mexico