Sailing away from Ensenada in a warm, gentle breeze
Punta Colonet is actually a long cape that extends from the Baja coast about 60 nautical miles south of Ensenada’s Bahia de Todo Santos. With good wind, this is a perfect distance for Madrone to cover during daylight hours – we’d start in the early morning and arrive just before sunset.
Enjoying the afternoon sunshine while sailing out of Bahia Todos Santos
The wind forecast, however, right now calls for light breezes of only 5-10 knots from the northwest for the next week or so. With that wind strength from aft of the beam, we usually sail at 3-5 knots. So, a 60+ mile run is too long to make in daylight hours.
Gliding past Islas Todos Santos as the sun is setting
With that in mind, we left the dock in Ensenada around 2pm with plans to arrive at Punta Colonet around daybreak. We found the light breeze immediately outside the marina and enjoyed a gentle sail across the bay, passing by Isla Todos Santos at sunset. The wind stayed strong enough to sail until around 2am, when it dropped to nearly zero.
Seine net fishing boat in Bahia Colonet- pulling in its net and catch
We stayed at Punta Colonet for a couple of days, enjoying the solitude, the warm sun, and being away from the dock. A few fishing pangas passed nearby each day, and we could see the bouncing lights of the first racers of the Baja 1000 on their way back to Ensenada.
Happy surfers after a session at Cuatro Casas
Our anchorage was just a couple of miles north of Cuatro Casas, a well-known surf break. With a 3-4′ northwest swell rolling through, we loaded our boards and wetsuits into the dinghy and zipped to the break. Surfers arriving by sea was a surprise for the four folks saying at the small surf camp on the point!
Nice sunset over Punta Colonet
