Tom Campbell and Beth Davidow have spent the past year cruising, diving and filming on their Maritimo 51 in Mexico, primarily in the Sea of Cortez. Now, the couple (he’s 80 and a wildlife and underwater cinematographer, she’s a scientist and documentary filmmaker) are heading north, up the Pacific side of the Baja Peninsula, ready to pursue the next stage in their five-year cruising adventure.
Campbell and Davidow bought their new Maritimo, named Tangaroa, last February from Bill King of Maritimo Yacht Sales in Newport Harbor, California. They decided to live aboard full time, cruising and producing documentaries, starting in Mexico. They have made documentaries for the BBC, National Geographic and the Discovery Channel in the past.
The Sea of Cortez, with its teeming wildlife, has been their home for the past several months. But in January and February, El Norte winds can cause some problems. As Davidow wrote on their blog, wildlifevoyages.com, wind funnels through the seaway between the Sierra mountains on the Baja peninsula and the mainland, whipping the water “into a furious frothing mass of whitecaps.”
Fortunately, “while the wind howls, shrieks and moans,” they found a safe harbor in Marina Puerto Escondido. When the weather calmed down, and they celebrated their year on the boat, they decided their time in Mexico was coming to an end.
Davidow wrote that they had met wonderful people and “seen gorgeous land and seascapes and have enjoyed quiet solitude at beautiful anchorages. We’ve had seabirds, whales, turtles and dolphins around us.”
They spent a week at Marina de La Paz, and then ran at 16 knots down to Cabo, passing what she said was “an amazing number of humpback whales.” They filled up with 700 gallons of fuel, rounded the cape and started heading north. By the middle of the week, they were just north of Magdalena Bay, about halfway up to the border, cruising at 9 knots in calm seas.
What’s next? Their original idea was to spend five years cruising from Mexico to Alaska. Stay tuned. Read more at http://wildlifevoyages.com and see the video below:
