Unlike in the U.S. or Canada, Mexico braodcasts no weather for the Sea of Cortez, and if they did, we wouldn't be able to understand it in Spanish anyway. There are no weather buoys or much industrial or commercial activity here to warrant such an investment, so the yachties from the U.S. predict our own weather. Every morning there is either a short wave or VHF radio broadcast (or both) that we can listen to and either Rick or Gary (don't know what their background is) will give weather forecasts for Baja west side, Sea of Cortez, and northern and southern crossings from Baja to the mainland.
Now, that is really no indication of what will actually occur. So we take what we get. Should we leave today because they say the wind will be 10-20 knots, but we know the swells will still be big and besides we haven't explored this area? or should we stay and let the swell lie down and explore? We decided to stay and found ourselves with fresh yellow-tail tuna and lobster that we bought from a local fisherman. Today they said the wind would be light and variable, but we went anyway, leaving in the afternoon to get the sea breeze, and had an ideal sail: 5-15 knots and minimal swells.
Northers are more predictable: they occur when high pressure sits over the 4-corners area of the U.S. Diurnal winds -- those land and sea breezes that occur daily -- are also somewhat predictable, but the islands along the coast can play havoc with predicting them. The breeze may come across the island from the east or up the channel from the south. Your guess. Gotta be ready for anything.
