20 30.787’N, 106 13.291’W

On Wednesday morning we motored for an hour out of Ensenada de Los Muertos and once the wind filled in we put up the spinnaker and stood back as Hydroquest was pulled along at 7 – 8 knots on one of the best sails we’ve had to date. We were feeling so good that we decided not to stop at Los Frailes for the night, but rather just keep going.

Our destination is Bahia Tenacatita (waypoint 19 15.300’N, 104 49.699’W). From Los Muertos, the distance is 405 nautical miles.

Hydroquest came shooting out of the gates, covering 145 nm in the first 24 hours.

Yesterday we were slowed down by very sloppy seas and winds up to 20 knots. It felt like we had swells coming from every direction – the sea was running from the north down the Sea of Cortez and meeting the Pacific swell after we passed the southern of the tip of the Baja peninsula. I’m glad to report that neither Will nor I have felt a hint of seasickness.

The stars of the trip have been Hydroquest and our Hydrovane. Hydroquest has handled the uncomfortable seas no problem and I think she actually enjoys surfing down the waves. All her beautiful interior teak woodwork makes her sounds like, well, a boat at sea: everything creaks and squeaks and makes it difficult for sleeping, but despite that she feel as solid as land. Our Hydrovane has steered us on course in all sea conditions and under various downwind sail configurations. We’ve been so impressed and I spent most of last night just watching it work away tirelessly in the yucky seas and thinking how glad I was not to be steering. The biggest challenge for it was in 8 – 10 knots (4–5 knots apparent) broad reaching in sloppy seas but it didn’t miss a beat. We are in good hands.

The other highlight has been the bright moonlight – I never want to sail in darkness again 😉 The full moon has risen just after sunset and stayed out until after dawn. Both of our nights at sea have been made so much easier by the fact that we can see everything around us – not that there is anything to see… We’ve had to do a few difficult sail changes at night and no head lamps have even been needed.

This morning we had to turn on the engine. We thought we might be able to sail the whole way to Tenacatita, but the winds suddenly dropped to under 4 knots. We’re approaching Cabo Corrientes and expect to see land within the next few hours. Expected landfall in Tenacatita is tomorrow morning. Can’t wait!

Gotta run – the dolphins are back to play.