The Bash North

As I sit and type this in our cozy little floating home, Brenda is outside on watch. She just took over and has 3 more hours to go before it will be my turn to take over. We are currently motoring our way north into the Sea of Cortez with 18-20 knots of breeze directly on the nose and a steep 4-5 foot chop. We are punching through some taller waves which send spray and foam running down the decks, and with some waves it feels like we catch air as we drop off the crest and crash into the next oncoming wave. Other than the occasional feeling of dropping, we are surprisingly comfortable.

The wind and the seas are forecast to die down tonight which should eventually give us a smooth ride to our next destination. Normally, we would sit and wait for things to die down before making our way into a headwind, but this is really the calm before the storm. We've got 2 days to make it to Isla Espiritu Santo before the wind and sea gets really crazy and pins us down for the next week or so as a Northerly builds and comes barreling down on us.

Being pinned down for a week or so in Mexico with some nasty weather isn't a bad thing. We are on vacation after all and we don't really have anywhere to be. Normally we would just sit and wait it out. It's just that Christmas is coming and a bunch of our cruising friends are meeting up for a holiday get together at Isla Espiritu Santo and we don't want to miss it. So, we strapped everything down, battened down the hatches, and we're making our way north to beat the even nastier weather heading our way so we don't miss the big holiday shindig.

If you know me well, you probably know that I really don't care one bit about the holidays. I never have. To me they are just another day. I know, I know, bah humbug. But for some reason, this year seems different. And it's not because I found some inner peace and now want to go buy a bunch of useless garbage for my family and friends - it just seems important for us to be there. This motley band of sailing misfits that we've been working our way down the coast with has become more than just our friends in the last few months, they have become our family. And nothing says holidays more than spending time with family...especially when they are all crazy.

Not only are we heading north into the Sea of Cortez for a big holiday bash with our new found family, we are actually going to be in the Sea of Cortez. For the last 20 years, when I envisioned myself sailing around the world, this is one of the places I dreamed of (Greece is the other if you are wondering). The Sea of Cortez holds some of the islands and the anchorages that I pictured myself sitting in. So yeah, I'm pretty excited to be here.

Now that we are heading north, an interesting thing is happening. The sun is setting on the opposite side of the boat tonight. Since we left Seattle almost 7 months ago, the sun has reliably set on the right side of the boat as we've made our way south down the coast of the United States and Mexico. Now that we've made a huge left turn and rounded Mexico's Baja Peninsula and are making our way north into the Sea of Cortez, the sun is setting on the left side of the boat. It actually seems weird. Almost like we are going the wrong way or something.

The good news is that in the little bit of time it's taken me to peck away at this bit of rambling, the wind has completely died and the seas are now as calm as can be. The ocean looks like glass. The moon is high, nearly full, and bright. And even though it is 10 pm, the moon is so bright that it looks like dusk. It's quite beautiful out. And better yet, in roughly 20 hours, we'll be anchored in a place that I've dreamed about for years.


I'm about to get a shower from this wall of water that is coming my way.

As you can tell by this photo, the sunset is on the wrong side of the boat.
We haven't had reliable internet access for about 6 weeks, so it's taken a while for me to get videos up.  But today is your lucky day, because here is a hugely rewarding video for you to waste your time watching.  If the link below doesn't work, copy and paste this:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvqdXAiNHjY


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