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Showing posts from December, 2016

The Bash North

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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 we...

The Stats

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I guess the big news is that we have officially made it to Cabo San Lucas and have completed our trek down Mexico's Baja Peninsula. The majority of sailors who tackle this coast do the trip in 7-10 days, making one or two big hops down the coast. It took us 6 weeks because we stopped at nearly every place possible. But because of either weather or swell, we unfortunately had to skip a few places that we had hoped to stop at along the way. Oh well, we put in a pretty good effort to see everything, but everything just isn't possible. I've been trying to piece together what I think about making it to Cabo. Part of me feels like it's a big accomplishment for us to get all the way here from Seattle, but a bigger part of me feels a bit disappointed. Not disappointed in any way with our time in Mexico, but disappointed that the Pacific side of the Baja is now behind us. I don't think I'm quite ready for it to end. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time worki...

Living the Dream

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There are some days and some places that make us feel like we are living in a dream. Not because we don't have to go through the mundane day to day of normal life, staring at 4 walls of a cubicle, but because we are actually living the dream we set out to live. This place is exactly one of those places and these last few days have been just those days. We are currently anchored in Bahia Santa Maria on Mexico's Baja Peninsula. It's a beautiful bay with towering mountains on it's western shore which protect us from the wind and swell off of the mighty Pacific ocean. Once you round the point and make your way into the bay, the motion of the ocean almost stops. It's comparatively calm and peaceful, especially since we just sailed through Hell on the high seas to get here. At the head of the bay, there is an estuary lined by mangrove trees that is perfect for exploring by dinghy. It has the feel of a National Geographic magazine article, straight from ...

A Rough Ride

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A Rough Ride I know there are sailors reading this and I also know there are non sailors reading it too.  Normally I try to not use sailing lingo so you land lubbers can follow along.  Not today.  Sorry.  If you can't follow some of the terminology, give Google a try to help you out.  Today I don't have the time or patience to explain everything because I've got myself wedged in a corner of our dinette attempting to write this bit of nonsense as the boat is thrashing around.  To say that the seas are angry today is a bit of an understatement. We left Abreojos this morning with a forecast of 18-22 knots of breeze and 9-12 foot seas and a destination of Bahia Santa Maria.  It's a roughly 36 hour run for us under normal conditions.  Unfortunately, these aren't normal conditions and the forecast is a bit off. It's currently blowing 34 knots directly on our stern with gusts going higher.  There is a steep and lumpy 15-18 foot swell with occa...