It was a great start to Baja Ha Ha 17! We sailed out of San Diego Bay with about 160 other boats on Monday morning, crossing the starting line at 1100 am. The wind was great and we sailed most of the day towards Baja Mexico. We sailed across the US-Mexico border a couple hours later and were instantly transformed into grateful Ex-patriates (is it ex-patriot or ex-patriate, we're not sure?) It's not like we are former patriots, but just US citizens relocated into a different country. But I digress...

Anyway, after 3 great days at sea we made it into Turtle Bay yesterday evening at 6:30pm. It was a very lumpy ride down the coast. We stayed anywhere between 15 and 30 miles offshore and saw winds up to 25 knots on occasion and following seas up to 10-12 feet. We rocked and rolled the entire way. The first night the wind calmed down and we had to motor for about 12 hours. Perhaps it was lack of sailing skill or the fact that our old fat bottom'ed girl doesn't like sailing in light wind. The next day brought overcast skies and decent wind. The seas were still big and confused but we were able to make 6 knots or better under full genoa and main. The second night, the wind picked up quite a bit and we moved along at close to 8 knots all night long. Since the wind was directly astern, we had to gybe back and forth down our course line which took a little bit away from our progress, but not too bad. We stayed pretty dry, but the air was colder than expected. The wind died early in the morning and we had to motor most of the last day. Even though there was very light wind, the seas were still big and lumpy making for a slightly uncomfortable ride. The last day was sunny and beautiful. We watched a huge orange sun set on the Pacific just before entering Turtle Bay and anchored in the huge bay with many other boats who are apparently quite a bit faster than our Andiamo.

We are so excited to be here. We made it with no major problems and the weather is gorgeous! Andiamo did great and our SSB even worked! We were a little concerned about it since we hadn't had much luck with it previously. The kids are stoked. We are now sitting in a small cafe on the beach drinking Negra Modelo and using the free WiFi. Life is great. We'll post more later, but for those who are following us, we are safe, happy and doing great! Thanks for the prayers and encouragement.