Waking up dark and early, I got to the tasks at hand. Retrieve the flopper stoppers and put the dingy on deck. Of course, that was after my coffee in the cockpit as the sun was coming up. Straightening up a few more things, checking the weather again, I hauled up the anchor and headed out. Once out of the bay, I raised the sails. Then, periodically I had to start the motor so I wouldn’t have to fight for course with the Shrimp Fleet of San Blas. They are all over the place. The day is a warm one, with a almost clear sky. There are a few wisps of clouds at high altitudes and I figure they will either go away or have friends join them. The weather is supposed to be light in the morning and get fresh in the afternoon evening. Predictions are for the mid teens for winds. I hope so. With a hundred and twenty five miles to go, I wasn’t to do at least 4 knots average. I know it is the journey not the destination, but Patience was never one of my virtues.
Sailing along at a a good pace, I made some distance. Then the winds died down after dark so the motor had to be started again. Have I mentioned that I need to replace the raw water impeller? Yep, got to do that in Mazatlan, that way the engine won’t be heating up so much. It has taken a bit to TRIAE that issue. Never ending story this boating stuff. Always repairing and working on the boat in exotic location. Many times, at the most inopportune times.
I had a pod of dolphins come to visit today on the way. They came in echelons of 5 to 10 at a time. There must have been at least 100 total of them in the pod. It seemed they were coming from the starboard forward area and I could see both adults and young ones playing in the bow wave. II was going about 6 knots and they seemed to effortlessly stay in front of the bow and dart to and from, under and to the side of the boat at a moment’s notice. They are so fun to watch. It is like they are playing ‘Chicken’ with the hull and the keel and the propeller.