Through day 571. Sailing South
22 November 2009 | South of Cedros Island
Bill Hudson
Yesterday was a day of sailing and experimentation. We finally hoisted the spinnaker sail and got her set just right. The winds were from the North and the Northeast at about 5 knots. Not enough to really allow is to go fast but it was a perfect time to put up our spinnaker for the first time. It took some work, but we finally got it so she stay nice and full and I even took a short nap as we plied our way South.
By nightfall, the winds had died off and we were forced to use the engine again but as the night went on, the winds came back and we did a "motor assist" sail. We had kept the main up so that Zephyr doesn't roll back and forth in the swell and Tracy let it out during her watch (2200 to 0200) so that we had the wins behind us off the port(left)side of the boat. On we went with the motor at about 1200rpms and we were doing a good 5 knots.
Once I came on watch at 0200, I kept a look out for other boats and watched a movie on our IPod. Nice having that available in the cockpit. While we were in Ensenada, I'd copied some for Lene and Henrik on Dana. Cruisers routinely trade books and movies as we get together.
As dawn arrived(about 0530) I noticed the charts showing a bunch of "breakers"(shallow spots where water breaks over rocks)ahead of us so I changed course to avoid them. Instead of headiing Southeast, I took us Souhwest instead until we were safely away from the danger. It pays to keep a close watch on where you are going out here. Shortly after that, I saw a tug boat heading on a curse directly opposite to ours and radioed him on our VHF to see if he know of the "breakers". Nope, he had never heard of them. Oh well, better safe than sorry.
Once Tracy joined me in the cockpit, we raised all the sails-Genoa and forestaysail-and took off at anywhere from 5.5 to 7.5 knots depending on the winds. We need to get to Turtle Bay while the Sun is still up and it's about 42 miles ahead of us. So the sails will stay up as long as the wind holds out. Lene and Henrik on Dana ar just ahead of us and on the same course. With luck we will both be there by 1630.
If you are using Google Earth, we're currently at 28 00.089N 113 32 798 W and heading Southeast.
I'll post again once we get to Turtle Bay if it's not too late.