When I'm in harbor, I get plenty of sleep. Nine hours is not unusual, so rising at 0530 to begin preparations for the last leg is no big deal. With headlamp on, I begin rigging the boom preventers, spinnaker gear, stowing non-sailing gear etc. Ken and Don join in, and I think we probably look funny from afar. Our start is at 7am, but the start line is two miles outside the harbor, so we raise anchor with daylight with plenty of time. Since we've been motoring more than we would on a typical passage, we have been using a 120 VAC drip coffee maker each morning (off the inverter, so a short engine run to the start will help top-off the Lithium house batteries.
It's Wednesday, November 4th, and the forecast for our sail to Cabo is exceptional according to our Grand Poobah, with brisk winds all the way to Cabo. Typically, the wind dies during the early morning hours, so this would be a welcome change. We had a nice 10-12 kts of breeze from the NE as we crossed the starting line, and set the chute soon thereafter. Being an ex-racer (okay, in-transition racer), I'm surprised how many boats are late for the start. Our benefit is that we get an awesome start in clear air and are sailing fast with our 1.5 ounce asymmetric spinnaker (or A-Sail) pulling us towards Cabo. Beam reaching on Port jibe under spinnaker, we are forced to sail down below the rumbline during the puffs, but make it all back in the light spots. We are sailing near much larger boats such as a Deerfoot 62 that appeared to be sailing a perfect rumbline course under autopilot. I wonder aloud how much faster she would be in these conditions with more attentive helming. By early afternoon, the wind had increased to 18+ knots, and Huzzah was now sailing in her sweet spot of 130 degrees off-wind and making 7.5 to 8.5 knot averages, with an occasional double digit run down the 5' seas. We trade jibes with much faster boats, and I'm loving every minute of it!
Jody had pre-negotiated a spinnaker free zone after dark, but at 4 pm she decided to use her rank as our Admiral to unilaterally renegotiate the time to 1630 hrs. Oh well! Again, Ken & Don executed a flawless takedown and we only lost a knot of speed. Later that night, I was in the process of gybing the pole on the genoa when the crew voted to strike the genoa completely. Since I was going off-watch, I knew my veto powers wouldn't hold and succumbed to the plan. So we wallowed down the waves at 6 knots under our mainsail (albeit with a happy crew).
After almost 4 hours of sleep, I'm awaked by an unusual motion and sound. We have done an accidental jibe, so the Mainsail is now on the wrong side the boat, and we're sliding sideways down waves. Fortunately, we have robust boom "preventers" attached to the boom's end, so no one gets hurt and nothing breaks. The on-watch crew uses to motor to get Huzzah out of irons, and resumes course for Cabo. This is a rally, so there's no foul for starting your engine.
At sunrise, the genoa is released and we're sailing well again until the wind begins to fade an hour from the finish line. So, we start the D-sail and motor across the finish line off Cabo Falso just after 9 am.
Life is good, and we're in Cabo! Huzzah!!

Gerry & Jody enjoying another Ha-Ha Party