Baja Ha Ha 2008 11.16.08
16 November 2008 | Sea of Cortez
Light wind, still warm
We plugged on through the night under sail and made good time. We averaged over 5 knots and the wind shifted through the night so that by the end of my 3:00 - 6:00 a.m. shift we were actually headed north west - not quite for enough to the west but in the general direction of where we needed to go. The going was slow, but we are getting there. It looks like it will take, assuming the wind and direction of the wind hold, about 48 hours to get to San Carlos.
It was a bit cool on watch, but not bad. I did not see a single boat on my watch and Alison tells me that she only saw one boat on her midnight to 3:00 a.m. watch. The water temperature, although still warm, has dipped to 83 degrees. By the way, the coordinates for this entry are from 1:37 p.m.
When we are sailing 24 hours a day, I try to get a few hours of sleep between dinner and my watch. We have fallen into a routine (when underway 24 hours a day) where I clean up after dinner and boil a pot of water to put in the thermos. That way, the night watchs can have a hot drink without having to stop and boil water. After my watch, I try to get 2 more hours of sleep.
Well, today I was awoken just after 8:00 a.m. by the sound of...the motor! Stan had been pondering the situation during his watch as well as after going to bed and, based on the tests we did yesterday, figured that there was a problem with the ground connection. He, in essence, hot wired the boat to start the motor. This is bittersweet in that we are no longer at the mercy of the wind (the weather report is calling for 35 knot winds tonight - which we are going to be out in, even with the fix, but at least now we have options), but Stan and Jackie have decided that they WILL NOT turn the motor off until reaching San Carlos. I can't blame them and neither to I really disagree with the decision. But...no more sailing and we should get into San Carlos sometime late on Monday morning - well ahead of schedule. My hat is off to Stan for his ability to track this stuff down and fix it.
It is pretty hot today and we are moving on. As I stated at the outset, the coordinates for this entry are from our location at about 1:30, now that you see the motor is up and running, you can understand how we made that time.
It was a beautiful sunset yet again, and although we really go out of our way to see the sunset each night at sea - it very much a routine and tradition - such was especially true tonight. This will be my last sunset at sea for who knows how long and it was, I must admit, with a heavy heart that I watched the sun dip below the horizon. I stood up on the highest point of the deck so that I could see the sun for as long as possible.
Paul.