Hi All,

Hope everyone is well.

I'm going to start this entry where I left off last time; in Turtle Bay. We spent that Friday and Saturday getting windblown in Turtle Bay with 30 knot winds, hunkered down in the boat, waiting for calmer weather. That Sunday morning, (one week ago), we awoke to find calmer winds and the possibility of taking the dinghy ashore. However, being a Sunday morning, all the panga boats were parked on shore, and we could see no movement in the streets; we were pretty sure all the residents were at Mass. We thought it would be inappropriate to land the dinghy in front of the town and roam the streets while everyone was at church.

As we pondered that situation, the winds were turning into 10 to 15's, the sun was out and it seemed like a great day for a sail. So, as much as we wanted to meet Carlos and Mercedes and sample their fine food, we decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth, (is that right?)...but pull anchor and go sailing.

So, by wind alone, we headed out of the bay on two rather lovely tacks and headed southeast for a great day of sailing.

More about that trip later.

Now for some 'big picture' info. The 30 knot wind/weather that started Thursday night, February 22nd, was the beginning of what would become a week long wind-fest, brought on by an unusual weather occurrence in the Aleutian Islands. Per Don Anderson, amateur weatherman for the Pacific Maritime Net, a high pressure ridge starting in the Aleutian's extended for an unusually long distance of some 3000 miles. I'm paraphrasing now; but the pressure was 'sliding' down off this ridge...and anyway, causing 20 to 30 knot winds for a solid week plus.

What this meant for us was that we saved a bunch of money on fuel, but had some tiring and screaming fast nights at sea, with ocean swells in the 10 to 12 foot range.

In a nutshell: after leaving Turtle Bay, we found ourselves under reefed sail, doing 7+ knots, on a perfect course for Bahia Santa, 175 miles SE, (or 35 hours). That's a long trip, and we would have preferred to stop along the way, but our course was too perfect and the wind was stable, so we went for it.

There were a few times during the night that we questioned that decision, as the seas were starting to break just shy of the cockpit, and the boat would sink into a trough and then be picked up onto the large swell as it went rolling underneath. This happened about every 9 or 10 seconds, all day and all night. It didn't let up until we neared the entrance to Bahia Santa Maria, at about 1:00 am Feb. 27th. By the next morning, while we caught up on some rest, the winds were at it again and Radiance strained at her anchor in the strong winds blowing through the bay.

More of the adventures later. Right now, I need to go out in the cockpit and help Steen distinguish the entrance to Cabo San Lucas as we round the cape under full moon.

Take care.

Crew and Captain of sv Radiance