At this point in our journey we’ve spent several nights at sea,
always with one other crewmember also on watch. After our last crew
departed, we were faced with a 30 hour trip from Man O’War Cove in Bahia
Magdalena to Cabo San Lucas. We watched the influence of the remnants of
Tropical Storm Raymond diminish and decided to leave first thing on the
morning of the 19^th .

We did a roll-and-go, raised anchor and headed down the bay. Most of the
20 boats anchored in the cove were also underway, more or less at dawn.
We had the main and stays’l hoisted by the time we got to the Entrada to
Bahia Magdalena. As we entered the open ocean, the seas built to about 4
feet, on the quarter. The wind was 10 knots, also on the quarter and
eventually built to about 12-15 knots. When the wind hit 12 knots
consistently, we turned off the engine and Maryanne (the autopilot) and
set up Ginger (the windvane). The boat got quiet, the motion got smooth
and we were sailing a broad reach with a following sea and all working
sails set.

We established 3 hour watches, starting at sunset at 6 pm. Linda took
the first watch and I rested until 9pm, when I relieved her. We took
turns (hot bunked) in the quarter berth, which is just down the
companionway stairs from the cockpit. I have a talent for sleeping
pretty much immediately after I lay down, and was awakened at 8 pm. The
wind had built to about 20 and Linda wanted help reducing the sail area.
We took in the jib (stays’l still deployed) and tucked one reef in the
main. The wind died back down and we put out the jib again at the turn
of the watch at midnight. During my 3 am to 6 am watch the wind died
completely, I started the motor, secured Ginger, woke up Maryanne, and
did a poor job furling the jib singlehanded. I woke up Linda to help
unfurl then refurl the jib and after that we carried on motorsailing the
rest of the trip. We’d sailed for sixteen hours straight when we turned
on the motor.

At sunrise we were greeted by dolphins leaping into the air and surfing
in our bow wave as we approached Cabo Falso. There were dozens of sport
fishing boats milling about fishing as we rounded Cabo San Lucas and
entered the anchorage just off the beach. There we were greeted by the
Coral Princess (a cruise ship) and a couple of mega yachts as well as a
few cruisers. We anchored near our friends who had also made the
overnight trip at 1:30 pm, after 29 hours 55 minutes and 206 miles. As
we cleaned up the boat we were serenaded by loud music from party barges
passing by and bars and nightclubs on shore. We had an afternoon nap,
woke up for dinner and then early to bed. Cabo wasn’t really our scene
and we planned another roll and go the next morning.

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