We Made It!
05 November 2009 | Cabo San Lucas
Sirocco crossed the finish line off of Cabo Falso at around 9:05 this morning. We finished about 4 hours earlier than we thought we would. Yesterday was probably the best sailing I've ever done. We put up Little Red at the start and was sailing a comfortable 5-6 knots in about 7 knots of wind. After several hours of this, we noticed a boat coming up behind us rather quickly. The boat was very low to the water and had a very large asymmetrical spinnaker. As it got closer, we determined it was the other J-130, Sceptre. Of course when two sailboats are close together anywhere in the water, especially two boats that are the same design, it's a race. I was driving at the time and begged the guys to get out Hot Lips, our .5 oz 2400 sq. foot asymmetrical spinnaker. They dragged her out from underneath the v-berth and as soon as she was hoisted, we picked up over 1.5 knots of boat speed. We immediately started pulling away from Sceptre. We also sailed a little closer to the wind (called "hotting it up") to push Sceptre further west. They ended up sailing quite a bit higher than us and we completely lost visual contact. We think they are on their way to Hawaii. What a blast. We were doing 7 to 8 knots in about 7 knots of wind.
As the sun went down, the winds got a little stronger like they typically do and we put Little Red back up. We sailed all night under a bright moon, clear sky with Little Red. I think we averaged over 8 knots over a 9 hour period. No one could sleep because of the roar of the rushing water over the hull but what a thrill ride. Everyone had a great time driving. We passed all the boats that motored all the way (the wind was very light the first 5 hours of the course) and ended up about the fifth boat in to Cabo. Bill and I had a exciting moment on our night watch when a cruise ship decided to duel with us. Jeez, there is the big ocean out there and they had to steer our exact same course.
It is hot here in Cabo but our condo has air conditioning. We will stay here for three nights. Tonight is a big party for the Baja Ha-ha'ers at Squid Roe. Should be fun.
The crew was reviewing the trip while we were lounging at the pool this afternoon and we were amazed that nothing on Sirocco broke. We went through some pretty heavy weather the first leg of the trip but the boat didn't let us down. We had a small, 1 inch hole in Little Red and a block that is a little tweaked but that's it. Not bad after over 800 miles. The guys did figure out the Ample Power Smart Charger. The absorption voltage was set too low at 13.8. They raised it to 14.2 and our charging improved dramatically.
We all plan to relax the next 3 days here in Cabo. We have access to WiFi internet here next to the pool so it's easier to communicate with us. Mike and Bill are flying home while Dave, Bob, Lee and Cathy will continue on. We're not sure where our next stop will be at this point but we're thinking maybe Puerto Vallarta.