(photo of the Captain in his new Foul Weater Gear. Emergency hand pump water maker at his feet, Dream Map behind him on the office wall, and a book shelf full of Cruising Books and Guides behind him)



After keeping THIRD DAY in Marina Palmira in La Paz since our trip down Baja with the Baja Ha ha Cruisers Rally it's now time to make the 1179nm trip back to our mooring in Port San Luis, Ca. Unlike the trip down, the return trip promises to hold more "excitement" since we will be heading into the prevailing winds and swell. In essence, once we leave Cabo it will be a 750nm motor sail trying to stay as close to the wind as possible as we work our way up the rumb line for San Diego.

I fly to La Paz on Thursday 21st, leave for Cabo on the 23rd and then if all looks acceptable with the weather, we leave Cabo for San Diego on the 25th with planned stops in Bahia Santa Maria and Turtle Bay for fuel. I'll be having a crew of 5 so we won't be too tired from watch shifts and if the auto-pilot I installed in La Paz is working, we shouldn't have to hand steer the whole trip like we did on the way south

Making this return trip more "fun" is the reality of the Baja coastline and the lack of diesel fuel and water until we make Turtle bay, about 350nm south of San Diego. Water isn't a real issue with THIRD DAY's 150 gal tankage, but Diesel fuel, that's another story. In addition to a full 50Gal fuel tank, 50 gals of Diesel will be carried on deck which "should" allow us to make Turtle Bay before running out of fuel if we are able to pick up some drive from the close hauled main, maybe a knot or so? At typical Cruising speeds and conditions we burn 0.5-0.6gals/hr of fuel making 5-6kts, but into the wind and swell, that could be significantly less. So I'm calculating 4kts at 0.75gals/hr giving us a motorsailing range with 100gals of diesel of: 133hrs, 5.5days, or 532nm. However you slice it...it will be interesting!

I will be posting updates daily from sea via our HF Radio and you can check our progress (or lack of it).

Once we get THIRD DAY back on here Port San Luis, Ca mooring we will begin the final phase of Cruise preparation.