We're going to try something new for this blog. I'm going to do mini posts to this blog as we go across the Sea and then have it post at it's regular way.

We upped the anchor at 0745 in about 8 knots of wind. Surprisingly from the West and Southwest. The forecast had been for it to come from the North to Northwest. Oh well, Mother Nature must have gotten the memo that we were out again. Yesterdays winds would have been perfect for the crossing. Fifteen to twenty from the Northwest and decent small swells. Perhaps we should have just kept going. We pulled up the main sail and then rolled out our Genoa and off we went doing almost 4 knots. Dolphins came by the 100s to flock around Zephyr. Unfortunately, we were going so slowly that they just came, saw, got bored, and left. On we pressed with the wind slowly dying. By 1100, we took in the Genoa and lowered the main and pulled up the spinnaker. The wind was down to maybe three knots. Out she(the spinnaker) went and there we stopped. Once it was out, the wind died. It's now 1300 and we have gone 9.6 miles since we left at 0745. At this rate, we should be in Mazatlan by next Tuesday(maybe).

Ok, that's it for stage one of the trip. I'll write more as the day passes. Heck, not much happening above decks right now.

Part 2 1600 hours day 1 At 1330, the winds picked up to almost 8 knots and our speed went up to about 4 knots. Over the next few hours, it went up and down and is now at about 5 knots with us doing 3.3 knots. Not really that bad unless you consider that we haven't even done 20 miles for the day so far. In 8 hours=less than 20 miles=2.5 miles per hour. Wow!!! At that rate--228 miles to Mazatlan, it will be a few more days before we get there. We are considering continuing to use the spinnaker through the night. That will be a first for us. A few months ago, we had barely ever used one and now we are looking at using it at night. At leat the moon is cooperating being about 80% full so it will be nice and bright till about 0330 when it sets. We'll just have t evaluate the conditions through the night. I'm on watch from 1900 to 2300. Tracy then takes over till 0300 and I'm back on watch till 0700. It makes for a long night. We figure at least two solid days plus more if the wind continue at this rate. We've seen no other sailboats this trip and only a few pangas(fishing boats). For it being high season, it's really quite empty out here. More in a few hours.

1730 hours OK, we tried. We so wanted to sail the entire way to Mazatlan but it was not to be. By 1700, we were about a mile from the tip of Isla Cerralvo with it's reefs and that is not a good place to be as the Sun is getting ready to go down and there is just about no wind. So we bit the bullet and took down the spinnaker(wasn't doing anything any way) and started the engine. We'll run her for a few hours to get us away from the island and shut her down for the night and put up the sails and see what the night brings. At the worst, we sit and wait for sunrise and some much needed winds. At the best, we get some West to Northwest winds and make a good headway through the night. We've gone barely 22 miles of a 228 mile trip and had hoped to do much better after the winds we had had yesterday. Oh well, there is always tomorrow, and the next day and the next day. Eventually we will get to Mazatlan. I'll write more as the night progresses. We'll see what happens next.

2016 hours Oh, the last few hours have been exciting!!! We actually caught a fish!!! We tossed the line in the water to drag behind Zephyr early in the afternoon. Our speed was so slow, there was no way a fish was even going to look at it and if they did, all they would do was laugh at our pathetic try at fishing. Well, once we started the engine, it was a different matter. Just as Tracy was handing up dinner into the cockpit, she looked back and there was a fish on the line. We had passes Isla Cerralvo about an hour before and will all it's reefs, the fishing is supposed to be good around it. We had seen at least 6 panga fishermen all day around the island. Dinner was put on hold and we scurried to the back deck and I started pulling in the line. Tracy grabbed the net we keep along the rail. We had originally bought it to snare one of our furr people should they fall over board. In came the fish--big with blue stripes. Our book says it is a Bonito and is supposed to be good eating. OK, now we have a fish. What the heck do we do with it? We pulled out our big blue bucket and tossed him in it. He had already bled all over the back deck(Yuck). I got our filet knife and went at him. Tracy was reading what to do in one of our fishing books. Well, our fileting knife was about as dull as could be. So out came another and in I went. Along the top and along the bottom till I got to his back bone and then off with the filet. Blood was everywhere!!! I looked like Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street. Side one and then side two and back into the water with the carcass. We had our first edible fish!! The book says his meat is supposed to be white but not the fish we caught. Oh well, I guess we will see what he tastes like tomorrow. Shadow sure liked what we gave him. He lapped it right down. The other two turned up their noses at it. Now back to a now cold dinner of tacos on flour tortillas from the tortilla factory in La Paz. Even cold, Tracy makes a great taco. We used more of the meat we bought at the local market where the local shop. It cooked up with just about no grease. Now that is lean meat.

At 1930, we turned off the engine after two hours and put back up the main sail and rolled out the Genoa sail at the bow. The winds were our of the North north west at about 5 to 6 knots. With the sails up, we started moving again at 2.7 to 3 knots. Not fast, but our chart plotter says we will be at Mazatlan in just 91 hours and 8 minutes. That's just shy of 4 more days. Now that's slow sailing. The forecast is for more wind over the next two days so that should help our speed. We'll see if they are accurate tomorrow.

I'm on watch till 2300 while Tracy tries to catch some sleep below. Strangely, all the furr people are back with her and not out on deck checking out the night life out here. Oh well, maybe later.

0530 Hours Saturday morning The hours passed quickly till 2300 when Tracy came on watch. The winds had stayed in the 6 to 8 knot range and we were moving along at 4 to 5 knots headed toward Mazatlan. The sky was clear and the moon lighted the seas. It was a pleasant sail. I sat in the cockpit and watched a movie on my IPod to pass the time. I stopped every 15 minutes or so to scan the waters around us. I briefly saw one ship far off our stern but it was gone in a few minutes. That was it. No other boats. Tracy came on deck right on time and I headed below for a few hours of sleep. The furr people joined me in the stern cabin. With the winds over the port side(left) I got to sleep with my head in a slightly downward angle. With no engine running, it wasn't much different from sleeping at anchor. Just a bit more noise from the water as it passed the hull.

Tracy, ever the sailer, went out on deck(in a life vest and safety harness clipped to our jack lines) and adjusted the sails to be as much out of the winds as possible. The winds are still blowing at 140 degrees off the port stern quarter(rear left side). The boom with the mainsail is let way out to catch the winds and the genoa is getting some also so she kept us moving along at a good clip. She got us up to 6.6 knots. We're now running along at 5.6 knots on a course of 106 degrees in 10 knots of wind. A big improvement since yesterday afternoon when we limped along at barely 1.5 knots. James, our Hydrovane wind steering system is doing well maintaining our course but our hydraulic steering sometimes heads us a bit to far into the wind so I have to correct it. The Sun if starting to light up the eastern horizon and it is expected to rise at 0613 so not that far off and another sunny day will be upon us. Tracy is due back on watch at 0700 so I can get a bit more rest. Meanwhile, the miles tick off and our new estimated time of arrival is now just 30 hours away. It helps to make some speed through the water. Not a ship to be seen around us. We've covered 80 miles of the 229 to Mazatlan.

0800 Hours Saturday morning We've just hit the 24 hours since we left Playa La Bonanza and here are our stats: Currently located at 24 02.991N 108 45.414W. We've covered 91.2 miles and have 138 to go. Our max speed was 7.0 knots-just a short while ago. We've seen several whales this morning and a few yesterday afternoon as we limped along North of Isla Cerralvo. And that's our first 24 hours.