The combination of this being the longest overnight passage we’d ever done, the rudder continuing to leak (albeit much, much, much less), the forecasts slightly unreliable (a “Mexican 6-10” really means “20-25 knots from whatever direction you’re trying to go”), and having a deadline (we’re flying home for Christmas on Wednesday) made this passage something we’d been stressing over *just* a little.
Here are the stats & photos of our successful and (to us, at least) momentous passage!
Our Route -- 240 miles from La Paz to Mazatlan, with an average speed of 4.8 knots.
Last glimpse of land, sailing under an amazingly blue sky
Enjoying the sunshine
Jon's varnish shining in the sunset (and very very flat seas)
Sunset Night #1
Sunrise Day #2
Jon keeping watch
Jon thinks it's ridiculous to post a picture of French Toast -- but if you could see how rolly it was while he was cooking this, or how excited I was to eat this French Toast, you'd think it was photo-worthy too 🙂 Passages make basic things -- sunsets, moon-rises, meals, music -- so much more important!
Also ridiculously exciting? Having an autopilot!!! This was a birthday present from my seriously awesome sister, and it made this passage freaking fantastic. Being able to read or even just move around while you're on watch is like heaven on earth. Now I understand why people freak out so much when their's break; I never want to do a passage without one again!!!
Sunrise over Mazatlan (Day #3) -- our second night gave us a taste of just how lumpy and bumpy the Sea of Cortez can be... rolling us gunwale to gunwale (which I always thought was spelled*** "gunnel" but there you go), testing exactly how well everything was stored, and making it very very challenging to sleep. Needless to say -- we were pretty darn excited to see land in the morning!! ***As I was fixing the spelling of "gunwale", Jonathan (the never-ending spell-check around here) informed me that "spelt" (which I had just written) is actually "a hexaploid species of wheat" and not the past tense of spell. Two grammar lessons in one freaking caption!!!
A tropical view as we entered the channel in Mazatlan. After tidying up the boat and clearing in with the marina, we fell asleep at 2:00 in the afternoon... and woke up the next morning 🙂 I need to figure out how people do passages without getting completely sleep-deprived, cuz right now we're struggling at it! I've been on lots of long passages before -- just in the past, night watches meant Disney movies and reading while mom and dad watched over everything. Being responsible is a new ball-game, and one I'm still working on learning 🙂
you were moving along quite nicely, 120 mile days, not bad. But going to sleep at 2, in a new place, wooses is all i have to say. Dec 22, 12:30 EST is coming up, you will have to remind Jon what that means.