That was without a doubt the longest night of my trip - ever since I left Seattle in October of 2007. The trip from Eureka to San Francisco was long (30 hours or so) and difficult, but I had O.V. the ultra-pilot, and I had 45 knots pushing me instead of 20 on my nose. I'll take 45 knots behind me, thank you. It was a constant battle all night trying to go slowly enough so as not to shoot over the waves, and that was just motorsailing with a tiny bit of engine and the main only. And O.V. Jr. was getting pretty hot doing lots of work, so I had to take shifts hand-steering, which is a real pain when it's dark since I don't have an internal compass like an autopilot. Yes, I can *watch* the compass, but my computer brain isn't as good as an auto-pilot's computer brain - especially O.V.'s. I really should have had the staysail up for more speed, more stability, and less engine, but I guess it was more important to me to stay right on the wind - as close to my destination as possible. In the end, it may have cost me more time, but hell... I was tired. I took on so much water that it's very disconcerting to me to have to manually activate the bilge pump and not have a working "manual" pump. The boat is generally very dry, but between my freshwater leak and tons of water over the bow last night, I had to keep an eye on the water level. That work is at the top of the list before any more journeys, although I have no idea how I'll be able to repair/replace that stuff 4 feet down in the bilge below the engine. Speaking of water coming over the bows... this morning when I did my walk-around, there were five dead squid on deck - all about 5-6" long just like my lures. They must have been scooped up by the bow as it dipped, or otherwise washed onto the deck last night. Must have been dozens more that escaped through the scuppers - washed right through with the the water.
I did manage to finally sleep for three or four 25-minute stretches as the sun was coming up, but I'm very happy to be in the middle of this huge bay anchored off the beach (waaaay off the beach - there are breakers) at position 30 23.87 N, 115 55.23 W if you're playing along at home. It's pretty far from the beach and the breakers, but it's still only 24 feet of water. This is a very shallow bay leading to an impassably shallow estuary - well, it's passable in a panga or a dinghy if you know the route, I read. Anchoring was a chore for the fourth or fifth straight time due to jumbling up of the chain in the chain locker during rough seas. The first 40' of chain somehow ends up in the bottom of the locker, underneath a hundred pounds of deeper chain, so I'm happy there's almost no wind so I was able to get down in there and untangle everything and feed it through completely, then re-stack it.It's 5pm - Tecate Time, a little snack (mmmmmm... more guac and some refried beans) and then it's time for bed. It's an easy 45-mile (nautical miles) trip tomorrow to Cabo Colonet (30 57.64 N, 116 17.63 W is the spot suggested in the Rains guide), and then Sunday 65 miles to Ensenada. Check out as soon as the Capitania opens Monday morning, and then another 65 miles to San Diego. Then again, I may also stay Monday night and leave 4am Tuesday to make sure I get to San Diego during daylight hours when the Harbor Police dock (customs, immigration) is open. I hope that cranky guy has retired by now (or been fired for crankiness).TT
