Mexico to San Francisco

We were delayed for a few days in Cabo Lucas, Mexico. Clearing in and out
even with the assistance from an agent took longer than expected, but
eventually we were fuelled up and departed again on Thursday morning. Cabo
Lucas turned out to be a fairly modern place with an ultra modern marina.
Most of the boats here are big sportfishing boats, as Cabo Lucas also
hosts the richest fishing competition in the world. My first impressions
of the Mexicans is that they are warm and friendly people. Hola amigo to
everyone. We also provisioned again for the final leg. While we were at
Cabo Lucas we also serviced our motors and saildrives, checked the
rigging, washed our boat down from top to bottom, and continued with our
preventative maintenance program. The most awesome experience I had there
was being able to get a good skype session in with my princess back home.
She was totally blown away by the huge Mexican hat I bought her :))) And a
few other gifts as well. Skype can be ultra frustrating when it is not
working properly, but just before we left we got a uninterrupted session
in.

Our first two days out were ideal. Flat seas and light headwinds and we
were making good miles to San Francisco. As expected the weather turned
colder, the sea bigger and the wind much stronger. Last night we were
battling in 40kts of headwinds, and progress was seriously slow. This
morning the weather eased a bit and we were once again doing well. By
noon the wind started building, and an hour later we were once again stuck
in 40kts of headwinds, and the wave period is quite short. Which means we
go up and down and not really making progress or building momentum
forward. Instead of hammering through another night of going nowhere
slowly, I decided to anchor in a sheltered bay for the night. Our three
hourly weather forecast predicts that the wind will abate early tomorrow
morning, the swell will also spread out a bit. From 7sec swells to 10sec
swells means a much better ride for us.

We will thus head out again at first light and round the point towards Pt.
Eugenia. Currently we are anchored in a small bay called Abreojos,
sheltered from the seas for a while. On Wednesday we expect seriously
strong winds further up north, ranging between 40-50kts. We are thus
slowing down just a little to avoid the brunt of the storm that will reach
San Diego on Wednesday. Further down south it looks a little bit better
for us. Rounding Pt. Eugenia we will head north to north east to get
closer to land. We find a bit closer inshore the sea is flatter and we
also get some good currents in our favour. And if the weather really
becomes impossible, we can always find a safe anchorage. From all the
Baja Bash guides it seems that this is the best way to do it, run while
you can and take shelter when you have to. We are used to big seas and
strong winds, but making excruciatingly slow progress is not necessary. We
are only wasting fuel and stressing the boat unnecessary. We did not make
the boat show, so we did not win the race :( Our focus is now on
finishing the race, still as fast as conditions will allow, but no need to
push the limits too far.

About 800nm to go to San Francisco, so near and so far. It is a very
interesting challenge, on so many levels. Physical, mental, emotional and
spiritual to name a few. And we have to make the most of the currents, the
winds, the wave height, and of course the weather predictions we are
getting. Throw all these factors together and brace ourselves. And at the
end, there is the Golden Gate that we will sail under as we enter San
Francisco. Not completely the end, the end being once we are safely tied up
at our final destination.

Please take care and hope to touch base again soon.