Day 5 from Ensenada - Thursday 1st March: St David's Day- daffodils & leeks!!
Originally uploaded by svNereida.
0900 Calmer seas, bright sunshine - and it's definitely warmer! I just HAD to take off my fleece layers top & bottom...! Let out all reefs in main & genoa with wind well down to just F4-5. Expecting it to die a bit more as I head SE because of 'wind shadow' effect S. of Cabo San Lucas but it's expected to pick up again once I get halfway across towards Cabo Corrientes on the mainland - so I should get a continuing excellent sail! Feeling pretty good & relaxed after another good night's sleep -
not so many ships around to worry about, as I'd feared, after my close-encounter incident with the tanker "BRO Premium".
12 noon - Officially in the tropics since about 6am: south of Tropic of Cancer! Daily run by log to midday (PST) today: 164 n.ml. Still going well - not too much down from yesterday's 170 n.ml. Wind now N & down to around 15-20kn (F4-5). Sea has changed colour to a lovely mid-blue, instead of darker green-blue of further north. I'm just under 60 mls WSW of Cabo San Lucas & Cabo Falso, at the southernmost tip of the Baja peninsula and about to cross over to the mainland S of Cabo Corrientes - where
there'll be a two-hour time zone change! ETA Sunday.
2.30pm Very relaxed, calm feeling to sailing today - speed down and just the very occasional big wave catching the boat on the port quarter. Enjoyed yesterday's flying fish for lunch - fried in virgin olive oil - very tasty without anything else added (not even lemon or salt), although lots of fine bones. Lots of thin, high, white cloud around but mainly still fairly sunny. Air temp 20.7C (69F) - pleasant! Barometer has dropped quite a bit to 1011. Wind NW5 (~20 kn). Swell down to 8ft at 6sec.
5.30pm Lovely sunset - see so many at sea but they're always good to watch. Spent some time this afternoon trying to sort out windsteering - but needs easing - too stiff to adjust easily so will continue with autopilot for tonight. Result of not checking it out before leaving...
Time to get some food & send this off via SSB radio & Winlink. Lovely view of bright Venus high above remnant of sunset - and nearly full, bright moon high up in the eastern sky.