Saturday
1300GMT/7am LT Oyster pink-grey cloud layer at sunrise over Isla Santa Margarita which forms the S. side of the entrance to Bahia Magdalena, with lovely Baja mountains behind and calm, slightly ruffled sea - beautiful! Unfurled genoa and fell off a little to keep it filled - memories of being surrounded by whales at sunrise as I came out of the Bay, after having anchored overnight just inside there one April night - ten years ago!
Later: Might need to furl genoa back in - making very little difference to our speed and not worth going twenty degrees off our course... Oh well, was worth trying and gave some exercise to start the day!
10am - had chat over VHF with nearby boat "The Small Crew" - on way back home to San Diego after having spent from November onward fishing and relaxing in Mexico. With slack water, I was able to calibrate the speed impellor on board (boat speed = speed over the ground, SOG, if no current is moving the body of water). Called them again to check the sea water temperature - mine has been reading far too high and, as fishermen, I presumed they'd have a fairly reliable water temperature reading. So that has also been calibrated - to quite a bit lower than before. Good day's work!
Still only light headwind - now making 5kt under motor - had increased motor revs slightly to increase boat speed. Calm seas with no chop, so efficient use of engine. Turtle Bay (Bahia de Tortugas) is two days away, if light wind persists!
1945GMT/1.45pmLT Off Cabo San Lazaro. Making some tacos for lunch - thanks for the 'carne asada', Donna - excellent!
Just tried Manana Net - but was just awful because autopilot transmits loudly and constantly on exactly that frequency so couldn't carry on a conversation . Too bad since they heard me clearly and I would have heard them if it weren't for the interference - switched to another frequency nearby and all was fine!
Tried doing without the motor - under full sail alone, very close-hauled in about 10 kt of WNW wind, speed dropped to just 2.5 kt! Back on with the motor and we're making 5.7 kt motor-sailing, almost on course for Turtle Bay I checked our consumption: main fuel tank still has enough for over three days so no problem getting to TB.
Lots of shipping off this coast - all seem to be keeping 30-40 mls off the coast, so well away.
4-5pm LT - decided to cut engine for hour of peace while I had some tea and relaxed on deck. Speed dropped to 3.7 kt and eventually to 1.9 kt - so engine on ... and back on course.
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Have no choice at present but to head NW up the Baja - can't get W in WNW wind... Mix of motor-sailing and motoring...
I'll see what the winds are doing once I'm in TB and/or approaching Ensenada - might be headed by stronger NW by then...
All a guessing game - if I can take offshore 'Clipper' route, I'd like to do so... But heading north just now, out of hurricane area, has to be good!
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