4pm Thursday - passing well S of Isla Socorro
We've had several handsome black and white red-footed boobies flying close by, both juvenile and adult, over the last few days - presumably from the Islas Revillagegido to our north. Isla Socorro is the largest and presently lies 150 ml N of us.
Motoring worked well to give a good course in the usual very light overnight wind, with genoa furled in and main centred. The bright moon of Wed night was lost behind broken thick clouds so it was often very dark. It's so much nicer when stars and moon are out!
As the wind shifted, our course was adjusted to keep some wind in the sail - we were mostly on port tack but occasionally on starboard tack and so managed to keep heading NNE-NE - towards Banderas Bay - but not making a very good speed. That was a definite improvement over the daytime yesterday when we were mostly headed to Acapulco or points south in a wind too strong to do anything but sail as close-hauled as possible in quite rough seas..
After sunrise today, the wind increased and backed, so the motor was cut and we got sailng nicely on course - close-hauled, as usual. It's been a lovely sunny day with frequent bird visits and fairly calm seas, with the usual 1.5m/4-5ft swell from the north.
Looking at today's weather files, the outlook is good, with the wind increasingly favouring a course to Banderas Bay. We'll repeat the overnight motoring when the wind drops as expected, and make more northing again. With little wind, it's not possible to go any faster under sail and we can point higher under motor.
With bright sunlight, batteries are being kept charged during the day and motoring overnight keeps them charged then, also.
We've enough fuel to alternate motoring overnight with sailing during the day, so getting back to Banderas Bay is looking like an increasingly possible outcome. We had been looking at Manzanillo and Acapulco as options for landfall - which needs to be at an official Mexican Port of Entry since we cleared out of the country on leaving.
Position: 16 23'N, 111 38'W, COG: 086T, SOG: 6.1kt, wind: NNE 8kt (See my website, www.svnereida.com, for tracking/position links.)