Author: sailawaysarantium

These south easterly winds makes for perfect water surface; flat as can be! Boat cruised at 7 -7.5 kn but since we were bucking a knot of current speed over ground showed around 6knots! If this keeps up, we will be out of the Sea of Cortez in 24 hours!

To make the evening more special a pod, perhaps a mega pod, of Short finned Pilot Whales came out of nowhere and swam across our path. We must have watched them move across the bow of the boat for an hour, slapping and keeping everyone in line and moving! My guess is that there were 200 whales moving through. Spectacular show!

In addition an almost full moon appeared and at the same time wind picked up a notch! I decided to furl in my Genoa sail a bit as flying fast at night is scary with fishing boats not using AIS. Speaking of which, I noticed a light in the distance and right away tried to find it on the chart plotter, but couldn’t see any AIS vessels so I switch to radar to locate it. No signs of a boat… I decided to turn everything off and on again as that always fixes things😉! But nope, nothing! I switch back and forth a few times but still nothing but the light is now getting closer as the mast seems to be taller. After half an hour I realized that the light is a planet…

N24*09.77 W109*12.53 COG:140T

Course on ground: 100* …direction towards Mazatlan.

For now, I think the low wind and flat water conditions are over. After 3 days and 3 nights of sailing (and not moving at times) on glassy water at 3-6 knots, the wind picked up just outside of Isla San Hose’, not far from La Paz. Sarantium is now on a beauty beam reach and doing 5.5-6 knots on some chop!

As much as we would love to spend time in Mazatlan and La Cruz, I’m ready to move on from Mexico! It is still early within the season to be crossing to French Polynesia as technically season begins in April and ends in June. People do, however leave as early as February.

Nights have been a bit cool and damp. We have had quite a bit of dew during the nights. One downside is, besides feeling like I’m back in Nanaimo😂, that I can’t see the whale spouts. I sure can hear them all around as we are in the area where Blue Whales hang out! I feel extremely fortunate laying in the cockpit in absolute silence, looking up at Milky Way listening to whales’ breath.

Retiring early, cutting ties to paying bills and keeping up with values around a set system of doing what’s expected, was a good idea for me! As I move through the sailing world, whether in person or virtual, I make sense of who I am on a different level than before. Time has slowed, appreciation of small things are richer and being present in time, is now much easier!

In addition, as I move further away from the life I had in North America I feel a change. I revert back to thinking in my native language more often and have to search at times, for English words when I communicate. I dream more often and they are often a replay with the life I had and the people I hold close to my heart. Goodmorning world!

After the EL Norte winds, south wind kicked in and flattened the water and I get to do some beauty low wind and flat water sailing! It does not get any better than this!

Slow sail all day today, except for no wind mid day! I jumped into the water (before I knew boat was surrounded by hunting sharks) and did laps around the boat while it floated with the current! Such amazing day!

…. With minor problems! Running lights will need tweaking as stern light was flickering and running bow light did not turn on! But I carry portable back up! Getting closer to Baja, commercial fishing vessels began to appear! None of them showed up on my AIS (automatic identification system) so I had to read their light sequence to figure out their direction and to be sure they were not trawling or towing. I slept a bit, but sleeping is for daytime! I set the alarm every 23 min to stand up look around, check the radar and the chart!

Coordination at 07.11: N 26*34.2 W111*4.4 and heading is 144T. Clear skies, boat speed 4.4knots, slight chop on water and forecast looks stellar!

Activity today: Coffee, yoga, garbage collection*, ukelele, fix running lights and prepping a lentil coconut dish!

I untied the dock lines at 07.00 and backed out of my slip and motored out, while waving goodbye to new friends from the Marina Fonotur! We motored for about 2 hours until light wind filled the sails! There is not much wind forecasted in the Sea of Cortez for the next couple of days, so I expect to bob around a lot as I won’t turn on my engine this early in the game!

Coordinates: 27* 18.99N/111*12..41W

COG: 194*

Speed: 5 knots

Sailing direction is not optimal, however Sarantium is moving south and have wind in her sail!

A lovely day!

I was so close to pulling anchor today as forecast showed perfect winds… but as I reflected back to similar thought process and recognizing the past wind patterns, direction and strength here in the sea of Cortez, I decided to wait until morning! I have set my alarm for 04.00, and now laying in bed wide awake and excited (and listening to the howling gusts) to make the next leg in my journey! Tomorrow will be the tail end of the El Nortes. With some luck, I’ll be in the middle of the Sea of Cortez within a few hours, and slowly steering Sarantium south!! Goodnight!

Of course I chose to do this DIY!!!I’ve drilled 40 pilot holes and 40 “real” 1/4 inch holes, tapped 40 holes, dipped 40 machine screws in Lanacote (anti-corrosive lube) before inserting them into the 40 holes. I also ran a bead of Sikaflex adhesive goop along the track to avoid salt getting inbetween the mast and track. And all this was from hanging in the halyard in sun and wind! As well, cheak blocks, flair leads, cam cleats were installed and a sheet runs through it! While testing the whiskerpole, I realized that lubricant was needed for pole to telescope out! It worked! This is what sailors do while waiting to start their passages to foreign lands! Now, it’s time to buy some fresh bananas and pull anchor!!!