We got up at 5 am for a planned departure of 6 am and were on time. We checked out with traffic control and left the area. The first half of the day was spent motor sailing, and going pretty fast for us 7 knots. Then mid afternoon, the wind got uncomfortable and we were also headed straight into it. This slowed us down, quite a bit. Our original plan had been to go to Los Muertos but somewhere mid day we looked at the weather and decided to cut 20 miles off our trip and put the angle to the wind at a better spot for getting some help with the sails, and a slightly less ugly ride.Sounds good huh? Well check tomorrow’s post for the result.
In any case, the crossing was 170 miles, and less than 7 knots it took from 6 am Sunday to 11:30 Monday to complete.
We elected to pay for off shore access to the internet with Starlink, our normal fee is about $85 USD per month, but that does not include off shore access. We opted in and used the internet to watch and listen to a sermon on Sunday and to make some calls etc. At the end of the trip we opted out to turn it off and used 17 GB of data.
Overall the crossing was as bad as any of our crossings. We have had some better, and some worse. At least neither of us got sea sick this time (both of us have on the same crossing). This was only 2 days with one overnight. The last time we went north a friend: Robert Griffith, was along and we crossed from further south San Blas to Los Muertos about 270 miles, with two overnights. That trip was not as “bad” for the weather, but long, and that takes a bunch out of everyone involved.
When the wind started to die down, we still had to deal with the waves they created and finally about daybreak the “waves” were gone and we just had swells to deal with, they were coming from the north and we were headed west, so the boat was really rolling a lot. As a result virtually anything that could fall did, since some of the waves came over the bow, the deck in the salon was wet from the leaks around the mast. All in all and uncomfortable trip.
We alternated getting naps (or at least laying down and trying to sleep) with two hours on and two hours off.
