We have completed the crossing from Santa Rosalia on Baja back over to San Carlos /Guymas on the mainland, 85 miles. We were watching for a good safe weather window and it was an easy crossing with no problems or drama. We started out at 3 PM in calm no wind conditions and motored at 4 knots for 10 hours. We (Diny came back to join us for the crossing so it the 3 of us.) each took 2 hour watches, but conditions were so easy and the full moon night was so beautiful that we all frequently sat up together and gabbed or stretched our own watches longer rather than wake up the next person. At about 2 AM, on my watch, the wind picked up and we unfurled the sails and sailed on all the rest of the way. The winds were brisk for long periods and seas flat and at one point we were going 7 knots which is screaming in a boat this size! When the sun came up we still had 35 miles to go and kept sailing. The winds were mostly calmer as the day went and we were in no real hurry so we worked the boat and the sails and kept sailing slowly (and occasionally bobbing for a few minutes now and again when there was no wind.). We were a bit disappointed that we did not see any whales and only a few scattered dolphins along the way, but were compensated with the most stunning night sky, with the full moon and later the stars (after the moon had set) and the light on the scattered clouds at sunset and sunrise.

We pulled into San Carlos about 5 PM, making it a 26 hour crossing. It was such a pleasant experience for us all that we hated for it to end. Instead of pulling on into the marina, we anchored in a nearby cove for the next 2 days until we ran out of tortillas and had to go into town. The cove we stayed in was the very same one that we anchored in a year ago when I fell in so much rapture with this Baja sailing life and turned my life upside down. It was a very nice home coming.

Steve is anxious to get back to the states (He has a girlfriend…) but Diny and I can stay on here a bit longer so he will leave tomorrow, and she and I will set sail for a few more days before we put the boat away and head back north at the end of February.