No More Magic Carpet

Well, I knew it was too good to last. I probably jinxed it by having such a good time yesterday. Today, right after Mike woke me up at 4 am after a really good sleep to take over watch, the weather changed for the worse. The seas built up to about 8 to 10 feet, with very short periods between them, which means we were slammed around a lot, could not make any speed, and ended up not making it all the way to where we wanted to go. Of course Mike got no sleep because everything went south just as he lay down. It wasn't that I couldn't handle it, but there was nothing to be done. We are pretty sure it is the effect of the hurricane down south - we are praying it does not come any further north. All the weather reports failed to mention any of the stuff we went through, just in case anyone thinks we go off without checking the weather! We are very diligent about that sort of thing, and check several different sources, which includes raw data that we have learned to interpret. The next time someone tells me there is no such thing as global warming I will slug them right in the nose. Mike was at sea for 20 years, and things have changed to the point none of the models or how things have always gone are valid anymore. It is very discouraging.

The only high point of the day was when we past two different pods of dolphins, who seemed to be there just to keep us happy. They were jumping and playing with the boat and made us laugh and smile despite everything going wrong. They came along at the perfect time - we were really getting sad and discouraged. Mike got some good pictures.

We stopped at an anchorage about 15 miles from where we wanted to be, but had we tried to go further, it would have meant arriving in the middle of the night in bad seas, which we did not want to do. It is sort of rolly, and may get worse, but there was really no way Mike could go on without getting some sleep, and he is pretty sure he can sleep through whatever this anchorage decides to throw at us. Tomorrow we should be able to make it all the way to San Carlos, where the anchorage is quite well protected. I guess we shouldn't complain too much - because all day we could hear a friend we met in Santa Rosalia who is on his way to San Carlos as well, and apparently he lost his engine and spent all day trying to sail into the harbor and was thwarted by the combination of wind, waves, and current. He is an older guy and is by himself. I hope things work out for him. We will know tomorrow.

I am going to stop now - I am absolutely exhausted and Mike is in worse shape than I am. Hope your day was better than mine!

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