Outbound Mexico, Inbound Marquesas!

Wow, thank you for all the good wishes, which we read while we still had an internet connection. We're on our way! As we left yesterday along with Luckness and Zulu, the wind was on the nose. Whaaa? Someone's gonna get a letter... On the other hand, in spite of beating to windward we made 103 miles in the first 24 hours, not bad for a heavily-laden boat with a 21 foot waterline. Outside Cabo, two humpback whales escaped the gaggle of tour boats surrounding them and fell in line about 100 feet behind us. One of them rolled over on its back and, I swear we are not making this up, waved BOTH flippers at us, back and forth, back and forth. We laughed out loud and waved back, calling "BYEEE!"

We've managed to stay on our rhumb line and not drop south, which means maybe we won't have to thread through the Soccorro-Clarion Island group, where the Mexican Navy is holding exercises. We spoke with both Luckness and Zulu on VHF radio but they are now out of VHF but not SSB or Ham radio range. Also spoke with Estrellita and Pandeon, who are crossing, and Southern Cross, who is about to "jump." Good to hear their voices!

So lovely out here--warm sun, cool 15-knot breeze, medium swell, and we are making 4.5 to 5 knots on a SW course under a reefed main and genoa. The wind has gone slightly NW, which makes it possible to easily lay the course. To see where we are, click the "Where is Sockdolager now?" link on the left.

Posted from our Ham radio