Day One: Tuesday, April 24

8:30 UTC (Greenich time - about 2:30pm where I am).
20.34859N
107.41634W
5 knots of wind and we are motor-sailing
In the first 24 hours we covered 110 miles, 100 to our destination (2791 to go!)
Air temperature: 30c Sea temperature: 27c
Sea state: low rolling swell
Crew state: happy to be underway!

We had a wonderful sail out of Banderas Bay - beating into 10 - 15 knots, Ka'sala was comfortably heeled. The seas were relatively calm and developed into a 2 foot chop. Unfortunately, by 10pm the wind had died and we have been motor-sailing ever since. We hope to find the wind again sometime tonight as we pass out of the influence of the Sea of Cortez.

So far we haven't seen much wildlife - a few boobies interested in our wind instruments at the top of the mast, a large sea turtle and a few dolphins in the distance. What we have seen are a lot of enormous cargo ships (200 - 300 meters long!) as we are traversing a large shipping lane. According to the AIS, many of their destinations are California, Manzanillo and Panama.

We have started a four hour watch pattern through the night that has worked well for us in the past: 8-12 Doug, 12-4 Lyneita, 4-6 Doug, 6 - 8 Lyneita. During the day we switch off as needed as we both have other activities throughout the day such as meal prep, navigation and keeping the boat going. It takes a few days to get into the groove. More tomorrow....

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