Tuesday morning was not like the usual mornings at sea where sleepy crew are being woken up at all hours of the morning to stand their navigational watch. This particular morning, Marisa and Anna filled the cabin with the sweet sweet smell of baking. With the assistance of Otto, our trusty Auto pilot and the lack of wind, they wisely split their time baking red velvet cupcakes along with a cake in the shape of a fish; in honor of my birthday. What a difference it was waking the crew for their early morning watches with a freshly baked cupcake to lure them out of bed! We celebrated the day with a piñata homemade by Anna. By the afternoon the wind had filled back in, so with 23 knots apparent wind speed to add an extra level of difficulty in smashing the piñata blind folded, I did eventually manage to break it open and shower the crew in popcorn.
I woke Wednesday morning to the San Fransisco Coast guard sending out a pan pan for the bay area, this is the very first time we have heard the United States Coast Guard since leaving Hawaii, This means we are getting close to land! The wind has picked up to a steady 20-25knots true and has swung aft of the beam. With the preventer rigged up and the swell on the port quarter, the crew are having fun surfing down the 2m waves, a challenge in itself to keep on course. There’s nothing quite like the thrill of guiding Sea Dragon through a wave, battling the helm and watching as the boat speed increases as she surfs. We are rolling a bit side to side as we surf these waves, so below deck everyone braces before calculating the right moment to launch out of their bunks and into their foul weather gear for their turn to take on the ocean. It’s been overcast for the last couple of days, however moral is up as we compete for the top speed on the helm, I currently take the lead at 15.3knots, but the challenge is still on. We are averaging 10knots as we cruise towards Todos de Santos, the island of the big wave ‘Killer’ off the coast of Ensenada. Fortunately for us, there will not be a 70ft wave to great us, although there has been much talk of rogue waves amongst crew on night watches that everyone has been keeping their third eye on the horizon. This new angle of sail is throwing big smiles across the faces of those on the helm, it really is enjoyable fast sailing and Sea Dragon is absolutely loving it. All our hard work beating upwind north of 37 degrees latitude has already paid off. The days are going by quickly as we approach land, everyone is chatting about how they think their bodies will react when they step foot onto stable ground and speculating what they may have missed in the media in the past couple of weeks while they have been completely off grid.