Yes, it is April. Yes, it is Mexico. Yes, it is cold. Especially at night when the waves crash over the boat and spray you with their salty breath.
The crossing from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle to Ensenada de Los Muertos took us four days and three nights. The last 30 hours were pretty exciting with 20-25 knot winds (gusts to 32 knots, apparent) and 8-10 foot high seas. The winds were from the WNW, which just happened to be the direction we wanted to go, so we ended up cracking off to the south a little. That change in our course also allowed us to cross the swells (also coming from the NW) at a more comfortable angle. But it meant we had to self-steer the boat to keep it as close to the wind as possible and to stay most stable. We took 1/2 hour turns at the helm through the night (fortunately, a nearly full moon made it easy to see the waves coming). Even so, the wind and waves put us a good bit further south on the coast than we would have liked. We made landfall at Punta Arena, 25 miles south of Los Muertos just as the sun came up on the our fourth day out...anchored in the Ensenada by 4:00 PM that afternoon. And slept...
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