The forecast calls for good NW breeze over the next few days so we’re taking advantage of it to get further south. Heading out of Bahia Todos Santos this morning we saw our speed top 9 knots on a beam reach in 18 knots of breeze! Awesome sailing ? The check in and out of Ensenada went smoothly except for the broken printer that ground everything to a halt for a few hours.
A few minutes ago we caught our first tuna on our new hand lines purchased in San Diego. It wasn’t huge- probably between 10 and 15 lbs but we got some great fillets. The line was in the water for only about 90 minutes. Erin did a great job pulling in our first catch while I used our gaff hook fashioned from a broom handle to pull it onto deck. It was an emotional experience for us both, but we’ll enjoy the fresh fish for dinner tonight!
Our plan is to make as many miles South as we can while the breeze lasts. It’s almost 1100 miles to La Paz from Ensenada and we’re trying to make it in time for birthday celebrations with our friends in 10 days. We may stop in Turtle Bay (275 miles south)or we may continue sailing depending on how we feel. Right now we’re sailing dead downwind in 20 knots NW averaging 7.5 knots through the water but sometimes hitting 9 when a wave pushes us right. We’re sailing conservatively not flying both head sails. Maybe we’ll get up enough courage to put up the big forward ballooner if it calms down a little bit.