Commander #155 'Mephisto Cat'

[Rico]

Thanks! -I'll be sure to pass along a fair share of the compliments.

I was fortunate to participate in the 2009 edition of the Baja ha-ha Rally from San Diego to Cabo (at the tip of the Baja Peninsula) at the end of October.

I am working on a bit of a write-up about the adventure... but while I finish here are a few of the pictures I took.

To keep this thread on topic I'll leave most of the details on the 'S/v Mystic - Seattle to Calais' thread in the Sailing & Events section which is focuses on this portion of the Voyage. (Link below) Please add comments there where I've posted a few more pictures and a short video taken as the conditions built showing some big swells:
http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...ead.php?t=2077


Here is the link to the little video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlqZpBYer2Y

Picture 1a: Arriving at Cabo. - The arch at the entrance to the cabo harbor. (This should be the last picture, but linked pictures show-up first... I'll plan better next time!)

Attached pictures:

Picture 1: Day 1; Great weather at the start this is a picture as we sailed past the Coronados (Northernmost Mexican Islands). We had our spinnaker up as the gun went off.

Picture 2: Great sunrise & nice weather after some 24hrs of 20-25 kt winds, gusts to 30kt with 15-20ft seas. This picture was taken on our approach to Bahia Santa Maria. We went far offshore chasing the wind as conditions lightened and approached our anchorage pretty much heading directly East.
One boat went to the bottom due to an impact with a whale while surfing down the face of one of these waves (all crew OK). Another got some sort of heavy line wrapped around the keel, and it dragged for some 4 hrs. Several goosenecks broke on gybes.
We were short-handed due to seasickess among the crew but fared well. We were quite tired, but had quite a bit of fun. (Not so bad with following wind & seas) We hit 11.7 knots several times while 'surfing' - in a 'Passport 40'. I imagine the Passports' hull-speed is around 6-7 Knots???
-See video on linked thread above.


Picture 3: Most of the time we had 'Perfect' sailing weather that allowed for fishing. We caught a Tuna (22") and two Dorados (Mahi-Mahi) (both at 44")
Most boats had very good luck with the fish. We made Sashimi & Ceviche, as snacks. Fish tacos, and nice fillets (Grilled /in garlic sauce/ Pan fried) for lunches and dinners.

We also caught 2 small Albacore tuna (twins at about 14"). We decided to let them go... I've seen them top 100lbs and I felt sorry for the little guys... plus we already had lots of fish at that point.

Picture 4: A relaxing sunset... The coming night was my first experience flying every stitch of sail at night. The radio often sounded with comments from people saying how this particular passage was the best sailing of their lives... Pretty darn perfect. This was taken during our last night before arriving in Cabo. During a slight calm (Warm!) we had to cool off overboard - 80 miles offshore! Shorts and T-shirts were our cold weather gear for the night.