{"id":5992,"date":"2023-10-08T17:39:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T21:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/?p=5992"},"modified":"2023-10-27T09:18:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:18:37","slug":"last-leg-part-7-of-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/?p=5992","title":{"rendered":"Last Leg (Part 7 of 7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tropical climates were the norm, but Cabo<\/em> was a defining departure from that. Days and nights were getting cooler heading north with sailing conditions\u00a0 <\/span>less than ideal. Winds were picking up, but generally head on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After 5 days in Cabo<\/em> we started out in seemingly mild conditions until rounding Lands End<\/em>, directly into a 35 knot breeze. Challenge<\/em><\/strong> was wet and rolling. Clear nights were spectacularly speckled with stars. Rounding Punta Tosca<\/em> at night, spinner dolphins breached all around the boat. In darkness they were mostly heard rather than seen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Motor-sailing into the weather continued.<\/p>\n

Next night on a 0100 watch, I savored a shooting star streaking over the lighthouse at Cabo San L\u00e1zaro<\/em>. It was a good sign. Kelp beds were appearing, as the environment became more temperate. We\u2019d gone 120 miles since leaving Cabo San Lucas<\/em> 2 days prior. I began thinking about home, my family and friends until retiring at 0200, dozing off. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Later that day, I got up for an 1800 hour watch, climbed out the companionway to see Billy at the helm, smiling, no motor, reefed down, heeled over 45\u00b0 and making 7 \u00bd knots to windward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Spray flew over the bow in 6 foot seas. Sheets of water flooded the leeward deck. It was exhilarating and so far the best sailing of the trip. Challenge<\/em><\/strong> was made for this! By the time I took the helm it was blowing 25 knots and we were making nearly 8 knots.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Jack was loving it!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As long as a point of land gave us a lee, sailing was favorable.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Billy made adjustments to the main.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Trent relieved me at 2000 hrs as the moon rose, brightening the sky. 6 to 8 foot seas, heeled over and I was lying in the cockpit standing up. It was invigorating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Topside I shot with my waterproof Nikonos<\/em> camera.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

North of Isla Asunci\u00f3n<\/em>, the Baja coastline began taking on a remote, primeval landscape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Captain Trent did a great job navigating the coast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We stayed clear of Punta San Pablo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Next stop was Bah\u00eda Tortugas<\/em> and the abalone fishing village of San Bartelem\u00e9<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The isolated little town seemed nicely situated, nestled within Turtle Bay<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I couldn’t help but interact with some friendly young locals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Before departing San Bartelem\u00e9<\/em>, Escapade’s\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>crew came aboard for a meal of lobster, steak and tuna. From the galley of Escapade<\/em><\/strong>, Lee brought homemade rolls and apple crisp. We continued on…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and spent two more days at sea.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

June 13 we arrived in San Diego, along with Escapade<\/em><\/strong> to clear US Customs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

An America’s Cup<\/em> boat was tied up at San Diego Yacht Club. Neil Young’s hundred foot schooner\u00a0Ragland<\/em>, was docked in front of it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

June 15, after 6 weeks and over 3,000 miles, Challenge<\/em><\/strong> was berthed at Newport, California.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We bid farewell to Lee and our friends on\u00a0Escapade<\/em><\/strong>, still headed for Seattle. It had been an amazing trip with them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

John McVie greeted us and was grateful, reunited with\u00a0Challenge<\/em><\/strong>. It was nice to meet him, and rewarding to take part in such a memorable trip.<\/p>\n

left to right: Trent, John, Billy and Jacque<\/p>\n

These last 7 blog posts were taken from photos and journal entries made in 1987.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tropical climates were the norm, but Cabo was a defining departure from that. Days and nights were getting cooler heading north with sailing conditions\u00a0 less than ideal. Winds were picking up, but generally head on.\u00a0 After 5 days in Cabo we started out in seemingly mild conditions until rounding Lands End, directly into a 35 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,51,6,41,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-people","category-sailing","category-sea","category-travel","category-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5992"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6051,"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5992\/revisions\/6051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/photoblog.michaelhalminski.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}