As John already wrote, we've run out of fresh fruit and now it's finally time to break out the Thai banana chips which were a going away gift from Mike and Mon on Windy City (thanks guys!). I've been saving them for last because I knew we'd appreciate them most at the end of our trip. They are a good treat and even with careful rationing I'm sure they won't last more than a few days!
The water temperature has increased slowly but surely over the past few days, giving us hope that we'll soon be back in tropical weather. Last night we didn't see less than 66 degrees for the first time in awhile. I'm not sure we'll be able to re-acclimate in less than a week (after four weeks of feeling like we were freezing!) but hopefully the Mexican mainland winter temps will be easy on us before we have to face the Baja summer.
On Thursday John's fishing line caught a two foot piece of the kelp. We's noticed several floating by the day before. He reeled it in and we put it in the cockpit well for Ziggy's entertainment. It turned out to have the bonus surprise of half a dozen assorted sized "bugs" crawling on it. These closely resembled what we call "beach roaches" but instead of being black, these were kelp colored. Ziggy was completely captivated by the creatures, but when he decided the "toys" made good food, we pitched it back over the side. Of course Ziggy managed to scoot into the cabin below with one last snack. He spent the rest of the afternoon periodically checking the well to make sure he hadn't missed any.
Friday morning at sunrise we had the pleasure of seeing a fishing boat headed in the opposite direction. We had the twin headsails rigged and must have been quite a sight for them with our blue and white striped drifter. They came in for a closer look, but I was disappointed that they never got close enough to wave. Later we heard Asian voices on the VHF so maybe that was them. Now we seem to be getting the fishermen out of Cabo yakking day and night on channel 16.
Of course after John ran the generator to charge our batteries Friday morning the wind completely died by late afternoon and we had to motor until early evening. It never seems to fail that we have to motor after we've already run the generator. Kind of the opposite of the ukulele effect! This seems to be the pattern lately. Windy sail at sunrise, tapering off by lunch. Motor from noon to mid/late afternoon. Sail in extremely variable, and mostly light, winds all night. Repeat.
Hopefully only to be repeated for five more nights (but who's counting)!
Linda
{GMST}22|15|N|112|12|W|Hawaii to Mexico Day 30|Day 30{GEND}