I'm back out and on the path to Ensenada after a full week of cowering at Bahia Tortuga waiting for the strong winds to slack off a bit. While anchored there I was seeing 15-25 pretty constantly with gusts up over 33 kts at time.  The anchor held well and I didn't have any problems other than the constant howling of the wind (think stormy night in a haunted house) and being essentially trapped on the boat.  I didn't really want to try to paddleboard against 15-20 kts of wind to the beach to go ashore. 

I was able to go in yesterday to get rid of a bag of trash and take a bit of a walk before my departure.  The winds were nice and calm in the morning and didn't get much over 15 kts in the afternoon. 

I'm currently passing by Punta Eugenia and going west of Isla Cedros. I was going to tuck in behind Cedros and go up the inside but I actually think the wind/swells outside will be less hassle.  I've been wrong before, so we'll see what happens.  Right now there is a gap between the island and the mainland so the swells are very much like a washing machine. Very confused, but not too big at the moment.  The forecast for later tonight has the winds up to 20 kts with gusts in the  high 20's.  I can hope that doesn't come to pass, but I think no matter what it turns out to be I'm going to just have to ride it out. 

The total passage time is going to be about 48 hours to Ensenada. I'll have full overnight crossing tonight and tomorrow night (though tomorrows forecast gets much better) before arriving mid-late morning on Friday. Luckily, I was able to check my non-functional running lights while here and found that the problem was simply a broken bulb.  I have 2 spares and installed 1 and the lights worked. Hopefully those 2 spares will be adequate to get me back home. I already ordered a fully sealed LED replacement bow light to install so that isn't a concern in the future. If it has the standard 65,000 hour life expectancy I won't have to worry about replacing it again in my lifetime!

I've got a reservation at Cruise Port Village Marina util 4/16 when I plan to depart at 0'dark 30 and head up to San Diego to clear in with customs etc. I have arranged a reciprocal stay at Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego (Shelter Island)  for 4/16-17.  

Assuming plans continue on track, from there I'll move up to Oceanside Yacht Club for 4/18, then on to Dana Point for the weekend at anchor there in the harbor.  The future portions of the plan are all sort of fuzzy but I have a reservation at Shoreline in Long Beach for 4/24-4/28 so that I can run out to the desert and pick up mail and Amazon care packages. 

Then I'll be back at Catalina and can start to think about what the summer looks like. I think that is about all for now.  Next stop - Ensenada!