The gray, cool morning fog drapes the hills above Marina Coral and it is so very quiet. As I look at my cup of coffee sitting on it’s own on the salon table, unmoving, unshifting….I am just so very thankful to be here in Ensenada, Baja MX. The only movement beneath me is the gentle sway of Independence on her dock lines, tucked into slip B33 across from the fuel dock ($4.20 USD/gallon for diesel!) and nestled next to a fellow Nordhavn 63 ‘Amnesia’. My ears still echo with the steady beat of the powerful twin 715 Cummins engines that ran nonstop for over 80 hours and my neck, back and legs have a strange ache from the constant isometric posture worn for over three days on jumping, rolling seas. After arrival here yesterday afternoon, Larry glanced at me over his tall, cold IPA and said, “Wow, I can’t believe we are actually here…it’s done”. Referring to the hours of preparation, planning and plotting and just plain worrying on how to get the boat safely north during spring seas, not waiting for the ‘calm’ of summer (due once again to insurance constraints). But, here we are…Larry did an awesome job of plotting pages of scenarios with expected wave heights, periods, winds and most importantly, for fuel consumption, currents. After almost four full days of crashing and bashing our way north, we arrived with 300 gallons of fuel in reserve, which is exactly what he had plotted…amazing!!!

Our passage could not have gone so well without the help of our friends Rich and Connie Dancaster, who followed our progress/position on AIS and unfailingly, sent us weather updates via our Garmin InReach. Not to mention making a last minute marina reservation change for us so we could fuel immediately upon arrival. Also, a big thanks to Blake for his weather relays too!

But, the MVP award goes without a doubt to Steve (Gumby) Grant for his steadfast service over the last week. Gumby was helping us even before he arrived in San Jose del Cabo by ordering and delivering our new water pump (which weighs 45 pounds!). That was followed by assisting Larry in oil changes on those twin 715’s and taking it in stride when we gave him COVID (yes, that’s another story) four days before starting ‘The Bash’. Not a grumble was issued during the hours of helm watches in heaving seas with heaving stomachs. Fed only a diet of peanut butter and jam sandwiches. How can we ever thank him enough?!? We will just have to try…one shot at a time!