We are screaming along, starting to daydream about never ending showers, big fresh meals, and full nights of sleep. The sailing continues to be good, and I think we can officially say that we have left the Pacific High in the dust. We flew the spinnaker for about 12 hours yesterday, only dousing it when the wind moved forward in the late evening. Since then we've been flying along under the 135% jib and main, finding that we are still encountering squalls, although they are almost all wind and no rain at this point. Temperature is down, and it looks and feels like Northern California ocean.

Since last week we have sailed 1970 NM, almost all of that distance covered under sail, and most of it upwind. No complaints at all here, we've had great sailing in our own 'private Coyote wind' and conditions have been very moderate for the most part. Boats even a day ahead of us have had to do much more motoring.

Yesterday and today have been shower days, as we still have plenty of water. It's a bit tricky trying to shave and take a shower in the forward head as we beat upwind at 8 kts in 22 kts of wind, but it proved well worth it, with warm water even. Makes a world of difference. Things are still a bit stinky onboard, but we are fighting the good fight.

It's very exciting to start to zoom in on the navigation software, and to start seeing familiar details like the Farallon islands. All signs point to a Wednesday arrival, we are hoping for sometime during the day so that we can enjoy the sail under the gate and down the city front. I'm sure it's going to be an amazing feeling.

Towards the beginning of the trip we would all sleep lightly, then we started to sleep better but still wake easily, then there was a period where we would tend to wake up a half hour before our shifts ready to go, now we are all sleeping heavily and have to be shaken bodily to rouse us for our watches. Two more 12:30-3:30AM shifts for me!

Last night I guess Julia and I were driving a bit crazy, as first Rick then Steve came up to see 'if everything was ok.' Didn't seem too bad to us topside, reaching with full sails in 24 kts of wind, hitting the occasional high 9 and even 10 kts. I guess the crashing and banging down below didn't seem like it was worth it to the off watch. We are seeing the finish line in sight and the temptation to push hard is high.

Having done this trip has really changed our perspective on distances. While in the Sea of Cortez we would feel like a 200 mile trip was a big event and we would plan and watch the weather so carefully. Now a trip like that sounds much easier. All the same, having those experiences first have been a huge help in readying us for this passage.

All is well onboard Coyote and the daytime routine is well underway.

Lat 38 11.921' N, Long 129 08.672' W
Wind: 17kts N
Seas: 2 m N
Speed: 7.2 kts
Dist. to Go: 315 NM

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com