Last night we passed through Gale Alley, whose name is self-explanatory and well-deserved. We had only the smallest taste of what it can offer, but it was certainly a humbling reminder of the power of the sea. We only were seeing mid-20's, with the occasional burst higher, but the seas really stacked up and were a bit confused. Lots of spray, water on deck, cold wind, and dark. We spent the night under double-reefed main and 90% jib, knocking down solid 9's on the speedo.

This morning conditions have eased a bit, although the sea state remains confused. Steve and Julia were chomping at the bit to pile on more sail, so up went the heavy spinnaker. We are really making great time, although the driver has to work pretty hard on the wheel. Being close to home adds another level of excitement.

We can now hear the Coast Guard on VHF channel 16, there are many more birds, and we even saw some kelp floating by this morning. Definitely closing with land.

Most likely this will be the last blog post from onboard. This will probably end up being posted sometime early morning on Wed, and at this clip we should be nearing the Golden Gate by mid-day on Wednesday for a total trip time of right around 16 days. We will definitely write a final 'end-of-trip' post sometime soon, but it'll probably take a little while to get to that. First we have to shower, do a huge amount of laundry, have a drink (or several), eat a bunch of good food, and sleep.

Lat 38 02.558' N, Long 125 32.060' W
Wind: 18 kts NNW
Seas: 2-3 m mixed
Speed: 7 kts
Dist to Go: 142 NM

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