Meredith MacCracken

The sail started out amazing, a 3-hour beam reach out to this Southern Island of Islas Los Coronados. We hit top speeds of 8.7 knots surfing down the waves. We rounded the Southern tip of the island, and headed back via the back side of the island. Things started to get rough, no longer protected by the island, the winds picked up to 20 knots. We were getting pounded by big waves and fighting a very strong current. As we turned to head back to point Loma, we finally had to throw in the towel and start the engine. We motor sailed most of the way back making barely 4 and 1/2 knot against the wind and current. Then we went from one extreme to the other, the wind just died! Alas we were happy to to get inside the bay for the golden hour. We cut the motor and rolled the jib back out to let it dry and drifted the rest of the way home. We all decided that was a once in a lifetime sail, as I would much rather have a destination port to visit after an 8-hour voyage! Still, it was a wonderful and exciting experience.

Lots of good wind, we got Iris up to 7.4 knots. It also made the docking very interesting. LOL! Great day with great crew.