Patrick's input

We sent Laura off with a raucous evening at a jazz club in San Diego. Laura headed north and I continued on with our good friends Ralph, Arlene and Larry. Fair winds and following seas continued on and we threw out our fishing lines as soon as we were in Mexico. "Just a Minute" proved to be a great fishing boat and rewarded us with many fish, including a 52" dorado. After that fish we changed to catch and release only. We rounded the Cape at sunrise, and went on to San Jose del Cabo, only to find out that we had to clear in to the country in Cabo san Lucas, so we all took a taxi to Cabo to get visas. Ralph and Arlene left us in San Jose del Cabo on Nov 6th so they could get ready for their upcoming transit from France to California via the Canal. We were sad to see Ralph and Arlene go - they were a huge help to us and have become great friends of ours. We hope to sail with them again. The fair wind that had pushed us along became a 30 knot wind that we had to sail into. Waves crashed over the bow, but our boat handled it beautifully. Larry and I got to do our first anchoring in the dark after a rough day at sea. Interesting! By the third day we were doing some of our best sailings. Dolphins escorted us into La Paz on November 9th. The 10th was spent registering our boat and preparing for Jack, Rudy and Laura to join us. A very tired Larry decided he needed to get home and so Larry and Laura passed each other in the airport. Larry was a great addition to the crew and is welcome anytime. It had been nearly a month since our family had been together. I was so happy to see them come out the door of the airport. They made quite a spectacle dressed in PNW clothes being pulled by a Labrador and towing a large dog crate and several large bags of luggage.
Patrick