It was bittersweet to get a full crew together and race Astraea in a Saturday Veleros de Baja sailboat race. We invited our friends from S/V Namaste, S/V Sea Rover II and S/V Greybeard to hang out and crew for the race.
Underway from the marina and up the channel
We started the race with a mimosa toast to Astraea’s final race under our ownership.
The good crew, Bill from S/V Greybeard, John, Journey and Cindy from S/V Namaste
The sea was calm with no wind or waves and Sully wanted out of the cockpit so we put on the tether and harness for some play time on the foredeck
The race start was delayed by 15 minutes because of the calm conditions
Soon enough the wind filled in enough to start the race. Gary from S/V Sea Rover II convinced me to fly the drifter so we put it up and were ahead of one other boat in the fleet!
Slowly racing down the bay with Karina, Natalie, John and Bill in the cockpit
I passed the wheel off to John and enjoyed the slow sail (and an ice cold Tecate) with Natalie and Gary
After the race I emailed a report to Latitude 38 and they posted about the sail in their magazine and online:
When do cruisers become racers? Whenever two or more of them want to! On Saturday, some habitués of Club Cruceros de La Paz enjoyed a great race after a 15-minute delay for light wind. “Then there was enough wind to fill a spinnaker so the race started,” reports Nate Kraft of the Cheoy Lee 41Astraea. “The Baja ferry came through the middle of the fleet interrupting the wind and downwind courses. As we were coming past the port at Pichilingue the wind quickly picked up. As we entered the channel there was a near pile-up of boats outside the Pemex wharf. The Catalina 42Dad’s Dreams was on a port tack avoiding the shoal while the Cheoy Lee 41 Astraea came trucking down the channel. While passing Marina PalmiraAstraea caught up to the Ron Holland 43 Azure-Te’ and stole their wind, butAzure-Te’ pulled ahead to finish one minute sooner.”
The full writeup is available on Latitude 38’s February 17, 2016 ‘Lectronic Latitude.
Truckin’ down the channel towards La Paz.
Sully’s buddy and babysitter Journey showed him some pictures she took during the race
A blissful moment keeping Astraea in the groove
Getting close
Natalie and I were happy to be out for one last sail with friends aboard
Wing and wing with Gary out by the main mast
Getting passed
The race wore Sully out so he took a nap in his berth while we put the boat away
After the race we headed over to La Costa Restaurant for the post race party. It was great to get together with friends we met a year and a thousand sea miles ago back in San Diego for a final sail together Aboard Astraea.
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