Dawn and sunrise on Monday December 23 

The seas were wonderful today. The wind died, and there was almost no wind chop. The swells were relatively small and at long intervals. 

However, it was overcast and very hot and humid. Eric turned on the generator during the hottest part of the day so we could run the air conditioning. 

We saw a dolphin in the morning, which was a stark reminder that we still haven’t seen any big pods of dolphins yet. Where have all the dolphins gone?

It was another dark night, with overcast skies and no moon until the wee hours of the morning. Here was the moon rising at 0230. 

We did get some light from Acapulco as we passed by, which helped with visibility for a few hours. Even though it was dark, it was hotter and more humid than it had been during the day. We were all sweating buckets. 

At around 2200, it started drizzling ever so slightly. Starting at midnight and lasting until dawn, every once in a while, we’d see silent bolts of lightning in the distance to the southeast. 

Around 0800 (Tuesday), we got caught in the squall. The wind jumped up to 20 – 25 knots on our nose, creating big wind chop and uncomfortable head seas. The bow was regularly hit with sea spray. The creaking was back with a vengeance. While we did have heavy rain for a short time, the rain was mostly light. We had to keep the boat closed up due to the rain, so it was miserably hot inside. The lightning was now near us, and one of the bolts had thunder. 

Moving was extremely difficult. We each spent most of our day lying down. 

At around 1400, the wind shifted to the port side and slowly reduced velocity. The ride ever so slowly improved as the waves shifted from our nose to our port and slowly got smaller and smaller. 

A pod of dolphins stopped by around 1545. We were excited to finally have a pod come play at our bow. Sadly, they didn’t stay long.

By 1800, it was back to being a good ride. 

Of the six weather models we consult none predicted the waves and wind speed we had for nearly 12 hours. A good reminder that localized weather can sneak up on you out in the seas.

The sunset was obscured by the clouds. 

It was another overcast, dark night. At around 2200, the wind and seas picked up again and the ride became mildly uncomfortable. It was still really hot and humid. We saw a little bit of lightning in the distance.