This was our final few days in San Carlos before sailing south to Mazatlán. It was spent doing final checks on Hilbre before taking her out for a test sail prior to the trip south.

Monday, 4 November 2013 – We filled the tanks with filtered water and added Diesel to our six five gallon Jerry cans that we keep on deck as extra fuel. The day passed quickly and in the evening we had Dinner at the El Embarcadero. We also checked Adesso in the morning and evening and everything there was in order.

Tuesday, 5 November 2013 – The wind picked up overnight and blew quite strongly during the day. We again checked Adesso and found everything in order. In the evening we had invited Charlie and Tracey over for drinks and we managed to get though a lot of Vodka. By 11:30 p.m. Tracey was singing Cu cu rru cu cu at the top of her voice. A good time was had by all of us.

Wednesday 6 November 2013 – After the night before, we had a quiet day. We again Checked Adesso and she was fine.

Thursday, 7 November 2013 – The weather had finally settled down so we took Hilbre out for a day sail in the bay so everything could be checked, standing rigging, running rigging, engine, sails, GPS and steering, everything was working normally so after returning to our slip we decided we would leave tomorrow as the weather forecast was good with a good weather window for at least 4-5 days. We again checked Adesso for Lane and Vicki and she was fine. They are due back tomorrow afternoon so I left their keys on their boat in the designated spot. We turned in early, ready for a sunrise start tomorrow.