Halloween was the start of our adventure. That day has always been memorable for Lisa and I.  Our friend Jeff sailed down the coast from Newport Beach to San Diego with us to help out with the initial voyage.  We started the cruisers rally as one of 181 boats and 4 of the 600+ people. The forecast was for nice steady wind at 15kts and mellow seas. Boy was that one wrong! The next 48 hours had 20-25kts of wind and 11-16 swells. It was pitch black and waves were hitting our rear quarter easing over the deck. We had to hand steer as the auto pilot broke on the 1st day out. (It’s been re welded now, with much thicker stainless steel so it should hold up to similar conditions.) Many of the seasoned sailors that chose to venture way off shore with us had similar problems and several of them were hit by rogue waves that cleared their decks and wiped out their cockpit communications and electronics. Luckily for us, we have a center cockpit boat, so we sat safely inside. At 3 am I woke up Lisa and asked for my harness and safety tether as I needed to add another reef in our mainsail as the sustained 32 kts winds were overpowering the boat. Seeing the sunrise confirmed the size of the waves and the angry and confused seas we were traveling in.  Landing in Tortuga Bay near the front of the pack, we heard the constant chatter on the VHF about the problems other boats had as they came in. Having a bigger/faster boat paid off. For the 1st time in 22 years, a boat washed upon the rocks and was a total loss. I guess knowing the difference between feet and fathoms is a good thing. The next passage was to Bahia Santa Maria. Lighter winds made for an enjoyable sail until the roller furling jib decided to foul up. I had to improvise to wrap up the sail so it wouldn’t get ripped to shreds in the nightly winds. When we arrived I noticed the boat seamed a bit sluggish. Diving in to check on the prop, I saw the tangle of rope wrapped around the prop. 30 minutes later and many breaths, the rope was cut away and cleared. We moved the boat to meet up several of the other kid boats so Abby and Luke could hangout with kids their own age, and give mom and dad a few minutes of adult time. Kids were shuffled between boats for music trading, watching movies, swim sessions, and plotting and planning for the days to come. The other cruiser kids were very mature and ages between them didn’t matter. Everyone was included in the fun.  I passed along some extra main fuses to help out another boat and used my EMT skills to help reset a dislocated shoulder. My medical kit was the envy of the PA and nurse that helped out, too. They gave me an A+ for being prepared. It was great to see all the other boats helping each other out as the requests for parts or knowledge was put out over the airwaves. Currently sitting in a slip in Cabo, fixing stuff and cleaning up the boat for the next leg towards La Paz.