Cruising in the Northern Sea of Cortez April 2024 It has been 2 years since my previous post about sailing adventures with Etoile du Sud, my Benford 34 junk schooner. Due to problems in finding crew for an ocean voyage and the near impossibility of getting insurance for a plywood-epoxy-fiberglass composite home-built vessel in the US, time passed by and spring 2024 found Etoile and me still in the boatyard at San Carlos, pursuing various small projects and planning a voyage across the Sea of Cortez to Santa Rosalia. After installing a propane system with a 2-burner cooktop, figuring out problems with a VHF installation, and resolving some engine starting and stopping issues, I had the boat launched using the "low-boy” hydraulic-arm trailer at Marina San Carlos. This is a really low stress operation. The low-boy pushed by a large tractor shows up in the boatyard (Marina Seca San Carlos – the “dry” marina), the boat gets lifted by hydraulic ar...