My “I never want to do that again” sail
January 25th, 2005
We departed Cartagena Columbia, bound for Isla San Andreas, Columbia, on Jan. 16th. San Andreas is one of two Columbian islands off the coast of Nicaragua, the second is Isla de Providencia. The weather forecast indicated that we had a 2-3 day window to make the anticipated 48 hour trip, so we took it. There is a well know region off the coast of Cartagena which is always troublesome with high seas and winds, so for most of the first day we just put up with the conditions expecting that once we passed through the area the conditions would be as predicated. But the conditions worsen as we passed through a cold front and started to encounter steady winds from 32-38, gusts over 40, 1-1 1/2 knot adverse current and seas building to 12-15 ft. The Atlantic seas are short, steep and choppy, resembling a washing machine tub. We were tossed from side to side for hours, leaving both of us with a terrific display of cuts, scrapes and bruises. The wind tore our jib and staysail within a few hours. We rolled the jib back up and replaced the staysail with a storm staysail to keep the boat somewhat balanced. Soon it became apparent that clothes were a liability because we were constantly getting soaked by the water coming over the deck. It was our first sail where it was unsafe for the person on watch to be out on the deck, even while tethered. The trip took much longer than expected and we arrived at the sea buoy outside the channel at 2:20 am, only to discover that we were unable to hove-to because the storm staysail is too small, relative to the main. By that time we were in a full gale, which we had to wait out until dawn when it was light enough to navigate into the anchorage area. At this point you are probably thinking, “and they think this is fun?” The answer is no,not at all.
Sailing this direction at this time of year is going against Mother Nature, which of course carries consequences. I just hope that the worst is over. We have completed one additional leg and are currently underway on our third, both of which have been uneventful. Once we round the Nicaragua/Honduras border and head northwest towards the Bay Islands we should have a more favorable wind angle for sailing.
It feels so weird to be approaching the end of our Central American experience. There is so much here I will miss.
love, Jeri
PS I WILL BE RENEWING MY MAILING LIST SOON. LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF OUR ADVENTURES AND WOULD PREFER TO BE REMOVED FROM THE LIST.
