CARIBBEAN SEA
Position 14 ° 18 ′ N 067 ° 06 ′ W
East wind 30/35 constant knots with 40-43 gusts
Sea wind wave of 4 meters from the east and crossed swell of 3 meters from the north east
Sky: intense blue but with numerous cloud mounds here and there and rainy clumps that we sometimes manage to avoid and others not
Ariel: at home – sailed with shortened mainsail (one hand) and shortened genoa (one hand) tangled to starboard. Yesterday I ruddered for 4 hours to let the autopilots rest, but actually because it is irresistible.
Crew: wonderful, acclimatized to non-Mediterranean and demanding conditions.
Despite the really important wave motion, we managed to celebrate Sunday with two Gourmet Pizzas (Ceci is back) with pasta made by us with the amazing bread machine, which every other day bakes all kinds of loaves. The chef is back for lunch too, with a cold flan with new potatoes, tuna, capers and Roquefort that he laid us down! and it’s a whole other life. The first day not everyone appreciates the table, even the sailors most accustomed to oceanic centrifuges need at least 24 hours of adjustment, another 48, but the body gets used to it and today, on the second day, I see a well aligned crew.
Unfortunately we are unable to make the reality of this energy that the ocean releases from the images, videos or photos, perhaps Margherita can teach us some tricks given her professional background in the sector.
We are sailing towards Colombia, and we are off the coast of Venezuela, and we are very far from the coasts and islands of Los Roques due to known risks of piracy now no longer rare in these waters. Recently an Australian boat was attacked by a group of desperate people who are no longer able to put a price on their lives and are willing to do anything for a handful of dollars. Going over 100 miles is prudent and safe. We will approach the bow to the South American coast when we can make a direct course towards the promontory of Punta Gallinas, in Colombian waters, safe in this respect. On the other hand, the on-site weather forecasts are less inviting because we lower the latitude approaching the equatorial calm, where a constant low pressure, stable over time, and slow to progress, creates winds from east north east,which are added to the default ones of the trade wind, particularly strong in this period; in essence, today’s 30-35 will reach a constant 40-45 in the last 100 miles. So is the sea voyage.
We were fascinated by the organization of this trip, which actually left Santa Lucia on Saturday 11 January. A journey that will take the fleet of 34 boats to Australia as the first part. The second part, which will return to St. Lucia, will pass through South Africa, from Brazil to return to St. Lucia in March 2021 or a year later for those who want to stay a year in Australia. We at Ariel have decided that we will stop in the land of the kangaroos and we will not continue immediately for the return, as we will do another 15 crews and we will see how the adventure continues. The first part just started now captures all our interest and we will organize the diary explaining 3/4 stages at a time.
The stages are called LEG in English, so you will find LEG 1 LEG 2 etc. written. to characterize one or puel path.
LEG 1: Santa Lucia – Santa Marta (850 miles), LEG 2: Santa Marta – San Blas (250 miles), LEG 3 Panama Canal Crossing – Gatun Lake – Las Perlas, LEG 4: Las Perlas – Galapagos
So in these first stages we will come into contact with the history of the Colombians and one of the most effervescent lands in South America, sacked beyond belief, and always resurrected, either because it is rich in nature (gold mines) and unfortunately the world homeland of Cocaine. . There is appalling inflation and the Colombian peso has very little value. One euro is worth 3,600 pesos! We will have 4/5 days to be tourists, waiting for our friend Guido Giatti who will arrive on January 21st. Departure scheduled for January 22nd.
Then LEG 2 San Blas, state of Panama, where we will live a week at sea and above all we will know the life of the Kuna tribes; LEG 3, the charm of crossing the Panama Canal, the top of this passage and the subsequent visit to Panama City and the stop in Las Perlas before the LEG 4 that will take us to the Galapagos, which in the collective imagination are populated by turtles giants, iguanas and sea lions.
For now we are riding mountains of water and let the dance continue.
See you soon from Ariel team
