Typically Windy

Since we've been in the Caribbean we have been tuning into the excellent daily weather forecast by a chap called Chris Parker; he broadcasts over the long range SSB frequencies from somewhere in Florida so we can hear it, sometimes through a fair bit of background noise, even down here off the Columbian coast.

 

He always describes this stretch of Columbian coastline, near Santa Marta at 75 degrees west, as 'typically windy' and last night it certainly was that. Actually the wind wasn't too much of a problem but the swell was awful. Poor old Maunie bucked and twisted and rolled over the big (3-4 metre) waves and poor old Graham & Dianne bounced grimly around the boat; sleep was near impossible. We were relieved to move further west of this typically ruddy uncomfortable zone this morning with the wind back to a more manageable Force 5 and the seas, whilst still inducing a fair mount of roll, are much more benign.

 

In spite of the conditions, though, we set the bread-maker into action last night, as well as the water-maker, so it was a reassuring, if incongruous, sensation to have the smell of freshly-baked bread, so reminiscent of life on land,  wafting through a boat that was doing everything possible to remind us that we were somewhere very different. We'll be glad to return to more sheltered waters.

 

Otherwise all's well here – we just crossed tracks with Stormvogel (both boats are on wind-vane steering so it's nigh-impossible to keep the same course) and she passed about 20 metres behind us. Rolling majestically.

 

Not much else to report apart from the increasing number of ships that we are sighting, heading to or from the Panama Canal. The waters will only get busier as we close in on Colon. We'll divert off the merchant vessel path to head to an island called Porvenir in the San Blas archipelago.