can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Paw Paw - Log Day 6: "A Horse to the Barn"



With less than 24 hours to go, although a little tired our spirits were high and then soared around lunchtime as we enjoyed a spectacular display from a pod of approximately a hundred dolphins - Simply amazing! By early evening the seas had started to build and we received a report from Take Off, who were ahead of us, that the winds had picked up too. With that it was time to drop the head sail and put an extra reef in the main. By nightfall our gaggle of yachts started to encounter problems as Ain't Fancy broached and then headed directly towards us. Swift communications resulted in us and the yacht, Lydia, who was behind us, jibing to change course, After ensuring Ain't Fancy were back under control and crew were ok, having been swamped as well, we continued on into the night. With four hours to go, Paw Paw was like a "horse to the barn" as we romped down 10 to 12ft swells in 25 to 30kt winds. As we rounded the final Cape on the approach to Santa Marta, hitting 35 to 40kts of winds, yacht Giampi, who had been a few miles ahead of us, seemed to stop dead in the water. It was at this point that we believe the crew of Giampi probably thought Paw Paw was in the hands of two maniacs. With less than 2NM to our waypoint depicting the finish line, we roared passed them on their starboard side to prevent sailing right over them, given the speeds we were now doing, only to make a 180 turn seconds after cruising the finish line and now heading straight back towards them. It was the 5 long warning sound blasts that wakened us to the fact that the huge tanker we thought was stationery in the harbour was,in fact, actually berthing, but in the process of doing so, had blocked the entire entrance. With a stem instruction issued to Elaine from Captain "Cool" that this was no time to panic, he proceeded to steer us safely to our own berth with the help from the WARC and marina staff who were there to greet us. Leg 1 completed. 14 to go!





Previous | Next