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Two Fish - Day 10 - Passage to San Blas



Last night, while heading to the cockpit to respond to a large wave, I felt something squishy underfoot. I was shocked to find it was a live sardine in the middle of the salon (aka our living room). The fish had come into cockpit via a wave and then jumped inside the salon to relax for the evening. I tossed the live fish back into the sea and laughed that I had never seen that one before. Plenty of flying fish land all over the boat only to be discovered as dried out relics in the morning. But a live wingless sardine in the salon is a new record. Now I have to clean some fish scales off the floor.

Another new experience is Cartagena Port Control's AIS warning messages. The messages instruct the large ships to contact port control but they make a startling noise on Two Fish's chart plotter. Another modern feature of Colombia is their use of virtual buoys. They are created using a GPS broadcast message via AIS and show up only on our chart plotter. Cool.

This leg has been safe but not the most comfortable. The wind has been 27-32 knots and the seas have built over the last 24 hours. But I have used the opportunity to learn more about sailing Two Fish. First lesson was stow the main early. We dropped her 10 minutes into the 2 day trip. Second lesson is when the autopilot oversteers keep adding reefs and comfort will follow. At one point last night we were on the "4th reef" in the genoa. At dawn we returned to 2 reefs. Nice to know the genoa furler is in great shape after James and to a much lesser degree I improved the bolts retaining the foil.

Food service has been suspended as there are no takers of my fine reheated Gail cooking. In preparation for the canal crossing I have been listening to the book Path Between the Seas. I am enjoying it as the author finds no detail too small.

The water temp has risen 5 degrees as a welcoming clue the San Blas islands are near. I hope the winds abate as reef crossing in this weather is not a good idea. We snuck away from the rally a couple of days early because I wanted more time in the San Blas and less in Colombia. We were chided by rally control for missing the fancy dinner but the trade off worked for our goals. Looking at the weather the rally boats may hold back a day or two in Santa Marta as the breeze is forecasted to be 35 knots with 3 meter seas.


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