After our fish catching excitement, we began to get ourselves ready for the finishing line … what excitement after 6 days at sea! Decks cleared, shoes and gloves on, briefing from the Captain on the sail plan for the last 5 miles.
I should mention that at the beginning of the passage, we were asked to estimate our arrival time. Chris had guessed at 5pm local time on Thursday … unbelievably, it looked as though we would be close to this. Of course, as this realisation dawned, so did the ambition to make the time across the line as close to 5pm as possible! We turned our last corner around the coast 5 miles away from Santa Marta - all sails out with a small reef taken on the Genoa (power sail that drives the boat). And wow … the wind accelerated from 12 knots to 28 knots … we acted fast to reduce the sails to control the boat and reduce speed. It was a really exciting sail … we changed the sail plan at least 3 times - juggling the time to the finish with the strength of the wind. Amazingly, we crossed the line at 3 seconds past 5pm! Champagne all round. The Captain has done well.
Santa Marta is bigger and more modern than I had expected but with a great party vibe. Lots of Latin American music and much promenading along the beach! More to come on my next post but in the meantime, I am thrilled to be here and I am pinching myself that we have actually sailed from France to South America. Unbelievable.
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