1200
11.5N 80.7W
The wind shift we were hoping for happened earlier than expected!
I was on watch around midnight last night. The wind had shifted to the east and I noticed it building in strength. I began contemplating raising the sails; should I wake up Roy or Josh, or should I raise them myself. I mulled this over very slowly and drowsily in my mind. Next thing I knew, I was looking at nine and then 11 knots of wind on the beam. Time to stop mulling and start doing, so I raised the main and unfurled the jib and in no time we were bounding along beautifully through the night sea.
The wind has held steady between 11 and 15 knots since and we're reeling of the miles towards Isla Providencia under partly cloudy skies on a deep blue sea. I can't remember when I last enjoyed sailing conditions like this. Most welcome, most grateful.
Last night a large ship, Green Maverick came up from behind us. The AIS showed a Closest Point of Approach (CPA) of just over a mile, closer than I like to be to a ship at night and certainly not when the ship is overtaking us and we are under sail. I hailed the ship on the VHF to make sure they saw us. I was reassured that the office on watch had us on his radar as well as visual contact. We confirmed that he pass us to our starboard and we bid each other a good night and good voyage.
Another sailboat, Amante, left Shelter Bay Marina about an hour and a half before us also destined for Isla Providencia. We caught up to her yesterday afternoon as we were motoring and they were slowly sailing in the light winds. I radioed her skipper and suggested that we stay in contact during our passage. He agreed. We've since outpaced her under sail and this morning when we spoke over the radio I learned that they had run out of wind about 20 miles behind us. That is indeed what the weather suggestion suggested; that calm airs would be chasing us. Apparently, Intermezzo is sailing fast enough to stay ahead of the calm, Amante has not been.
Crew and captain are all well, although I'm feeling just a touch of sea sickness. I don't like beam-on seas, takes a couple of days for them to stop affecting me. Nothing terrible, just a sour stomach, dry mouth and not much interest in food.
I will try to drink a beer though.
