Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Day 3 was much like day 2 only less remarkable.

We managed to jibe the Code Zero at dusk much more successfully than the previous attempt. We caught no fish. Unlike days 1 & 2 where we saw some commercial traffic, day 3 we saw only the occasional blip on the radar.

Our correct distance for day 2 was 133nm and day 3 we covered 147nm. Our current ETA for Cartagena is between 7 & 8pm. We reviewed our notes on entering the bay and are confident it can be done at night so we’re going for it. There are two entrances. The northerly entrance is mostly a sea wall with a red/green pair of buoys marking the entrance for small craft. It is not clear if these work. Nearly 5nm further to the south is the main shipping entrance. We’ll approach the northerly entrance and assess. If it is clearly marked we’ll enter there, otherwise we’ll take the longer route.

This morning we jibed again putting the wind off our port side. So far we’ve spent all but a scant few hours with the apparent wind within 10 degrees of our stern. Until now, jibing has been more precautionary prior to dusk to ensure possible wind shifts don’t push us in the wrong direction. This mornings jib was coincident with our turn more to the south. We’re on our final leg down to Cartagena.

Waking up this morning it feels a lot more muggier and close. The weather has been fantastic so far. The only rain we’ve seen were a few squalls on day 1 4nm-5nm to our north. Hopefully it will remain that way.

Kind of as we expected the stronger winds didn’t hold and we lost the beneficial current which turned into one against us. Therefore on day 2 we didn’t cover the miles we did on day 1. We forgot to note how far we’d gone at the 48 hour mark but my guesstimate was that we covered somewhere between 125nm and 130nm. This sets us up for a late Monday evening arrival in Cartagena. Until we know more we are not keen on a night arrival. It is definitely not worth motoring for a day to catch up so it’s probably going to be Tuesday morning. That being said, I tried to check into the Panama Connection Net this morning to ask about the feasibility of a night arrival but the reception was too poor.

Last night Helen and I slept much better than the first night. We both had two good sleeps of nearly three hours each. We’re both also finding it easier to read than on the first day. So I guess that means we’re settling into this new routine.

That doesn’t leave us much to get excited about. The highlights of day 2 were :

• We passed the half way mark.
• We jibed once and made a mess of it.
• Two of the fishing lines tangled so I had to sacrifice one to save the other.
• We caught a fish!!!!! Well sort of. I found a flying fish on the trampoline. It had been there a while and was pretty stiff. May have even been there when I wrote my first blog yesterday.

I also forgot to mention on day 1 that we saw more dolphins. They just passed us by. They weren’t interested in playing much. That just about sums it up.

This morning we had a little more excitement when we thought we’d caught a fish. Maybe we did. Maybe it was just the lure tangled up and splashing on the surface like a fish does. Either way the result was the same. The lure came in free of any fish. I sharpened to hooks then threw it back in.
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At 11/15/2009 13:48 (utc) our position was 12°27.95’N 073°09.78’W

Forgot to mention sailing conditions and location. We have achieved the 15-20 knot wind forecast for a number of hours but much of the time it’s been 13-15. Wind has been right from behind almost all the way except for a few hours when it clocked about 15 degrees to the north. The seas have been a gentle 3-5 feet making for a nice ride. We left the Code Zero up overnight. In fact we’ve been on a starboard tack (ie, sail out to port) ever since we hoisted it. By current reckon we’ll jibe late this afternoon.

Overnight we regenerated all the way through. We filled up our jerry can with fresh water and made water for three hours to top up everything. All is now charged. Regen is off to help maintain speed as the winds are down a little at the moment. Solar is taking up the slack. One reason to jibe this afternoon is to put the Code Zero on the northern side of the boat so we can benefit from the afternoon sun.

Here is where we are right now.

149nm is not at all bad for our first day. For planning purposes I use 110nm per day for distance covered to handle those days when wind is lousy. Making this progress on our first 24 hours makes Tuesday arrival practical certain and is now making a Monday afternoon arrival possible. We’ll need to sustain similar speeds (6.2kt average) all the way through to make it in daylight on Monday. At some point we’ll hit the counter current which will slow us down. I’m not keen on entering an unfamiliar port in the dark so we’ll see how it goes as we approach. Helen, I know, will plump for pushing the boat forward with the engines if that will make the difference.

This morning I participated in the Panama Connection Net for the first time. This is the east coast Panama version of the Coconut Telegraph that we’ve used for the last year. The nut net is fast fading. I made a position report yesterday but it was not heard clearly.

Helen, having had the first choice on which shifts she wanted decided she wanted a second choice too so we ended up switching. I had the two dark slots from 8-11 and 2-5. It suited me as I can use my 8-11am watch for doing radio work and route planning.

No more bites on the lures since yesterday’s lost dinner. That being said we pulled them in for the night so today’s a whole new day.
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At 11/14/2009 14:05 (utc) our position was 12°54.02’N 071°04.19’W