Off the Nicaraguan coast dodging squalls at 2 am in the morning
Sowell Family's Travels on Gijima
Skipper: Tim Sowell Admiral Tracy Crew Sean & Alex
Tue 12 Oct 2010 08:54
Location: 11:54.452N 86:44.920W
Speed: 6.5 knots motor sailing
Conditions: next to no wind, seas 5 foot from the SW at about 13 sec, Stars out in a partly cloudy night, Squalls about us, and lightening over the land
We pulled out of P del Sol Nicaragua at about 4 pm on an incoming tide, the seas were not too bad but it is not great when you see surfers on either side of you, and you passing through different surf breaks. We rose over the ways and left about 6 miles out Sean spotted some very active dolphins and we all went to bow and about 10 dolphins played off the bow for an hour as a Magificant sun set happen out over the seas (photos should be good). The boys loved pointing counting and talking about the dolphins that sliced up the water and jumped about us, it is such a wonderful experience to watch the boys grow and see this as just a normal thing.
We passed a major port about an hour latter Corinto, with leading lights coming out 5 miles, the coast here seams shallow with it staying in the 100 foot range yet we 6 miles off the coast. After working past this port and dinner Sean and I went to sleep it is a bit rolly but is calming down or we are probably getting into a rhythm/
We are running with the engine at normal speed and main up I suspect we a heading current and side current as our tracking is not normal. We have the radar back up and running and it is a relief as you feel like you have eyes now in the dark. We are seeing boats and coast, but also many squalls, showing up which we working through and avoid yet the star are out and earlier we had a quarter moon. The sqaulls just appear as big black blobs on the screen moving at pace, and the disappearing, you look for lights and check it is not a ship. We have lightening over the land in the distance hope it stays there, but the temperature is warm with us generating a breeze through the boat.
It is funny how the family has shifted back into the passage routine with comfort, a year ago not at all, today the boys look forward to it, Tracy does not mind it (as long as there is a calm anchorage at the other end). It fills me full of pride to see how they all go about the tasks, and take what the seas give us, I have matured as well both in understanding the weather and predicting so as the try and avoid bad weather, but also the attitude and patience to wait and not rush, this has calmed down the situations a lot.
Suspect that we are on a pretty loose schedule, this is our longest passage for the rest of the year at 136nM the rest are shorter and we will try to avoid over nights but still suspect we have 1 or 2 in store.
It is nice to standing outside (head through the cockpit roof) stars above us, the rest is black except for the odd light along the coast and flashes of lightening, the moon has gone down a number of hours ago.
The next 2 months should be fun allot of wildlife and hopefully nice anchorages, and most of all friends this has come a big part of the cruising is the friendships you build. We expect Sunsentaion in the bay when we pull in, and we have another boat "Wailele" sailing down in the next 2 days.
Time to listen to my audio book and eat roast chicken stay tuned.