Heading for Somewhere at Sometime 00.09.000S 49.33.000W

Suzie Too - Western Caribbean
David & Suzanne Chappell
Wed 21 Apr 2010 10:06
We exited from the Amazon and crossed the Equator mid morning and then crosssed back again - lost count of the total number of times we have crossed. Of the 22 boats, 10 went straight out on Monday and had a hard time against the current, cos we are back in tidal waters. The water out here is really muddy brown, still "fresh" water and we are 50 miles offshore. The other 12 of us anchored at Ihla Mexicana and had an impromptu party on African SeaWing, which was a great evening - everyone brought their own drinks and we pooled nibbles and were rewarded with a spectacular sunset. All just a few miles from Macapa, where Sir Peter Blake was shot and lost his life a few years ago aboard Seamaster, his research vessel, now renamed Tara and being run by a French group.
 
Today the lead boat out was Suzie Too, skippers calling me on the VHF for depth and routing around the sandbanks, how well have we done to earn that respect - so proud.
 
It has rained all day and the temperature is down to 27 degrees so we are fully clothed and I am wearing one of my ski tops with a polo neck to keep warm, not much wind so we were motoring this morning. Now we are heading for Kourou or Devils Island (the Papillion one) or Paramaribo in Surinam, no plan really as Kourou may be difficult for big boats with large tides, mud banks, poor holding and no space at the yacht club.