13:12N 81:11W

 

We are at that very frustrating stage of seeing land but not being able to get there!!  The winds have lightened off to a mere 10 knots and we’re trickling along at four knots.  For the past few hours the wind has been fickle and we’ve gybed the pole over twice to try and improve things.  We need to get there well before the sun drops so we can pick our way in through the coral so last resort will be to motor.....but that is very much a final option.

 

The Caribbean has finally turned an intense blue.  Off the Colombian coast it was a murky grey/green thanks to the many rivers that flow into it carrying mud and debris from the rainforests.  At one stage we sailed with clear blue water on one side and the river silt on the other.  What we have noticed the past day is an incredible amount of rubbish floating by – anything from the ubiquitous jandal to plastic bottles and other flotsam and jetsam including lots of logs.  We can only think that rubbish discarded so casually by islanders ends up in the this area pushed by wind and current.  We are always very nervous taking rubbish ashore in small islands as we have seen it simply taken around the corner to a convenient cliff and thrown over the edge.  These days we tend to buy as many products as we can loose – plastics are such a nuisance to deal with.  We squish what we do end up with into a plastic water bottle, resealing the top each time to keep in smells.  Compose of course goes over the side.

 

Sailing through the night was fantastic with a favourable current helping us.  The wind did ease off a bit in the early hours which meant the sails started to flog a bit but we were both so tired that we slept like logs during our respective offwatches.

 

Looking forward to a solid sleep tonight but first up will be a swim – it’s stinking hot and even cold showers don’t help much.  Then we’ll pour a decent dark and stormy and eat yet more of our delicious wahoo.  We’re hoping there are some cruisers in the anchorage we can share it with as there’s plenty!