13:15  9/1/08

We’ve set the clocks to GMT -3 in anticipation of Punta del Este time tomorrow.  The wind has dropped so we are now having our afternoon motor.  It is very still and hot.

20:00

There we are sailing along nicely, enjoying the sunset and a line squall appears out of no where. We quickly adjust and no harm done but it leaves us with West to WNW wind force 2 so on comes the motor.  Earlier we saw three or four large dolphins but they didn’t stay to play.  Nik thinks he saw a shark yesterday, but apart from the birds we haven’t seen much sea life lately.

We have our supper motoring into the sunset.  The skies gradually clouded over this afternoon and we have broken cloud in front of us and full cloud behind.  While watching the sunset…one of the better ones… which seems to go on forever, the other Gods are giving a light show off our starboard quarter, with lots of sheet lightening followed by comic book forked lightening.

This wind eventually settles down to NE force 5 so we pole out and carry on.

6:30 AM 10/1/08

After a good night’s sail, the wind dies about 5:30AM but by the time I arise for my watch at 6 it is blowing SW 15-20 knots… on the nose.  This wind is not supposed to be with us until early evening.  Obviously Aeolus hasn’t read the weather forecast.

It is a cool grey murky morning with a few rain squalls about. Punta del Este is less than 50 miles away and if this wind continues on we will simply carry on motoring the rest of the way.

The chart is littered with wrecks along this coast…we’re just under 5 miles off shore.

7:30AM

It gets so dark with the rain everywhere look I turn on the navigation lights.

11:00

At 9:00 the winds goes North @ 20 knots so we sail again but it is short lived and half and hour later we are motoring again.  The 24 hour run was 176 miles with 7 hours of motoring.  We are only 13 miles from Punta del Este.

12:30

We pick up a buoy and begin the process of checking in.  There is no room in the marina but the buoy seems ok. I visit the Harbour Master and port Police.  Customs and Immigration are going to visit us.

I don’t yet know about internet connections so this will be a picture free posting.