Lat.10:45 N: Long. 77:01 W - Blog Letter 2 - Feb. 4th

Sulana's Voyage
Alan and Sue Brook
Mon 1 Jan 2007 01:24
I am sure there is a 'Guardian Angel' looking out  for us above "Sulana". Our timing for the trip has proven excellent, although we have had to miss out on the extra side trip visits to places like Cartagena and the A, B, C Islands that some other yachts have done.
 
We will just have to take them another time.... 
 
The yachts two days ahead of us, on the same trip across the top of Venezuela, had 12m waves and up to Force 9 winds coming down past Colombia!
We have had up to 31 knots in gusts, but only with 4 m waves!
 
The downwind super-Dolphin twin headsail rig has been working like a dream! Easy to handle and easy to set and reef, now we have fully worked out just how best to sheet it to avoid chafe.
 
We have not had a mainsail set since leaving Pointe Salines on Grenada's South coast. So much less wear and tear on the boom, vang and gooseneck!
 
We have covered over 800 miles in 4 days, with a best day's run, current-assisted, one should say, of 225 nautical miles!
Top speed noted on SOG of 14.7kts, 11.5 kts through the water, but only in a brief burst!
 
So we are now, at time of writing (15:30 UTC on the 4th Feb), at Lat.10:45 N: Long. 77:01 W, only 130 miles away from the San Blas Islands, where we intend to spend the next days. As it happens we are going to arrive there too early! So we plan to stand off in the dark and heave to off the entrance channel, awaiting the sun for tomorrow, before we attempt an entrance. Other yachts on SSB have said it is OK, but some have also said their GPS plotter positions are way out and inaccurate, so we see no need to rush things in the dark! It is far too scary as a coastline without added risks.....