Sailing Caleta de Campos to Carrizales

The weather stayed fierce and unfavorable for several days, so we took the first promising weather window to keep up our progress north. 

We motored off the anchor at 38 amps, navigated around the breakwater, pointed into the wind, and got the main and foresails up. We were moving very nicely, making 5.6 knots out of 11.4 knots of wind. The bilge pump’s auto float switch got activated, this time correctly. We checked for any signs of water intrusion, but found nothing, so just ran the pump and kept sailing. It was desperately hot, bright, and quiet – impossible to avoid the sun. There were massive fires on shore, putting up clouds of smoke. I ended up feeling like I was being baked on a rack or inside a smoker!

Unfortunately the wind kept reducing and moved to an unfavorable direction. I had watch until past midnight, motoring intermittently and futzing with sails with moderate success. Wind started picking up at 01:30 on 04/18 when Charles took watch, and even though a good course was elusive, we kept good speed for the rest of the night.

One minor challenge during this season: our solar power (175 watts) for our 12-volt system does not keep up when we are sailing for multiple days. We can turn on a 12-volt charger through the 48-volt bank, but next season we are planning a solar upgrade with flexible panels. In the morning, the 12v was down to 68% (about 25 hours after we left), so I turned on the 12v charger. With the good wind, we flew the main, genoa, and staysail. Wind predictions showed high gusts by sunset, so we reefed the mainsail at 16:30.

The high wind did not materialize, so we lost some time before shaking out the reef again at 18:30 – until it jumped at 20:30. We took in the staysail but decided to leave the main full, which was a good decision as the wind dropped below 10 an hour later.

The high wind did not materialize, so we lost some time before shaking out the reef again at 18:30 – until it jumped at 20:30. We took in the staysail but decided to leave the main full, which was a good decision as the wind dropped below 10 an hour later. The overnight was painfully light winded, but dolphins swam nearby and the stars were bright. Charles motor-sailed overnight, and right as I woke up the wind perfected itself. We blasted into Carrizales, making 5.5-7 knots! It was nice to pull in to a familiar anchorage, and there was only 1 other boat there. Plenty of room.