San Ignacio de Tupile

We woke to a wonderful sunny day while anchored at Farewell Island this morning, the winds were 10 knots out of the NE and it looked like a great day to be moving on. Namaste weighed anchor and left at 7:30am but returned a short 30 minutes later, their inboard diesel engine had quit again. We offered to stay and help and fortunately Sandy and Cheri were understanding of our need to get to San Ignacio de Tupile so we raised anchor at 9:30 this morning after our morning coffee.

Once out from behind the protective reef we had seas of 7 to 8 feet with the periodic 10 footers. The swell and slight chop hit us on the beam which is the worst place as it causes the boat to roll a lot. David and I have never been sea sick but I think I came close today. It was a rough ride for most of our 26 mile trip, the only place we had relief from the seas was about two miles before reaching San Ignacio where we ducked in behind yet another reef. The passage from Farewell Island to San Ignacio is mostly an exposed route, and while there are a lot of coral heads everywhere there is no barrier reef to hide behind.

About three quarters of the way we crossed paths with Walt and Ellen on Soltara, they were headed in the opposite direction making their way to the Panama Canal where they'll transit next month before sailing up to San Francisco. We really enjoyed their company and will miss them, hope they have a safe trip north.

Our trip took five hours today averaging a bit over 5 knots. According to the weather it appears that the best window to cross to Cartagena will still be the 22nd but in almost five years of cruising we've learned that forecasts can change suddenly and without warning. We plan on being patient for just the right window. Until then we have a lot to do to get Bruadair ready for an offshore passage. One more cleaning on the bottom and prop so we can get the best speed possible, change our sacrificial zinc anodes on the propeller shaft, stow lots of gear, make some meals that will be easy to grab while underway and a few other things. Of all the places to wait for weather and depart for Cartagena we're glad we chose San Ignacio de Tupile, it's one of our favorite villages with lots of friendly people. Already in the short time we've been anchored we've had numerous kids paddle out to say hi.