Yesterday the grand transit up the coast of South America started. We have an eclectic crew gathered –
Myself and Fede,
Jacques, who is Fede’s brother’s father in law, and a very experienced sailor. Jacque has built his own boat in the past, sailed the coast of west Africa and done many ocean crossings. He sold his boat over 10 years ago and now hangs out with cows in pastoral France, but longs for the ocean. He is excited, to say the least to be back on a sailboat.
Guillermo – An Argentine who lives in Bolivia (not conducive to ocean Sailing), but has taken many sailing courses and has a lot of knowledge. He will be our resident star gazer. One of his goals is to perfect his celestial navigation. The sextant has already appeared more than once.
Hugo – Also a boat building friend, who is in the process of building his own boat and gaining more experience with sailing on this trip.
Nestor – a friend from boat building days of Quijote back in Buenos Aires.
Carlos – another Buenos Aires Sailing Friend
Yesterday we left the famous Punta del Este (often called the Miami of the south – its a city of beach build at the point where the Rio de la Plata meets the Atlantic Ocean. Unfortunately the winds were light and the few we had were in the wrong direction, but the forecast for the next week was no better, so we set off under the power of the engine and not the winds. It was a fairly calm day and each watch took their hour at the helm. As the sun set we approached our destination, which meant that the actual approach in the small channel was in the dark. Luckily there were a few channel markers. In addition I took a position at the bow with the search light to find any hidden guoys or obstacles. I did find some! The pier that we wanted to come alongside had a buoy with a rope that extended from the buoy into the dock. we were able to go around, but if we hadn’t seen it we could have VERY easily cut the corner and quickly had it wrapped in a propeller – thank good ness for the spot light!
