Although exhausted from our whirlwind inland travels through the interior of Nicaragua, we somehow mustered the strength to put in two days of hard work and prepared for our next passage, the second section or part being the main focus. We filled up with some extra diesel at the marina, secured everything on the boat, and shoved off for Mexico with high hopes for a safe and cooperative passage. I use the word cooperative because it means so much to me, and my feelings toward the wind. My attitude, spirit, and general sense of being is unfortunately directly influenced by the wind because it is our driving force, our engine to the next port, and often times our enemy. I have developed somewhat of a love/hate relationship with the wind, which I am still unsure of. I doubt counseling with help either. When the wind cooperates, meaning blows nice and steady from the right direction, I find myself relaxed, joyful, and content with just about everything. However, the wind tends to be uncooperative at times which I imagine is like dealing with a two year old child, except that you cannot give the wind a "time out", "diversion of focus", or "positive reinforcement" in hopes to receive some sort of cooperation or responsive compromise. The wind does what it wants to do, and I am left to accept it, make the necessary adjustments, and deal with it. Besides planning departure times, I am totally powerless when it comes to the wind. That is where the frustration comes into play. What a great opportunity to overcome the aspect of being in complete control.

The last 24 hours produced great winds at times, and not so great winds as well. The good news is that we are on course, well-fed (very well, rather), and looking forward to what today has in store. We caught a nice sized Spotted Mackeral yesterday afternoon, and Julie made an incredibly tasty, spicy fish stew. It was delicious in every way imaginable and brought big grins to our faces as we gulped it down with fresh corn tortillas. Chris and I had lunch in town a few days ago and managed to broker a deal of 50 fresh tortillas from a local villager for our trip. We paid a whopping 50 Cordobas (approx. $2.50) for the entire stack, which seemed like enough to feed an army. They are yum-yum good, and I can't wait to get my hands on some deep fried and salty ones. The amount of weight I have gained is an entirely separate story.

Now that we have three people on board, we are able to coordinate our watches in "2 hours on / 4 hours off" shifts, which worked out quite well the first night out. In a 24 hour period I stand watch from 11 a.m. to 1 pm, 5 pm to 7 pm, 11pm to 1 am, and 5 am to 7 am. It seems to work out well for everyone as we all get approximately 8 hours of sleep from 7 pm until 7 am. At the moment, we are currently crossing into Guatemalan waters and slowly making our way up the beautiful coastline. Large peaks and volcanoes are scattered throughout Guatemala which I enjoy staring at for what seems like days at a time. Depending on what the weather looks like in the infamous Gulf of Tehuantepec, we may stop in Puerto Madera and wait for a good window. Otherwise, we will scurry across the legendary gulf, and eventually into Huatulco, Mexico, where hopefully the fresh guacamole awaits.