From San Diego to Nicaragua, a distance of about 2,600 miles, winds were usually ten to twelve knots or less and were mostly from abaft the beam, so Big Panties (our huge gaudy coloured nylon drifter) was in use 90% of the time. Somewhere around the Gulf of Fonseca the prevailing wind direction changes from N or NW to S or SE and then in the region of San Juan del Sur the gap effect of low lying Lake Nicaragua funnels and accelerates the trades through from the Caribbean and ensures average winds in the 20's gusting close to 30 knots. Big Panties hasn't seen the light of day for months now.
Complacent since we have seen so little wind we forgot the Pardey mantra of "One reef in the main - one board in the hatch, two reefs in the main - two boards in the hatch" and over canvassed for the gusts in Bahia Salinas we came close to flooding the cabin.
A few minutes later, with the jib tied down securely in the jib-net and under double-reefed main and staysail we were creaming along comfortably at five and half to six knots. Lesson learned - we hope.
For three weeks now we have not shaken the first reef out of the main and have often added the second. On one occasion crossing the Gulf of Papagayo, 20 miles to windward, we reefed the staysail - a first for us. In many respects it has been good to have some pressure applied to the rig and sails here where the winds are offshore so, although strong, are not accompanied by large seas. Mandy is nearly 30 years old and has original sails and standing rigging. Thankfully they were all well overbuilt but having never pressed on them there is always a niggling thought in the back of our minds that we may find some overlooked age related weakness. We feel a little more confident now.