There are three boats within a few hundred miles of each-other headed for the Caribbean - Drammer(2 aboard), Rhythm(2 aboard) and Shearwater(1 aboard). Everyday, we meet on the radio waves at 9am and 6pm-SSB 8104 khz. The primary reason for such is to establish a record of the position of each boat, such that if one of us suddenly runs into trouble and, say, all communications were lost, there would be known a last position. (My recent battery encounter could have turned into just such a scenario.)

Another reason-the route. Upon reaching the equator, now less than 200 miles ahead, the Brazilian coast off our port sides turns and takes a SE to NW line. Its this line that we will parallel all the way to the Caribbean. The only question is how far off the coast should one be. Drammer and Rhythm have chosen about 200 nautical miles off the coast while I have chosen to stay much further out, about 400 miles. The primary reason for 'hugging' the coast, the 200 mile choice, is that there is a very nice current of 1-2 knots pushing one from behind - making the passage faster. Then, why am I not getting in line for this nice push? The answer:debris and jangadas. The Amazon River Basin looms off that coast, the great 'rio' gushing forth all the debris collected on its thousand miles of wanderings through the Amazon Jungle. An encounter with such? The other impediment to this faster route are the jangadas, a small, Brazilian fishing boat, often unlit plying these coastal waters, particularly at night. An encounter with such? With Drammer, Rhythm and their 4 eyes per boat and Shearwater and my 2 eyes per boat, I prefer the less complicated waters.

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