... the inflatable kayaks have barnacles on them.
Well after the passage down from Tenacatita, the barnacles I missed on the underside of Mulan must have regretted their choice of real estate. (Petit Trinidad SR does not deter barnacles, obviously.) Contrary to local expectations, a gnarly cold front came through, which at first wasn't too bad as we figured once we'd rounded the point it would be a reach into Bahia Navidad. Unfortunately the wind continued to back to the east, so that for much of the journey we were in irons against the 15-20 knots and 4 foot swells and driving rain. At times we were barely doing one knot - the most disconcerting moment being when Jack spotted the ubiquitous pop bottle marking a fish net to port. After some frantic searching in the limited visibility for its buddies, we finally found one... to starboard. There were anxious moments as we watched to see if they were following us, monitoring our speed (which alarmingly dropped from 1.2 to 0.7 before regaining some momentum) and figuring out plan B in some undesirable circumstances. Fortunately we must have bounced over the top in the swells, although a look-see underneath is in order - and that's not going to happen while we are in the murky water of Barra lagoon.
A passage that should have taken three hours consumed closer to five - but at least we have a really clean boat!