Sailing with Nine of Cups

Day 17 - 1,214 nm to go

Hard for us to believe, but we've got better winds right here at the Equator than we've had for quite awhile and the forecast looks like they'll continue for a few days. It was a boisterous night punctuated with the usual sprinkles and the day continued in suit with brisk winds and clear sunny skies alternating with sneaky cloudbursts. Typically, we'd be in the doldrums now, doing 50 mile days. Instead we're zipping along at 7 knots in the right direction and chocking up some of our best mileage days thus far on the passage. We're thinking those tots of rum to Neptune are paying off.

Life aboard is good and never boring. We'd hoped to make a sizable dent in the new website update, but publishing issues just before we left were not ironed out, making us leery of progressing too far until we get them sorted out. Sigh! My French review is probably as good as it's going to get. I keep trying to pick up a few new words each day, but until I have to use them in an actual conversation, who knows if I'll actually remember them. I won't be having any philosophical discussions with anyone, but I think we'll be able to order our croissants and cafes au lait okay.

As we get closer and closer to French Guiana, I've been reading my Lonely Planet South America like a novel. The section on the Guianas is short, but quite informative, though nearly 15 years old. I also did some research on line before we left Luderitz. Tony W. from California asked exactly where in French Guiana we were heading. St. Laurent du Maroni, is a small river port about 15 nm up, not surprisingly, the Rivière Maroni. Recent Noonsite and fellow cruiser reports indicate a small, new, friendly marina has been established there and it's a convenient base for yachties. It sits on the Suriname border which is across the river.

The highlights of French Guiana for visitors? French Guiana was established back in the 17th century and became a penal colony in the 19th century. You probably remember reading or watching the ordeals of Papillon (Henri Charriere) and wrongfully imprisoned Captain Dreyfus. They were incarcerated at Iles Salut which can be visited by boat, so that's on the list. We'd certainly like to visit Cayenne, described as "one of the loveliest capital cities in South America". The rain forest areas in the Guianas are considered some of the best and most pristine in the world, so they will obviously warrant some consideration. There'll be no lack of things to see and do. In fact, the "creepy" Camp de la Transportation in St. Laurent, available for tours, was the intake center for prisoners and that'll be right at our doorstep. So much to plan and there are two other Guianas to consider, too!

Two flying fish this morning...16 total now.

Are you checking justalittlefurther.com "http://justalittlefurther.com" on a regular basis? You don't want to miss anything.