Leaving Scottie & Katy & Sara
17 May 2011 | Off the coast of Nicaragua
Peter
With the windlass effectively patched better than before, we went ashore last night to have 'the last supper' with Scottie,, Katy, & Sara and bid farewell. I scored a bunch of their goodies (coconut oil, body soap, chocolates, etc.) and at one point got a little emotional saying good-bye. It was sooo much fun seeing them and spending time with them and they were soooo much help to us as well.
The next morning, Tuesday, we weighed anchor. With (another) onshore breeze and mighty swell, raising the anchor was an event by itself. It took both of us to hold the chain rode against the pull of the boat at times in order to save our newly patched windlass from getting ripped out again. While the repair is a good one, it is after all a patch with available resources. And it IS better than before. But this friggin' anchorage, without a breakwater, is just that mean and nasty at times.
Fortunately we fought the hook up and got it off the bottom and made our way out of the bay and past the half dozen fishing boats plying the coastal waters for their next dorado. We motored the first half of the day and motored right past a sailfish sailing along the surface of the water. This baby looks a bit like a marlin and has a large dorsal fin it can use to push itself along the water by using the wind. It is quite unusual to see one, and was the first either of us had seen.
The weather is starting to get cooler as we climb north -- we are already at 11 deg. N and approaching 12 deg.!! The cooler temperatures will help us sleep better. While preparing to leave the anchorage this morning I took the 4 hp dinghy motor to the bad knee and bruised it up pretty bad. Fortunately the bruise is making itself known within 24 hours, which means it didn't go as deep into the tissue as I feared. I have been favoring that leg all day, but I should be fine by tomorrow (hopefully).
This afternoon the breeze built sufficiently that we could shut the motor down and do some actual sailing. Imagine that!! But tonight it has lightened again and we are back to motorsailing. I expect we will settle into a routine over the next 24-48 hours as we make our way up the coast. Given the light winds, I suspect our 1,000 nm trek will take longer than the usual estimate of 7 days. We are probably talking closer to 8-9 days. But time will tell!