Dear friends,
It has really become winter in the south. After Paranagua
it was more and more difficult to travel south because of the cold fronts with strong
SW winds. We had to wait for the fronts to pass but after that there was often very
little wind so we had to motor a lot. After Porto Belo we went to Rio Grande but
70 miles past the town of Laguna we went back to Laguna because of the strong winds,
high waves and strong current against us. After three days we managed to reach Rio
Grande where we had a good time at the jetty of the Museo Oceanico from Lauro Barcello.
This is a great place to stay. The museum is linked to the university and addresses
ecological and educational issues about the oceans.
We have now arrived at La Paloma,
Uruguay on Friday the 13-th at 14.00 hours. It has been a boring trip with hardly
any wind. The exit of Rio Grande was still very rough because the tide was running
out with 3 to 4 knots against the big swell. We were almost stopped by the steep
waves, but after turning south it was OK. During Thursday we only had westerly winds
of 2 to 6 knots. That is not enough for our ship to get anywhere so we motorred.
During the night the wind went east but stayed very light so we ended up motorring
the whole way. The weather has been nice however. We had sunshine most of the time
but it was pretty cold at night. About eight degrees Celsius inside, because our
first heater does not work. Fortunately we have an old fashioned heater as well.
So it is nice and warm on board.
Today, Saturday there are big winds expected and
tonight even 40 knots from the WSW. We are on a mooring that looks strong enough.
The only thing is that they are pretty close together so we have to watch the other
(empty) buoys if we swing. We hope to do the last bit on Sunday or Monday but we
are not in a hurry now. We might even take it easy by going to Punta del Este (35
miles) and then Piriapolis (35 miles) There we will leave the boat for three months
We wish you all the best and please keep in touch.
Love from Peter and Paula