Nine Degrees of Latitude

After a short stay in Cartagena for some phone calls with family and doctors, marina searches, airplane schedules etc., we made the tough decision to continue on our trip and head for Panama. We're thinking of Michael's dad daily and are planning our next several ports of call so we are not far from an airport.

We made it back to the Rosarios on Saturday than decided to keep moving to San Bernardos on Sunday. We left early in the morning for the 30 mile run - having to avoid some shoal areas and reefs.

San Bernardos is a small island with some nice houses and private beaches ashore. Getting past the reef was simple once you found the markers - but they were not easy to locate. Tumshi, our traveling friends were at anchor here, so they helped direct us towards the markers. We anchored and when Michael dove the anchor, he realized the chain was too close to a healthy coral outcropping. So we decided to move so we wouldn't swing over it. After a move to deeper water and a re-anchor, we settled in for the afternoon.

This is the farthest south we've been so far on a sailboat. We got out of the double digit latitudes and entered the nine's. In 2001, the Rosarios was as far south as we managed. It's always rewarding to hit new milestones!

We did a quick swim/shower and spent the afternoon with Tumshi deciding the next stop. If weather holds, we'll head out first thing in the morning and get to Panama on Tuesday morning. It'll be a 24 plus hour run and we're hoping for some advantageous wind.

It's a lightning-filled night so hopefully these storms will pass and we can move on in the morning.

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