We’ve been sailing for just over three days now – we’re about 550 nautical miles north of our departure point of Valdivia and 320 miles west of the coast of mainland Chile. That puts us north of the latitude of Santiago, and we’ve started to settle into the rhythm of the passage.
Winter weather on the south coast of Chile means a more or less steady stream of storms rolling in from the Pacific. There’s not much of a break between them, so picking good weather for our departure wasn’t easy. We ended up leaving in a narrow weather window with the knowledge that we’d need to sail through a pair of moderately strong fronts in the first couple of days.
After a sunny and placid first half day, we spent the next 36 hours hanging on as NDS Evolution charged through winds of 30 to 40 knots with the accompanying 10’ sloppy sea state. Even aboard a stout 85’ boat, there was plenty of motion – the casualties included a few broken dishes, a wine glass that leapt off the bar and down the stairs, and a broken glass water bottle in the fridge.
The weather has stabilized now, and we’re enjoying this incredible sailing machine. Speeds regularly reach into the teens, and it’s easy to imagine the boat going much faster if we weren’t sailing as conservatively as we are.
Both daytime and nighttime temperatures are starting to rise, and the entire crew is dreaming about the warm trade winds of the South Pacific.
