After a beautiful sailing day of sun, waves and winds in the mid-teens it was exciting, in the late afternoon to see the mountains of Colombia's coastal range emerge from the light haze to our left,just as the sun was setting in a golden glow ahead.
It was fascinating after 4+ days of nothing but endless watery vistas to see lights along a shore line in the dusk.and the cities we passed, Barranquilla and Cartagena have such evocative recall and historical associations with the Spanish empire in the Americas that just to sail close to them was a treat. Visions of Spanish galleons carrying treasures to the homeland sprung to mind.
At about 1400 hrs the wind picked up quite quickly to 30 kts, but just as quickly eased. The lull didn't last though. By 2100 hrs, as we closed Cape Marta, on the northwest coast of Colombia, we were back up to 30+ kts and shortening sail. And by midnight we were seeing 43 kts with triple reefed main. There was more to come.........