Saturday, April 7, 2018

Slog to Providencia



Mr Mac anchored of the beautiful Providencia hills

After our time in San Andrés, it was time to move on. Actually, it took two tries to get out of SA. Our first attempt was thwarted by the winds and seas. We thought we could slog through the 50+ miles to the northeast, but it only took us twenty minutes outside of the San Andrés lagoon to realize that it wasn’t to be. The second shot a week later worked – better weather, we left a couple of hours earlier than previously, and we staged by anchoring in the outer anchorage so we wouldn’t have to weave our way through the crowded inner anchorage in the dark (since we left at 4 am). Seas were only 3-4 feet, totally doable. The wind was brisk and we were sailing along at up to 6.6 knots…just not in quite the right direction. Consequently, we were fifteen miles out when we came abreast of the island midafternoon. Slogging to the east, we managed to arrive before sundown. The well-placed and well-lit channel markers would have made it possible to enter after dark if necessary, but we never like to do that until we know an area. Luck was with us, and we dropped the anchor beneath the verdant hills of the island just before sunset. Beautiful day and beautiful destination.

Providencia waterfront