last leg

through the windward passage, cuba, bahamas and cay sal....

finally the winds clamed a bit and esteban and peter departed for the last leg of the trip. they left port antonio on christmas day and arrived in Miami on new year’s eve. (so much for spending the christmas holidays together as a family…. but we will make up for it next year for sure!) peter cooked lunch on board for christmas while I went to bed early with my mom and the baby after having just arrived home from the hospital a couple of days before. we were anxiously waiting for them to arrive. this leg was easier than the previous one, except for very rough 48 hours of a strong northerly that met them near cay sal. It was rough sailing with 35 knots of wind against and in the gulfstream and with cay sal so close. unfortunately there was no where safe to weather the storm so they had to sail right through it. the boat and crew took a beating. funny how in this last sail, on the last couple of days of the trip, the weather changed and left them with a reminder of how strong it could get. esteban told me it was one of the hardest sails ever… and so close to home. he said he was so tired and wet but happy to know they were going to arrive soon. finally on december 31 at midnight they entered government cut in miami. just in time to see the new year’s eve fireworks. as for myself, between the baby feedings and changing diapers I received the year in bed sleeping at 11 PM. there is something with us and the new year’s. we always seem to miss them. wrong hour in thailand, no food and long nap in carricou, or apart and dead tired in florida…. not the average new year’s celebration for sure.

back in jamaica

after the rough five day sail from cartagena peter and esteban stopped again in the beautiful errol flynn marina in port antonio. here esteban saw morgan for the first time through skype. esteban wanted to depart immediately to be with us but the weather had other plans. so he had to wait in the marina five days for the north winds to clam a bit to be able to cross the windward passage between haiti and cuba. meanwhile they prepared the boat and themselves for the last leg. as usual, getting all the food and boat ready for the trip and also doing some sightseeing in between. it rained a lot this time in Jamaica and the color of the water changed from beautiful blue to brown in seconds from the mud from the mountains. it really must rain a lot in this place because everything is so green. last time we were here we were lucky i guess, I remember having a radiant sun almost every day.

morgan arrives

morgan was born on december 17 at night while esteban was at sea. the birth was rough, just like esteban's passage; but at the end he arrived healthy and beautiful.  I was beaten after a rough delivery but happy to meet our morgan for the first time!!!

returning home

After the end of october I was not able to fly anymore because of the baby and my eight months of pregnancy. during the month of november I stayed home in florida and esteban in cartagena getting the boat ready to sail back home in december.

Peter flew from london to sail the boat with esteban from cartagena to florida. there were two possible routes planned. the first from cartagena to san andres, then the north of honduras towards yucatan in mexico; a stop in isla mujeres and then a final sail through the gulfstream from mexico to key west. the second was identical to the leg we had done several years before when we departed.: due north from cartagena to jamaica and then from there through the windward passage to bahamas and finally bordering cuba all the way to miami. peter and esteban finally decided on the second route. it was shorter and had less days and miles of not so favorable wind direction. they left club nautico on december 15 and had to come back that same night. the wind from the north was stronger than predicted and they could not make any progress out of cartagena. so they went back enjoyed a last unexpected club colombia (beer) and sailed back out the next morning. the sail was rough as expected. to us, this was unbelievable. the single most difficult leg of our entire circumnavigation through all the oceans in the world was the leg from cartagena to jamaica. it was tough when we did it southbound back in 2009 and also tough now in this northbound direction. we had rough single storms in other places but they never lasted more than a day. the problem with this leg is that it really had no storms or really nasty weather, it is simply unpleasant with big waves and a lot of wind from the wrong direction for five days straight. that is why we hope not to have to sail this leg a third time.