On Thursday 18 we sailed for Cayo Breton, 41 miles distant and the top of the archipelago of the Jardina de la Reina, (the gardens of the Queen) Arriving there in surrealistically calm waters that we had to photograph just to make sure we weren't dreaming. It was so calm that we could see Gilana inverted on the rose canvas of the setting sun hanging from our waterline, while the boat itself hung in space with the line of horizon indestinguishable against the sky. It was all to change very soon, the advent of a "Norther" or "Frente Frio" as they are known here is characterised by these languid days that end in an abrupt wind clocking around from East through South to Northwest and finally out of the Northeast at ever increasing speeds. They usually dont exceed 25knots, but... We left on the 22 Jan thinking that we would ride the back of the front as it moved in the same direction as we wanted to go, and find reducing winds as it accelerated away at twice our speed. Great plan except that a freak incident happened that acused a second front, spawned by the first, to pop out of nowhere and push hard.

We were destined for Boca Grande 20 Miles away and found that upon arrival the sustained winds had made for an unsafe anchorage. We indeed did anchor for about thirty seconds, enough to know that this was a bad idea. As this was our alternate anchorage, the primary being unaproachable, we had the think up a plan "c" quite quickly, I decided that as time was running out on our visas, we should make a 100 mile haul to Cabo Cruz overnight arriving there at dawn on the 23 January. The sustained winds from an unusual direction had whipped up huge swells in the Gulf of Anna-Maria that tore at the mangroves that were usually in the lee....