After sailing 3800 miles of Brazilian coastline, I finally crossed into Uruguayan waters last night, which means I am getting close! My weather strategy seems to have worked out pretty well, as I enjoyed a steady 20 knots of following breeze most of yesterday, and with conservative sail plan it was smooth and balanced and easy and quick. In fact, it was a 191-mile day. The weather system that I was trying to stay in front of did finally catch me, but I was only 40 miles from rounding the cape in Uruguay when it did, so I only had a few hours of 25+ knots. So I went back to 3 reefs in the main and a 3×5 jib, and continued on comfortably.
Another short but severe system is coming up from Antarctica, and will pass through the area tonight and tomorrow. So my plan is to park and hide somewhere along Uruguay, maybe Piriapolis or Montevideo, then depart after the rain and winds pass on Saturday. This should have me arriving into Buenos Aires on Sunday, beating spring by a few days.
Of course, that depends somewhat on my ability to unclog my fuel lines and/or fuel-water separator, which are currently blocked and preventing me from using the engine. After several days of sailing and lots of rocking and rolling, I guess there was one last piece of gunk that I was able to suck up into the system. I think I have it narrowed down, and I know I can bypass everything and run the engine straight from a 5-gallon jug if I need to, but I would prefer to have things working properly and the fuel filtered, so I don’t damage the injectors. It’s just a bit more challenging and time consuming to work on the motor while rolling along in 20-25 knots of wind and seas, while also keeping the boat moving in the right direction. I’m sure I’ll figure something out soon…
34.52S 54.32W 5262nm gone,199nm to go. 8am 9/16