Location: Underway to the San Blas Islands
The wind continues to blow 30 knots as the crew of Argo sails from Aruba to the small archipelago of the San Blas Islands, located off the east coast of Panama. With three of our six sails up, we are cruising in the seven-to-eight-knot range. Although not an easy point of sail, the whole crew is quickly mastering the art of downwind sailing. In the last 24 hours, we have jibed twice, which was a first for most people. The watch team on deck quickly sheeted in the sails as the wind passed over the stern. Then, once the sails were sheeted all the way back out, the preventers were made, and the running backstays were reset. The downwind sail continued on the other tack. It’s crazy to think that only 28 days ago, this blog would have been like reading a foreign language for a large portion of the crew, but now, part of our briefings that we give every four hours to the new watch team on deck.