
It’s 3.30am on our first night after leaving Aruba, and I’ve just started my 3- hour watch. The wind is steady at 20 kts and we’ve got a reef in the main and the jib partially furled. There’s no moon tonight so it’s inky black out there, but the stars are putting on their best display, the Milky Way a glittering belt encircling us above. I listen to the familiar creaks and groans of Toucan as she rides over the swells and watch the little blue triangle (that’s us) marching across the chartplotter screen. Suddenly two orange monsters appear on the screen, one crossing our path ahead, the other coming side-on. These are the ‘targets’ that our AIS (Automatic Identification System) picks up, better known as bulk cargo carriers, plying their trade across the oceans of the world. They’re big and fast and I certainly don’t want to be the meat in their orange sandwich. Continue reading “Dancing In The Dark – passage to San Blas”