This past week of sailing has been challenging, with the strongest winds and roughest seas I have encountered since beginning this voyage.  There was a strong high pressure system sitting off the coast of Brazil creating gale force winds and 3-4 meter seas. There were continuing warning messages about it day after day in the weather forecast. Rather than go close along coast where the winds might be weaker, as some of the routing algorithms suggested, I opted to stay far offshore and skirt the gale area sailing due south rather than following the coastline westward.  The wind forecast files showed somewhat weaker winds farther east. Though this would lengthen my passage to Mar del Plata, dealing with less wind and no nearby shoreline with possible hazards made it worth it.

For 5 days I had 25-30 knot winds on the port beam or slightly aft, gusting to over 35 knots during frequent rain squalls. The seas were running at 3 meters making for a very rolly ride.  It was an effort to move around the boat and prepare meals.  I had 3 reefs in the mainsail and just a small triangle for a headsail (more than 3 reefs) to try to balance the helm. I was making good speed but not exactly in the direction I wanted to go. I tried to take this in stride as a preview of rough conditions I’m sure to encountered farther south.

On Friday afternoon these conditions finally moderated, pretty much as the forecast predicted, and the wind backed toward the north. The high wind-high seas warning messages in the forecast are now gone.  I gradually turned off my southernly heading toward the southwest. Last night the sky was clear enough that I saw the sunset for the first time in nearly a week. 

This morning, Sunday, I jibed over to a starboard tack and set a course over ground (COG) of 235 degrees that takes me straight to Mar del Plata. There are just under 900 nm to go. The forecast calls for a stretch of dead air (no wind) I’ll have to motor across. Hopefully no difficult weather systems pop up on my route during the next 8 days it will take to get to MDP. 

I’ve occupied myself by reading, actually re-reading novels stored on my iphone that I read years ago. They seem like new books, the stories only vaguely familiar, but none of the details. I’ve also been reading the cruising guidebooks I have for going southbound along the Argentine coast, through the Le Maire Strait and into the Beagle Channel westbound, about 1200 nm sailing distance from MDP.  

Besides reprovisioning and resting, one of the main reasons for the stop in MDP is to assess the weather forecasts for this 1200 nm passage. The Argentine coast is subject to fast moving cold fronts with very strong winds (pamperos) that roar unabated across the flat plains (pampas) of Patagonia from the Andes. I certainly had my experiences with these winds when I flew my plane through Patagonia in 2013 and 2014.

I would like to avoid these  cold fronts/squall lines if possible but if not I’ll have to heave-to (stop sailing and point the boat 45-50 degrees off the wind). The boat will drift more or less downwind at 1 to 2 knots. Every boat heaves-to differently.  I experimented with Phywave a week ago but with only 15 knots of wind. Two reefs in the mainsail, no headsail, and rudder tied down hard to lee seemed to balance the boat with a drift of about 120- 135 degrees off the wind direction.  I don’t know how well this setup will work in 40-50 knots of wind I might expect from a pampero.  Typically the front passes in 12 hours, though sometimes it may be longer. At least the winds will generally will be out of the west so the drift direction will be out to sea and open water rather than toward the shore which would be a definite hazard. There are also a few anchorages where I might be able to take shelter with enough warning.  Generally, though, it’s better to take my chances in open water rather than attempt a uncertain run to an anchorage. Closed up tight, the boat’s not going to take on water so it’s a matter of finding a configuration where it rides reasonably stable until the front passes.

Passing through the Le Maire Strait is a completely separate challenge of finding the right wind-tidal current combination. I’ll discuss that in some later post.