Location 34° 29S, 57° 50W
Sunday 01.27.2008

At noon on January 27th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 34° 29S, 57° 50W, just clearing from Colonia. We are headed ESE at 7.5 knots, motorsailing, for Piriapolis, which is 131 NM away. We should be there a little after dawn tomorrow. It is warm and hazy, with a 10-12 knot ENE’erly.

Putting the main up was fun. It was the first time we hoisted it since it was taken off to be repaired in Buenos Aires, plus we replaced the topping lifts and lazy jacks. So it was a bit of a struggle, but we waited until we were a ways clear of Colonia so that the locals wouldn’t laugh too much at the Norde Americanos.

The weekend in Colonia was a delight. Old buildings, cobblestone streets, lots of great restaurants and bars and some very interesting stores, including a Musto store, our favorite for high-end sailing gear. And it even wasn’t too difficult to find some restaurants that served something besides beef! Our research on wines continues, and we found some lovely Uruguayan whites and roses.

Our route from Colonia to Piriapolis takes us along the north shore of the Rio de la Plata. There are dozens and dozens of shipwrecks and “deep water” means 20-30 feet. At least the charts seem accurate as to buoys and depths. We are trying to thread a path clear of the shipping lanes (lots of big boys moving in and out), but staying in water over 15 feet and not scrape any wrecks (the masts are often visible). It is quite twisty and turny, enhanced by occasional swarms of small Argentinean sailing boats rushing downwind to get back to Buenos Aires from some Uruguayan beach resort or another. We will pass Montevideo at about midnight, which hopefully will not be too interesting.

All is well.