Difficult Night but Good Progress

The wind strengthened as we approached midnight so I rolled in more headsail.

I encountered two boats and although they were very well lit I didn't know whether they would pass ahead of me, behind, or maybe right on top of me. Rather than tacking I fell away, racing at over 6 kt trying to pass to the south of them. It was a good decision because soon I saw a red navigation light on the second boat. I flashed him with my spotlight and eventually he responded. I then played the light on my sail to let him know what he was dealing with.

At about 11 PM I spotted a group of 6 or 8 targets strung out across my path. An hour later I could see the lights of what appeared to be fishing boats. I didn't want to go though the group in case they were engaging in night fishing so with great reluctance I tacked. The tack did not gain me much: instead of heading 045T I was now heading 270T. The engine was still running after I had started it to make my tack in the rough seas, so I tacked back to my original course and used the engine to reduce the lee drift to a minimum. An hour later I was clear of the group, which I had left to starboard. I shut down the engine and made sure that the boat was set up to sail herself for the rest of the night. By then it was 1.30 AM and I was pretty tired. I began the routine of one-hour sleeps and that worked well. The night got rougher, with winds touching 30 knots, and the seas mounted, partially due, no doubt, to the long fetch of the River Plate. I saw more radar targets but mercifully they were either far enough away or in a favourable direction which would allow me to sleep the next hour. There were no more close encounters, and I did not see a large ship broadcasting their AIS signal all night. With the sheets of water regularly sweeping the deck and cabin top, moisture crept into the boat, principally though the drippy forward hatches and the main hatch, which allowed water to pour when the sheets of water reached it. Nevertheless I slept warm and dry.

I was up at 9 AM to see another bright and sunny day. The wind had moderated a few knots. At 9.30 AM we were 195 miles from MdP, suggesting that we had made good a distance of 125 miles in the last 24 hours - all beating to weather. We were about 2/3 across the mouth of the River Plate, still on the continental shelf in 45 meters of water. It's amazing what you can do with good rigging, good sails, and a strong wind.

The wind continued to moderate but I put off taking action to allow the sea to settle and to give the boat and myself some respite after a hard night. At 3 PM the speed of the boat was slipping below 4 kt so I rolled out the headsail to just below jib size, which took us to close to 6 knots into a 17 kt breeze. The wind had veered to the north as predicted and for now we were headed almost east at 070T, but the continent was still falling to the east and I didn't mind moving farther offshore to escape the fishing boats. The wind was very cold but the sky was clear and sunny. I then enjoyed a cup of tea with the last of my "factura" pastry and after that slid back the cover to check the engine. Everything with the Volvo was in order. It was clean, still looked new to my eyes, coolant an oil levels were spot on with the oil still looking clean, and the belt tension was good. Later I checked the fuel vacuum gauge while the engine was running, and the needle had not moved off the peg.

By midnight I would be clear of the River Plate and out of Argentine waters. I would send my last position report to the Argentine Prefectura and bid them Farewell.

At 6.30 PM we were at position 35S30, 53W44, heading ENE at 3.7 kt against a 15 kt wind from the NNW. In the morning I would see about putting up more mainsail because for the coming night I was more interested in peace and tranquillity than speed.

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