Yachting

MAY 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 43

ADVENTURE

Fogbanks were a persistent
nuisance in the waters of
the Humboldt Current

The first leg started badly.
Before I could leave Puerto Lucia I
was fined $350 USD a day by local
customs for non-compliance of
their rules. I was told a $70,000
USD ‘fine’ was due as I had not
applied in person for an extension
of my stay, contrary to what I had
previously been told. After a while,
the fine was reduced to $3,450
USD, and after some well-placed
phone calls by Marisol Stewart,
owner of Stewart Yacht Services,
the fine was rescinded. I was
indebted to Marisol.
In PLYC I met Claudio
Bustamante, the Chilean owner of the
yacht Red Raven, recently arrived from
Panama. He had had a terrible journey
with his crew: a couple who just took to
their bunks and a paranoid schizophrenic
who had forgotten his medicine. An
exhausted Claudio discharged his crew
and created a new one with an old trusted
friend, Jamie, and a local Ecuadorian,
Luis. The meeting with Claudio was lucky
for me as he gave me contact details for his
friends in the Navy and port authorities.

After launching Sand and Foam,

complete with a new Jordan Series Drogue

and loaded with extra containers of fuel,

it was time to set sail for Chile. It started

well with a sunny close reach across the

Gulf of Guayaquil. There were dozens of

huge whales spouting and a pod of some

50 spinner dolphins that performed

spectacular cartwheels.

After crossing the Gulf I made the initial

mistake of keeping 20 to 30 miles offshore.

This did not avoid the Humboldt and

meant there were fishing fleets and

large merchant ships to contend

with. Later I sailed three to four

miles offshore, generally missing

the ships and fishing fleets but with

little room for error. Three days

into the trip, just before dawn and

close to Punta Aguja, there were

so many fishing boat lights that I

couldn’t see a way through. The sun

rose and the dawn light allowed

me to weave my way through the

boats. I was pleased not to have

arrived there at dusk.

The further we travelled along

the Peruvian coast the richer

the plankton; off the port of Salaverry

it turned the sea brown. At night, the

direction of the wind was given by glowing

lines of plankton phosphorescence in the

breaking waves. By day, we often ran into

banks of fast-moving fog that blanketed

out the sun. In a lumpy sea, and close

inshore to Chimbote, a huge bulk carrier

suddenly came out of the fog. There was

no fog signal. I crash-tacked under the

bulker’s stern, narrowly missing

a collision. The cold, foggy wind

Claudio (right) with his new Ecuadorian crew Luis