Due to the very slow progress across the fleet already the first mandatory gate was announced to be the finish line. While some boats had already crossed it, we were still some 500 nautical miles away when this was announced. Every day it looked less likely for us to reach the transit window in Panama. Thus the pressure was on race management to make something happen.

After some back and forth we agreed to accept tenth place and cease racing. This would allow us to get through patches with no wind using our engine. Scotland was some 30 miles ahead at that point and had to accept ninth place. And so we started together making our way towards Panama.

There was still very little wind and we covered several miles under engine. At the same time we started our calculations to see if we would get to the refuelling stop in Costa Rica. And the answer was no. Even if we were able to sail every now and then to save fuel we would not have enough fuel to reach the destination in reasonable time. Thus, an additional refuelling stop was organised in southern Mexico which would allow us to stock up our fuel reserves. But also the way to that stop was long and beyond our motoring range. Therefore, we had to make use of every bit of wind to make some miles whilst conserving fuel. So it wasn’t uncommon for us to change between motoring and sailing a few times per day.

To give the engines some rest and allow them to cool down we made a tow connection with Scotland.  Already the water temperature is above 30 degrees and at least during the day the air feels much warmer. When it was our turn to tow everything worked as normal. Only after about half an hour our engine started to make some strange noise. We lowered the revolutions and Scotland took over the towing. We would wait for the engine too cool down a bit and inspect to find the root cause as to not risk more severe damage. Although cooling down is maybe a relative statement given our conditions. During the inspection everything looked fine. Only the transmission fluid had yet again been contaminated with water. Since we replaced that we are back and can fulfil our duty in towing Scotland.

And so the two of us are heading for Mexico. Sometimes we sail, the one boat is towing and later on the other. In the meantime we are close enough so that we should have enough fuel to reach the stopover. Nonetheless, the changing from sail to engine and back continues in the attempt to maximise our boat speed. Even though the race has officially ended for all boats now we are trying to reach Panama as early as possible to give us some time to prepare for the next race.

In addition, the temperature is hard to deal with. We don’t have a thermometer to measure the air temperature. The water however is more than 30 degrees for over a week now and at least during the day the air feels much warmer. Even in the shade it is barely cold enough and it is not unheard of to drink a bottle of water per hour to compensate for the loss of liquid.

I am certainly done with this heat. It is very difficult to find any sleep or even rest. Moreover, any activity leads to one starting to sweat immediately and even after a bucket shower one is sweaty and sticky again within minutes. I am longing to get to the Atlantic and start heading north. Before that it is not likely to get any colder. At least the refuelling stops will bring some change and maybe we find some wind on the way that will help to cool us down.