Pam's Thoughts

2006

Dec. 31

We have moved to Isla Bayoneta. What a great place, we're the only ones in the anchorage. The Island is uninhabited and we have not seen another boat all day. We took the dingy out for a spin and found a great reef for snorkling. The visiblity was very good about 10 to 15 feet. There were lots more fish then we have seen for a while. I even saw a snake eel. Have not seen one of those in a while. We had hoped for a dive but the water in the dive site area was just to choppy. Most of the rocky areas that would be good for diving are out away from the Islands that makes the water choppier when it windy. It's been windy the last couple of days. That's great for sailing but it does cause chop in the water.When we tried to go diving the swells were just to much for the dingy. Oh well we'll try again when we get to Contradora. The diving is suppose to be the best there.

25

Merry Christmas. It's hard to realize that it really is Christmas day. There's no snow , no cold weather, no decorations and no tree. I have all those on board the boat but since we were underway it was not a good idea to have them out. The last thing you want in an emergency is stuff in the way. Oh well I guess we'll just have to enjoy snorkling in crystal clear water and walking on the white sandy beaches. It doesn't get much better then this. What a great Christmas.

Dec.24

We Made it to land at last. Our first anchorage was Isla Del Rey Punta Coco.We arrived at our anchorage after dark. Not the best time to arrive in a new spot. We decided to try to anchor in the dark because we had been out to sea for so long and we really, really wanted to put our anchor down and get a good nights sleep before Christmas. There was no moon so it was very dark out. We had the radar to follow so we felt pretty confident that there wouldn't be any problems. Royce is a great Capt. and he maneuvered us in with out a hitch. We put the anchor down and for the first time in 6 days we were able to go to bed together and sleep well.

Dec. 23

At around 0500 Royce woke me from a sound sleep to tell me we had hit a line in the water and it was wrapped on the prop. When I looked over the side there was a huge line trailing in the water behind our boat. Because of the size of the line we had no control of the rudder or the engine. We had the sails up and were still moving so it was necessary to take all the sails down and some one to go into the water. I volunteered to go but because of the size of the line Royce needed to do it. With a sharp knife in hand Royce went over the side as soon as there was enough light to see what he was doing. As Royce got into the water the line came free from the rudder all by it's self. We attached a line to it and pulled it on board. If we had left it in the water it would have been a hazard to navigation to the next boat going by. You ca