Just as we were closing the Commodore Yachting (Chacala) office for the day the crew from S/V Caper came across to Fantasia and invited us to join them and other cruisers from our little anchored community for a dinghy adventure around the headland and into the next bay. Of course we didn't want to miss out and had faint memories of an idyllic, almost hidden beach that we had spotted as we sailed past 2 years ago.
Soon, a flotilla of dinghies were to be seen speeding off into the distance and so we quickly launched our beaten up old Avon and chugged off slowly in pursuit. We hoped that we didn't suffer engine failure in the swell on this, for us, lengthy excursion. I have to say, I am of a more nervous disposition where surf is concerned and watched carefully as we rounded the rocky headland with the waves crashing onto the reef. However is we motored slowly around the headland we are treated to a fantastic display of whale tail flapping on the horizon which from a dinghy is not that far!
It was, as we had anticipated the secret beach and utterly blissful. We made an extremely elegant surf landing and found our cruising friends enjoying a picnic on the beach. This was followed by a swim for me and snorkel for Stuart and then we were introduced to the game of beach bocce by Pam and Henry from S/V Rapscallion. Everyone entered into the spirit of the game which is a little like pétanque but played moving firstly up and then back down the beach. Competition was fierce and there was discussion of foul play when the blue team threw a series of aces. In the end there was no time for disputes and the winning team was congratulated on their success. The sun was dipping in the sky and it was time to for the crews from the six vessels who took part to make their way back to Chacala.