On the road again

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After a week in the boat yard they put us back in the water late Monday afternoon. We immediately began cleaning the inside and outside of the boat. While the yard was nice it was dirty. Tuesday we began to stock the boat with provisions and finish up some little projects. On Thursday we cast off the dock lines and headed out to Stone Island. After a nice 2 hour sail we arrived and dropped the hook. The following morning we left for San Blas, about 130 miles down the coast. It had been an uneventful trip until about 0300 in the morning when we discovered some long lines. For those of you that don't know about long lines let me tell you. First you take a 3-5 mile long piece of 3/8' polypro line. Polypro floats you know. Next attach a huge hook to a 6" piece of 100 lb fishing line and attach the fishing line to the polypro every 20 feet or so. To help keep things floating tie an old 1 or 2 liter soda bottle every 50 feet. Attach one end of the long line to a styrofoam block and the other end to your boat. To help you find the end of the line shove a 6 foot stick through the styrofoam block and tie a garbage bag to it. Now, it's best to run out your lines just before dark and about 20 miles off shore. As soon as you have the lines set pull a blanket over yourself and go to sleep. No need to keep a watch as who would be stupid enough to be out this far from land. Meanwhile back on Slacker we suddenly slowed from 6 knot's to less than one. I grab a flashlight and looked over the stern and sure enough there was a long line around the rudder. I woke up Julie and she came out to help. To get off the line what you have to do is use the boat pole to grab one end of the line and pull it up enough to cut it with a knife. Sounds much easier then it really is. So, finally we get loose and continue on to San Blas. Julie was going back down to catch some sleep when we slow down again. Crap! We had only gone a quarter of a mile and were on another line. Repeat as needed. For the next hour we dodged lines and managed to clear the fishing grounds. They really should put up a sign. For those of you that think its terrible of us to cut these fishing lines let me tell you something. First of all they are illegal. Secondly they are indiscriminate killers fish, shark and sea turtles. Thirdly, they don't light or keep watch on their lines. That makes them a hazard to navigation. Enough said. We got into San Blas just before 0900 Saturday morning. Man, its great to be out of the slip and cruising again.