What a nice morning! After howling all night from every direction (the wind drops down the cliffs around our anchorage in huge random gusts) it is now sunny, warm and windless. The water is an amazing blue and so clear that we can easily see the bottom, 50' below us. There are schools of fish hanging out under the boat and we have been amusing ourselves by throwing lobster scraps overboard and watching dozens of voracious foot long blue and yellow fish swarm to the surface. Right now there is a seal swimming around and under the boat. It is like watching an underwater ballet as it chases the fish.

We have not seen any other boats anchored or sailing for several days and were excited to see two young local fishermen in a panga (about a 20' open boat with an outboard) when they motored around the headland and came along side. No Spanish on our side and no English on their side, uh oh. Mary and I are feeling very much like dumb Americans and really need to get in gear and learn more than just good morning, where is the bathroom and thank you. With lots of good natured smiling and hand waving they wanted to trade fresh lobsters for beer. A deal. Breakfast this morning was fresh lobster with leftover fried potatoes and onions. Yumm, we have lunch and dinner planned now too.

A fisherman gave us live crabs at Santa Cruz Is., and Timothy learned that no matter how nice the critters look, playing with live spiny things can be painful. That time, one of the big crabs got him on a finger and left a nasty gash before we could pry it loose. This time the boys got a kick out of watching the lobster scoot around the cockpit floor from a respectful distance. That did not stop Timothy from picking a favorite and lobbying for early release for good behavior. My offer to put him into the water next was not well received when he figured out which water I was talking about.

Mary and the kids are working on school and when this wraps up, we are going to take the big boat and see if we can lure any sharks to the surface with fish scraps.

I hope all is well at home.